Remember when I advised you to very thoroughly grease and flour your bundt pan? This is why: Sad, isn’t it? All that cakey goodness I looked forward to has been smashed to bits in no time flat. Sure, I’ll eat it anyway–it doesn’t change how the cake tastes, after all, and that’s pretty divine–but I’m … [Read more…]
Pumpkin is a tough sell in our house. The kids love it but my husband is not a fan. Can’t stand the smell of it, doesn’t want to look at it, and he better not hear it’s in anything I’ve tried to feed him. He will not budge. This makes it difficult to experiment much … [Read more…]
I’ve never had a bundt pan. I know this is shocking. I seem to have every other kitchen contraption you can think of, from a citrus juicer to a baguette pan, but for some reason, a bundt pan never managed to creep its way into my kitchen. Which is really kind of sad when you think about it–all those delicious bundt cakes I’ve missed out on!
No more! I just happened to see the #BundtaMonth hashtag on Twitter last week and I’m so happy I did. The experience was just the instigator I needed. I promptly visited my coveted Ocean State Job Lot, picked out the best $4 bundt pan I could find, and was well on my way. No looking back now!
So how does this work exactly? An of Baker Street and Lora of Cake Duchess pick an ingredient or theme and we have to make a bundt cake recipe that utilizes it. Every month will be different. This month, they chose zucchini. Great timing with all that fresh zucchini available at the farmers’ markets right now!
Remember my frazzled muffin experience on Monday? Part of what contributed to the frenzy was the intent to bake my bundt cake immediately following the muffins. I figured that if I was going to be shredding zucchini, I may as well multi-task and kill two birds with one stone. Plus I really wanted to make my mom a cake for our birthdays party (we celebrate my three siblings’, my mom’s, and my birthdays all at one party). I had the perfect excuse!
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It came out of the pan in one piece![/caption]
I was very nervous at the end and ran out of time to make a glaze. Despite the time constraints and last minute change to the recipe, it went well. The cake effortlessly slid out of the pan when I plated it at my parents’ house–my grandmother was impressed, I could tell–and looked great after a light dusting of confectioners sugar. Oh yeah, and I found out that chocolate zucchini cake is my mom’s favorite. How did I not know this before? This was kismet!
I was surprised by the taste. I expected it to be kind of…health food-y…given the ingredients. Instead, it’s incredibly rich and multi-dimensional. The confectioners sugar adds the perfect amount of sweetness. No trace of the zucchini aside from the moistness. Even on day two, it’s still really good. I highly recommend this.
Interested in joining in?
Here’s how to bake with #BundtaMonth:
It’ll be… bundt-tastic. Alright, maybe that’s a bit dorky. But this will be fun! And tasty! That’s all I need. 🙂
A local free publication recently printed an article about a stay-at-home mom who claims to earn $10,000 a month doing… honestly, I don’t know. I saw the headline, but I didn’t read it–it seemed a fallacy to me. It has become the topic of many jokes at work–“Hey! Today’s my last day! I’m going to … [Read more…]
When An sent us this recipe, I really wanted to make Peanut Butter Twix Muffins. Caramel Twix are just fine, but Peanut Butter Twix hold the key to my heart, being superior tasting and somewhat nostalgic of my college days as my snack of choice. Unfortunately Peanut Butter Twix–like my kids when it’s time to … [Read more…]