Bready or Not: Cinnamon Bundt Cake
Am I still alive? Did I survive The Clockwork Dagger’s launch into the world?
I don’t know. In the interest of my sanity (hahahaha) I am scheduling this far in advance. I suspect I will be 1) exhausted, 2) exhilarated, and 3) terrified, with a potpourri of other emotions mixed in.
I mean, MY BOOK IS OUT. How crazy is that? I’ve only wanted to publish a book of my own since I was, oh, four. Thirty years later, here I am.
Pardon me while I go to hug my book again. It’s real.
… ahem. Well, it’s Wednesday, and it’s Cake Month, so I suspect you want to see that Cinnamon Bundt Cake mentioned in the title, right? (I can shut up about the book for a little while. Honest.)
This is a gorgeous cake that’ll slap you upside the head with cinnamon goodness.
The recipe doesn’t produce a large bundt cake, but it’ll still feed a crowd. This is one of those cakes that’s awesome for breakfast, coffee breaks, dessert, or whatever other occasion you want to stuff a slice of cake in your face.
Now, you have a few options for the liquid in the recipe. The original version used Cinnabon creamer; instead, I used heavy cream and greatly increased the cinnamon. Therefore, toggle the cinnamon to your tastes. I love using flavored creamers in recipes like this, so I imagine the Cinnabon-branded one or any other would be delicious here, too.
I guess I should make this again to test that theory out. Oh, darn.
Also, let’s talk about the glaze. Please.
Okay, I really don’t have much to say about the glaze. Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words.
Modified from Cinnabon Bundt Cake at Shari Blogs.
Bready or Not: Cinnamon Bundt Cake
Ingredients
For the Batter:
- 1 cup brown sugar packed
- 1 cup canola oil
- 1 cup heavy cream OR cinnamon-flavored creamer
- 3 eggs room temperature
- 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 Tablespoon cinnamon [reduce if using flavored creamer]
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
For the Streusel:
- 1/2 cup brown sugar packed
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
For the Glaze:
- 1 1/4 cups confectioners' sugar
- 4-6 Tablespoons heavy cream or cinnamon-flavored creamer
- 1-3 teaspoons cinnamon to preference
Instructions
To make the bundt:
- Preheat oven to 325-degrees. Thoroughly coat a bundt pan with non-stick cooking spray.
- In a mixing bowl, combine the sugar, oil, cream/creamer, and eggs.
- In a separate bowl, sift together the dry ingredients: the baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and flour.
- Gradually add the flour mix into the wet batter until just combined.
- In another small bowl, mix up the brown sugar and cinnamon for the streusel.
- Pour half of the batter into the greased bundt pan. As evenly as possible, sprinkle the streusel all the way around the batter later. Top it off with the rest of the batter.
- Bake the bundt cake for 45-50 minutes, until it passes the toothpick test. Let it cool for 15 minutes and then carefully tip the cake onto a plate. Transfer it to a wire rack to completely cool.
To make the glaze:
- Once the cake is cool, mix up the glaze until it's at just a pourable consistency. Add the cinnamon to suit your tastes; sample it and check.
- Dribble glaze all over the cake.
Store the cake covered in the fridge.
OM NOM NOM.
Bready or Not: Maple Walnut Cake
For the week leading into the release of The Clockwork Dagger, I am presenting the most awesome of cakes.
Three layers. Maple infused every which way. Oh yeah, baby.
My one fear was that sweetness of the cake would be overkill like the way Cadbury eggs are to me now. I’m often asked if a recipe can be modified to omit the nuts. In this case, no. The nuts–in taste and texture–do a lot here to balance out the sweetness. They prevent that overkill.
It shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone that since I love maple, that delight has also worked its way into The Clockwork Dagger. Since the geography in my book is loosely modeled on Western Washington state, it’s only right that the country to the north is likewise based on Canada. Frengia is known for its maple production.
[Hrm. Maybe in a year when the sequel comes out, I should do a maple theme for Bready or Not. There’s an idea! Or maybe no one will notice because I do so much maple already…]
If you love maple as I do, this is your epic cake. Print this out. Make it now, or save it for the holidays. Just bake it up at some point.
Brace yourself for the maple-induced ecstasy.
