Mahlab Vanilla Bundt Cake

Ingredients

• 3 cups (378 g) AP flour (if possible, substitute up to ⅓ of this with cake flour, or substitute a few tablespoons with potato or corn starch)
• ½ t baking soda
• ¾ t salt
• ½ lb (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 1½ t freshly ground mahlab
• ¼ t ground cardamom
• ¼ t ground ginger
• 3 cups sugar
• 6 large eggs
• 1 T vanilla extract
• 1 cup sour cream

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 325 F. Spray a nonstick bundt pan thoroughly with flour/grease mixture. Also spray some bundlettes or mini loaves for the excess dough or use a 10 inch tube pan for the entire cake (I love bundt cakes, how pretty they are, so I rarely use tube pans--in this case, I actually was able to make a full size loaf cake in addition to the bundt cake). Set aside.
2. Whisk the flour, baking soda and salt together. Set aside.
3. Cream the butter in the large bowl of a mixer on moderate speed for 4 mins. Add the spices and beat. Scrape the sides of the bowl down.
4. Add the sugar gradually, beating thoroughly while adding. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating for 30 secs after each addition and scraping down the sides of bowl.
5. Add the vanilla and blend it in.
6. On low speed, add the flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with sour cream in 2 additions, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Remember to keep scraping sides and bottom of bowl.
7. Spoon batter into prepared pan(s) and smooth top with rubber spatula.
8. How long you bake the cake will depend on the size(s). A 10 inch tube cake will take 1 hour and 15 minutes. A 9-10 inch bundt cake will take approximately 1 hour. The funky silicone bundt pan took about 45-50 minutes, as did the full size loaf pan. 1 cup size bundlettes take around 25 minutes. You will just need to watch for whatever sizes you choose to make.
9. Bake the cake(s) for the recommended time, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. The baked cake will pull also slightly away from the sides of the pan.
10. Cool the cake in the pan(s) on a rack for 10-15 mins, then invert onto another cooling rack and then invert again to stand upright (for a tube pan or loaf pan--a bundt pan will already be upright). Cool completely. Store in airtight cake container. Sift confectioners’ sugar over the top of the cake before serving if desired.

source: http://www.yummly.com/recipe/Mahlab-Vanilla-Bundt-Cake-1041526