Christmas Bundt Cake with Egg Liquor

This is a super-moist Christmas Bundt with Egg Liquor (Weihnachts-Gugelhupf mit Eierlikör) has a delicious festive vanilla/egg flavor. It is meant to be served to the adult guests at your Holiday party as it contains Egg Liquor which is a traditional Dutch/Belgian/German rich and creamy liqueur made from eggs, sugar and Brandy or Cognac. The Liquor has a smooth, custard-like flavor and is similar to eggnog. Its contents is a blend of the very best egg yolks, sugar or honey, vanilla seeds, alcohol and sometimes cream (or evaporated milk).

Recipe for the Christmas Bundt
(Weihnachts-Gugelhupf mit Eierlikör)

Ingredients

• 1 medium red apple
• 125 grams AP/plain flour, plus some more for flouring the baking pan
• 125 grams cornstarch
• 4 tsps baking powder
• 250 grams powdered sugar
• seeds from 1 vanilla pod 
• 5 eggs (M), free range or organic whenever possible
• 250 ml sunflower oil
• 250 ml egg liquor (homemade or store-bought such as Advocaat)
• 3 to 4 tbsp of raisins previously soaked in some rum or apple juice to plump them up
• some melted unsalted butter for brushing the baking pan
• a few tbsps of powdered sugar for dusting

Preparation of the Christmas Bundt

1. Preheat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
2. Brush a large non-stick Bundt (Gugelhupf) pan with a little bit melted butter, making sure the surface is completely covered., dust with some flour, shake out the excess and set aside.
3. On the fine side of your box grater, grate the apple (with the skin on).
4. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cornstarch and baking powder.
5. Add the powdered sugar, vanilla seeds, eggs and oil and mix well until the batter becomes smooth (you can also mix this in the bowl of your stand mixer for about one minute).
6. Add the egg liquor, rum raisins and the grated apples to the mixture and mix gently with a spatula or large spoon.
7. Pour the batter into the Bundt (Gugelhupf) pan (a little more than ¾ full) then bake for about an 1 hour and 10 minutes. The cake should be firm to the touch.
8. Remove the pan from the oven, transfer to a cooling rack and allow the cake to cool down completely. Once it has cooled, place a large plate on top of the cake pan then gently turn upside down to release the cake .
9. To finish, dust with some powdered sugar.

This Christmas Bundt Cake with Egg Liquor (Weihnachts-Gugelhupf mit Eierlikör) stays moist for quite a few days after baking. So this is definitely a cake that you can prepare well in advance. Just make sure to wrap it properly after it has completely cooled down.

If you cannot find an Egg Liquor such as Advocaat at the specialty store, here is a recipe. The Egg Liquor can be enjoyed as is, or over ice-cream, in desserts, custards, pastries, cakes, and as a waffle topping.

Ingredients:

• 10 egg yolks (make sure to buy really good quality organic eggs)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 250 grams (1 1/3 cups white sugar)
• 350 ml (1 1/2 cups) brandy, or cognac 
• 2 tsp pure vanilla extract (better to use the scraped seeds of a vanilla pod).

Preparation:

1. Beat the egg yolks, salt and sugar until thickened. 
2. Slowly trickle in the brandy, while still beating. 
3. Pour the mixture into a saucepan and warm over a low heat, continuously whisking. It is important to be patient here. If it boils, the alcohol will evaporate. The Advocaat is ready when it coats the back of a spoon. 
4. Remove the saucepan from the heat and whisk in the vanilla extract or the seeds. Let cool.
5. Pour the Egg Liquor through a sieve and into a clean bottle (this is where a funnel comes in pretty handy).
6.  Close tightly and place into fridge. It will keep for several weeks if stored properly.