Modified from Maple Walnut Cake at Taste of Home.
Bready or Not: Maple Walnut Cake
Ingredients
THE CAKE [NOT A LIE]
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 1-1/2 cups light brown sugar packed
- 3 eggs room temperature
- 1 teaspoon maple flavor
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup buttermilk or sour milk: milk with a tablespoon of lemon juice or vinegar
CANDIED NUTS:
- 1 Tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1-1/2 cups coarsely chopped walnuts or pecans
- 1 Tablespoon maple syrup
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
FROSTING:
- 2 cups unsalted butter room temperature
- 5 cups confectioners' sugar
- 1 teaspoon maple flavor
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 to 1/2 cup half-and-half cream or milk
- 3 + tablespoons maple syrup divided
Instructions
To make the cake:
- Preheat oven to 350°. Use nonstick spray or butter on three 9-inch round cake pans. Cut out rounds of parchment paper for the bottoms of the pans, then grease the paper.
- In a large bowl, cream softened butter and brown sugar. Add the eggs and beat well after each addition. Add the maple flavor.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
- Add the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture, alternating with the buttermilk, until everything is just blended.
- Pour batter into each prepared pan as evenly as you can. Bake for 11-13 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans for 10 minutes, then gently tip them onto a wire racks. Remove parchment. Cool cake layers completely. [Note: at this point you can even freeze the layers between wax paper, then wrap well in plastic wrap, to assemble the cake days or weeks later.]
To make candied walnuts:
- Grab a small cookie sheet or platter and cover it with aluminum foil. Set aside.
- In a large skillet, melt the tablespoon of butter. Add nuts and stir over medium heat until toasted, about 5 minutes. Watch the heat, as they can burn fast. Stir in the tablespoon maple syrup and salt; stir for 1 minute longer. Spread the nuts on the foil to cool completely.
For frosting:
- In a large bowl, beat the softened butter until creamy. Slowly add in confectioners' sugar, maple flavor, salt and enough cream/milk to reach desired consistency. [If it ends up too wet, add more powdered sugar.]
- Set out your serving platter. Add a few dabs of frosting; this will be like glue to help your bottom layer stay in place.
- Place the cake layer on top. Spread with one cup of frosting. Sprinkle about 1/2 cup of candied nuts over the frosting and then drizzle about a tablespoon of maple syrup.
- Repeat this with the next layer.
- Place the top layer. Frost the very top and sides of cake, then add the remaining nuts and another healthy (ahem) drizzle of maple syrup.
OM NOM NOM and try not to die of sugar coma.
Trade Paperback & eBook
Paperback ISBN: 978-0-06-231384-3
ebook ASIN (Amazon): B00HLIYZ5U
ebook ISBN (Nook): 978-0-06-231385-0
Release: September 16, 2014
Amazon Barnes & Noble Powell’s Books-A-Million Poisoned Pen Changing Hands Mysterious Galaxy
Read MoreBready or Not: Apple Cake
I declare September to be cake month. Why, you ask? WHY? Because The Clockwork Dagger comes out in less than two weeks!
Cake! A different kind of cake every week! Jazz hands!
We start out with an absolute classic: apple cake. I’m from a family that happens to love apple pie. It’s the favorite of both my dad and my husband. They both rate this cake version quite highly as well.
From the baker’s perspective, this is a whole lot faster than pie. No fuss over making a crust ahead of time. I set the apples to look pretty in the cake pan. I mix up the batter. Bake. Done. That’s why I’ve made this more than once for breakfast or brunch.
This is a straightforward cake that isn’t heavy on the sweetness, and that’s why it’s great for morning or snack or dessert.
But this is CAKE MONTH. We eat cake whenever we darn well please.
Recipe modified from Grandmother’s Apple Cake
in Chocolate & Zucchini: Daily Adventures in a Parisian Kitchen by Clotilde Dusoulier.
Bready or Not: Apple Cake
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 lb baking apples like Braeburn or Jonagold, 2-3 apples
- 3/4 cup white sugar
- 2 eggs room temperature
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350-degrees. Melt the butter and set it aside.
