Bready or Not Original: Pumpkin-Chocolate-Apple Butter Bundt Cake
There’s something especially cozy and right about a pumpkin and spice bundt cake in the autumn. This Pumpkin-Chocolate-Apple Butter Bundt Cake hits all those notes perfectly… and that took some effort on my part, as I actually had two fail-cakes in the process of developing this recipe.
This isn’t a heavily sweet cake. There is no dense glaze. This cake is really all about pumpkin and spice, with the chocolate and apple butter beautifully complementary.
This is the kind of cake that functions well for breakfast, brunch, or dessert.
Bready or Not Original: Pumpkin-Chocolate-Apple Butter Bundt Cake
Equipment
- 10-cup bundt pan
Ingredients
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder sifted
- 1 1/2 Tablespoons pumpkin spice
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups white sugar
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter softened
- 1/3 cup apple butter
- 3 large eggs room temperature
- 15 ounces pumpkin puree
- 1/2 cup half & half or milk
- confectioners’ sugar to dust top
Instructions
- Preheat oven at 350 degrees. Generously apply nonstick spray to a 10-cup bundt pan.
- Combine the flour, cocoa powder, pumpkin spice, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat together sugar, butter, apple butter, and eggs until no eggy streaks remain. Add pumpkin puree and half & half. Fold in the dry ingredients, scraping bottom of bowl to incorporate everything.
- Pour batter into pan and smooth out the top. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes; the middle of the cake should pass the toothpick test.
- Let cool for 15 minutes. Carefully invert cake onto cooling rack to cool completely.
- Add sprinkling of confectioners’ sugar over the top. Slice and serve. Cake can also be sliced, wrapped, and frozen for later enjoyment.
OM NOM NOM!
A House Between Sea and Sky, 1 month after release
Wow, wow, wow. The reception to this book has been incredible. The book officially came out on October 1st, but through September was an Amazon First Reads pick.
A House Between Sea and Sky spent the first week of October in the top 100 of the worldwide Kindle bestsellers chart. The lowest rank I saw was 32. Holy moley.
As I prepare this post on October 30th, the book has also garnered 3,186 ratings on Amazon, with a 4.4 average. This is just mind-boggling for me.
Thank you to everyone who has bought the book. Thank you to everyone who has asked a library to buy it. Thank you for the word of mouth recommendations and for sharing my posts on social media. It all matters.
Thank you.
Bready or Not Original: Leftover Cranberry Sauce Bundt Cake
I’m sharing this recipe today to help folks out there be prepared for an awesome way to use up leftover cranberry sauce from the holidays: use it to fill this Leftover Cranberry Sauce Bundt Cake.
And if you don’t have cranberry sauce–or the full amount this recipe calls for? Use a thick fruit jelly, jam, or preserve.
The texture of this is like a pound cake, moist and soft. It’s perfect for a breakfast, brunch, or dessert.
Bready or Not Original: Leftover Cranberry Sauce Bundt Cake
Equipment
- 10 cup bundt pan
Ingredients
Cake
- 1 cup leftover cranberry sauce or thick fruit jelly, jam, or preserve
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks) softened
- 1 3/4 cups white sugar
- 3 large eggs room temperature
- 2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup sour cream or plain or vanilla Greek yogurt
Glaze
- 1 cup confectioners’ sugar
- 3 Tablespoons milk or heavy cream
- 1/2 teaspoon clear vanilla extract
Instructions
Make bundt cake
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 10-cup Bundt pan.
- If the cranberry sauce or other filling is cold from the fridge, zap slightly in microwave to bring to room temperature and loosen.
- In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
- Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time. Add the vanilla. Alternate mixing in the flour mixture and sour cream.
- Spoon about half the batter into the pan. Use a spoon to create a deep trench in the batter going all the way around the pan. Spoon in the cranberry sauce to fill the trench, taking care that it doesn’t touch the sides of the pan; if it touches, it may stick and make cake removal trickier.
- Pour the remaining batter over the top. Smooth out.
- Bake for 55 minutes to 1 hour 5 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Remove from the oven and cool for 15 minutes inside the pan. Invert the cake onto a wire rack. Cool cake completely.
Make glaze
- In a bowl, whisk together the confectioners’ sugar, milk, and vanilla. Add more sugar or milk as needed to form a thick texture. Drizzle over the cake. Let set 30 minutes before cutting.
- Cake can be stored under a dome at room temperature. It can also be sliced and individually wrapped to freeze.
OM NOM NOM!
Bready or Not: Rye Sourdough Discard Crackers
I recently shared my Super Easy Sourdough Crackers recipe. Today’s take involves more ingredients but it’s still a pretty straightforward recipe.
These Rye Sourdough Crackers include rye (it’s there in the name!), which, if you’re maintaining a starter, you’re likely to have around, anyway. It adds an extra heartiness to the crackers, which is especially nice with the fennel and caraway.
I used my local natural goods store, Simple Abundance, to get small amounts of the fennel and caraway. Those aren’t things I normally keep around, so spending under a buck to get tiny portions was the way to go!
Modified from Bake from Scratch July/August 2023.
Bready or Not: Rye Sourdough Discard Crackers
Equipment
- parchment paper
- Rolling Pin
- pizza cutter or other cutter
Ingredients
- 1 cup sourdough starter discard 227 grams
- 1/2 cup rye flour
- 1/2 cup bread flour
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 1 Tablespoon fennel seeds
- 2 teaspoons caraway seeds
- 3/4 teaspoons kosher salt
- flour for dusting
- pretzel salt or flaked sea salt to top
Instructions
- In a big bowl, combine the discard, the two flours, oil, seeds, and kosher salt. It should be cohesive and slightly tacky.
- Dust with flour to shape into a disk, then wrap in plastic wrap. Place in fridge to chill for at least 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven at 350 degrees.
- Divide dough in half. Spread out a piece of parchment paper. Add a light sprinkle of flour. Use a rolling pin to roll out half the dough to about a consistent 1/16-inch thickness.
- Use a pizza cutter or other cutter to cut dough into squares or other small shapes; don’t separate. Use a fork to dock every cracker at least once. Sprinkle with pretzel or flaked salt. Repeat process with other half of dough.
- Bake until crisp and lightly browned, with the center of the dough firm, not spongy soft; this could be anywhere from 20 to 30 minutes.
- Use parchment to lift crackers off pan to cool, then separate crackers. Store in an airtight container up to one week.
