Hibiscus Glazed Chocolate Bundt Cake for #BundtBakers

#BundtBakers is a group of Bundt loving bakers who get together once a month to bake Bundts with a common ingredient or theme. You can see all of our lovely Bundts by following our Pinterest board. We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient.

Updated links for all of our past events and more information about BundtBakers, can be found on our home page. 

Cam from Culinary Adventures with Camilla invited us to share some "Blooming Bundts" with you today! She prompted: "April showers bring blooming bundts?!? Okay, poet I am not. But I hope to inspire you to join me in using flowers for our April Bundt Bakers event. Use actual flowers, floral extract, or even just decorate your bundt with buttercream blossoms. Be creative!" I love it! Thanks for the floral prompt!

I have some hibiscus flowers in my pantry that I bought for another culinary project within the past few months but it's not something I would pull out and put to use very often. So when I saw today's theme, I knew I wanted to find something I could use them in. I was intrigued by a "hibiscus powder"... I didn't have any powdered hibiscus, but I decided to attempt to make some of my own by using my coffee grinder (bought as a spice grinder!) to grind up a small amount of the flowers and see what I came up with. I'll be honest - my powder isn't nearly as fine as what I'm sure the bought version would be, so there was a little bit of texture in the cream cheese glaze - but I didn't mind it. I thought it added some character along with that beautiful coloring!

Next time I think I would add some of the powdered hibiscus into the chocolate cake mix too, just to see how it might affect the flavor / color. It's such a lovely ingredient to work with!

I have to say also - this chocolate cake is divine. It's beautifully dark, rich, and SO moist and tender. And no eggs!! It's a fabulous chocolate cake all on it's on. It doesn't need the glaze if you don't have hibiscus powder - or just make a plain cream cheese glaze, a chocolate ganache, or go wild and serve it as is! No one will complain - trust me!

See all of our blooming bundts for today!

• Cranberry and Rosewater Bundt by A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Devil's Food Cake With Hard Icing by Sneha's Recipe
• Hibiscus Glazed Chocolate Bundt Cake by Making Miracles
• Jasmine-Infused Tres Leches Bundt by Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• Saffron Mini Bundts by Magical Ingredients
• Orange Blossom Bundt Cake by Patyco Candybar
• White Chocolate Lavender Bundt by Sweet Sensations

Hibiscus Glazed Chocolate Bundt Cake

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 1/4 cup granulated sugar 

1/3 cup + 1 TBS cocoa powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup brewed coffee (cooled)

1/3 cup + 1 TBS vegetable oil

1/4 cup Honey Greek yogurt

1 TBS apple cider vinegar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Hibiscus Glaze

2 oz cream cheese at room temperature

1 1/2 - 2 TBS maple syrup, to taste

1 - 2 TBS milk, until it reaches proper consistency

1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon hibiscus powder, more or less to taste

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract, optional

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 6-well mini-bundt pan with nonstick baking spray and set aside.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer combine the dry ingredients: flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Whisk to combine.
3. Add in the wet ingredients: coffee, vegetable oil, Greek yogurt, apple cider vinegar, and vanilla extract. Blend slowly until smooth and evenly combined.
4. Scrape down the sides and bottom as needed.
5. Divide batter into the prepared bundt pan.
6. Bake in the pre-heated oven for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cakes comes out clean.
7. Cool in the pan 10-15 minutes before turning out onto a cooling rack to complete cooling. Do not frost until completely cooled.
8. When cakes are cooled, prepare the frosting by whipping the cream cheese until smooth (because this is a small amount, I don't recommend trying to use a stand mixer for this - a hand mixer will work best). Blend the maple syrup and milk into the cream cheese until a smooth consistency is reached (you can make it very "wet" so that it's more of a true glaze, or keep it a little firmer so that you can drizzle it over the top). 
9. Blend in the hibiscus powder and vanilla extract until evenly combined.
10. Frost / glaze your cakes as desired and enjoy! Refrigerate leftovers.

Recipe adapted from Wife Mama Foodie