National Bundt Day

It's National Bundt Day! And I didn't want to miss out of this holiday (?) so I'm scheduling this to post while I'm away for the weekend. My aunt is getting married this weekend so while you're reading this, chances are I'm all wrapped up in flowers, weightless organza and cake (yummy cake!) 500 miles away!

Before I begin this post I want to tell you about my beautiful Bundt. My husband (then boyfriend) bought this for me for our first Christmas together. He took me to William-Sonoma for my very first time and he took me to see all the marvelous, expensive pans. He said his mom sent him there to pick out a gift for his aunt for Christmas and he wanted my opinion. So we looked through them and I picked my favorite, the Star Bundt Pan. On Christmas Day as I was opening my gifts I got to this one and was confused. I really thought I had opened the wrong gift and I tried to give it back. So to say that I was surprised was an understatement :-) Isn't she pretty?

I have to say the only reason I knew about National Bundt Day is because of the Food Librarian. If you haven't been over there to check out her 30 Days of Bundts, you must check them out immediately! Her collection of Bundt recipes is quite impressive. Funny thing, this recipe, Cinnamon Chocolate Bundt, also comes from her site.

Cinnamon combined with chocolate is one my favorite flavor combinations, really the only thing that could make it better is to add cream cheese! Anyone got a recipe combining all three- that would be a jackpot?! This cake was really good and so so moist. I do think it could have used a touch more cinnamon so I'd add a bit more next time. Otherwise the cake was great.

Cinnamon Chocolate Bundt Cake

from Food Librarian via Sing For Your Supper

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 5 tablespoons cocoa powder
• 2 cups flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Grease a large bundt pan with cooking spray.

Put butter, water, oil, and cocoa in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil. Meanwhile, whisk together flour, sugar, and salt in a mixing bowl. Pour the chocolate mixture into the bowl with the dry ingredients and mix well. Then, add the buttermilk and baking soda. Mix together the eggs, cinnamon, and vanilla in a small bowl, and add to the batter.

Pour batter into prepared pan.Bake 25 minutes. Allow cake to cool completely in the pan.

Happy National Bundt Day! Make and eat a bundt!

Need a bundt? Give these a try:

• Blueberry Sour Cream Bundt Cake
• Dr. pepper Bundt Cake
• Chocolate Zucchini Bundt Cake
• German Chocolate Cake Bundt
• Lemon Pound Cake Bundt with Berries
• Cinderella (Pumpkin) Bundt Cake
• Blueberry Pound Cake Bundt

Lovely Lady Bundts

Sunday is National Bundt Day! I have another bundt lined up for then, but here's one I made a while back from Coleen of Coleen's Recipes. She makes a bit of everything and if you haven't been to her blog, head on over there now. And she updates with 5 new recipes a week- that's dedication!

This is a VERY moist sour cream bundt cake loaded with blueberries. Running through the center of the bundt and on the bottom is a nutty cinnamon streusel and to gild the lily is a simple powdered sugar glaze :-) I liked this bundt and thought it was really simple to make. The flavors were all really tasty and there's a bit of lemon zest in it to brighten things up.

There's a lot of yummy goodness in this bundt, but I thought it was a tad too sweet for my liking. I would make this again but I don't think it needs the streusel or the glaze. It's perfectly perfect on it's own. If you want to add the streusel, I suggest reducing the amount of sugar in the bundt and leaving off the glaze. But do what you like. That's the beauty of the bundt.

Blueberry Sour Cream Bundt from Coleen's Recipes

Cake:

• 1 cup butter, room temp.
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 1 cup sour cream
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
• 1 3/4 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

Streusel:

• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans

Preheat your oven to 350 and grease and flour a 9" bundt pan.

In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy; beat in eggs one at a time; stir in sour cream, vanilla and lemon zest. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt and stir it into the butter mixture until well blended; fold in blueberries.Spoon half of the batter into the prepared bundt pan.

In a small bowl, combine the brown sugar, cinnamon and pecans. Sprinkle half of the brown sugar mixture over the batter in the pan & top with the second half of the batter. Sprinkle the rest of the brown sugar mixture over the top of everything. Gently swirl a butter knife through the batter a couple of times to irregularly distribute the brown sugar pecan layer. At this point I added a few more blueberries for color, which is completely optional.

Bake the cake for 55 to 60 minutes in preheated oven. Cool cake (in the pan) on a wire rack for about 10 minutes before turning out onto a cake plate. Cool completely before glazing, optional.

