Rose Bundt Cake

Sometimes a girl just needs to splurge. I repeat this mantra in my head twice a day when I'm eating dessert, but I recently had to say it to myself once again when I bought a silicone rose-shaped Bundt pan. It's pretty, girly and pink. Of course I had to buy it. It's a real rose cake: rose-shaped and rose-flavored. I used rose syrup and red food coloring for extra effect -- I'm kitsch like that. The cake recipe is the same recipe I used for the cream puff cake; a cake so good, it can be eaten with no frosting or frills. Rating: 5- out of 5. What a good start of the year :)




Rose Bundt Cake: adapted from Martha Stewart

Ingredients:
- ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, plus more for pan
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour, (spooned and leveled), plus more for pan
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon coarse salt
- 3 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 cup sugar
- ½ cup whole milk
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 3 tablespoons rose syrup, or 5 tablespoons rose water
- 4 drops red food coloring (optional)

Instructions:
- Make cake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour a 9-inch round cake pan (2 inches deep). In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat eggs and sugar on high until pale and fluffy, 5 minutes. In a small saucepan, bring milk and butter to a simmer over medium. With mixer on medium, gradually add flour mixture to egg mixture and beat just until combined. With mixer on low, add milk mixture in a steady stream and beat until combined. Fold in vanilla and rose syrup or rose water. Add red food coloring if you would like to make the cake pink.
- Pour batter into pan. Bake until top is light golden and a toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes. Let cool in pan on a wire rack, 10 minutes. Run a knife around edge of pan; turn cake out onto rack to cool completely (top side up), 30 minutes.