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Thursday, July 16, 2015

Generra Bundt Cake - #BundtBakers

I have had the words for this blog post planned for weeks and then yesterday happened. It started with not getting any sleep on Tuesday night, then there was a really bad fall (I'm OK enough, I think), storms all day which meant a darker than usual house for pics (but water for the drought-stricken county!), a hard drive that did not want to cooperate, missed meals, and three stores that did not have the specific ice cream that I needed to soothe my weary soul. I was going to ditch the previously planned words and be really whiny as I sat typing up this post on my phone. But though the day really really sucked, there was cake and eventually, 5 minutes before one supermarket closed, I found the ice cream that I wanted. Whining can wait. Let's talk about this cake - generra cake.

I learned about generra a couple weeks ago - it is a coffee beverage that has orange rind and chocolate. From my research, it seems that this is a Singaporean thing. I found a coffee shop or two in Australia mentioning it and then another couple in Seattle. But most of the mentions were in Singapore. The cake  could be called "Orange Mocha Bundt" but one generra description made it seem that it was more about the coffee than the chocolate so I kept the name.

I could have also called this "Headache in a Bundt" because 3 of the 4 main ingredients have at some point triggered migraines or headaches for me. Living dangerously, folks. But I call it research. I have known for the last couple years that peanuts may be off the migraine-trigger list. I've been sneaking handfuls here and there and there's peanut butter in the cupboard. I have been too scared to touch or be in the same room as oranges since the 1990's so it was definitely time to do some testing.

As for coffee... sigh... I'll tell you more about my lack of a relationship with hot beverages and milk in October. (Yes, I said October.) The short story with coffee is this. I LOVE coffee flavoured desserts - especially ice cream. Hello, Starbucks Java Chip Ice Cream! I still remember the first day I tasted you. There were embarrassing sounds as I tried to lick the carton clean. The coffee ice cream at Devon House in Jamaica is pretty amazing too. However, I just cannot fall in love (or even like) with a cup of coffee. The first sip usually gives me an instant headache but I keep trying - hoping that one day it will taste like ice cream. Oh and then there's the fact that coffee makes me sleepy. Yeah, I'm wired a little differently. Conversely, sleeping pills and antihistamines do not make me sleepy. Google said I'm not abnormal. Well, what Google said was that there are "others". It's possible that that does not translate to "Kelly, you are normal."

So the verdict? I ate a whole lot of cake and there were no headaches. I did feel a twinge here and there but it wasn't anything serious and there were several confounding factors. I'm still not ready to jump back on the orange train though. It's been so many years (decades!) that I don't miss it enough to risk it just yet. Maybe in another couple years, the researcher in me will do some more orange-tests.

By the way, peanuts are not a part of the generra. Our theme for Bundt Bakers this month is fruits and nuts. I had the fruit covered and needed a nut. I could have easily used so many other non-migraine inducing nuts to complement the generra. I'm just ridiculously stubborn sometimes. If you love coffee flavoured desserts, give this one a try. You may even want to add more espresso to give the coffee flavour an extra boost. I was actually surprised at how well the orange worked and the coffee did not overpower it at all. If you use instant coffee instead of espresso powder, you're going to want to use a few more tablespoons.

Scroll down to see how the other Bundt Bakers used fruits and nuts this month! Thanks for hosting, Shilpi!

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Generra Bundt Cake
Recipe by: Kelly  
Yield: 1 large Bundt or 12 one cup sized minis
Ingredients
Cake 
1/2 cup chopped nuts (I used peanuts)

4 tablespoons espresso powder
1 teaspoon hot water
1 cup milk
2 3/4 cup flour
1/4 cup cocoa
 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
4 eggs
zest of one orange

Orange Whipped Cream
1/2 cup heavy cream, chilled
2 tablespoons orange juice
1 tablespoon confectioner's sugar
1 tablespoon orange zest, finely minced

Directions

Cake: Preheat oven to 350 F. Thoroughly grease and flour Bundt pan(s). Sprinkle the nuts at the bottom of the pan(s).

Dissolve the espresso powder in the hot water and then add to the milk. In a separate container, whisk together flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt. In a third container, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in vanilla then add each egg one at a time. 

Add the flour mixture in three additions alternating with the coffee mixture in two additions. Start and end with the flour mixture. Beat until smooth.

Scrape the batter into prepared pan(s). Bake the large Bundt 45-55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. The mini Bundts should be finished within 15-18 minutes. 
Cool for ten minutes then invert onto a cooling rack to cool completely. 

Orange Whipped Cream - Beat the whipped cream to soft peaks then slowly beat in orange juice, sugar and zest. Beat to stiff peaks. 

Notes
If substituting instant coffee for espresso powder, you may want to double the amount.Taste your batter! Make sure it's really strong.



BundtBakers


Fruits and Nuts
 
#BundtBakers is a group of Bundt loving bakers who get together once a month to bake Bundts with a common ingredient or theme. You can see all our of lovely Bundts by following our Pinterest board. We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient.
Updated links for all of our past events and more information about BundtBakers, can be found on our home page.

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14 comments:

  1. Lol @ "Google said I'm not abnormal." I love it when a post makes me laugh and yours did just that. Seriously though, migraines are no joke. My mom dealt with them for years and years and it was the exact opposite of fun. I would be staying far far away from any potential triggers, but yay for giving it a shot with this bundt and NOT getting a headache.

    On another note, I had never heard of Generra before and it sounds amazing. I will have to look for it here!

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  2. I can understand, we have things planned from a long time, and then something unusal happens.. I hope you are doing fine... Though you have made a beautiful bundt.. Thanks for participating..

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  3. I've never heard of this before, thanks for telling us all about it. The flavours of this cake sound great, I'm pleased you could enjoy it too without feeling ill. Laura@ Baking in Pyjamas

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  4. I'm glad you were able to eat your beautiful cake! Yay!

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  5. I do love coffee and I have never heard of generra until now. Thanks for sharing and I am glad that no migraines snuck in to ruin your enjoyment of this lovely cake.

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  6. Generra sounds delicious! Coffee + orange is a great combo. Love this cake!

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  7. Sometimes we need to have a bad day to fully appreciate our good days. Glad you were able to pull off this post with your string of bad luck.

    Orange-chocolate is a classic combo. Very well done!

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  8. What a great recipe and I feel your pain. I suffer from visual migraines, and it's been a pain in the tuckus to try and determine what triggers them. It's much more fun to just eat cake without any worries!!!

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  9. Coffee does not make me sleep. Never ever! So I am on the "not abnormal" side with you. LOL

    I am glad you got to post this article and cake. It is something I haven't heard of before. I will try it soon.

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  10. Hi Kelly, so good to read that you could enjoy to eat your lovely bundt without any migrains. I never drink coffee (because of head aches) but your cake just sounds delicious!! Hope you are going to have a really good week, after this dreadful one :-) Sunshine from Spain -xx-

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  11. Not a coffee drinker but love espresso IN things. This sounds great.

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  12. This sound really delicious. I would never have thought to pair those flavors together but now that I'm thinking of it I want to try it!

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  13. Dear Kelster, These sound fabulous. I love orange and chocolate together (who doesn't?!) and with the cloud of whipped cream on top- this is absolute heaven! xo, Catherine

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