Orange Liqueur Bundt Cake

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday! I remember my last New Year's post, stating that I would make it my best year ever. It was full of changes, however all of those changes have enriched my life and I am so thankful. 2016 has me looking forward to less changes, but just as much enjoyment as 2015.

It is cloudy and overcast, but I am lighthearted so I have my own sunshine. The perfect match to my mood is this citrus cake. Infused with orange liqueur and orange zest, it brings something lighter to the holiday table.

The recipe includes a topping with marscapone cream and blackberry compote, but I choose something simpler to drizzle on top. The extra options are not included in the instructions below, but I am sure you can come up with a suitable topping for your taste. I chose to enhance that sweet orange flavor with fresh squeezed juice and chunks of oranges.

I really loved how the juice soaked into the cake a little, giving it a different texture. Also, the juicy orange chunks were a refreshing addition.

Orange Liqueur Bundt Cake
adapted from the Cooking Channel

Ingredients
4 eggs
1 cup of milk
1/2 cup of orange liqueur
1 tbs vanilla extract
1 cup or 2 sticks of butter, softened and cubed
3 cups of flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
zest of 1 orange
1 cup sugar
orange juice, peeled orange segments (optional)

Grease the interior of a 12 cup bundt pan and preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt into a medium size bowl. Fill another bowl, smaller in size, with the orange liqueur and milk and stir. Set both bowls aside.

Place the butter chunks into the bowl of a stand mixer and beat until smooth. Then add the sugar and beat for 3 minutes, creating a thick, fluffy mixture. Add the vanilla extract and one egg. Beat until all is evenly combined. Add, one by one, each egg and beat for 30 seconds at a time, scraping down the sides after each egg is beaten into batter.

Continue to beat the mixture, this time on low, and add the flour in 1/2 cup increments. After all the flour is added, change the speed to medium and stream in the milk/liqueur mixture. Once it is all blended and batter is smooth, transfer to prepared bundt pan. Smooth the top and make sure batter is level inside the cake pan.

Place pan in oven on center rack and bake for about 50 minutes and check with tester. The recipe states 1 hour and 10 minutes, but it will vary depending on the color of your pan. After baking, let cool in pan for about 20 minutes and invert onto rack to finish cooling.

Once cool, slice and serve with topping of your choice.

Tips and Notes:
1. Proper baking time is important for the texture of the cake, so keep a watchful eye out.
2. Even though beating the batter works better than folding the dry mixture in, be careful not to over beat.
3. I contemplated mini choc chips in this cake, but I feel it would have over powered the light orange flavor.
                                    **LAST YEAR:Candy Bar Tart**

Tunnel of Fudge Bundt Cake

I have always had a thing for bundt cakes, especially the ones with another flavor wrapped inside.  I can remember the chocolate bundt cake with coconut running through the center.  However, out of all the flavors the tunnel of fudge is my favorite.  It is a great one to go to if you are really looking for a chocolate fix.

This one is different from the traditional since it has nuts.  Also, I could not resist using the dutch cocoa brand Cacao Barry.  I have read a lot about it and like it much more than the typical grocery store brands.  It has an dark amber color and is richer in flavor than other brands I have tried.

Tunnel of Fudge Bundt Cake
adapted from Serious Eats

Ingredients
5 eggs, room temp
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup boiling water
1 1/4 cup or 2 1/2 sticks of butter, softened
3/4 cup light brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp salt
2 cups flour
2 cups powdered sugar
3/4 cup cocoa powder, dutch processed
2 oz or 1/4 cup chopped bittersweet chocolate or chocolate chips
2 cups finely chopped pecans or walnuts

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Melt 1 tbs of butter and brush the interior of a 12 cup bundt pan, making sure are areas are covered.  Then dust with 1 tbs cocoa powder.  

Sift flour, cocoa and salt into a medium size bowl.  Whisk in powdered sugar and nuts. Set bowl aside.  Place chopped chocolate in a bowl and pour boiling water over it.  Let sit for 2 minutes and then stir until all chocolate is melted and consistency is smooth.

Then fill the bowl of a stand mixer with the butter, vanilla extract, light brown sugar and granulated sugar.  Cream together until light and fluffy.  Add each egg, one at a time, and beat for 30 seconds. Pour in the melted chocolate mix and blend until no dark streaks remain.

