A similar version of this recipe has been in my family since the 1980s. I've made a few small adjustments to make it my own, but it's just as delicious as the ones my mom would bake. It's moist, keeps well and one bundt cake can feed a crowd!
Preheat oven to 350F and grease and flour a 12 cup bundt pan.
In a bowl combine the dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, salt and poppy seeds.
Stir together the milk and extracts.
Cream together the butter, orange zest and sugar until light and fluffy.
Slowly drizzle in the oil while mixing, then add the eggs and whip until pale, about a minute.
Add the flour and milk mixtures in five additions starting and ending with the flour. Scrape the bowl as needed and don't over mix!
Pour cake batter into the prepared bundt pan and bake for 60-70 minutes. A toothpick inserted should come out cleanly. but it's also important that the cake begin to pull away from the pan a bit.
Let cake cool for five minutes, then turn cake over on a cooling rack and let it slowly release.
Glaze
Once cake has cooled, combine the orange juice and confectioners sugar in a small sauce pan.
Bring the glaze to a boil while constantly stirring.
Turn off the heat and add the extracts, brandy and butter and stir until the butter is melted.
Place bundt cake on a cake plate with a lip and pour glaze over cake.
Notes
This cake needs to bake a long time, so don’t be surprised if it needs an extra 5-15 minutes.
You’ll know it’s done when the cake starts to pull away from the pan. So don’t rely on the toothpick test. If it’s not pulling away, it’s likely to stick.
Don’t let the cake cool in the pan, not only will it bake longer, it’s likely to stick. Let it rest 5 minutes and then flip it over onto a cooling rack.
The cake should fall out on it’s own. don’t bang the pan or it make crack.
I cut off the hump on the bottom of the cake to accentuate the bundt shape. This also helps the cake absorb the glaze that pools on the plate.
Speaking of cake plates, choose one with a lip and glaze the cake on it and not a cooling rack. You want every drop of that liquid gold to be absorbed into the cake!