Halloween Baking: Apple Cider Poundcake

When I was little, I loved going trick-or-treating with my friends at Halloween. I remember one year in preschool I went as a Hershey Bar (and an adorable one at that, duh), and then as I got older I just watched scary movies and passed candy out to the neighborhood kids. Once I was in college, I didn't really do anything until they started the Haunted Hillsborough Hike my senior year. That year I was a magic 8 ball. It was an interactive costume and everything! And then another year I was Wilma Flintstone, which was probably one of my better costumes...until this year.

Now, when it comes to Halloween costumes, my best ideas have always been classic 90s characters (shocker, I know), but I've never really been able to/got around to following through with them. But when one of my best friends, Katie, and her husband decided to have a Halloween party, I knew I needed to finally make one of them happen (I won't reveal the other two because I'm saving those for future years).

BAM!

If you don't know who I am, then shame on you, because pretty much everyone figured it out without me telling them! It was awesome! I was super proud of it. The trench coat I got specifically because I wanted to wear it again, and the hat I bought from Target and spray painted it red (it was originally purple). Of course, the only fail was multiple people telling me they found me! I'm not a very good Carmen Sandiego in that regards, I guess. There were plenty of other fantastic costumes: the 10th Doctor, the TARDIS, a heavy metal rocker, Abe Lincoln Vampire Hunter, Richard Simmons, Batman, Rosie the Riveter, and plenty more. Overall it was a fun night!

But, on to the baking, which is why you read this thing, right? You mean you don't enjoy my silly random stories? Whatevs, I'll be telling them anyways :) 

So because the party was on Halloween, which was Wednesday this year, I wanted to bake, but bake something that was fairly simple because of my busy week. And since it's fall fall and everything fall (you know how much I love fall), an Apple Cider Pound cake seemed like the perfect choice. And let me tell you, this was one serious pound cake. 

After mixing together three cups flour, 1/2 tsp salt, and 1/2 tsp baking powder, I added in the spices: 1 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp nutmeg, and 1/8 tsp ground cloves.

Now, it's Halloween time, and I swear I did not dump my spices in this way on purpose. It just kind of happened. I looked down into the bowl, and just started giggling to myself.

Baking ghost! Aaaaah!

After that fun little hilarity, I mixed three cups sugar with three (yes, three) softened sticks of butter (1.5 cups).

Once that was nice and fluffy, I added in SIX eggs. So. many. eggs. One at a time, mixing well after each one. Then it was time to prep the apple cider!! One of the brilliant things about this recipe was that I didn't have to go to the store and buy a single special ingredient. Why? Because I can make apple cider with my Keurig!!

It was also kind of hilarious putting my measuring cup under the Keurig while it brewed since I needed one cup (and I had to make sure it was the right amount!)

I mixed in 1 tsp vanilla into the cider, and then alternately poured the flour mixture and the apple cider into the sugar/butter/egg mixture until it was all combined. Then poured it into my greased bundt pan.

I baked the cake at 325 for probably about 85 minutes...I started out at 70, but because the batter was so thick, I kept adding on time to make sure it was fully done. 

And the end result?

VERY DELICIOUS. The texture was perfect. You could just break off a piece cleanly (well, after you cut off a piece, you could break off a piece of that piece), you don't even really need a fork and plate because it held together so well. And it wasn't dried out at all, and just the right amount of spices. I'm definitely a big fan of this one, and will for sure make it again.

I LOVE FALL BAKING!!!

Pumpkin Spice Latte Bundt Cake with Espresso Whipped Cream

I love fall. I love the colors the leaves turn. I love the crisp air as I watch football. I love mums. I love apples and warm spices. I love the NC State fair. I love boots and sweater dresses. But most importantly, I love PUMPKIN. Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Lattes, International Delight Pumpkin Spice creamer, Krispy Kreme pumpkin donuts, pumpkin pie, pumpkin muffins (not pumpkin cream pasta sauce though...attempted to make that once and it was a disaster, so never again!), pumpkin cheesecake, pumpkin bread, pumpkin butter bars, etc. You kind of get where I'm going with this.