Remove bowl from stand mixer and fold in the dry cocoa/flour mixture.  Once all the dry ingredients are incorporated into the batter, fill the prepared bundt pan with the batter.  Smooth the top and place in oven to bake.

Cake is done when top springs back lightly when touched and cake starts pulling away from the sides of the pan.  This should take about 45 minutes.  Once finished baking, place on rack to cool for 20 minutes.  Once the 20 minutes has expired, invert the cake onto cooling rack.

Cake will take about 2 hours to completely cool.
                            **LAST YEAR: Lower East Side Nut Cake**
 

Apple Butterscotch Bundt Cake

Well the Texas weather has finally cooled down, giving me thoughts about all the fall baking that is coming up and the great holidays.

This particular cake is a tasty way to welcome fall.  Anything that has cinnamon and nutmeg does the trick for me every time.  Not only does this cake have spices but also walnuts and apples, which add great taste and texture.

It is not difficult to make and does not require a lot of fancy ingredients, so it is a perfect recipe to go to when you are in a bind for time.

In my mind, bundt cakes have such great flavor that they really do not require any icing.  While I did not make the icing as stated in the recipe below, I did use a caramel drizzle. I will be serving the cake with the drizzle on the side, so people can make their own choice.  Some of the crowd is dieting and some have a big sweet tooth, so I think this was a good solution.

Apple Butterscotch Bundt Cake
adapted from Cake Simple

Ingredients/ Cake
1 cup chopped, toasted walnuts
4 cups chopped and peeled apples (I used Granny Smith)
1 1/2 cups canola oil
3 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar (packed)
3 cups flour
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

Ingredients/ Butterscotch Icing
1 cup confectioners sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup or 1/2 stick of butter /cut into small cubes
1/4 tsp salt

Prepare a 12 cup bundt pan by greasing the inside with melted butter, you can use a pastry brush or dip a paper towel into the butter and coating the pan.  Then dust the interior with flour and tap out the excess.  Set aside and preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Sift together the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, nutmeg and salt in a medium bowl. Then fill the bowl of a stand mixer with the canola oil and both sugars.  Using the whisk attachment, blend for 30 seconds on medium speed.  Add one egg and whisk for another 30 seconds.  Continue with the same process for each egg addition.  Once all the eggs are blended, whisk in the vanilla extract.

Add the sifted ingredient to the batter and stir with a wooden spoon until no dry streaks remain.  Then add the walnuts and apples, folding in until all is evenly distributed.

Then spoon batter evenly into prepared bundt pan.  Place pan in oven and bake until tester comes out clean.  With my oven it took about 55 minutes.  The recommended baking time with the recipe is one hour and 15 minutes.  Remove cake from oven and place on a wire rack.  Let cool for 20 minutes and then invert cake onto rack and let cool completely before icing.

For the icing, fill a saucepan with the heavy cream, brown sugar, butter and salt.  Place pan over medium low heat and let cook, stirring constantly.  When the sugar and salt have completely dissolved, remove pan from heat and let cool.   Once mixture reaches room temperature, sift the confectioners sugar over the top, then whisk until smooth.

Take the icing and drizzle over the top of the cake, now it is ready to serve!
                    **LAST YEAR: Big Brahman Rolls** 

Elixir Wage Cake

Back in the 15th Century in Britain the labor force was under a truck system. The truck system was a manner in which payment was made for services in the form of commodities.  This in turn meant that those commodities had to be exchanged for the actual true needs of the laborer.  Also, the place of exchange would be a company owned store that controlled the value.

However, when it came to farm workers and cider, the average wage was 4-5 pints a day.  This system soon was became a way to rate a laborer. The more a man could drink, the more valuable he became. So a man that put away 2 gallons a day was considered a great worker.  Then in 1887 came the Truck Act which put a stop to payment in commodities and the drink fest came to a close.

Perhaps payment in the form of hard cider was a bad thing, but I decided that this particular cake would make for a nice company bonus!  This spicy cake takes a whopping 1 1/2 cups of hard cider.  Along with that, you include dark brown sugar and some apple juice.  The rich moist crumb of the cake is delicious enough on its own, but I couldn't just leave it at that.  Hard cider does deserve an apple chaser, so I included a tunnel of apples as well.

