Yogurt Bundt Cake with Blueberries

I have a love-hate relationship with Bundt cakes. I love the look of them and hate that they almost always stick to the theoretically “non-stick” coating of the pan. While watching Martha Bakes I saw her use a paste of softened butter and flour which she brushed into a Bundt pan. It seemed like a good way to get into all the seams so I gave it a try. It worked great!

Yogurt Bundt Cake with Blueberries
Servings: 12-14
Prep time: 15 minutes
Total time: 1 hour 5 minutes (plus time for the cake to cool)

Ingredients:

• 2 cups (270g) flour plus 2 Tbsp. for prepping the pan
• 1 Tbsp. baking powder
• 2 tsp. ground allspice
• 1/8 tsp. kosher salt
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 12 tbsp. unsalted butter, softened, divided
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup whole fat plain Greek yogurt
• 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 pint fresh blueberries
• powdered sugar to finish

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Combine 2 tablespoons softened butter and 2 tablespoons flour in a small bowl and stir until thoroughly mixed into a paste. Use a basting or pastry brush to apply the butter-flour paste into the Bundt pan. Make sure to get the paste into all creases, crevices and seams.
2. Whisk together flour, baking powder, allspice and salt in a bowl. Set aside.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer the remaining 10 tablespoons of butter with the sugar until pale yellow and fluffy. Add one egg at a time and mix to incorporate before adding the next egg. Add the yogurt and vanilla and, again, mix until incorporated.
4. With the mixer at the slowest speed add the dry flour mixture and combine to form the batter. Remove the bowl from the mixer and add the blueberries. Combine using a spatula, being careful to not burst the blueberries (unless you want a purpely-blue cake).
5. Transfer the batter to the prepared pan; smooth the top the best you can. Bake for 50 minutes, rotating the pan 180°F halfway through cooking. Probe with a long wooden skewer to make sure the cake is fully cooked. The skewer should come out clean in several places in the cake.
6. Move the cake to a cooling rack and ignore it for at least an hour. Invert the cake onto a server plate. Lift the pan, and with luck (and proper pan prep), the cake will slide out without a problem.
7. Dust with powdered sugar, slice and serve.

Notes:
It can take 5 minutes or longer, at a fairly high speed, for the butter and sugar to become pale and fluffy. If you only mix these ingredients long enough for them to combine then you will have a much shorter and denser cake.

The basic recipe for this cake was derived from one published in Saveur magazine.

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