Bready or Not: Limed-Up Cream Cheese Pound Cake
For our second installment of CAKE/PIE MONTH, I present a tender, moist pound cake that’s embodied with a fresh lime flavor!
To glaze this cake, I tested out a technique I saw on the Great British Baking Show. It worked like a charm, and it’s something I’ll do with all of my poke cakes in a bundt pan from here onward.
If you haven’t seen the Great British Baking Show (known in the UK by its original moniker of Great British Bake Off), GO SEE IT. It’s on Netflix, YouTube, and the PBS website. This is the show that helped me to survive my edits for Breath of Earth and to write Call of Fire in one month. Not only is it about creating lovely baked goods, it’s about achieving technical, chemical perfection in a reality show environment that is completely positive. No back-stabbing, no contrived drama.
The bakers work under an extraordinary time crunch. In one episode, a baker needed to glaze a bundt cake very quickly. They poked the cake all over and put it back in the pan to pour the glaze. This way, most of the glaze went INSIDE the cake, as intended for a poke cake, and did not puddle the plate.
I watched. Mind. Blown.
The technique totally works. My bundt cake was perfectly moist all the way through because the glaze had a chance to soak in from all angles.
This bundt cake has such a lovely flavor to go along with the moist texture, too. This is the kind of cake that is perfect for breakfast, brunch, or dessert, and is great with fruit, ice cream, or a simple cup of coffee.
It would be great to eat while watching the Great British Baking Show.
Modified from Relish Magazine.
Bready or Not: Limed-Up Cream Cheese Pound Cake
Ingredients
Cake:
- 1 1/2 cups unsalted butter 3 sticks, room temperature
- 8 ounces cream cheese 1 box, room temperature
- 3 cups white sugar
- 6 large eggs room temperature
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
- 2 limes zested and juiced
Glaze:
- 1/4 cup white sugar
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter 1/2 stick
- 3 Tablespoons lime juice
- 1/4 cup confectioners' sugar optional for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325F. Thoroughly grease and flour a 12-cup bundt pan.
- In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter, cream cheese and sugar until light and fluffy.
- Beat in eggs alternately with flour, mixing well after each addition. Add salt, vanilla extract, almond extract, and the zest and juice of both limes. Mix until combined, taking care not to overbeat. That could dry out the cake.
- Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake for 1 1/2 hours, or until a tester inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Let cool 10 minutes and then plop it onto a rack to cool some more. Don't wash the pan yet!
- While the cake is still warm, use skewers or chopsticks to poke holes all over the top.
- Mix the glaze ingredients (sugar, butter, lime juice) in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil for about one minute, then remove from heat.
- Set the cake back inside the pan; poke more holes in the base of the cake. Slowly pour or ladle glaze over the holes. Let that soak in. Use over half the glaze, then carefully tip the cake onto a cake plate. Slowly drizzle the rest of the glaze into the holes.
- Let the cake cool completely. Add dusting of powdered sugar before serving
- OM NOM NOM!
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Bready or Not: Maple Sour Cream Bundt Cake
IT IS BOOK RELEASE MONTH. IT IS CAKE AND PIE MONTH. Oddly enough, the emphasis will be on maple. Gee, you might think I like the stuff.
I am starting out with what might be the best bundt cake recipe I have ever made. Yes, it even rivals the infamous Tunnel of Fudge Cake.
This recipe is extremely close in flavor and texture to the holy-moley-amazing Maple Walnut Cake, minus the walnuts. The Maple Walnut Cake is stunning to eat but it’s also very time-consuming to make because it’s a layer cake.
This bundt cake is EASY. It whips together in no time.
The cake itself is like a moist pound cake–soft, tender, and sweet with maple.
I opted for a glaze rather than a frosting. Tweak the liquids to make that as thick as you want, but really, the cake is sweet on its own so you don’t need a big layer here.
Some of these pictures look almost pornographic, don’t they?
Yes, the glaze is as good as it looks. You can’t go wrong with powdered sugar, cinnamon, butter, and maple flavor. Well. I guess you can go wrong if you’re diabetic.
CONSUME AT YOUR OWN RISK.
Modified from Overtime Cook.
Bready or Not: Maple Sour Cream Bundt Cake
Ingredients
Cake
- 1 cup unsalted butter 2 sticks, room temperature
- 1 cup white sugar
- 5 eggs room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon maple flavor optional but recommended
- 1 cup pure maple syrup NOT flavored pancake syrup
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup sour cream
Glaze
- 1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar sifted
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 2 Tb unsalted butter melted
- 3/4 tsp maple flavor or vanilla extract
- 1 Tb water more as needed
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325-degrees. Spray a bundt pan with nonstick spray with added flour, or grease well and sift flour over the surface.