Elixir Wage Cake
by flourtrader

Ingredients/apple tunnel
1 cup dried apple pieces, coarsely chopped
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup apple juice
1/4 cup orange juice
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 tsp lemon juice
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg

Ingredients/Cake Batter
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups hard cider (open can or bottle and leave sit overnight, covered, to get flat)
1/2 cup apple juice
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp salt
3/4 cup or 1 1/2 sticks of butter
3 1/4 cups cake flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 cups dark brown sugar

To make the filling, fill a saucepan with the apples, water, orange juice and apple juice in a medium size saucepan and place over medium heat and stir.  Let mixture come to a simmer and then cover and let cook for about 10 minutes.  You want the apples to become very soft and a lot of the liquid to be absorbed.  Then add the sugar, lemon juice, cinnamon and nutmeg.  Simmer uncovered, stirring constantly for about 5-8 minutes, the water should now be very thick and syrupy.  Remove and set aside to cool to room temperature.  After it reaches room temperature, cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Generously grease the inside of a 10 cup bundt pan.  Then dust with flour.   Sift together baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and flour and set aside.

In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar.  Then beat in vanilla extract and salt.  Add one egg and beat for 30 seconds and then do the same with the second egg.  Using a wooden spoon, fold 1/3 of the sifted ingredients into the batter.  Then add 1/2 cup apple juice and 1/2 cup hard cider, stir until blended.  Add 1/2 of the remaining flour mixture and blend with wooden spoon.  Pour the last of the hard cider (1 cup) into the bowl and mix.  Follow with the rest of the sifted ingredients and blend until no dry streaks remain.

Now, to fill the cake pan.  I used 3 cups for the first layer, but you can see how much sinking the apples did.  I would say put 5 or 6 cups of batter into the pan.  Then take out the apple mixture and spoon it around in a circle in the center of the batter, making sure none touches the edges.  Spoon the rest of the cake batter on top and smooth out evenly.

Place pan in oven and bake for about 55 minutes or until tester comes out clean.  Place pan on a rack and let cool for 20 minutes.  Then invert and let completely cool before slicing.

Tips and Notes:
1.  Cake is better the next day because the spice flavor develops more.  I liked mine served slightly warm.
2.  The sinking factor is unpredictable,  but the apples may land dead center even if you place them on top of all the batter before baking-the process does need some experimenting for placement..
3.  Caramel sauce would be a great accompaniment.
                         **LAST YEAR: Triple Quake Bars**
                                 

Thunderstorm Bundt Cake

Firstly let me say that this is not just a vanilla chocolate marble cake as you would think by the picture.  Do not let it fool you, it is actually a strawberry chocolate marble cake.  No pink, because I chose no artificial color.

For some time I have been struggling with achieving a natural fruit flavored cake batter.  Yes, you can use citrus all day long, but outside of that it is difficult.  I have tried concentrated juices, boiling down juice and using extracts but I still continued to look.  I got a little closer by finding a natural fruit extract but was not completely there yet.  Now I am happy that I have found the answer in a combination of two things: natural fruit extract as well as freeze dried fruit powder.  This really does open the door to creating some more exotic cakes.  I even saw freeze dried gooseberry powder!

I think that the swirling of this cake is about like a swirl of dark clouds of an impending thunderstorm.  I was tempted to say "Perfect Storm" because I was so delighted at the flavor of this cake, but I chose something that was a little bit more humble.

I could have colored the strawberry batter for appearance purposes, but decided to decline.  It may not look so striking but I am happy that the natural flavors are there and that is enough for me! The texture is very moist and the strawberry chocolate combo not only tastes good but I can actually smell the strawberries as well as the chocolate in this cake.  I am hooked.

Now before we get to the recipe, I do have some shout outs as follows:

Balvinder or Neetu at  Gluten Free Food-thanks for passing along the ABC award to me.  Neetu is one of the bloggers I met early on and she really has shown me that gluten free does not mean that you are deprived of great taste.  I really liked her post on Mexican Brownies as well as Meatball pizzas.

Carmen of Carmen's Kitchen-thanks for passing along the Happy Blogger Award.  Carmen started her blog in 2011 very nervous about being the head cook and a newlywed.  However, I have come to realize she had nothing to be worried about.  Her blog really showcases how versatile she is in the kitchen.  I loved her post on Hello Kitty Cake pops as well as the Miso Katsu Burger.  Also, she has some sweet support from the hubby, who always puts in a word or two after eating.

