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Nut Goodie Bundt Cake

Bundt Cake:

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. Baking powder
½ tsp. Baking soda
1 tsp. Salt

1 cup butter, softened
2 cups sugar

4 whole eggs
1 tsp. Vanilla

1 cup buttermilk

½ cup peanuts, crushed finely

Directions:

Grease and flour the inside of a NordicWare 12 cup bundt cake pan. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large mixing bowl and set aside.

In another bowl cream together the butter and the sugar, until there are no more lumps.

Add the eggs and vanilla, one at a time, until thoroughly combined with the creamed butter mixture.

Slowly add the dry ingredients, alternating with the buttermilk, until thoroughly combined. The batter will be very thick.

Spread the crushed peanuts in the bottom of the pan in an even layer. Spread half of the batter in the bottom of the pan. Spread the nougat filling (recipe below) in the middle of the bottom layer of cake mixture. Spread the remaining cake batter on top, spreading evenly to ensure even cooking.

Cook at 325 degrees for approximately 60-65 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out cleanly. Let cool for ten minutes and remove from pan. Cover with chocolate glaze (recipe below).

Nougat Filling:

1/8 cup butter
½ cup sugar
1/8 cup evaporated milk
¾ cup marshmallow crème/fluff
1/8 cup creamy peanut butter (DO NOT USE CRUNCHY)
2 tsp. Maple flavoring
½ cup crushed peanuts

Directions:

Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add the sugar and evaporated milk, stirring constantly. Bring to a boil and continue to stir constantly for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the marshmallow crème/fluff, peanut butter and maple flavoring. Add the crushed peanuts and combine thoroughly. Spread in the middle of the cake, in a tunnel fashion, following the cake instructions above.

Chocolate Glaze:

1/3 cup butter
4 ounces bitterwsweet chocolate
1 ½ -2 cups powdered sugar
¼ cup warm water (start with less – you can always add more)

Directions:

Melt the butter and chocolate in a small saucepan over medium heat until melted. Remove from heat and whisk in the powdered sugar, ½ cup at a time, until the mixture becomes thick and difficult to stir. Slowly add the water, until the glaze reaches desired thickness (this depends on personal taste). Drizzle over the cooled bundt cake.

Enjoy!

WOW. I've been on a baking sabbatical since morning sickness hit me but I may be on the rebound after reading this receipe.

And if you use a cake mix, do you follow the package directions and proceed with the nuts and fillings or do you alter the mix?

I would follow the directions, but note that if you use a cake mix, use the *butter* cake mix and use butter or Crisco (if you prefer). I tried it once with oil, and all of the nuts just fell to the bottom.

This cake is actually designed after the Pearson's Nut Goodie Candy Bar that is a big regional treat around here (MN, ND, SD, IA). www.pearsonscandy.com

Also, make sure that the nuts are crushed *very* fine. If they are too coarse, they will also fall to the bottom (you have no idea how many of these things I had to make to find a good recipe...I think that myself and everyone I knew at work and home and friends gained ten pounds apiece!).

I only started entering contest s few years ago, when the summer time at work started to really bore me and I had a lot of time to surf the internet for recipe ideas and then a lot more time to actually make them. I have competed in the state fair (this last year I didn't win any ribbons, but marjorie Johnson - the winningest state fair food competitor in history - said that she absolutely loved my cookies, which sort of trumped any ribbon that I could have won), as well as the NordicWare competitions, PIllsbury, Food Network and a host of others.

I never really win, but to me, I dont' really mind. It really just gives me a chance to really experiment with a recipe idea that I have. The only downside is that I often get so sick of them after I have prepared them, that i can't stand the thought of making them again for ages! I usually end up trying them about twenty to thirty times, if I have started with a pretty good idea, or about fifty to eighty if it's something that is more inventive and potentially dangerous. :) I usually enter baking contests, but eventually I would like to branch out into others. But we will have to see. I am in grad school (again) and still working full time, so I have less time for it, and will probably just concentrate on the ones that I enjoy the most, like the state fair and NordicWare. Besides, the people who make it to the finals in Pillsbury and others are *so* far advanced that I couldn't hopet o catch up....not that I do well against the other competitors, either, mind you, but some of them....wow!