Classic Bundt Cake

Yesterday the baking Guru was up to her usual business in the kitchen--- 2 loaves of whole wheat sandwich bread, 2 loaves of oatmeal whole wheat sandwich bread, one large loaf of cinnamon swirl, and a batch of vanilla w/ dark chocolate chunk muffins... the muffins are gone. the cinnamon swirl is nearly gone. 1 1/2 loaves of sandwich bread demolished... (I live with my two cousins Jack and Jamie, 17 and 15 respectively. Together, we eat lots of bread)
To go with dinner tonight she pulled out a big round of french bread she had baked last week and frozen... and for dessert she was up to her usual tricks with an orange bundt cake with strawberry coulis. This cake was in honor of my cousin Jack's going away party (he's going to intern in Austria for 3 months) which he is having with his friends as we speak. But bundt cakes are the norm around here. I've probably sampled 20 different varieties since last fall... we've had chocolate and vanilla, chocolate/vanilla swirl, classic yellow, lemon, orange, apple, lemon poppy seed, regular poppy seed... the list goes on and on. This recipe is for a classic yellow which is the base for who knows how many variations. Lemon and orange have passed the Guru's test as you can see by her hand written notes (stars). Definitely a safe recipe if you're looking to bake a bundt.

Classic Yellow Bundt
serves 12
(from the America's Test Kitchen Baking book)

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup buttermilk, room temperature
1 T vanilla extract
1 T fresh lemon juice
2 1/4 sticks unsalted butter, cut into chunks and softened
2 cups sugar
3 large eggs, room temp.
1 large egg yolk, room temp.

1. Adjust the oven rack to the lower-middle position and heat to 350 degrees. Prepare a 12 cup bundt pan with butter and flour. Whisk the flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda together in a medium bowl. In a small bowl whisk the buttermilk, vanilla, and lemon juice together.
2. In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar together w an electric mixer on med speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 6 minutes. Beat in the eggs and egg yolk, one at a time, until combined, about 1 minute.
3. Reduce the mixer speed to low and beat in one-third of the flour mixture followed by half of the buttermilk mixture. beat in the remaining flour mixture until just incorporated.
4. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Wipe any drops of batter off the sides of the pan and gently tap the pan on the counter to settle the batter. Bake the cake until a wooden skewer inserted into the center comes out w a few moist crumbs attached, 50 to 60 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through baking.
5. Let the cake cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then flip it out onto a wire rack. Let the cake cool completely, about 2 hours, before serving.

Variations:
Orange
Add 2 T grated fresh orange zest and 2 T orange juice to the buttermilk with the vanilla and lemon juice.
Lemon
Increase the amount of lemon juice to 3 T and add 3 T grated fresh lemon zest to the buttermilk w the vanilla and juice.