Kim at A Little Lunch -thanks for the sweet rich chocolate clusters!  I had the luck to win her giveaway and her springtime looking package arrived quickly.  The quality of the clusters she sent is just amazing and a little goes a long way.  I already rolled out an introduction recently, but I just have to say that this candy is reflective of just what a sweet blogger she is!

Take some time and pop in to meet these bloggers if you haven't already!

Thunderstorm Bundt Cake
by Flourtrader 

Ingredients
3 1/2 cups of flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 1/4 cup sugar
1 tbs plus 1 tsp freeze dried strawberry powder
1/8 tsp natural strawberry flavor
1 1/2 tsp dutch cocoa powder (more for dusting pan)
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips or 8 oz chopped chocolate
1 cup or 2 sticks butter, room temp (more for greasing pan)
1 tsp vegetable oil
2 cups cream fraiche
4 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Prepare a 12 cup bundt pan by greasing all the interior with melted butter.  Then sift some dutch cocoa in the pan and roll the pan making sure that all the interior is dusted with cocoa.  Set aside.

Set up a double boiler and fill the top pan with the chocolate.  Let the water simmer in the bottom pan and melt the chocolate in the top.  Stir occasionally.  Once all is melted and smooth, add the cocoa and stir until dissolved.  Remove pan from heat.

In a medium size bowl, sift together the flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder.  Set aside.  Then fill the bowl of a stand mixer with the butter and sugar.  Cream mixture together by beating on medium speed for about 2 minutes.  It should turn light and fluffy.

Add one egg and beat for 30 seconds.  Continue with the process, adding one egg at at time.  Then beat in the vanilla extract and the vegetable oil.

Using a wooden spoon, fold in 1/3 of the sifted ingredients into the batter until incorporated.  Stir in 1/2 of the cream fraiche.  Mix in the next 1/3 of the sifted ingredients, then the rest of the cream fraiche.  Lastly fold in the remaining sifted ingredients.  Mixture should be a pretty thick batter.

Transfer 1/2 of the batter to another bowl.  Fold in the chocolate mixture in one 1/2 of the batter until smooth.  Then set aside.  For the remaining plain batter, add the freeze dried strawberry powder and the strawberry extract.  Stir until all strawberry ingredients are distributed evenly throughout the batter.

Most bakers have their preference of marbling technique, but here is mine.  Using an ice cream scoop take scoops of the strawberry batter and place them side by side in the bottom of the pan.  Then clean scoop and drop scoops of chocolate batter on top where the sides of the previous scoops meet.  After that, stack alternate layers of flavor scoops on top of each other around the inside of the pan.

Then place pan in oven to bake until tester comes out clean and cake is done.  This should take about 1 hour.  Remove pan and place on rack.  Let cool for 30 minutes before inverting onto cake plate.  Cool completely before slicing and serving.
                      **LAST YEAR:Toasted Coconut Bars**

Amber Tweed Bundt Cake

Have you ever had a hobby that you started and then went all out and then straight to the point of burn out?  Well I certainly did when I go my sewing machine years ago.  I did save a lot of money, making my own clothes, but my machine is retired now. I probably made at least 50 sets of clothes, if not more.

One thing I do still have a love for is all the wonderful fabrics out there.  One of them, of course, is tweed.  I made a lot of lined business suits for work and I had a thing for the heavier fabrics.  However my tastes are not perfectly suited for the climate since I live in Texas.

I do remember finding my favorite fabric mecca in Dallas.  I walked in and there were bolts stacked to the ceiling of a vast array of fabrics. Woolens, silks, cottons-you name it, they had it.  I used to spend hours in there just trying to decide!  Then I found another specialty place that had unusual and really stylish buttons, so I frequented there often too.

That was many years ago and now that I am blogging, I am waiting to find the same in a kitchen shop.  Until then, I will make due ordering from here and there and shopping at various places.

This particular bundt cake is speckled with chopped cinnamon chips and has no sugar in it.  It is sweetened with honey. The cake is moist with a tender crumb and goes well with a cup of coffee or tea in the morning.  For a dessert, it can be served with cinnamon whipped cream and your favorite berries.

Amber Tweed Bundt Cake
by flourtrader

Ingredients
1 2/3 cups honey
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup plus 4 tbs butter
1 tbs baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
3 egg yolks
1 egg
1 1/4 cup whole milk
1 cup chopped cinnamon chips
3 cups of flour

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Melt 2 tbs of butter and brush the inside of a 10 cup bundt pan.  Then dust with flour.

