Firecracker Bundt Cake Recipes

Steps:

• Make the cake: Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Butter a 10- to 12-cup Bundt pan, making sure to get in all the crevices; dust with flour and tap out the excess. Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl; set aside.
• Beat the butter and granulated sugar in a large bowl with a mixer on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then beat in the sour cream and vanilla. (The batter may look curdled.) Reduce the mixer speed to medium low and add the flour mixture in three batches, alternating with the buttermilk; beat until combined.
• Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake until the cake is golden and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 55 minutes. Transfer to a rack and let cool 15 minutes in the pan; loosen the edge of the cake with a knife and invert onto the rack to cool completely.
• Make the glaze: Whisk the confectioners' sugar, lemon juice, vanilla and 1 tablespoon water in a bowl; add a splash more water if the glaze is too thick. Spoon over the cake, letting it drip down the sides. Decorate with nonpareils. Let stand until set, 5 to 10 minutes. Put rock candy sticks in the center of the cake.

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350°F. Generously spray 12-cup fluted tube cake pan with baking spray with flour.
• In large bowl, beat cake mix, water, oil and whole eggs with electric mixer on medium speed 2 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally. In small bowl, place 1 cup of the batter; stir in 1 teaspoon of the red food color until blended. In another small bowl, place 1 cup of the batter; stir in 1 teaspoon of the blue food color until blended.
• Pour red cake batter into bottom of pan. Carefully pour remaining white batter over red batter in pan. Carefully pour blue batter over white batter. (Blue batter does not need to cover white batter completely; it looks better if it just forms a ring in the center of the white batter.)
• Bake 40 to 45 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove cake from oven. Let stand 10 minutes, remove from pan to cooling rack. Cool completely, about 1 hour.
• Place cake on cooling rack over waxed paper or cooking parchment paper. In small microwavable bowl, place 1/4 cup of the frosting. Microwave uncovered on High 10 to 15 seconds or until thin enough to drizzle over cake. With spoon, drizzle warmed frosting back and forth over cake in striping pattern. Divide remaining frosting between 2 small microwavable bowls. To 1 bowl, stir in 1/4 teaspoon red food color until well blended. Microwave uncovered on High 5 to 10 seconds or until thin enough to drizzle. Drizzle over cake. Repeat with remaining bowl of frosting and 1/4 teaspoon blue food color. Sprinkle candy sprinkles on top. Let stand about 30 minutes or until frosting is set. Store loosely covered at room temperature.

Steps:

• Heat oven to 325°F. Generously grease a 12-cup tube cake pan. Make cake batter as directed on box. Pour 1 cup of batter into a bowl and add the red food coloring, mix well. Pour another cup of the batter into a bowl and add the blue food coloring, mix well. Pour the red cake mix into the bottom of the greased pan. Carefully pour the white batter over the red batter in pan. Then carefully pour the blue batter over the white batter. The blue batter does not need to cover the white batter completely. It looks better if it just forms a ring in the center of the white batter. Bake as directed on box or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 5 minutes. Turn pan upside down onto cooling rack that is placed over a cookie sheet. Cool cake completely, about 30 minutes. Once cake is cool, equally divide the frosting into 3 bowls. Microwave the white frosting for a few seconds on high until it is smooth enough to drizzle over the cake. With a spoon, drizzle the white frosting back and forth around the whole ring in a striping pattern until you use it all. Then microwave one of the other bowls. Before drizzling, mix in a few drops of blue food coloring. Then drizzle over the cake, scattering back and forth. Repeat with the red food coloring, making sure you can see the red, white and blue colors. Set cake aside to dry. When you add the batter, do not mix with a spoon. Just pour it in so the colors don't mix but rather, just rest on top of each other in the pan. Store loosely covered and unrefrigerated. Cake can be made a day or two in advance.