- In large bowl, beat the butter and sugar until smooth. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Pour in the vanilla extract, maple flavor, and maple syrup.
- In a small bowl, sift together the baking powder and flour. Add some of the flour mix to the big bowl, followed by sour cream, going back and forth until all of the cake ingredients are mixed together.
- Pour the batter into the prepared bundt pan. Bake for 1 hour, or until it passes the toothpick test. Let it cool for about ten minutes in the pan and then carefully plop the cake onto a wire rack to completely cool down. Once it is room temperature, it's time to glaze.
- Mix together all of the glaze ingredients together EXCEPT the water. Dribble in the water. Stir well. Add more water if needed to achieve desired consistency.
- OM NOM NOM!
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Bready or Not: Salted Dulce de Leche Fudge
Life might really suck. But don’t worry. Salted Dulce de Leche Fudge loves you.
This fudge exists in Zen. It simply is. It does not think. It is here. A thing that you may partake of, a thing that makes stress fade away as dulce de leche-smooth chocolate melts on your tongue.
Its creation is fairly peaceful, too. This fudge is super easy. It comes together in just a few minutes if you use your microwave.
You can find cans of dulce de leche by the sweetened condensed milk in the grocery store, or on the Hispanic foods aisle. You can also caramelize a can of sweetened condensed milk to make it yourself.
I used bittersweet chocolate for the top layer. I’m not a bitter or dark chocolate sort, but it really works well here with the mild sweetness of the fudge. And the salt—the salt is essential. Coarse salt is nice because it keeps in crystals on the top—I really recommend pretzel salt, if you have it around.
However you tweak the recipe, know that the end result will love you, and you will love it, and all will be right in the world for about twenty-two seconds. Until you eat more fudge.
Modified from Easy Salted Caramel Fudge at Something Swanky, with my version originally posted at the Holy Taco Church.
Bready or Not: Salted Dulce de Leche Fudge
Ingredients
- 13 - 14 ounce Dulce de Leche can
- 3 cups white chocolate chips or white candy melts
- 1 cup milk chocolate chips or bittersweet or dark chocolate chips
- 1 - 2 pinches coarse salt pretzel salt or kosher
Instructions
- Line an 8x8 or 9x9 baking dish with foil or parchment. Apply non-stick cooking spray. Measure out the two kinds of chocolate, separately, and open the can.
- Over low heat in the microwave or on the stovetop, melt the white chocolate. Once it is smooth and completely melted, mix in the dulce de leche and a pinch of salt. Stir until the color is consistent. It will be very thick.
- Glop it into the prepared baking dish and smooth out the top with a rubber or offset spatula.
- Melt the darker chocolate morsels in the microwave; 30 seconds, stir, then another 20-30 seconds should do it. Pour the melted chocolate over the fudge. Even it out with your trusty spatula. Sprinkle salt over the top.
- Let it cool completely on the counter or in the fridge for 3-4 hours, until it's set. The chocolate top will likely crackle some as you cut it, but that's okay. It makes tasty crumbs. Cut into small squares.
- Leftovers will keep sealed in fridge for upwards of a week.
- OM NOM NOM!
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Bonus Bready or Not: No-Bake Maple Macadamia Nut Energy Bars (Gluten Free)
Maple Macadamia Nut Energy Bars. I have my new favorite quick-fix breakfast.
When I think of summer snacks, I think 1) no oven on to heat up my house, 2) quick to make amid writing deadlines and my son’s therapies, and 3) DELICIOUS. To me, maple is delicious, and that kind of awesomeness should not be confined to a single season.
These bars blend up in a few minutes in a food processor or high-powered blender. Mash them in a lined loaf pan, let them chill, slice, eat. Try not to eat them all in one sitting. After all, these are packed with vitamins and healthy stuff–and no gluten!
The primary flavors are maple and macadamia infused with white chocolate, with the coconut mild in the background. These are dense in texture. I have made many variations of energy bars/truffles using dates like this, but I have never added almond flour before. Wow. It doesn’t add a strong almond flavor, but it does fill in those nooks and crannies. Everything melds together.
I don’t understand why more people aren’t creating recipes with maple, macadamia nuts, and white chocolate. If someone needs to start the trend, well, I volunteer as tribute.