So, while trolling Pinterest I found a recipe for a Pumpkin Spice Latte Bundt Cake recipe, that included a recipe for homemade espresso whipped cream. My mouth instantly started watering. I love a simple bundt cake...way easier than a regular cake, plus it has a fun shape to it. And this one, my friends, was a winner. Most importantly, hours later, my apartment still smells of delicious pumpkin and spice.

You start by combining 2 cups flour, 1/2 tsp baking soda, 1 tsp baking powder, 1/4 tsp salt, and 2 tsps pumpkin pie spice in a medium mixing bowl.

In your mixer, combine a softened stick of butter (1/2 cup) and 1 cup sugar for 2 minutes until light and fluffy.

After adding in two eggs, you'll add in 1 cup of pure pumpkin puree.

Then add in half the flour mixture, 1 cup milk, and then the rest of the flour mixture, mixing until incorporated after each addition.

Once your batter is prepared, pour it into a greased bundt pan, and pop it in the oven at 350 for 50-55 minutes! Easy peasy!

The espresso whipped cream was the easiest thing to make too. You just combine 2 cups cold heavy whipping cream, 3 tablespoons sugar, 2 tablespoons ice cold coffee (I used some Starbucks...it's not technically espresso, but it's what I have ha), and 2 teaspoons unsweetened cocoa powder.

Just mix with your whisk attachment on your mixer on high speed for 4-5 minutes (tip: start on a low speed and as it stiffens, increase the speed).

And then you slice yourself a piece and top it with some whipped cream and OH.EM.GEE.

Seriously amazing. It really does taste almost like a PSL (with a hint of cocoa from the whipped cream). The cake is dense, yet moist, the absolute perfect texture. I kind of wish I hadn't told one of my coworkers I was bringing it in to the office tomorrow morning because I would totally have kept it and eaten all of it myself all week!

Neapolitan Zebra Bundt Cake

I'm not sure if I've said this before, but I'll say it again. I looooooooove strawberry and chocolate together. Love. So anything Neapolitan is amazing to me. My favorite cake from my favorite bakery is the Neapolitan cake. If I buy a carton of ice cream, I typically gravitate towards the Neapolitan. I just love it all. Got that? Okay. I'll stop talking about my adoration for it now. 

Because of this love, after seeing this on Pinterest, I just knew I had to make it. Plus, it looked really really cool. I'm really into the idea of cutting into something and having it look completely different from what you would expect just looking at the outside. 

You start with a looooooot of butter. Five sticks, or 2.5 cups or 40 tablespoons, however you want to look at it. In the original recipe, she uses cottage cheese, but I didn't want to do that, so I substituted in the butter. Because deep down I'm like Paula Deen and think that the more butter the better.

You melt down the butter, and then let it cool. So. Much. Butter.

In your mixer, you'll pour three cups of sugar, and then add in the cooled butter, and mix on medium-low speed for three minutes.

Once that has come together, you add in one tablespoon vanilla and one teaspoon salt, and mix well.

To go along with the lots of butter. You then have lots of eggs! Add six eggs, one at a time, and make sure you mix thoroughly (about 20 seconds) after each addition. Because of the way the batter was, it took a few spins for the yolk eventually to break up. Maybe that is something that just happened to me, but it made me laugh watching the yolk spin around on top of the batter (hey, we bakers have a strange sense of humor, okay?)

With the mixer on low speed, add in three cups of flour, one at a time.

Once the base batter is done, you'll want to divide it evenly into three bowls so you can make your layers! To make the strawberry layer, you pour 1/4 cup of strawberry Jell-o mix into the batter and then mix together. Totally weird, right? I never would have thought to add strawberry jello mix to get that flavor (since I've never made a strawberry flavored cake other than boxed), but apparently that is what you do! I'm glad to have learned that because now I might make strawberry cupcakes with chocolate frosting one day.

