Pumpkin Bundt Cake

Since most people know that I love to bake I've become some sort of clearinghouse for their unused/unwanted bakeware type stuff. While cleaning the garage the other day I came across a bundt pan that I didn't know I had. It seems like a nice quality pan, heavy with a nonstick finish and a simple but pretty design.

Funny, I've often thought it would be nice to have one!

Well of course after finding the pan I was dying to bake something in it and this being fall it was a given that it would be something pumpkin. I searched around a little bit and found a recipe but the pan sat on the counter for a few days before I finally got to it.

Since I didn't go to Tae Kwon Do tonight (shin splints, ouch!) I took the opportunity to bake one up and bless my sweet husband. The whole family loved it judging by all the "mmmmmm's" going on around the table. And the bonus was, my house smells great!

Here's the recipe in case you want to give it a try. If you don't have a bundt pan you can do the recipe in a 9x13 but you will need to reduce the baking time quite a bit. I would start checking at about 20-25 minutes depending on how hot your oven runs. The recipe is for a 12 cup bundt pan. A 9x13 pan will hold 14 and a 9x9 pan will hold ten. The other option is two 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 x 2 1/2 loaf pans. They each hold six cups so you will get two loaves.

Pumpkin Bundt Cake
3 large eggs
1 15-oz can pumpkin (not pie filling)
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup water
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/4 cups sugar
1 1/4 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp allspice
1 cup raisins*
1/2 - 1 cup chopped toasted nuts*

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour or spray a Bundt pan.

In a large bowl, whisk together the 3 eggs,pumpkin, oil and water until smooth.

Add flour, sugar, salt, baking soda and spices. Mix well. Stir in raisins and nuts, if using.

Pour into pan, bake 65 - 75 minutes or until a cake tester inserted near the center comes out clean. Let cool on a rack for 10 minutes. Remove from pan, let cool completely.

Dust with powdered sugar before serving.

*Now you know I always toast the nuts before I put them into anything! You don't have to but it's my preference. I skipped the raisins but you may like them. (Another little tip for you; when you're using raisins in a recipe soak them in the egg mixture for about an hour before you mix up your batter. This makes the raisins beautifully soft in your baked item. Once you try this you will never make an oatmeal cookie without soaking the raisins first! )

I actually made a powdered sugar glaze but I stirred in about 1/3 cup melted cinnamon chips. I found it got a bit coagulated because the glaze cooled the cinnamon chips before it could come together. Since I have my handy, dandy Vitamix blender I threw it in there and it was smooth as silk when it was done. I poured it right out of the blender onto the cake. Mmmmmmm....

Everybody was Kungfu Fighting...

Okay, so they're not KungFu, they're actually TaeKwonDo cookies. Or TaeKwoncookies as my kids were calling them. Baking is like therapy for me and I needed some but I didn't want to eat them all so we took them to our TaeKwonDo class tonight. They were very appreciated. :D In fact, our teacher said they were the coolest cookies he's ever seen (and he didn't kill me with the workout so buttering him up seemed to work! lol)

I went online and found two pictures I liked of guys doing TKD and printed them out. Then Jon shaped copper ribbon using two nails pounded into a board. He used the pictures as his guide (and did a fabulous job I must say! :D ) You can't see it because I've only posted two pictures but I did some with a yellow belt, some blue, some brown and some black. I skipped purple because no one in our class has a purple belt at the moment but all the other colors are represented. Mines a boring old white belt since I've just started but at least I got to eat a cookie without guilt!

Who would like a cookie?

Well, since I love baking so much (it's kind of like therapy for me) this blog will probably be more than just cake. Here is a recipe for my favorite fall cookies. They are the first pumpking cookie I've actually liked. I wish I didn't like them so much because cookie therapy is very expensive for your waistline!

Harvest Pumpkin Cookies

Pumpkin cookies with toasted walnuts and white chocolate

2 cups flour

1 cup sugar

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp allspice

1 cup butter, softened

1 cup canned pumpkin

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup toasted walnuts*

1 cup white chocolate chips

*I toast my walnuts in a cast iron pan on my stovetop. It's not necessary to toast the nuts first but the flavor is so exceptional that I take the time to do the extra step. If you toast them first they will cool by the time you're ready to add them. *

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Sift flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, salt and allspice together in a large bowl; set aside. In a mixing bowl cream together butter and sugar on medium speed until fluffy. Add the egg, pumpkin and vanilla and continue beating until creamy. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the pumpkin mixture and beat on medium until all ingredients are incorporated. Stir in walnuts and chips.

Drop by teaspoonfuls onto a cookie sheet spaced about 2" apart. Bake for 10-12 minutes and allow to cool on the cookie sheet for one minute before removing.

I really like spicy cookies so I always add a bit extra cinnamon and allspice. I also use a heavy hand on the chips and nuts because I like a lot of texture to my cookies. These are also good made with whole wheat flour. A variation is toasted pecans with dried cranberries.