A Pound of Love

I used to think I didn't really love eating fancy cake. Making them? Yes. Eating them? Not so much. And then I had this heavy bundt of love sitting on my counter and I took a bite. That gooey cinnamon warmed my entire soul. Yes, I'm falling in love with cinnamon.

Dulce de Leche

(Adapted from CakeLove)

Ingredients:

8 oz butter (2 sticks)

24 oz sugar (3 cups)

5 eggs, large

1 yolk

13.5 oz flour (2-3/4 c. flour)

1 T cornstarch

1 T cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking soda

8 oz sour cream (1 cup)

2 T heavy cream

1 T vanilla extract

6 T whole milk

1 T lemon juice

2 T lemon zest

1 tsp lime zest

Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs/yolk one at a time until combined.

In separate bowl, whisk together dry ingredients. In another bowl, whisk together liquid ingredients. Alternate adding dry and liquid ingredients to egg mixture. Spray bundt pan well with nonstick spray with flour (the flour makes a difference!) and fill pan about 3/4 full.

Bake about 50-55 min at 350.

When cool, drizzle with dulce de leche sauce. Yum!

Welcome to Fat Tuesday!

After a crazy weekend, a longer-than-necessary Monday and nearly a full week still staring me down, my mind is just reeling with the possibilities sitting in my pantry. So what's a girl to do? Well, obviously there's only one thing to do: Set some butter on the counter and get out the bucket, yes, bucket, of sugar. Thank goodness for Fat Tuesday!

I've had multiple requests for this recipe after bringing it to my work's international potluck (what's more american than me and apples?), and finally, here it is! This recipe is adapted from Bon Appetit, CakeLove and Me!

Caramel Apple Upside Down Cake

Preheat oven to 350. Coat 9" square cake pan with nonstick cooking spray and line bottom with parchment paper.

Part I: Caramel Apple stuff

1-1/2 cup sugar

2 T butter

4 apples (12 slices/apple)

Combine sugar and butter in saucepan over low heat. Stir until sugar dissolves. Add apples and cover; allow to cook until sugar caramelizes. Remove from heat and pour into pan.

Part II: Cinnamon cake

Ingredients:

1 cup butter

3 cups sugar

5 eggs

1 yolk

2-3/4 cup flour

1 T cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking soda

1 cup sour cream

2 T heavy cream

2 T lemon zest

7 T whole milk

1 T vanilla

Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs and yolk, one at a time. In a separate bowl, whisk together dry ingredients. In another bowl, whisk together liquid ingredients. Alternate adding dry and liquid ingredients until combined. Pour batter on top of caramel apple mixture.

Bake until done, about 50 min. Allow to cool about 10-15min, loosen sides from pan and turn onto cooling rack. Serve warm or cool, it's delicious either way!