I also didn't use the mixer to add in the strawberry and chocolate (which, it's 1/3 cup of cocoa powder to create the chocolate layer). Instead I used my awesome arm muscles to stir like a mad woman to make sure it was mixed well together. 

Now, creating the zebra affect was a little complicated. Because I couldn't quite understand exactly how the original baker did it (maybe my brain isn't working), so I just kind of made it up as I went.

And then I baked it for about 65 minutes at 350 degrees. And then cooled for about 5 minutes in the pan and then let it cool all the way.

You're technically supposed to make a glaze. Which I'll be honest, I attempted. But it was a fail. But I think it'll be fine without it.

My friend Megan came over for a trashy tv night, so we had a slice of cake, some vanilla ice cream, and a glass of Biltmore Chenin Blanc wine to go along with our Sister Wives and Tough Love viewings!

Overall, the cake was very tasty. It was a bit gooey (but not under-cooked)...I don't know if that's because of the insane amount of butter, or because of the jello. But what can you do? Especially since I baked it a long time, and any longer it would have burnt. And the "zebra" look didn't really look....zebra. It looked more layered, but I was kind of expecting that. Maybe other slices will have more of that look to it. We will see. Either way, I liked it and the mixture of flavors was really delicious!

Also, on a side note, this happened today:

Just to warn you, don't drop your phone on the concrete. It may sound like a good idea, but it isn't. I really wish my warranty covered clumsiness. I might just tell people I was shot at, and the bullet hit my phone since that main part at the top looks like it was hit with a bullet. 

Nutella Swirl Bundt Cake

For Christmas this year, one of the gifts my parents got me was a bundt pan! I've been wanting one for awhile, and saving up recipes for when I finally got one. I also did a little pinterest hunting for more recipes too so that I could get as much out of the pan as possible!

And with my lifelong love of Nutella, I stumbled across a Nutella Swirl Bundt Cake, and that sprang to the top of my baking list! Now mine was baked in a 10 cup bundt pan. The recipe I had was for a 6 cup one, so I did 1.5 of the recipe for 9 cups of batter. However, the one problem with this was that it didn't quite fill my pan the way it would have had it been the better amount of batter, but what can you do? So if you have a 6 cup or 12 cup, just do the math accordingly!

Start with 2 cups cake flour, 1.5 tsp baking powder, and a pinch of salt.

In your electric mixer, beat 12 tablespoons softened butter with 1.5 cup sugar. You'll want to beat it for about three minutes under it's nice and fluffy.

Then after scraping down the bowl, add 1.5 tsp vanilla extract.

And three large eggs, one at a time, mixing for about 20 seconds between each addition.

You'll then add 3/4 cup milk and the flour into the batter. You'll want to alternate...starting with milk and ending with flour, and divide everything into thirds to make sure it's all well incorporated.

Now to create the Nutella swirl part of the cake!

You'll want to mix about 1/2 a cup of Nutella (I guestimated whether or not that was 1/2 a cup) with one egg to loosen up the nutella so it's easy to combine with some batter.

You'll then want to mix about 1/3 of your cake batter with the Nutella/egg mixture. I accidentally poured too much in with the Nutella, but oh well, that just means the Nutella section was bigger!

Then after spraying your pan with Baking Joy so it'll be easy to pop the cake out in the end, you'll layer a section of plain batter, then Nutella batter, and then the last of the plain batter.

And then take a knife and create the swirl!

You'll want to bake it at 350 degrees for 45-50 minutes (until a knife stuck in the cake comes out clean) and cool it in the pan for 15 minutes before popping it out and letting it finish cooling on a rack!

I didn't get a good angle of it, but my cake puffed up kind of funny on the "bottom" part, so it looked a little like a UFO!

Mmmm just look at that swirl! I brought some to some of my friends, and then took the rest of the cake to work. I take the fact that it all pretty much disappeared by 10 in the morning as a good sign that it was delicious to people other than me!