- Cut a round of parchment paper to fit inside a nonstick 8-inch cake pan. Spray the pan with nonstick spray, place the paper inside, then spray again. (If you don't do all of this, slices of apple will stick when you flip it over. Trust me.)
- Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt in a mixing bowl.
- Wash, peel, and core the apples. Cut them in eighths and arrange over the bottom of the pan.
- In a medium bowl, whisk the sugar with the eggs until fluffy. Add the flour mixture and whisk until combined. Add the melted butter and whisk again until blended.
- Pour the batter evenly over the fruit and bake for 40 minutes, until the top is set and golden brown.
- Let the cake settle on a cooling rack for 10 minutes. Run a plastic knife or toothpick around the pan's edge to loosen it and flip the cake onto a plate. Carefully peel off the parchment paper. Flip the cake again onto a serving plate, taking care not to squish the cake.
- Cool and serve slightly warm or at room temperature.
OM NOM NOM!
Trade Paperback & eBook
Paperback ISBN: 978-0-06-231384-3
ebook ASIN (Amazon): B00HLIYZ5U
ebook ISBN (Nook): 978-0-06-231385-0
Release: September 16, 2014
Amazon Barnes & Noble Powell’s Books-A-Million Poisoned Pen Changing Hands
Read MoreBready or Not: Maple Ginger Fudge
I would like to present to you the best fudge in the history of the world.
Maple ginger fudge. Sweetness with just the slightest zing.
The origin of the recipe brings sweet connotations for me, too. One of my very favorite authors, C. E. Murphy, posted about this recipe last Christmas. We started a conversation about it.
This somehow resulted in her reading The Clockwork Dagger, loving it, and providing a blurb.
BEST. FUDGE. EVER.
That blurb:
“The Clockwork Dagger had me at hello and kept me with unexpected twists, intriguing magic and splendid betrayals. At the satisfying conclusion, my immediate impulse was to inquire in tones of gentle inquiry, when do I get to read the sequel!?!?” ~C. E. Murphy
C. E. Murphy’s Walker Papers series is my very favorite set of urban fantasy books. They were the first series I got into, and most importantly, they taught me how to write. I found them during that time when I realized my writing was wretched. I read through Urban Shaman on a technical level so I could figure out how to write first person and just plain why the books worked.
To have her love my book… it makes me get teary-eyed.
Make some of this fudge. Maybe some wonderful things will happen in your life, too.
Recipe modified from a modified version by C.E. Murphy, who originally found the recipe on Candy.About.Com. In case you didn’t notice, there was some modifying going on.
Bready or Not: Maple Ginger Fudge
Ingredients
- 3 cups white sugar
- 3/4 cup butter
- 2/3 cup evaporated milk small can
- 10 oz white chocolate chips
- 1 1/2 teaspoons maple flavor
- 7 oz marshmallow cream
- 4 tsp ground ginger
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup candied ginger finely chopped
- 1/2 cup toasted pecans coarsely chopped
Instructions
- Prepare a pan: 9x9 if you want it thick, or 13x9 if you want it thin. Line pan with aluminum foil and apply nonstick cooking spray. Measure out of the other ingredients so they are staged and ready to go.
- In a larger saucepan, combine the butter, sugar, and evaporated milk. Cook at medium-high heat and stir until the butter and sugar melt. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until the mixture boils.
- Keep the candy at a rolling boil, stirring constantly, for five minutes. (If you have a candy thermometer and want to use it, you will be cooking the candy to soft-ball stage, 240 degrees.)
- After five minutes, take the pot off the burner and immediately add the white chocolate chips. Stir until they are melted and smooth. Work fast so that everything stays hot.
- Quickly add the marshmallow cream, maple flavor, vanilla, ground ginger, salt, pecans, and chopped candied ginger, and stir. Once the marshmallow cream has melted and all of the ingredients are incorporated, pour the fudge into the prepared pan. Smooth out the top; an offset spatula works well.
- Allow the fudge to set at room temperature for several hours. Once set, lift it out of the pan using the foil as handles. Use a large, sharp knife to cut the fudge into small one-inch pieces.
OM NOM NOM.