Some other energy bars/truffles featured on Bready or Not:
– Blueberry Muffin Breakfast Truffles
– Chocolate-Coffee Truffles
– Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Breakfast Bites
– Maple Energy Bars/Bites
Bonus Bready or Not: No-Bake Maple Macadamia Nut Energy Bars (Gluten Free)
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup almond flour or meal
- 6 medjool dates chopped, about 1/2 cup
- 2 Tablespoons shredded coconut
- 1 Tablespoon pure maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon maple flavor
- 1/4 cup cashews
- 1/4 cup macadamia nuts divided
- 2 Tablespoons white chocolate chips or vanilla chips
Instructions
- Prepare a loaf pan by lining the long sides with either waxed paper or parchment paper, with the paper sticking up on either side like a sling.
- In a food processor, add the almond flour, chopped dates, coconut, maple syrup, cashews, and most of the macadamia nuts. Set aside the reserved macadamias and white chocolate.
- Run the food processor until everything inside is ground down. The mix should stick together if you pinch it between your fingers; if it's not cohesive, drizzle in a tiny amount of water and pulse again.
- Add the remaining macadamia nuts and white chocolate chips. Pulse a few times to chop them up a little and distribute them.
- Pour into the loaf pan. Use a spatula to compress everything. Chill in fridge for at least an hour.
- Use the sling to lift up the macadamia mix. Slice into bars. Store in a sealed container in fridge.
- OM NOM NOM!
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Bready or Not: Double Chocolate Cheesecake Cookies
It’s been like a month since I posted a hardcore chocolate recipe on here. Chocoholics have NEEDS. Therefore, here are Double Chocolate Cheesecake Cookies.
Choice adjectives: Dense. Chocolaty. Rich. Luscious. Pillowy.
Seriously, these are thick in the best kind of way. Pair these cookies with a tall glass of milk or some hot coffee.
Cream cheese is magical when it’s mixed into cake batter or cookie dough. Some past examples include Chocolate Cream Cheese Pound cake and Philly Snickerdoodles.
Modified from How Sweet Eats.
Bready or Not: Double Chocolate Cheesecake Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup cocoa powder sifted
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter 1 cube, softened
- 1 cup brown sugar packed
- 1/4 cup white sugar
- 8 ounces cream cheese 1 block, softened
- 1 large egg
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup milk chocolate chips or semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- In a small bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt.
- In a large bowl, beat together the butter and sugars until fluffy, about 3 to 5 minutes. Add in the cream cheese until combined; it's okay if there are still small clumps. Follow with egg and vanilla extract.
- Slowly mix in the dry ingredients. As soon as everything is incorporated, stir in the chocolate chips.
- Wrap dough in plastic wrap and chill for a few hours or several days.
- Preheat oven at 350-degrees. Using a tablespoon scoop, dole dough onto a baking sheet. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes. Let sit on sheet a few minutes to set before transitioning to a rack to completely cool.
- OM NOM NOM!
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Bready or Not: Biscoff-Nutella Ecstasy Bars
Last week I shared Peanut Butter Ecstasy Bars. This week I switch out the peanut butter for a version that tastes even better.
The top and bottom layers use cookie butter (Biscoff, Speculoos, whichever!) while the middle layer uses just a touch of Nutella. That combination is luscious. Cookie dough and chocolate. Guh.
I mentioned before that the peanut butter version can be crumbly, especially the edge pieces. Well, this new variation is even messier. Karmic balance for the extra deliciousness, right? The middle pieces were a touch gooey, even as the edge pieces pretty much shattered as they were cut.
That’s not a bad thing here, though. These pieces are delicious. Lap them up. Save them to top ice cream or yogurt. Just please, don’t let them go to waste.
Mind you, they’ll also go to your waist, but that’s a totally separate dilemma.
Bready or Not: Biscoff-Nutella Ecstasy Bars
Ingredients
Crust:
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 1/2 cup Creamy Biscoff spread or other cookie butter brand
- 1 1/2 cups white sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
Filling:
- 2 eggs room temperature
- 2 Tablespoons Nutella or similar chocolate spread
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 1/2 cup brown sugar packed
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375-degrees. Line a 9x13 pan with aluminum foil and apply nonstick spray.
- In a large bowl, mix butter, cookie butter, and sugar. Add the vanilla. Slowly mix in the flour. Set aside about 1 cup of the dough, and firmly press the rest into the prepared pan.
- Using the same bowl, make the filling. Beat together the eggs, Nutella, and two sugars. Spread this over the unbaked crust. Sprinkle the reserved dough over the top.
- Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the dough it set and golden. Cool completely in pan. Slice into bars. The bars may be crumbly, especially the edge pieces, but every bit is delicious. Keeps for at least 3 days in a sealed container.
- OM NOM NOM!
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