In a medium size bowl, sift together the baking powder, salt, cinnamon and flour.  Set aside.  In another bowl, beat 1/2 cup and 2 tbs of butter until smooth and creamy.  Add the honey and beat for 2 minutes.  Add one egg yolk and beat for 30 seconds until blended.  Follow the same process for each egg yolk and the egg, beating after each addition.

Then fold 1/3 of the sifted ingredients into the batter.  Add 1/2 a cup of milk and stir until blended.  Fold in another 1/3 of the sifted ingredients and then stir in 3/4 cup milk.  Take the chopped cinnamon chips and stir it into the last 1/3 of the sifted ingredients.  Fold that into the batter.

Pour or spoon the batter into the prepared pan.  Bake for 55-65 or until tester comes out clean.  Cake is done when top springs back when lightly touched.  Let cool in cake pan for 20 minutes and then invert onto rack to finish cooling.

                    **LAST YEAR: Thin Mint Cupcakes**

I am off to the doctor today to take care of this nasty sinus infection, so I will try to catch up with all of you later this afternoon!

Tunnel of Cheesecake Blueberry Bundt

There are so many bundt recipes out there, but as far as the cake mixes they have disappeared from the grocery story aisle.  I did see a site that offers gourmet mixes on line, but as far as Pillsbury or Betty Crocker mixes they do not even have it in their line anymore.

My favorite of the bundt cakes are the filled ones.  This particular blueberry one is filled with almond flavored cream cheese. After baking, I found that it does make for a wonderful breakfast slice or afternoon snack.  Due to it being so lightly sweetened, it almost passes for bread instead of a cake.  I chose not to include the icing, which I am sure sweetens up things.  I had some marscapone cheese left from my last round of cupcakes, so I used it instead of regular cream cheese.  Also, the tunnel has almond extract in it which I thought paired well with the blueberry.

Tunnel of Cheesecake Blueberry Bundt
adapted from Land O Lakes Butter

Ingredients/Cake
3 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups of blueberries (fresh or frozen)
1 cup sour cream
3 eggs
1/2 cup butter
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup sliced almonds, finely chopped

Ingredients/filling
1/2 tsp almond extract
6 oz cream cheese
1 egg
1/4 cup sugar
3 tbs flour

Ingredients/Glaze
2 oz cream cheese
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2-3 tsp milk
1 1/2 cups confectioners sugar

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a 12 cup bundt pan and coat the inside of the pan with the chopped nuts.

Then you will need to make the filling.  Beat the sugar with the cream cheese until smooth.  Then add the egg and beat for about 1 minute.  Lastly, add the flour and the almond extract and blend until all is evenly distributed.  Set aside.

To make the cake, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  In another bowl, cream together the butter, vanilla extract and sugar.  Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

Fold in 1/3 of the sifted ingredients and then 1/2 of the sour cream.  Repeat that step and then fold in the last of the flour.  Then stir in the blueberries.  Divide the batter in half and spoon one half into the bundt pan and smooth the top with a knife or spatula.  Then make an indentation in the batter about 2 inches wide and one inch deep.

Take a gallon sized zip lock bag and cut one corner, making a one inch wide hole.  Fill with the cream cheese mixture and pipe evenly into the indentation of the blueberry batter.  Once all the filling is used, spoon the other half of the batter over the top.  Smooth carefully making sure that no cream cheese is exposed.

Place pan in oven and bake about 50-60 minutes or until tester comes out clean.  Cool in pan 20 minutes and then invert on to rack to finish cooling.

To make glaze, place cream cheese in bowl and then sift the confectioners sugar over the top.  Add extract and only 1 tablespoon of milk.  Beat until all is blended and smooth.  Then add additional tablespoons of milk to achieve desired consistency.  Then drizzle glaze over cooled cake.
                              **LAST YEAR: Cinnamon Donut Muffins**

Chocolate Irish Potato Mini Cakes

With all the holidays coming up, I am looking for more individualized desserts instead of big pies or cakes.  This particular recipe is actually for a 12 cup bundt cake, but I halved the recipe and made these little cakes.