NOTE: The glaze I made was just a mixture of powdered sugar and a little vanilla extract and milk. I used about 1 cup powdered sugar, 1 tablespoon milk and 1/2 tsp. vanilla. Add more milk to thin or more sugar to thicken.

See you back here on Sunday for another bundt!

PUMPing It Up!

This is the 5th cupcake I've made along with Ingrid from 3 B's out of Martha's Cupcakes. First we made Cookies and Cream Mini Cheesecakes, then Black Forest Cupcakes, Orange Glazed Strawberry Jam Tea Cakes, Tres Leches Cupcakes and now Pumpkin Brown Butter Cupcakes!

These were my choice because I wanted something simple that didn't require making a frosting and I wanted something quick and seasonal. These filled the bill and I think Ingrid liked them too. At the last minute I decided not to make the brown butter glaze for these because I needed them to travel well and I didn't want the glaze melting in the heat of the car. It was 80 degrees here on Saturday.

So I made a couple changes, I omitted the sage, added pumpkin pie spice because I didn't have cloves, and added cinnamon chips and a sprinkling of cinnamon sugar to the top. These were so good. The recipe made 15 cupcakes and I gave a dozen of them away to a couple friends of mine that I met up with this past weekend. So Aaron, Mr. H and I each got one. They were rich and sweet, spicy and so moist. The pumpkin and the brown butter flavors were definitely apparent and the cinnamon chips added a nice sweetness and texture to the cupcakes.

I definitely plan on making these again using the original recipe with the brown butter glaze. I have posted both recipes below so you can make whichever version you prefer! You should definitely give these a try. Head on over to Ingrid's to check out her brown butter glazed version.

Pumpkin Brown Butter & Cinnamon Chip Cupcakes

• 3/4 cup unsalted butter
• 1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 1/8 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
• 1 cup homemade pumpkin puree
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup cinnamon chips, plus more for sprinkling on top
• 2 tablespoons cinnamon sugar

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Place muffin liners in tin and set aside.

In a saucepan, melt the butter over medium-low heat and continue to cook, swirling occasionally, until butter turns golden brown. Skim foam from top, and remove from heat. Pour into a bowl to stop the cooking, leaving any burned bits behind; let cool.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. In another bowl, whisk together the pumpkin puree, both sugars, eggs, and brown butter mixture. Add the flour mixture, and whisk until just combined. Fold in cinnamon chips until evenly distributed. Top each cupcake with a few more cinnamon chips and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar (about 1/8 teaspoon per cupcake).

Divide the batter evenly among lined cups, filling each one 3/4 full. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until a cake tester comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool completely before removing cupcakes.

To finish, dip top of each cupcake in icing (recipe follows), then turn over quickly and let set. Cupcakes are best eaten the day they are glazed; keep at room temperature until ready to serve.

Makes 15 cupcakes

Pumpkin Brown Butter Cupcakes from Martha's Cupcakes

• 3/4 cup unsalted butter
• 1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup fresh sage leaves, cut into a chiffonade (optional)
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 cup canned pure pumpkin puree
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Place muffin liners in tin or butter and flour and set aside.

In a saucepan, melt the butter over medium-low heat.Add the sage if desired, and continue to cook, swirling occasionally, until butter turns golden brown. Skim foam from top, and remove from heat. Pour into a bowl to stop the cooking, leaving any burned bits behind; let cool.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. In another bowl, whisk together the pumpkin puree, both sugars, eggs, and brown butter mixture. Add the flour mixture, and whisk until just combined.

Divide the batter evenly among lined cups, filling each one 3/4 full. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until a cake tester comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool completely before removing cupcakes.

To finish, dip top of each cupcake in icing (recipe follows), then turn over quickly and let set. Cupcakes are best eaten the day they are glazed; keep at room temperature until ready to serve.

Makes 15 cupcakes

NOTE: Cupcakes can be stored overnight at room temperature, or frozen (unglazed) for up to 2 months, in airtight containers.

Brown Butter Icing

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 2 cups sifted powdered sugar
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons milk, plus more if needed

Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat, swirling pan occasionally, until nut-brown in color, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat, and pour butter into bow, leaving any burned sediment behind.

Add powdered sugar, vanilla, and 2 tablespoons milk to brown butter, stir til smooth. If necessary, add more milk (up to 2 more tablespoons) a little at a time, just until icing is spreadable. Use immediately.

