As I try to do whenever feasible, I made a half-recipe in my sweet little bundt pan. Actually, it looks more like a miniature kugelhopf pan to me. All I had to do was mix up a simple but decadent butter-sour cream cake, then layer some walnut/miniature chocolate chip/cinnamon filling in the middle and on top. (I skipped the raisins in the filling.)
Due to the miniature bundt's lack of surface area, I had a little trouble covering the second swirl layer with batter. I had to leave it mostly exposed while baking, which meant that when the bundt was ready to unmold and cool....the top swirl dumped all over the counter. Oh, and a nice-sized chunk of cake remained stuck to the pan. A spritz of Pam for Baking never does me wrong with a bundt cake, but for some reason, this cake didn't want to go. Maybe the unswirled swirl got in the way? As John Cage used to say on Ally McBeal, bygones. The cake hit the spot with a cup of coffee, and I would definitely bring this to a brunch or tea - in full size, of course.
My picture shows part of the surviving cake on my new Escali kitchen scale (thanks, Mary of Popsicles and Sandy Feet for the Rue La LA hookup on that one). Since moving to Pennsylvania I've been exclusively buying organic pastured eggs from my neighbor. They are super fresh, healthy, and delicious. They also come in wonderfully uneven sizes (and colors), which means that a standard large egg is a thing of the past. Now I can weigh them and know exactly what I'm using. If I ever decide to get serious about baking, I can weigh my dry ingredients, like the rest of the world does. Hooray!
Next week: Christine of Happy Tummy chose Great Grains Muffins on pages 8 and 9 of Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan
Last week: Lemon Poppyseed Muffins
I am SO jealous that you get to buy eggs from your neighbor! So cool. It does look like a tiny kugelhopf! Miss you tons and glad you enjoyed this too.
ReplyDeleteHonestly spoken, I don't know how you Americans can bake anyhow with all these strange measures as cups and sticks and spoons... but re-calculating it to grams and kilos just made me nuts, so I started to use cups etc, too. Enjoy your new scale!
ReplyDelete(uh, and of course: IMHO I see a swirled swirl - your cake looks just what it should look like!
"Bygones"...I had forgotten all about that. Oh, how I miss Ally McBeal!
ReplyDeleteYour cake looks perfect...this one was a bit tricky. Thank you for baking along with me!
Your cake looks perfect!! Love it! I loved Ally McBeal!
ReplyDeleteI love your mini bundt - it's picture perfect.
ReplyDeleteThis was a really tasty little number! Looks good to me. :-)
ReplyDeletemmm swooning for your swirl!
ReplyDeleteI've had a kitchen scale for years, but just recently was given a digital scale which is so much more accurate. Now I'm wishing Dorie had included weights in her book!
ReplyDeleteI completely understand about the eggs. My stepfather had been sharing some from his chickens with me, and they were HUGE!
ReplyDeleteI made a mini this week as well. Your swirl looks so perfect - glad you enjoyed it!
Very nice! Perfect swirl, too! :)
ReplyDeleteLooks perfect and perfectly delicious! Having a scale (got mine about two years ago) changed my baking/cooking life radically, you will not want to be without it ever again!
ReplyDeleteI buttered and floured my pan like crazy! This was a winner.
ReplyDeleteThat photo is just amazing. I love how it shows the swirly inside. Great job on the cake.
ReplyDeleteThis looks great! I've never thought about eggs being different sizes naturally, which of course they are! Nice.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful cake. Your filling is much thicker than mine.
ReplyDeleteI loved this cake! And yay for your new scale!
ReplyDeleteWhat a perfectly adorable baby bundt! I don't think you were alone in your swirl experience but this sure was a tasty cake.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely try it in full sized. It was delicious. Love your little swirl!
ReplyDeleteYeah, I had trouble too putting batter on the swirl in the mini. Had to sort of work it smooth with my finger. But it was oh so good.
ReplyDeleteLove making minies. More fun. Love the shape of yours.
The cake looks terrific! I actually made a full-size this week because it seemed like it would be impossible to swirl in a smaller pan. Weighing ingredients=fewer dishes, it's great.
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