Pumpkin Pound Cake-Breakfast or Dessert?

 Well, Happy Fall Y'all!! I'd like to introduce to you my friend Pumpkin Pound Cake with Cinnamon Glaze!

Last week, my husband told me that he was having a Bake Sale at work.(They have these once a month to raise funds for employee events.) I try to make something for him every time.  Now that Fall is here, I decided to make something to match the season. That and I was dying to find an excuse to make these!!

First, let me tell you. When I found this recipe, it was listed as a dessert? And the recipe calls for a regular sized bundt cake pan. I used my minis. One: because they are so cute and two: it made more sense for the Bake Sale to have them individually packaged? But after sampling one (or two-it was research), I'm thinking it also makes a delicious breakfast treat. Warm it up in the morning for 20 seconds in the microwave and have with your favorite cup of coffee...pure deliciousness. Now, I wouldn't recommend this as a daily breakfast item, but for a nice little treat now and then? If you can buy that cinnamon roll or muffin at Starbucks to accompany your beverage, why not, once in awhile enjoy this "dessert" for breakfast.

Here's the recipe: 

Pumpkin Pound Cake With Cinnamon Glaze

Ingredients

Cake

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon ground ginger
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 1/2 cups unsalted butter, softened
• 2 cups sugar
• 6 eggs
• 1 (15 ounce) cans pumpkin puree
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Glaze

• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
• 1 (3 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 1/4 cups powdered sugar, sifted
• 2 -3 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
• 1/3 cup coarsely chopped walnuts

Directions

1. For Cake: Heat oven to 325 degrees farenheit. Grease 12-cup Bundt pan with shortening. Sprinkle with flour; tap pan to remove excess flour.
2. In medium bowl, whisk together flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking powder, salt and nutmeg.
3. In large bowl, beat 1 1/2 c butter and sugar at medium speed 2 minutes or until light and fluffy. Add eggs two at a time, beating well after each addition. At low speed, beat in pumpkin and 1 tsp vanilla until well-blended. Slowly add flour mixture, beating just until incorporated. Spoon batter into pan.
4. Bake 1 hr and 20 minutes to 1 hr and 30 mminutes or until deep golden brown and wooden skewer inserted in center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack for 15 minutes. Invert cake onto wire rack; cool completely.
5. For glaze: In large bowl, beat butter, cream cheese, vanilla, and cinnamon at low speed for 1 minute. Slowly beat in powdered sugar until smooth. Beat in cream until mixture reaches desired consistency. Pour glaze over cake; arrange nuts in a ring around the top rim of the cake. Let stand until glaze is set.

I got the recipe from here. The only thing I changed is the glaze.  After making the glaze, I put it in a microwavable POURABLE container like this. I microwaved it for 30 seconds, stirred it up a little and then poured it over the mini bundt cakes. It was so much easier than trying to drizzle it with a spoon. And I prefer the glaze to be a little thin. Plus, I didn't use nuts. Not because I don't like them, but because I didn't have any on hand. :(

I used these for the pans but I saw these at Michael's the other day. I'm thinking I might have to grab one!  They seem so much easier than trying to place and remove 8 individual pans in the oven?

There it is...I can't wait for you to try. I'm curious. Do you think that they a dessert or breakfast treat?  Hmmm...

Salted Caramel Cupcakes-yummm...

I had trouble deciding what my birthday treat was going to be. I wanted to make something that I love. I usually make chocolate cupcakes or chocolate cake because MOST everyone loves Chocolate. But when I saw this post, I KNEW that I NEEDED them to make my birthday complete. They are yummy deliciousness!!

After making the cupcakes from the site's recipe, I felt they came out too dense for me, so I switched up my recipe (for the cupcake part) slightly from the site and made a new batch. I was sooo happy with the change.  Here's the recipe with a few of my tweaks:

Salted Caramel Cupcakes Cupcakes   

Makes 36 cupcakes

• 3 cups cake flour, (not self-rising), sifted
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 9 ounces (2 sticks plus 2 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened
• 2 1/4 cups sugar
• 5 large eggs plus 3 large yolks, room temperature
• 2 cups buttermilk, room temperature
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Whisk dry ingredients in a large bowl. Cream butter and sugar with a mixer until light and fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating after each addition.  Reduce speed to low. Mix remaining wet ingredients in a bowl. Add dry ingredients to butter mixture in 3 additions, alternating with wet ingredients and ending with dry. Scrape sides of bowl. Divide batter among muffin cups, filling each full. Bake cupcakes until testers inserted into centers come out clean, about 20 minutes. Let cool in tins on wire racks.

Salted Caramel Filling:

• 1 cup sugar
• 6 tablespoons salted butter cubed
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons heavy cream, at room temperature

Melt the sugar over medium  high heat in a large pot.  Whisk the sugar as it melts and cook until it becomes a deep amber color. Add the butter and stir it in until melted. Pour in the heavy cream (mixture will foam) and whisk until you get a smooth sauce. You may have some lumps but keep stirring until they have melted.  Remove from heat and let cool slightly.  

 

Cut a small round piece out of the tops of each cooled cupcake and pour in 1 teaspoon of caramel.  Replace the cake piece and set cupcakes aside.

Salted Caramel Buttercream Frosting:

• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 4 tablespoons water
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 sticks salted butter
• 2 sticks unsalted butter
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 3 cups powdered sugar

 

In a saucepan, stir together granulated sugar and water.  Bring to a boil over medium high heat.  Cook without stirring until mixture turns a deep amber color.  Remove from heat and slowly add in cream and vanilla, stirring until very smooth.  Let caramel cool for about 20 minutes, until it is just barely warm and still pourable.

In a mixer fitted with paddle attachment, beat butter and salt together until lightened and fluffy.  Reduce speed to low and add powdered sugar.  Mix until thoroughly combined.

Scrape down the side of the bowl and add the caramel.  Beat on medium high speed until light and airy, and completely mixed (about 2 minutes).  Mixture should be ready to use without refrigeration.  If your caramel was too hot when added, it will cause your icing to be runny.  If this happens refrigerate for 15-20 minutes. 

Top caramel-filled cupcakes with frosting and enjoy!!

Eureka-Coca Cola Makes EVERYTHING better!

So, I was going to try to play it cool and not post blogs so close to each other. I was "supposed to be chill" and "give some time between each post." (That's the advice I got from several people.) But I was too excited to hold onto this one. I feel like it's a disservice to wait!!

Ok, here goes: everyone that knows me knows that I'm not the biggest fan of Chocolate Cake. I like it. I don't love it. I like some Chocolate Cake recipes more than others. I'm kind of a Chocolate Cake Snob. But, I LOVE THIS Chocolate Cake!! LOVE!! What did it take?

THIS:

I stumbled upon this blog last week. It was a recipe for Chocolate Coke Cake. I had never heard of it before but I had a total NEED to try it out. Coincidentally, I had a potluck to attend that same week. I had already planned to bring an appetizer, but then I thought, what better excuse to test this cake out? Omigosh!! Thank goodness I gave in to my need. Yummmm...

Here are the ingredients:



That's all. You probably have all of these in your home. (I was too anxious to make the cake that I forgot the blog protocol of taking photos as you go along. Oopsies.) Anyway, here's the recipe. 

I loved that it was rich, and sweet, and brownie-ish and cake-like all at the same time.  Anyway, I hope that you make time to try this recipe out. This recipe proves my theory correct: Coca Cola makes everything so much better!!