Sour Cream Pumpkin Bundt for National Bundt Day

Today is National Bundt Day.  Duty calls.  I made a bundt.  I am trying to stay seasonal, so what would make the most sense?  You guessed it, pumpkin!  When I want to make a bundt, my first stop on the internet is always Mary's blog.  She could be considered the queen of bundts and boy does she love pretty much all things bundt related.

She recently posted this recipe for Sour Cream Pumpkin Bundt which she got off of the Libby's website.  I would never in a million years think to pull something off of a branded website.  Since reading Mary's post, I have actually perused a few of the sites, just to see what their ideas are for the holidays.  Some interesting, some not so interesting.  Yet, none the less, good info and always inspires new ideas.

Regardless, this cake is a winner.  And as I have mentioned in the past, bundts are easy and they are always a crowd pleaser.  This one certainly pleased a crowd.  I made three minor alterations to the recipe.  I added dried cranberries to the streusel, cut back a little on the streusel ingredients, and replaced sucanat with white sugar.

We are having friends for brunch Thanksgiving weekend.  I may just have to make this again!

Sour Cream Pumpkin Bundt
adapted from here

ingredients:
streusel
2 tsp. butter, cold
1/3 cup brown sugar
3/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp. ground allspice
1/3 cup dried cranberries, chopped

cake:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tbls. ground cinnamon
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
2 cups sugar (I used sucanat)
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temp.
4 large eggs, room temp.
1 cup pumpkin puree
8 oz. sour cream
2 tsp. vanilla extract

instructions:
• preheat oven to 350*.  butter & flour a 12 cup bundt pan
for the streusel
• combine all dry ingredients and whisk.  cut butter into dry mixture until crumbly.  add dried cranberries. set aside.
for the cake
• whisk flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt. set aside
• cream sugar and butter together in the bowl of an electric mixer until fluffy.
• add eggs one at a time.
• add pumpkin, sour cream, and vanilla.  scrape sides of bowl and mix again until incorporated.
• spoon half the batter into the prepared pan
• top with streusel mixture. don't let streusel hit the side of the pan.
• cover with remaining batter.
• bake 55-65 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.
• cool for 30 minutes in pan, then remove from the pan and cool completely.
for the glaze
• combine 1 1/2 - 2 cups sifted powdered sugar with 2-3 tablespoons of milk.  mix completely.
• spoon over cake and let drip down the sides.

Enjoy!

Mini Cheesecakes

The smartest thing I did with this recipe was run out and buy many silicone muffin trays. I started making these cheesecakes and after making one tray in my nonstick pans, I knew I was going to be in trouble. I purchased 4 trays. Nearly not enough. I will be getting 4 more and now I am a little obsessed. I need to find square ones. All shapes, all sizes.

This recipe for mini cheesecakes is from Rose Levy Beranbaum's Christmas cookie book. You all know how much I adore this book. With that said, this is not one not one of the better cheesecake recipes that I have made. However, they were still pretty yummy.

I really wanted to top these little bite size treats with her lemon curd that she suggests. I had the perfect morning to make the curd. My kids were playing next door, Mitch was golfing which means my house was quiet and I had no distractions. I did everything the recipe told me to do, yet instinctively, I knew something was weird when the recipe said to cook the mixture to 196 degrees on the thermometer? I knew when the curd was ready, but I was too insecure to follow my gut. I am generally a rule follower, and in this case I followed the rules, much to my chagrin.

Now instead of lemon curd, I have lemon "paste". I will find something to do with it.

Instead of topping these little morsels of joy with lemon curd, I am topping them with the same cranberry yummy stuff I put on our bread pudding (made a fresh batch, of course)!

So not in the mood to type up the recipe. Simply use your favorite cheesecake recipe (as this one was so-so), your favorite crust and top with whatever concoction you see fit(after the cheesecakes are baked and set). Bake for about 10-16 minutes, depending upon your oven.

Don't make these without the silicone muffin trays. By using these trays, they just pop right out! Easy, peasy and clean up was a breeze!

Challah Bread Pudding

Today we had plans to go to our friends for breakfast. Lisa and I choose to split up the cooking responsibility. She was in charge of eggs (a yummy baked egg dish with cheese, green chili's and egg - of course), fruit and juice. I offered to make a bread pudding as I had tons of left over challah in the freezer. We also picked up bagels, lox and cream cheese.

I have been saving challahs. Usually, I freeze them and then when I get around to it, I make bread crumbs and croutons. When Lisa and I decided we would get together for breakfast, I immediately said, let me make a bread pudding.

I love Tartine bakery and subsequently, love the cookbook as well. I have been in the bakery and have watched people order the bread pudding for breakfast, but never had the guts to order it. Didn't want to eat that many calories so early in the day. Hence, have wanted to make it for a crowd so I could I have a teeny, weeny little bite. Glad I made it and glad I had my teeny, weeny little bite!

The recipe calls for brioche. Challah and brioche are so similar that I knew it would work. I also made a cranberry type sauce to go over it. The kids preferred it with maple syrup.

Challah Bread Pudding

Ingredients:

6 slices brioche, 1" thick

8 large eggs

1/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp. sugar

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla

4 cups whole milk

1/2 tsp. salt

directions:

1. Butter a 9 x 5" glass loaf dish

2. Arrange brioche slices on a baking sheet and put in a preheated 350* oven for 4-10 minutes (you want it to be slightly toasted). Let cool.

3. To make the custard, mix eggs with a whisk. Add the sugar until smooth. Add the milk, vanilla & salt. Whisk until incorporated. Pour the custard through a fine mesh sieve held over a large measuring cup (for easy pouring).

4. Place the toasted bread slices in the prepared loaf pan (for a larger crowd, I put in a round souffle dish and it puffed up and was beautiful). Pour the custard evenly over the bread, filling to the top. You may not be able to add all the custard at this point. Let sit about 10 minutes so the bread can absorb the liquid.

At this point, I made it, covered it an put in the fridge. I prepped the night before, which was brilliant.

Cover and refrigerate the left over custard as well. Just before baking add more custard. You want to use all the custard.

5. Cover the dish with foil and place in the oven, on a baking sheet, and bake for an hour. If it was in the fridge, it will take an additional 20-30 minutes. To test for done-ness, uncover the dish, slip a knife into the center and putsh the bread aside. If the the custard is still liquid, recover and bake for 10 more minutes or so.

Let cool and serve.

Cranberry Sauce

ingredients:

1 cup cranberries

1/4 + 2 tbsp. sugar

1/4 cup water

2 1/2 tsp. corn starch

directions:

Put all in a heavy duty pot and bring to a boil. Once boiled, swirl pan for a minute or so until it thickens. Take off heat. The fruit will thicken as it cools. Pour over the bread pudding.

So yummy!