Congratulations to #26- Christy from Christy's Kitchen Creations and #53- Tamilyn from Butter My Kitchen. They are the lucky winners of my giveaway! You'll both be receiving the McCormick Holiday Baking Pack and a bag of Hershey's Cinnamon Chips. Send me your address and I'll get them out to you as soon as I can.

What will you bake up with these goodies? Maybe these cupcakes? Inquiring minds want to know! Congrats ladies!

Yeast Rolls In About An Hour. No Really!

I love my KitchenAid. But I don't utilize it as much as I probably should or could. I make 90% of all my recipes in a large mixing bowl with a spoonula (love those things!) or a whisk. Why? Because I think it's easier and that's how I grew up doing things. And because that sucker is heavy and it's hard to tote around the kitchen. And because I hate hand washing the bowl. I feel that way about my Silpats too.

But as soon as I saw this recipe on Erin Cooks, I printed out the recipe then headed to the kitchen to try for myself if in fact the KitchenAid 60-Minute Dinner Roll was really as good as it sounded. Was I done in 60 minutes? It was more like 75 minutes because I let the dough rise a bit longer and because I took time to take pictures, but it was pretty quick for yeast rolls!

The recipe calls for 3 packets of yeast. That's a lot of yeast for one recipe, but that's why it works. It's like yeast bread on steroids and it grows and rises at a rapid rate because there's so much of it, thus reducing the time it takes to rise. There is no kneading the dough by hand. You just mix it in your KitchenAid for a couple minutes, turn it out into a bowl and watch it perform magic.

After 15-20 minutes you cut the dough into 24 pieces to form 24 rolls. I wanted clover-leaf style rolls so I cut each ball into thirds then placed them into the greased muffin tin. I liked this style because there's no need to cut the dough in half at the end. You just break apart the roll and slather them with butter. And kids think they're fun to eat.

These rolls were really great especially for as quick as they were. I brushed them with a little salted melted butter at the end when they came out of the oven, per Erin's suggestion. They were buttery and toasty on the edges and soft in the inside. This made a lot of rolls (24) so we ate what we wanted then froze the rest. They were excellent reheated in the oven and they tasted fresh each time. These would be great for Thanksgiving as well. Spend a little over an hour making these this weekend and have one less this to worry about on Turkey Day!

KitchenAid 60-Minute Dinner Rolls

adapted from Erin Cooks

Makes 24 large cloverleaf dinner rolls

• 1/2 cup low-fat milk
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 3 packages (or 6 3/4 tsps.) of dry active yeast
• 1 1/2 cups warm water (105F – 115F)
• 5 – 6 cups all-purpose flour

In a small saucepan, stir milk, sugar, salt and butter together. Heat over low heat until butter melts and sugar dissolves. Cool until lukewarm.

Dissolve yeast in warm water in warmed mixer bowl. Add lukewarm milk mixture and 4 1/2 cups flour to yeast mixture, and using a dough hook, mix on low speed for about 1 minute. With the mixer still going, add remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, and mix about 1 1/2 minutes, or until dough starts to clean the sides of the bowl. Knead on low speed for about 2 more minutes, or until dough is smooth and elastic – the dough will still be slightly sticky to the touch.

Place dough in a greased bowl, turning it to grease the top. Cover the dough with a clean, dry dish towel, and let it rise in a warm place, free from draft, for about 15 minutes (I let mine rise for about 20-22 minutes).

Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface, and divide into 24 equal pieces. Then divide each piece into thirds and roll into balls. Place 3 mini dough balls into each muffin cup. Cover the muffin pan with the dish towel, and let the dough rise for about 15 minutes.

Bake at 425ºF for 12 minutes, or until the rolls are golden brown. Remove from pans immediately, and cool on wire racks. Brush with melted butter if desired.

NOTE: You can also shape the dough into 24 balls and set them into a greased 9x13 baking dish rather than make clover-leaf rolls. If you make the full recipe you will only be able to fit around 12 rolls in the baking dish at a time.

These were especially delicious piping hot out of the oven, slathered with cinnamon honey butter. Oh my goodness my mouth is watering again!

On A Roll

Pumpkin Cinnamon Streusel Buns. Ah, yes. I've wanted to make this recipe since I saw it a year ago on Cookie Baker Lynn's blog. I don't frequent her blog but these caught my eye and I've had them bookmarked for far too long. Last weekend, they got their moment in the spotlight.

