Almond Cranberry Creme Fraiche Bundts

Creme fraiche mini bundts filled with sweetened cranberries and toasted almonds, topped with an almond cranberry glaze.
First off, It's very exciting to have something be pink without the use of unnatural food coloring (thanks, cranberries!). I also thought this would be a good transition recipe back to the land of shades of brown. Now that cranberry has been given its dues, it's time to talk about the real star of this recipe: creme fraiche. The creamy smooth texture and subtle sourness of the creme fraiche gives this cake a delightful richness. This bundt is sweet, tart, warm, soft, crunchy....and pink! An all around winning recipe.

Almond Cranberry Creme Fraiche Bundt
Ingredients
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup creme fraiche
1/2 cup chopped, toasted and chopped
Whole-Berry Cranberry Sauce (recipe follows) or 2 cups canned whole berry-cranberry sauce

Directions
Preheat oven to 350F. Butter and flour pan. Make cranberry sauce and glaze listed below. In stand mixer, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time until fully incorporated, and then vanilla. In medium bowl, whisk flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt together. Add the dry ingredients in three increments, alternating with the creme fraiche in two increments (start and end with dry), until just combined. Gently stir in almonds and fill bundts 1/4 full. Layer in cranberry sauce until 1/2 way full, then top off with batter until 3/4 filled. Bake 30-35 minutes or until tops are golden. Let sit in pan for 15 minutes and then turn out on cooling rack. Once completely dry, dip bundts into glaze and set back on cooling rack with sheet pan underneath to catch drippings.

Whole Berry-Cranberry Sauce
Ingredients
12 ounces fresh cranberries
3/4 cup water
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions
Heat all ingredients in pot on stove over medium heat. After 10 minutes, reserve 1 tablespoon of liquid for the cranberry glaze. Sauce should be ready in 15 minutes, or when all the water has evaporated. Set aside to cool.

Cranberry Glaze
Ingredients
1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
1/2 teaspoon pure almond extract
1 tablespoon cranberry juice (reserved from making the cranberry sauce)

Directions
Whisk all ingredients together in a bowl deep enough for dipping bundts. Mixture should be fairly thick, but milk can be added to loosen it up if needed.

Adapted from: The Kitchn

Hello Kitty Cake Pops

You're probably thinking I've gone mad between this post and the last, but this was another birthday treat- this time for my sister!
Hello Kitty cake pops made with vanilla cake and vanilla frosting. Definitely another exercise in patience and precision.

You can find the recipe over at Bakerella.

Autumn Birthday Cake

Pumpkin cake with spiced cream cheese frosting.

Yesterday was my best pal Andrea's birthday for which I hosted a small get together to celebrate.
I decided to challenge myself and do something completely different from what I am comfortable with, and different from anything I've showcased on this blog: FONDANT!

Call me crazy, but I generally like for my desserts to look deliciously and naturally edible, and since the color and texture of fondant cake looks more like something we as humans have evolved to avoid, I never had much interest in working with it.
Although my style of baking is predominately rustic, I have had to work with fondant a few times for cakes at school and am actually beginning to like it.
There's something about the structure of setting up for fondant work and the control you have over the finished product which I find comforting. I like for things to be organized, so to draw a picture, make a plan, and execute something exactly as I imagined is very rewarding. I never considered myself much of an artist, so again, I enjoy the challenge of drawing, deciding how colors and shapes will work, cutting, and assembling. I am pretty sure I'm not going to have the next Ace of Cakes reality show, but it's definitely nice to change things up a bit every now and then. Also, let's not forget this little project took me 7 hours from start to finish!

Pumpkin Cake
Ingredients
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 can (15 ounces) solid-pack pumpkin puree
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 tablespoon pumpkin-pie spice
1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions
Preheat oven to 350F. Butter and flour 9" pan (or your preferred equivalent). In stand mixer whisk all wet ingredients and the sugar together. In a separate bowl, whisk the rest of the dry ingredients together. Switch to paddle attachment on mixer, and in three additions, add the dry ingredients to wet until just combined. Pour into prepared pan and smooth top. Bake 45-50 minutes (tester will have a few moist crumbs when ready). Cool 10 minutes in pan before turning out on rack.

Adapted from: Martha Stewart

Spiced Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients
16-ounce package cream cheese, softened
1 cup butter, softened
4 cups powdered sugar, sifted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon ginger

Directions
In stand mixer, whisk cream cheese and butter until smooth. Add vanilla and spices and whisk until fully incorporated. Add powdered sugar in small additions making sure frosting is lump free along the way. Whisk until completely smooth. Chill in refrigerator for 30 minutes.

*Special acknowledgement to Lyndsay over at Coco Cake Cupcakes, as her style of fondant is the best I've seen and I am definitely inspired by her work!

Maple Oat Date Bars

I love dates! They're such an unassuming fruit. While not so pretty to look at (all I can think of when gazing upon them is how much they look like cockroaches- sorry!), they're incredibly syrupy and sweet. I had the extreme luxury of eating tons of delicious dates while visiting Israel last year, and although the medjool date does not taste quite the same coming from the US as it does the Middle East, it has not stopped me from purchasing the local version in bulk.

This particular date bar is very well rounded in flavor, as it incorporates maple syrup which serves to enhance the sticky sweetness of the date, an oat crumble which gets toasted on top to add warmth, and then a hint of lemon zest to brighten everything up.

Maple Oat Date Bars
Ingredients
2 cups finely chopped pitted dates
1/2 cup maple syrup
3/4 cup water
1 teaspoon lemon zest
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup regular oats
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions
Preheat oven to 400F. Butter a 9"x9" pan (or your preferred equivalent). Combine chopped dates, water, and maple syrup in a saucepan and bring to boil. Stir frequently until water has evaporated from mixture (about 15 mins). In the meantime, in a mixer, cream butter and sugar. Add vanilla. In a separate bowl, whisk flour, oats, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt together, and add to butter mixture until fully incorporated. Press 2/3 of butter mixture in prepared pan, and spread date mixture on top. Sprinkle 1/3 of butter mixture on top. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until oat topping is lightly toasted. Fully cool in pans before cutting.

Pumpkin Walnut Loaf

Moist pumpkin loaf packed with walnuts and fall spices. A pumpkin quick bread is the best way to start the season, as nothing ushers in the cooler weather better than the scent of these bad boys baking in the oven. The smell takes over the entire apartment and makes me downright giddy...even if it still is 70 degrees out (sigh). Either way, I'm happy to be using pumpkin again, and I was seriously counting down the days until October. If you truly want to overdo it with your fall welcome, I suggest washing a slice of this down with some Pumking! Mmmm.

Bottom line: I won't be searching for pumpkin loaf recipes anymore, as this is absolutely the best I've had.

Pumpkin Walnut Loaf
Ingredients
1/2 cup butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup water
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 1/3 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon cardamom
1/4 teaspoon ginger
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Directions
Preheat oven to 350F. Butter and flour three 6" x 3 1/3" loaf pans (or your preferred equivalent). In a mixer, cream butter and sugar. In another bowl whisk eggs, vanilla, water, and pumpkin until smooth. Slowly add pumpkin mixture to butter/sugar and beat until emulsified. In another bowl, sift all dry ingredients together. Add dry ingredients to wet in three separate additions until just combined, but before adding the third portion, mix nuts in before adding. Pour mixture into pans and bake for 45-50 minutes. Fully cool in pans.