I used muffin tins when I made them. The glaze is a little hard to apply - makes a bit of a mess, but they turned out great, if not quite as pretty.
I was wondering if you can make a normal sized grappa cake in a regular bundt pan?
Also - in my copy, there is a typo on this recipe (Gina was horrified, but I don't care how many times you proof a book, one or two typos are going to slip by.) The ingredients call for 3T grappa, but the text 1/2 cup. I think I used an ample 3T.
I have a similar problem Colleen - I'm glad you asked about this.
I think the key would be they need to be 1 cup capacity. I think typical cupcake pans are about 3/4 cup so a 'giant' cupcake pan would probably work. I see several 6 cup cupcake pans that are about 1" deep and would probably work.
A typical full bundt pan is 12 cups so another option is to not make individual or mini cakes and just make a full cake. I might do this even though I don't have a bundt pan either. I'm considering using a typical 10" tube pan (aka angel food pan).
Ooooh... I just googled pan di spagna to see the typical pan and I think you can use any pan. Several recipes call for two 9" pans or even a loaf - Here's another one from Gina which uses 9" pans or jelly roll pan. After reading the other recipes - I'd say any pan will work.
Perfect! You guys are the best! I do have a regular-sized bundt pan, and think I'll just use that. (The recipe calls for 8 eggs! Yikes. Need to check the fridge ...)
Shannon, Thanks for the note on grappa quantity. 3 tbsp. sounds like plenty!
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I have to confess that I have purchased new pans, which I really hope I will use again . I purchased these same mini-bundt pans for my niece when she got married (bundt cake being a sort of joke in my family; my aunt saying that the sherry wine cake recipe on the back of the cake box in the 70's is a family recipe; now it is), and thought back then I might like to have them. The confession part is that when I couldn't find any in several Pasadena area stores, and knew I needed them by the end of the week, I actually paid for 1 day delivery from Amazon, and they should be here today. Love internet shopping.
The embarrassing part is that I'm the person who has been throwing out all sorts of barely used things in the kitchen for over a year now. And yes, Colleen, I do think a regular bundt pan will work just fine, as long as you can figure out the baking time.
So add new pans to my new collection of fine polenta, 00 flour, amaretto, pistachios, and what have you. I still think this new hobby so far is way less expensive than the room full of quilting fabrics a dear friend has in her house .
Oh boy...mine are in the oven! Smells good in here!
Of course I have a story about the mess I made of my grappa bottle (it now has a skewer and a half cork in it).
*I used the pan that has 12 mini bundt cups, but I had enough batter to make 22! The the first 12 look great and are glazed, the second 10 are baking now!
We have a bottle of chardonnay grappa which we bought at the Milan airport dutyfree shop last summer; it is still unopened so I have no idea what it tastes like, but that will be answered soon enough.
I went to buy grappa at our State Store (yes, I live in parochial Pennsylvania), and all they had were $50 bottles, and up!
Washington is the same. They only had a $79 dollar bottle. I hate state run liquor store monopolies. She convinced me to use grape brandy instead. I didn't read the fine print until I got home. Bulgaria!
Hi fellow bakers... I couldn't wait to make these little cakes so I made them Monday night and by Tuesday there were all gone!! I loved them!! So did my husband and friends. They were wonderful!! A make again soon recipe! I also 1/2'd the recipe so I made 4 individual little bundt cakes because I found that I had these mini tins in my drawer. I have no idea when I bought them. I admit I did NOT use grappa but substituted Cointreau which gave them a great flavor. I also added tangerine slices to the syrup and filled the little indentation on the top of each cake with them. I will post the photos Sunday after my son who is graduating college tomorrow comes home. I'll try making them with lemoncello next time . See you all Sunday.
I made some with chardonnay grappa (and added a vanilla bean), some with Amaretto, and some with limoncello. Oh my...I'm waiting to sample tonight with Brad. They all look and smell delicious. I won't even walk into the kitchen until dinner, as they are SO tempting!
I had a bit of energy this afternoon, so thought What the Hell, I'll make dessert. I actually had mini bundt pans leftover from my Family Childcare days (we used to bake on Fridays so each child could take home a mini cake). But since I then discovered I'd run out of cooking spray, and couldn't cope with greasing all those little nooks I used my large bundt pan. The mixture filled it halfway, and baked in 46 minutes. It easily came out of the pan, and looks gorgeous. It was fun to brush with the grappa syrup, and I can't wait to taste it tonght!
I'd LOVE to make a big one of these to take somewhere! Thanks for testing it out. I agree with you about the cooking spray, especially the baking one with the flour already in it! No spray...no bake! (OK, MAYBE in Italy )
My pans came today! And after reading all this good stuff, I'm ready to go, but unlike Amy, I do not think I have that Friday afternoon energy burst. I will have some cakes to take with us to the Pink Martini picnic concert on Sunday afternoon - that is my goal.
I'm making mine either today or tomorrow. Good to read about your success with the large Bundt pan, Amy. I'll be going that route too. And I too will be using brandy instead of grappa.
The downside of using the large pan is that you get less of the booze-soaked, slightly crunchy outer layer! Next time I'm definitely going to use the small pans.
And yes, it was delicious. I saved a bit of the syrup to sweeten some whipping cream and drizzle over the slices.
Thanks Terry. We just arrived home from Chris's graduation and it was a beautiful ceremony. Words can't describe how proud I was. No more telling him do your paper!!
Chris just put my cake photos on the computer so here goes .......
. I purchased these same mini-bundt pans for my niece when she got married (bundt cake being a sort of joke in my family; my aunt saying that the sherry wine cake recipe on the back of the cake box in the 70's is a family recipe; now it is), and thought back then I might like to have them. The confession part is that when I couldn't find any in several Pasadena area stores, and knew I needed them by the end of the week, I actually paid for 1 day delivery from Amazon, and they should be here today. Love internet shopping.
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that I definitely won't be using!
She convinced me to use grape brandy instead. I didn't read the fine print until I got home. Bulgaria! 
