Chocolate Bundt with Cream Cheese Filling and Berry Glaze

Whenever I eat bundt cake I think of My Big Fat Greek Wedding.  In the movie, someone brings a bundt cake to dinner, and none of the Greek family members pronounce the word bundt correctly.  I like bundt cakes because they are dramatic and appealing without much fuss.

Bundt cakes developed from a brioche-like cake called Gugelhupf popular among Jewish communities in Austria, Germany, and Poland.  That word is a mouthful!

The word bund started showing up in the United States in the early part of the twentieth century in Jewish-American cookbooks.  

In the 1940s, two brothers in Minnesota created the company Nortic Ware, which made cooking equipment.  The brothers added a 't' to bund and trademarked the bundt pan and name.

In 1966, a baker got second place at the Pillsbury Bake Off, won $5000, and started a bundt baking craze with a bundt creation called the "Tunnel of Fudge."  It sounds amazing.  Shortly after her resounding victory, bundt pans outsold tin Jello molds.  I absolutely adore this little slice of American history.

This recipe uses a cake mix. Gasp! It's perfectly respectable though because it has a cream cheese center and a sweet glaze.  The cake recipe came from allrecipes.com.  

The ingredients for the cake are 1 package devil's food cake, 1 5.9 ounce instant chocolate pudding mix, 1 cup sour cream, 1 cup vegetable oil, 4 eggs, and 1/2 cup warm water.  I omitted chocolate chips because I added a filling.  The ingredients for the filling are 8 ounces cream cheese, 1/2 cup sugar, 1 egg, and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract.  The ingredients for the glaze are 1 tablespoon berry jam, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, and about a cup of powdered sugar.  I added powdered sugar until the glaze reached a firm but drippy consistency.

I added the cake mix, instant pudding, sour ream, and oil into a big bowl.

I added the eggs and water.  I then whisked the ingredients together with enthusiasm.

For the filling, I combined the cream cheese, egg, sugar, and vanilla extract.  Everything should be room temperature.  My cream cheese and egg were cold.  It was hard to stir everything together.

I scooped all the chocolate cake batter into a well greased bundt pan.  I made a well in the batter and poured the cream cheese filling in the well.

I baked the cake for 50 to 55 minutes at 350 degrees.  I let it cool completely.

I adorned the cake with a tart berry glaze.  I added the jam and lemon juice to a bowl.

I gradually stirred in the powdered sugar until the glaze was pourable but stiff.  

I artfully drizzled the glaze over the cake.

This cake was begging to be eaten and savored.  

The cake was rich, decadent, and moist.  The texture left nothing to be desired.

 The cream cheese filling was creamy, smooth, and a little tangy.

The glaze was tart, sweet, and a beautiful shade of pink.  It was delicious to the point of being a little naughty.