These pumpkin cinnamon rolls were delicious and moist and tender- everything you want in a cinnamon roll and more. I know many people fiend over Cinnabon, but to tell you the truth I can't stand 'em. I think they're too big, they're gooey and they're far too sweet for my taste. I prefer a more understated cinnamon roll with a simple glaze and these filled the bill.

As the title of these states, the dough is made with pureed pumpkin. The pumpkin is mild and takes a back seat to the cinnamon but it provides a lot of moisture and keeps the bun from drying out. it also makes the final product a lovely shade of gold. I made them with canned pumpkin puree because I made these before I made my homemade roasted pumpkin puree. The cinnamon filling was also different than I was used to. Instead of slathering the dough with butter then spreading the cinnamon sugar, you cut only 2 tablespoons of butter into the cinnamon sugar mixture and sprinkle it over the dough, thus using less butter. And before you start thinking 'more butter is more better' believe me when I tell you that you won't miss the extra calories- there's less than a stick of butter in this entire recipe. And did I forget to mention these are from Cooking Light? Well they are, but they surely don't taste like it!

I also prepared them through the second resting stage and refrigerated them on Saturday night. The following morning I took the rolls out of the refrigerator and let them rest at room temperature for 30 minutes before baking them. We had them for breakfast Sunday morning with minimal effort. I baked them for 20 or so minutes, let then cool for 10, then glazed them. The only changes I made tot he recipe were to add pumpkin pie spice to the glaze and to bake them in a larger pan than the recipe calls for because I didn't think they would fit in a 9-inch square pan. That's it.

Make these this weekend. They are like fall in yo mouth!

Pumpkin Cinnamon Streusel Buns from Cooking Light Buns:

• 1 package dry yeast (about 2 1/4 teaspoons)
• 1/4 cup warm water (100° to 110°)
• 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, divided* (see note)
• 1/2 cup fresh pumpkin puree* (see note)
• 1/2 cup 1% low-fat milk
• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
• 1 1/4 teaspoons salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• Cooking spray
• 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 3 tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons chilled butter, cut into small pieces

Glaze:

• 3/4 cup sifted powdered sugar
• 1 tablespoon hot water
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

To prepare the buns, dissolve yeast in warm water in a large bowl; let stand for 5 minutes. Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups, and level with a knife. Add 2 cups flour, pumpkin, and next 5 ingredients (pumpkin through nutmeg); beat with a mixer at medium speed until smooth. Turn dough out onto a floured surface. Knead until smooth and elastic (about 10 minutes); add enough of the remaining 3/4 cup flour, 1 tablespoon at a time, to prevent dough from sticking to hands (dough will feel tacky).

Place the dough in a large bowl coated with cooking spray, turning to coat top. Cover and let rise in a warm place (85°), free from drafts, for 45 minutes or until doubled in size. (Press two fingers into the dough. If an indentation remains, the dough has risen enough.)

Combine 3 tablespoons granulated sugar, brown sugar, 2 tablespoons flour, and cinnamon in a small bowl. Cut in butter with a pastry blender or 2 knives until mixture resembles coarse meal.

Punch dough down; cover and let rest for 5 minutes. Roll the dough into a 12 x 10-inch rectangle on a floured surface. Sprinkle with brown sugar mixture. Roll up the rectangle tightly, starting with a long edge, pressing firmly to eliminate air pockets; pinch seam and ends to seal. Cut roll into 12 (1-inch) slices. Place slices in a 9-inch square baking pan coated with cooking spray. Cover and let rise 25 minutes or until doubled in size.

Preheat oven to 375°.

Bake the rolls at 375° for 20 minutes or until golden brown. Cool for 15 minutes in pan on a wire rack.

To prepare the glaze, combine the powdered sugar, 1 tablespoon water, and vanilla extract in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk until smooth. Drizzle glaze over buns. Serve warm.

NOTE: To make these year-round, substitute canned pumpkin puree for the fresh and add an extra cup of all-purpose flour. You need to add the extra cup of flour if using the canned puree because the canned variety has more water content and the fresh pumpkin puree is much drier.

Also a helpful tip in cutting the cinnamon roll log is to score it half, then into quarters, then score each quarter into thirds so that each roll will be the same size once sliced. A serrated knife helps when slicing the sticky dough. Be sure to saw back and forth rather than pressing straight down with the knife.

Ingrid, I saved one for you.