Mrs. Delicious

You Can Never Have Too Many Bundts

Last Sunday, we gathered many friends together to celebrate BundtFest 2006! The inspiration for BundtFest came about on New Year's Eve, when we were all over at Sabrina's house pre-Fireball, drinking Margaritas and glancing through the "The Lives They Lived" issue of the New York Times Magazine. Someone mentioned that H. David Dahlquist, the inventor of the Bundt pan, had died recently. Amazingly, Aaron stepped up to the plate and delivered an entire extemporaneous speech about the life of Mr. Dahlquist and the origins of the Bundt pan. There is just something about the word "Bundt" that is so much fun to say, and so appetizing, that you can't help wanting to immediately make and eat some Bundts. We drunkenly promised each other that there would be a Bundt potluck party in the near future.

As mentioned in a previous post, Sabrina caught the Bundt bug a couple of weeks ago and suggested that we turn thought into action and have a Bundt Fiesta ASAP. Well, it finally happened. Andy and I cleaned the house, ironed a tablecloth, and opened our doors to all comers, as long as they came bearing a Bundt.

The Bundts were exquisite. First to show up was Moa's Swedish Saffron Bundt, with its intense aroma and toothsome crumb.



Next came Sarah's light and sweet Walnut Bundt:



Followed by Sonya's traditional Savory Lime Jello Salad Bundt with cabbage and cottage cheese (which tasted much, much better than it sounds) and her more experimental Cornbread Bacon Bundts with Molasses Glaze (which tasted just as fucking amazing as they sound).





Already, that's a lot of Bundts, considering that I had also prepared a Meat Bundt with Egg Mimosa:



But the Bundts just kept coming. Michele and Burke brought not one but many Bundts: a Clementine-Caradamom Bundt with candied violets, clementine peel, and cardamom custard, as well as Ginger-Green Tea Mini-Bundts with Green Tea Anglaise. Both of these Bundts smelled as good as they looked. And they were so moist. I could not bear to cut into them, but I was really glad that I did. And their friend (and our new friend) Joe brought over a Butter Rum Rose Bundt that, according to Stephen, looked "like something out of a John Waters movie." Once it was cut, you could see it for the perfect pink chiffon cloud that it was. All, exquisite.



Looks like Spam, tastes like heaven:



The Bundts just would not stop. At one point, even before all of the guests had arrived, we decided that we needed to start eating some Bundt so that (a) we could make room on the table for the two Bundts yet to come and also (b) so that we could help our stomachs absorb some of the Rum Bundt Punch (aka Bunt Bundel) that Andy had made for the occasion. It included not only Bundt-shaped ice cubes made from different colors of Gatorade, but also an optional Life Saver garnish.



Sabrina, Kyle and Darren arrived soon after the first cutting of the Bundts with their masterpiece, a gorgeous Meat Bundt filled with rice and raisins and garnished with beautiful roasted red peppers.



And for the piece de resistance, Aaron brought over -- straight from the oven and still warm -- his "Tunnel of Lemon" Bundt, which was comprised of a sweet lemon cake with a warm, melty center tunnel of cream cheese. AS IF we needed any more deliciousness at that point. We all ate SO MUCH Bundt.

Bundts before:



Bundts after:



It was a lot of fun. We still have some leftover Bundt at our house, and last night Andy and I ate Meat Bundt sandwiches for dinner. Nutkin and Blini especially enjoyed the Meat Bundts. And now I am going to the gym to go try to remove this ring of Bundt from around my waist.

posted by Mrs. Delicious @ 5:18 PM