Pumpkin Bread

First off, sorry for no TWD yesterday. I really really wanted to make the apple crisp, but I had no apples, and after going to wal-mart twice in one day, a third time really wasn't happening. I'll make it later in the week and post it for next Tuesday.

Tonight, I was in the mood to bake (its starting to become a problem). I figured I'd make something pumpkin-y since I had half of a gigantic can stored in the fridge from the pumpkin roll I made this past weekend. I chose to make my fall back pumpkin bread recipe from Paula Deen, but *a little* healthier.

This time I made the recipe with applesauce instead of oil, and half white whole wheat flour half regular all purpose flour instead of straight out all purpose. I also cut the sugar from 3 cups to 2.5, you could probably get away with a little less, but I wouldn't go under 2. That's just me though :) It ended up really moist, but didn't dip a little in the middle and get a bit gooey like the normal bread does. I think this change is a keeper!

Here's the recipe with my changes:
Adapted from Paula Deen's The Lady and Son's Savannah Country Cookbook.

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 teaspoon salt
4 eggs
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 cups canned pumpkin
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2/3 cup water
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1 1/2 + 1/3 cups white whole wheat flour

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray two loaf pans. Mix sugar and applesauce with mixer. Add eggs and blend. Add pumpkin and blend. Add water and blend. Combine remaining ingredients and add slowly. Fill pans equally and bake for 50 minutes to one hour until golden brown.

Paula Deen's Chocolate Cream Cheese Pound Cake

When you read that title, you should say "Ohhhh yeahhhhhhh" and drool. The good thing about this cake?! Its that good. Its amazing. Its possibly one of the best straight out chocolate cakes ever. And its easy. Just like a pound cake, only you don't add the eggs and flour alternately, and there's chocolate in it.

I ninja'd the recipe off a random internet site after I saw the cake title on a fellow bundt lover's website.

My only problem with this cake, is sometime between when that picture above was taken, and when I wanted to flip it, that little indention going on in the center, went down about another inch. I was sad at first, then I flipped it anyway.


Looks pretty normal right? Well...This is what happened when I sliced it.


But ya know what? Even though it fell all apart when I sliced it, and had a hole in the middle, I think the falling actually helped! It made it slightly more moist (usually falling makes things gooey, I guess I got lucky), and with the crusty top, its the perfect texture. Now if I could figure out how to do that every time!

Here's a recipe for it. I'm sure its posted in one of her books, but I don't have them all yet so I don't know which one. Enjoy!

(my only changes were that I used all purpose flour, and just went a little shy of the 2-1/4 cup. I don't do fractions, so I can't tell you the right amount. Just fill up the normal amount, but when you're on the 1/4 cup, go about 3 tbsp short. I also used half a teaspoon of baking soda since I didn't really know if cake flour was supposed to have that mixed in or not)

Ingredients

* 2 sticks of butter, softened
* 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
* 3 cups sugar
* 6 eggs
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 2 1/4 cups cake flour
* 1 teaspoon baking powder
* 3/4 cup cocoa

Directions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease/spray a 10-inch Bundt pan.

Cream butter, cream cheese, and sugar. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each. Add vanilla.

In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and cocoa. Add about half of the flour mixture to the butter mixture and beat well. Add remaining flour mixture and beat well for about 2 minutes.

Pour batter into Bundt pan. Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until done.

TWD: Sugar-Topped Molasses Spice Cookies

November is great. Its really one of my favorite months. Its not hot, not too cold (here anyway), and it has THANKSGIVING!!! WOOHOOO!!! I mean, whats better, a day where you do nothing but eat. It was made for me I think.

Anyway, enough about that. This month we're allowed to bake the TWD picks out of order. This week I chose to make the Sugar-Topped Molasses Spice Cookies chosen by Pamela from Cookies with Boys.

These cookies first proved to be a big pain in the butt over a week ago when I went out in search of Molasses. Apparently the only store in my town that carried it is the one I didn't go to, so I ended up searching in the small town I work in that had it. Oh well. I'm also sad to say that I really didn't like these cookies. Something about the odd flavor of it. But I think I'm the only person in the TWD group that didn't like them, so its obviously just me. Make them anyway :) I can say that they were better after they had fully cooled, but I have very little control over waiting until things are fully cooled.

Also, if you do make them, the dough is really weird. Just to warn you. And, I found it difficult to smash them out, I'd suggest spraying something with a ton of Pam and trying it.



Pamela will probably post the recipe next week, since that's when her pick was due to be posted, but check out her blog. Its neato. And if you want the recipe before then, or just want to be the owner of the best baking book ever, buy it here.

TWD: All In One Holiday Bundt Cake

November is a neat month for us Tuesday with Dorie kids. Since its a holiday month that involves a bunch of baking, we're allowed to bake the recipes out of order for the month. The one I chose, the All in One Holiday Bundt was chosen for the week of November 24th. Mostly, I made this one because I had all the ingredients on hand. Can't help it. I'm lazy.



Anyway, this cake was chosen by Britin of The Nitty Britty. Its featured on pgs 186-187 of Dorie's book Baking: From My Home to Yours. This cake is super. I should have waited till Thanksgiving. Oh well, suppose I'll have to make another one in a few weeks!

I took a few shortcuts with this, I refuse to eat/buy/smell cranberries. I hate them. So, I skipped the cranberries in this. I also added a pinch of pretty much every pumpkin-y spice I had in the cabinet to it. This cake was very easy to put together and it only took about 50 minutes to bake.


(This one shows the fight I got into with the batter getting it in the pan. Look how sloppy, I'm ashamed.)

Oh, and a BIG shout-out to Mary the Food Librarian! She's doing 30 bundt cakes in 30 days for National Bundt Cake Day! Give her some love!