Cherry Blueberry Cheesecake Bundt for #BundtaMonth

While I was in Houston for a week visiting family, I decided that it would be a good time to bake my Bundt for April’s BundtaMonth because 1. Time would be short when I got back to Dubai and 2. I had been invited over for dinner and 3.  I found this lovely Bundt pan in my cupboard.

As I might possibly have said to my BundtaMonth friends, you know you have too many baking pans when you forget you own something as pretty as that!   (Disclaimer:  I will completely deny even possibly saying that if anyone brings this to my husband’s attention.  Because: One can never have too many baking pans.  Am I right?)

Our BundtaMonth hosts, Lora and Anuradha decided that our theme this month is cherries!  Since they are frankly hard to find fresh at this time of the year in Houston, I decided to go with dried cherries and add in some fresh blueberries to join them.  This Bundt has three layers:  Cream cheese pound cake batter, followed by a cream cheese filling based on the cream cheese layer in this great recipe from fellow BundtaMonth member, Anita from Hungry Couple,  and then another layer of the pound cake batter.  Then, to top it all off, a drizzled cream cheese glaze.  I took it over to my little sister’s house for dinner and her youngest son fawned over it lovingly until it was time for supper.  Then they all had healthy (not healthy!) slices for dessert.  I tell you true:  Like baking pans, there is no such thing as too much cream cheese.  

Yes, it was already cut!  Because I had to take photos.  I gave the cut slices to my elderly neighbor
who was sick with bronchitis and needed love and sugar. 

Ingredients

Cake batter:

2 cups or 250g flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup or 225g unsalted butter (at room temperature)

6 ounce or 170g cream cheese (at room temperature)

2 cups or 450g sugar

4 large eggs, room temperature

2 teaspoons vanilla

Zest of a lemon

Cheesecake filling:

8 oz or 226g cream cheese (room temperature)

1 egg

1/4 cup or 55g sugar

1/4 cup or 30g flour

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup or 100g dried cherries plus a few extra for decoration

1/2 cup or 75g fresh blueberries plus a few extra for decoration

Glaze:

2 oz cream cheese

1/4 cup or 30g icing sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

3-4 teaspoons milk

Method
Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C and prepare your Bundt pan by spraying liberally with non-stick spray and then coating with a little flour.

The filling is very easy.  Add all the ingredients, except the cherries and blueberries, to your mixing bowl and beat until smooth and lump free.

Fold in your cherries and blueberries.  Cover with cling film and refrigerate until needed.

For the cake batter, in a large bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and set aside.

In the bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, beat the butter and cream cheese until smooth.

Add the sugar, either a third at a time, beating well after each addition, or in a slow continuous stream as you are beating.

Continue beating on medium-high speed until light and fluffy (about 3 - 5 minutes). Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition.

Add the vanilla and lemon zest and beat until incorporated.

Add in half the flour mixture and beat again.

Add the rest of the flour mixture and beat just until incorporated.

Pour half the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top.

Spoon on the cherry blueberry cream cheese filling and spread it around the pan.

Top with the remaining cream cheese batter.

Bake for about 55-65 minutes in your preheated oven or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Allow the cake to cool in the pan for at least 15- 20 minutes before trying to remove it.  It should start to pull away from the sides of the pan as it cools.

To remove it, place a wire rack upside down on the cake and invert the cake pan to release the cake.  Allow to cool completely before adding the glaze.

While your cake is cooling, chop your extra decoration cherries and set aside.

In a small bowl, combine your first three glaze ingredients and then add the milk, starting with just 1 teaspoon.

Continue mixing well and adding milk one teaspoon at a time until you reach drizzling thickness.  I ended up adding only 3 teaspoons to mine.

When your cake is completely cool, add the cream cheese glaze to a small baggie and cut the corner off.  Squeeze out the glaze slowly and drizzle it all over the cake.

Stud it with bits of cherry and whole blueberries to decorate.

Enjoy!

And check out my fellow bloggers beautiful cakes:

• Black Forest Mini Bundt Cakes by Kim at Cravings of a Lunatic 
• Chocolate Cherry Bundt Cake by Anuradha at Baker Street
• Cherry-filled Bundt Cake with Chocolate Cherry Drizzle by Heather at Hezzi D's Books and Cooks 
• Cherry Bundt Cake by Veronica at My Catholic Kitchen 
• Cherry Kirsch Bundt by Tara at Noshing With The Nolands 
• Cherry Pecan Bundt Cake by Renee at Magnolia Days 
• Chocolate Cherry Bundt Cake by Lora at Cake Duchess 
•  Chocolate Cherry Coke Cake by Jennie at The Messy Baker Blog 
•  Chocolate Cherry Dream by Kim at Ninja Baking 
•  Coconut Cherry Chip Bundt by Anne at From My Sweet Heart 
• Lemon Cherry Bundt Cake with Lemon Glaze by Anita at Hungry Couple 
• Mahlab Vanilla Bundt Cake by Laura at The Spiced Life 
• Spicy Cherry Yogurt Bundt Cake by Paula at Vintage Kitchen 
• White Chocolate Black Cherry Yogurt Bundt Cake by Karen at In the Kitchen With KP

If you'd like to add your cherry Bundt for April, here are the rules:

- Simple rule: Use any cherries (or any part of the cherry) – and bake us a Bundt for April
- Post it before April 30, 2013.
- Use the #BundtAMonth hashtag in your title. (For ex: title should read #BundtAMonth: Chocolate Cinnamon Bundt)
- Add your entry to the Linky tool below
- Link back to our announcement posts.

Follow Bundt-a-Month on Facebook where we feature all our gorgeous bundt cakes. Or head over to our Pinterest board for inspiration and choose from over 350 Bundt cake recipes.