Trade Paperback & eBook
Paperback ISBN: 978-0-06-231384-3
ebook ASIN (Amazon): B00HLIYZ5U
ebook ISBN (Nook): 978-0-06-231385-0
Release: September 16, 2014
Amazon Barnes & Noble Powell’s Books-A-Million Poisoned Pen Changing Hands
Read MoreBready or Not: Chewy Oatmeal White Chocolate Cranberry Cookies
A year ago, I shared my favorite Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies. Aren’t they pretty?
I decided to do a remix of this same recipe but with white chocolate chips and cranberries. See, I had major writing deadlines coming up and I wanted to have reliable dough stashed away in the freezer so I had emergency cookie dough.
Yes, emergency cookie dough. This is totally a thing.
I prepped the dough by scooping it and freezing it on a cookie sheet and wax paper. Then I bagged it all and stashed it in the deep freeze.
Three months later, I baked it.
I took the dough straight from the freezer. I watched it bake because I really wasn’t sure how long it would need. The dough didn’t expand at all, so halfway through I used the bottom of a glass to smush them flatter. The batches ended up taking thirteen to sixteen minutes.
My reliable cookie dough was indeed reliable. The white chocolate cranberry cookies ended up chewy and amazing, just like the original version.
Bready or Not: Chewy Oatmeal White Chocolate Cranberry Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup butter melted
- 1 cup packed brown sugar packed
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 Tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 egg
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 1/2 cups old-fashioned oats
- 1 cup white chocolate chips
- 1/2 cup dried cranberries
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper or silpat, or use seasoned stoneware.
- Melt butter and let cool slightly.
- Mix flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.
- In a medium bowl, cream together the melted butter, brown sugar and white sugar until well blended. Beat in the cinnamon, vanilla, egg, and egg yolk for 2-3 minutes until light and creamy. Mix in the flour mixture. Add the oats, white chocolate, and cranberries. Mix until just blended.
- Using a tablespoon scoop, place dough balls on pan. Bake for 10-13 minutes, until the edges are slightly brown and the middle is still soft. Let the cookies rest on the cookie sheet for 5-10 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.
Note: Scoop and freeze the dough for months. Bake it straight out of the freezer for 13-16 minutes; dough may need to be flattened halfway through if the cookies don't expand.
OM NOM NOM.
Bready or Not: Healthy Breakfast Cookies
Cookies for breakfast. Healthy cookies. No refined sugars. Vegan. Also gluten-free, if you use GF oats.
Even better: they taste delicious.
This is one of my favorite breakfast recipes. I customize it based on my mood and what I have on hand. I’ve made this with macadamia nut butter, cashew butter, and almond butter–and combinations thereof. I’ve used apple butter, pumpkin butter, and date butter. Equally awesome with all varieties. I love to use golden raisins, but you could throw anything in. If you don’t have pepitas? Do sunflower seeds or other chopped nuts, or omit.
These cookies are cushions of goodness… like old-fashioned peanut butter cookies, but denser and better. I whip up a batch and freeze 2/3 of it right away. It takes care of my breakfast for weeks.
I often have two cookies first thing in the morning before I exercise, and I might have one more if I’m hungry afterward. They give me the perfect amount of energy to start the day.
Did I mention they are also delicious?
Modified from a recipe on Sally’s Baking Addiction.
Bready or Not: Healthy Breakfast Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 cups quick oats not whole or old-fashioned oats
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon heaping
- 1 cup nut butter
- 1/4 cup pure maple syrup or honey
- 3/4 cup fruit butter apple butter, date butter, etc
- 1 cup dried fruit raisins, cranberries, etc
- 1/2 cup pepitas shelled pumpkin seeds
- 1/4 cup ground flaxseed optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325-degrees. Prepare cookie sheets with parchment or silpat baking mats, or use seasoned stoneware.
- Combine all of the ingredients into a large bowl.
- Using a tablespoon or tablespoon scoop, drop dollops of dough onto cookie sheet. Note that it won't spread. Use fingers to gently tamp down top and press in stray oats on the sides; it will be a little sticky.
- Bake for 12-15 minutes, until firm. Cool for several minutes before transitioning them to a rack to finish cooling.
Makes about 28 cookies at tablespoon size. In a sealed container at room temperature, cookies will keep for at least a week. They can also be frozen without any change in taste or texture.
OM NOM NOM!
