Orange Spice Cake

This is the cake that I made for Lesley's birthday party last week. I think it came out well. It's not as sweet as your typical American cake which is nice. It is also easy to make. I made a few substitutions which are listed at the end of the recipe. Both recipes are from the Bundt Classics cookbook.

Orange Spice Cake

1 (18.25 oz) package yellow cake mix

1 (3.4 oz) package instant butterscotch pudding

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup orange juice

1/3 cup butter, softened

1 tsp apple pie spice

1/2 cup chopped almonds, pecans or walnuts

1/2 cup raisins

4 eggs

Heat oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour a 10 or 12 cup Bundt pan. If using a 10 cup pan, fill 3/4 full and make 3 to 4 cupcakes with the remaining batter.

In a large mixing bowl, mix all ingredients. Mix 2 minutes on medium speed. Spoon into prepared pan.

Bake at 325 degrees for 55 to 65 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes. Remove from pan; cool completely on rack. If desired, drizzle with Orange Glaze.

Makes 16 servings

Orange Glaze

2 cups sifted powdered sugar

1 T butter, softened

2 to 4 tablespoons orange juice

1 to 2 teaspoons grated orange peel

In a medium bowl, mix sugar and butter. Gradually add juice until desired consistency; mix until smooth. Stir in orange peel. Use a spoon to drizzle over cake.

My substitutions:

I couldn't find instant butterscotch pudding so I used French vanilla instead. I also substituted cinnamon for the apple pie spice and chocolate chunks for the raisins. For the glaze I used 5 tablespoons orange juice instead of the recommended 4.

In the future I would use chocolate chips instead of chocolate chunks - I think this would prevent the chocolate from sinking to the bottom of the pan (top of the cake). It would also make the cake easier to cut. I would also toast the nuts to intensify their flavor.