The interesting thing is that the moist texture comes from the mashed potatoes.  You definitely need to use real mashed potatoes, not instant.  Also, this recipe has Irish Cream liqueur in it.  Not just a few tablespoons but a whole cup, which makes these extra special.  I would say they tasted like little brownie cakes with  a zing of Irish cream.

The original recipe for the whole bundt cake is below.  Should you decide to make mini cakes, cupcakes or try any other deviation from the whole cake, the baking time should be adjusted.  I have not stated the time for mine because I consider my pan to be out of the norm.  The cavities are bigger than mini muffins but not as big as cupcakes.

Chocolate Irish Potato Cake
adapted from 365 Great Chocolate Desserts

Ingredients
1 3/4 cups of flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup or 2 sticks of butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
4  one ounce squares of unsweetened chocolate, melted
1 cup mashed potatoes
1 tbs espresso powder or instant coffee
4 eggs, room temperature
1 cup Irish Cream liqueur
powdered sugar (optional, for dusting cake)

Make sure that the melted chocolate as well as the mashed potatoes have cooled before starting on this cake.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and generously grease a 12 cup bundt pan.

Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.  Set aside.

Take another bowl out and cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the espresso powder or instant coffee (whichever one you decided to use), melted chocolate and mashed potatoes.  Beat until all is smooth and evenly distributed.  This should take about 2 minutes.  Add an egg to the batter and beat for 30 seconds.  Continue with this process until all the eggs are incorporated into the batter.

Fold half of the flour mixture into the chocolate batter, making sure no dry streaks remain.  Then blend in the cup of the Irish cream.  Lastly, fold in the rest of the flour mixture until the all ingredients are well combined.  Spoon evenly into prepared cake pan.

Place pan in oven and bake until tester comes out clean.  Baking time should be about 45-50 minutes.  Let the cake cool in the pan for about 20 minutes and then invert cake onto a rack to finish cooling.  If you have elected to dust with powdered sugar, do this step prior to cutting and serving. 
                                **LAST YEAR: Annie's Banana Cookies**

Georgia Tunnel Cake

The one thing I really like about this cake is that it is versatile.You can make it without the filling and let peach schnapps soak into the cake while warm or you can prepare it with the tasty cinnamon nut filling.  Either way, it makes for a wonderful dessert.

My first trial resulted in too much filling and too much batter.  Second time around I used a 12 cup bundt and half the filling recipe.  It yielded much better results, even though I still had a little batter left, which you can use to make some cupcakes.  That way if you are bringing this cake to a party or giving it, you still will be able to have a taste without cutting into the cake.

The cake part is a moist crumb with chunks of peaches in it.  The filling part is a cinnamon walnut mixture which is much like a pie filling.  The flavors really compliment each other, so I will be making this again.

My sister says she is making a request list of things on my blog she would like to see on a dessert table for around the holidays, so we will see if this ends up on the list!

Georgia Tunnel Cake
by flourtrader

Ingredients/Filling
1/2 cup cinnamon chips
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/8 tsp salt
1/4 cup butter
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
2 beaten eggs

To make the filling: Place butter in a small saucepan over medium heat.  Once melted, stir in sugar, salt and corn syrup.  Continue to stir as mixture cooks and sugar dissolves.  The sugar is completely dissolved when there is no gritty consistency at the bottom of the pan.  Remove pan from heat and place in fridge on a pot holder or trivet to cool.

In a large bowl whisk together vanilla, eggs and salt until combined.  Then preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Continue to check the temperature of the sugar mixture periodically.  Remove the bowl once it reaches a lukewarm temperature.  Stir it a few times and then pour it into the vanilla/egg mixture.  Use a spatula to get all the sugar mixture out and mix the ingredients together until evenly distributed.  Then fold in the cinnamon chips and the nuts.

Pour the mixture onto prepared baking sheet and place in oven for 5-7 minutes.  The mixture will foam up a little while baking and you should make sure it does not become hard like candy. Remove and let the filling cool.  The filling should become thick and be able to be spooned up without any watery drips.

Ingredients/Cake
4 1/2 cups of flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 3/4 cup plus 2 tbs butter
7 eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3 3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup peach schnapps
3 cups chopped peaches

To make cake: preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease 12 cup bundt pan and then dust with bread crumbs.

In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Beat in eggs one at a time, beating for 30 seconds after each addition.  Then beat in the vanilla extract and set aside.

Sift the flour and the baking powder together in another bowl.  Then take out a small bowl and whisk the peach schnapps with the milk.

