Pumpkin Bundt Cake

Perhaps I'm a toouucchhh late with a pumpkin bundt cake.  It's ok right?  Because you purchased crazy amounts of canned pumpkin in November too?  Exactly, so we both have plenty of pumpkin to be used.

The great thing about bundt cakes is that they're as simple as mixing up a quick bread except they're baked in a crazy pan and voila!  Gourmet.  Cake with a hole in it.

On a slightly unrelated topic, don't try writing a blog post about Pumpkin Bundt Cake while watching The Holiday.  I'll tell you what will happen.  1. You begin blog post at 8:30pm.  2. You type 12 words and then resume typing at 9:45pm.  3. You're appalled at how terrible Cameron Diaz is in this movie.  4. No really, how is she this terrible?  5. You're amazed at how charming Jude Law is despite being blonde and you don't really go for that.  6. You realize you've had your fingers on the keys for 75 minutes.  7. Continue watching The Holiday.

So yeah, this post has been a struggle.  I do it all for my fans though.  I just give and give and give.  Totally selfless.  You're welcome, guys.  All I ask is you make this bundt cake in return.  Or watch The Holiday.  I'm sorry about Cameron Diaz.  

Here's the recipe!  

Ingredients:
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
3 eggs
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoons Pumpkin Pie Spice
1/2 teaspooon salt
1 1/4 cups canned pumpkin puree (not pie mix)
3/4 cup buttermilk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the Icing 1/4 cup butter
1 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1-2 tablespoons milk (to reach desired consistency)

Instructions: 

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter or spray with a nonstick baking spray and flour a bundt pan.  Set aside.  

2.  In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and pumpkin pie spice.  In another bowl, whisk together the pumpkin, buttermilk, and vanilla until smooth.

3.  In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, approximately 4 minutes.  Add eggs and beat until combined.

4.  Reduce speed to low and add flour and pumpkin mixtures, alternating so you begin and end with the flour.  Mix just until incorporated.

5.  Spoon batter into prepared pan and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, about 45-50 minutes. Cool cake in pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes, then invert rack over cake and reinvert cake onto rack.  Allow cake to cool completely before icing.

For the icing: To make the icing, place butter in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally until foam is gone and golden brown.  There should be little brown bits beginning to form in the bottom of the pain and a nutty aroma will develop.  Remove from heat and pour into a medium bowl.  Stir in powdered sugar, vanilla, and milk (1 tablespoon at a time until desired consistency).  Drizzle over cake.  Garnish with sprinkles, if desired.  

**A note:  This cake is wonderfully moist and delicious.  You can absolutely forgo the icing and it would still be delightful.  But brown butter is delightful too.  

Recipe barely adapted from Baker Girl.  

Chocolate Cloud Cake (Gluten free!)

Ok, no more messin' around.  Let's get serious about decadent holiday food.  Bring on the holiday lights and spiked cocoa and spiced rum and mulled wine!  Do I have a drinking problem?  

This little beauty is a Nigella Lawson recipe.  And she is the best ever.  I want to be her.  She's gorgeous, she lives in London, she has a beautiful kitchen and she does everything effortlessly.  I find her show (which doesn't air much in the US because I don't even know why) to be so comforting.  It's like a slice of life that is totally not my life at all.

So, in lieu of moving to London and living Nigella's life, I've made this cake.  It's super rich and intensely chocolately.  The top will puff up and then sink down and that's tooottally ok.  Just cover it in dollops of freshly whipped cream.  

I've found that dollops of freshly whipped cream tend to be the solution to many a thing.  Or a bag of Doritos.  That's a solution too.  

Here's the recipe!  

Ingredients

9 oz bittersweet chocolate, minimum 70%
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
6 eggs, 2 whole, 4 separated
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract

For the whipped cream: 

2 cups heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder, for garnish

Instructions

1.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line the bottom of a 9 inch springform pan with baking parchment.
2.  Melt the chocolate either in a double boiler or a microwave (in 30 second intervals), then add the butter and let it melt in the warm chocolate.
3.  Beat the 2 whole eggs and 4 egg yolks with 1/3 cup of the sugar, then gently add the chocolate mixture.  Add vanilla extract.
4.  In another bowl (or using a stand mixer), whisk the 4 egg whites until foamy, then gradually add the remaining sugar and whisk until the whites hold their shape but are not too stiff. 

5.  Lighten the chocolate mixture with a dollop of egg whites and stir to combine.  Then fold in the rest of the whites gently so they don't deflate.  

6.  Pour batter into the prepared pan and bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until the cake is risen and cracked and the center is no long wobbly. Cool the cake in its pan on a wire rack.  The middle will sink as it cools.
Prepare the whipped cream:
Whip the cream in a stand mixer in high speed until it's soft and then add the vanilla extract.  Whip until the cream is firm but not stiff.  Fill the center of the cake with the whipped cream, easing it out gently towards the edges of the cake, and dust the top lightly with cocoa powder pushed through a tea-strainer.

Enjoy!

Recipe barely adapted from Nigella Lawson