Fold in 1/3 of the flour mixture to the butter/sugar batter until no dry streaks remain.  Stir in half of the peach schnapps slurry.  Repeat the process, ending with the flour mixture.  Lastly, fold in the peaches.

If you are using the filling, put half of the cake batter into the pan and even it out.  Then spoon filling mixture into the center of the batter, being careful not to let it touch the sides of the pan.  After the filling is all used, pour the rest of the batter on top and smooth it out.  If not using the filling,  just pour all of the batter into the pan and smooth the top.

Let bake for 45-55 minutes or until tester comes out clean and batter is pulling away from the sides of the pan.  Remove pan from oven and place pan on rack to cool.  If you have not filled the cake, you might opt to pour 1/4 cup of peach schnapps on the cake and cover so it will sink in and not evaporate.  Let cake cool in pan for 20 minutes, then invert onto a rack to finish cooling.  Below is a picture of a slice of this cake, but note that this was the recipe before I cut back on the amount of filling.

                             **LAST YEAR: Jumbo Harvest Squash Muffins**

Cranberry Invasion Cake

Well I still have that large bottle of creme de noyaux, so I decided to make a cake with it.  I thought that the almond flavor would go well with some cranberries.  My biggest peeve about swirled cakes, breads and coffee cakes is that there is so little of that swirl included, you can barely taste it.  I set about making a cake with a big flavorful swirl in it as you can see.

This picture is actually my the first draft of the recipe.  If you notice, there is a lot of crumbs on the plate.  That is actually almonds.  One of the changes I made is that the almonds go in with the cranberry mixture, that way they are in the cake and not apt to fall off, like in this picture.   There were some other trials and errors, but I will save you all that detail.

The cake is better served the next day.  With time, the flavor of the creme de noyeau develops more.  The burst of cranberry flavor with the almond cake is exactly what I was looking for in taste as well as texture.  Now on to the final recipe that I arrived at:

Cranberry Invasion Cake
by flourtrader

Ingredients/Cranberry Filling
1 1/2 cups cranberries
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup finely chopped toasted almonds (optional)
3/4 cup water

Ingredients/Cake
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter
2 eggs
1/4 cup creme de noyaux
1 cup sour cream
1 tbs vegetable oil
red food coloring

Prepare a 10 cup bundt pan by brushing all the inside with melted butter and then dusting with bread crumbs.  Set aside.

To make the filling, place all ingredients (except for the almonds) in a medium size sauce pan.  Put saucepan over medium high heat and stir.  Cook filling for 15 minutes or until thickened.  Filling mixture should reduce down to 1/3 of the original mixture.  This is basically a cranberry sauce, so it will thicken quite a bit when cooled.  Transfer mixture to a heat proof bowl and let cool completely before using. 

Now, you can start making the cake.  Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a small bowl and set aside. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees or if you are using a dark pan, 325 degrees.

Using an electric mixer, beat together the butter and sugar until smooth and creamy.  This should take about 2 minutes.  Add one egg and beat for 30 seconds.  Then beat in the additional egg.  Pour in the creme de noyaux and the vegetable oil.  Beat on low speed until evenly distributed.  At this time, put in 2 drops of food coloring and beat.  Continue with this process until desired color is met.

Fold 1/3 of the dry ingredients into the batter.  Then blend in 1/2 cup of sour cream. Repeat this task, ending with the dry ingredients, until completely mixed together.  Be careful not to over work the batter.

Spoon 1/2 of the cake batter into the pan and smooth it out even.  If using almonds, mix them into the cooled cranberry filling.  Carefully spoon the filling on top of the cake batter in the pan.  The trick is to get it even but not touch the edges of the pan.  If you touch the edge with the filling, that section will most likely stick and you will have difficulty getting your cake out of the pan.

After you have used up all the filling, spoon the rest of the batter on top and smooth it out. Place cake in oven and bake for about 50-55 minutes or until done.  Cake is done when tester comes out clean and it is golden brown on top.

Let cake cool in pan set on a wire rack for about 20 minutes.  Then invert on to rack to finish cooling.  If you have some difficulty, slide a butter knife around the edges and then try to invert cake.  Once cooled, you can dust with confectioners sugar or drizzle with glaze (click here for recipe).
                            **LAST YEAR: 18 hour Guinness Burgers***