Pecan Golden Syrup Bundt Cake

My house has been full these last few weeks, filled with family and good times.  Of course, it has kept me busy but it is a joy to have more folks to feed.  Since I am always looking for new ideas, I am delighted to take part for the first time in Belleau Kitchen's Random Recipe Challenge.  

Here’s how the Random Recipe Challenge works:   Number your cookbooks and choose one randomly.  Or make a big pile of them and pick one out with your eyes closed.  Then make the first recipe on the first random page you open.   Since I belong to EatYourBooks,  this was very easy.  Right now I have 89 cookbooks registered (Don’t ask me how many aren’t yet!) so I asked my daughter to pick a number and she said 11.  I counted down and the 11^th book on my list is Nigella’s Kitchen.  One of my very favorite cookbooks!  The random page I opened to was her Pecan Maple Bundt Cake, which I had yet to make, so it was perfect.  I don’t have maple syrup in Cairo but thankfully the Random Recipe rules allow for substitutions for availability or dietary restriction.  So here goes.

Ingredients

For the pecan filling:

1 rounded 1/2 cup or 75g plain flour

2 rounded tablespoons or 30g soft unsalted butter

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup or 150g pecans (or walnuts) (I used pecans, of course.) 

125ml maple or golden syrup (I used Lyle’s Golden Syrup.)

For the cake:

2 1/2 cups or 310g flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda or bicarbonate of soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 rounded 1/2 cup or 125g soft unsalted butter

Scant 3/4 cup or 160g sugar

2 eggs

1 cup or 250ml sour cream or crème fraîche

1–2 teaspoons confectioners' or icing sugar, for decoration

Method

Preheat the oven to 350°F or 180°C and grease your Bundt pan. 

First, make the filling.  Toast your pecans in a baking pan for about 10-15 minutes in the preheating oven.  Watch them carefully so they don’t scorched.  Chop the pecans roughly.

Mix the flour with the butter using a fork.  You want it to look like small crumbs.  

Stir in the cinnamon, chopped pecans and golden syrup.  This will be very thick, almost solid.   Set aside.

To make the cake batter, measure your dry cake ingredients into a small bowl: the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  Mix well. 

Cream the butter and sugar together in a large bowl with beaters or in your standing mixer.   

Then beat in one tablespoon of the flour mixture, then one egg.  

Then add another tablespoonful of flour mixture followed by the second egg.

Add the rest of the flour mixture and beat while adding the sour cream.  The batter will be very thick.

Spoon just more than half of the cake batter around the Bundt pan.  Spread the batter up the sides so that you make a channel of sorts in the middle of the batter.  This is to avoid having the filling leak out while baking.

Use a tablespoon to fill the channel in the batter with your pecan filling. 

Cover with the remaining batter and smooth the top. 

Bake in the preheated oven for 30-40 minutes.   Check with a cake tester after 30 minutes.  Make sure to get the tester into the cake part because the filling will probably not come out clean, even when the cake is baked through.

Let the cake cool for 10-15 minutes and then loosen the sides with a small spatula or knife.  Turn the cake out.  

Cool completely and then decorate by sprinkling with icing or confectioners’ sugar.  This cake was gone in a heartbeat!  I think they even licked the plate. 

Enjoy!

If you would like to join the next challenge, follow Belleau Kitchen on Twitter or join the group on Facebook. 

Click on the graphic to see how other bloggers have met the challenge this month!

Orange Marmalade Pumpkin Muffins #MuffinMonday

Thin shred marmalade mixed through sweet pumpkin batter makes these orange marmalade pumpkin muffins deliciously more-ish! Perfect for breakfast, snack or teatime!

When I was about five years old, we moved from Houston to Trinidad.  My father worked for Texaco and we lived in the small company camp of Pointe-a-Pierre.  When we first arrived, our house wasn’t ready yet because my father had asked them to install windows. All the little bungalows had screens to keep out the bugs, but no glass.  He says they called him a crazy American because he wanted windows!  Of course, his goal was an air-conditioned house and windows were essential to that plan.

Anyway, we stayed the first few weeks in the Texaco guest house, next to a main dining hall, and took most (all?) of our meals there. It was my first introduction to orange marmalade which looks just like a sweet jam but with little strips of orange rind. I was an all-American grape jelly eater so I knew sweet on toast and had no problem loading up with butter and marmalade. That first bite was bitter surprise. Followed closely by dismay. “Who eats this foul stuff?” I thought.

Fast forward years and years later, and I married a man who loves marmalade. He grew up eating the foul stuff, being of the British persuasion. We lived a few places where I couldn’t find orange marmalade for him so I started hauling back a large can of thin-cut Seville oranges  from the United Kingdom to make it myself. Because that’s the kind of person I am.

Each can was almost a kilo of prepared oranges. Just add water and sugar, cook it down and you have several jars of “homemade” marmalade to last the year. And, you know, I discovered that orange marmalade wasn’t near as bitter or nasty as I remembered it. In fact, it was quite nice.
I was delighted this week when I received the email with the #MuffinMonday recipe ( which came from this wonderful book ) because I knew my husband would love them.  If you are a fan of orange marmalade or if it’s been a long time since you gave it a second chance, try these. 

Ingredients
2 1/2 cups or 315g flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup or 170g sugar
1/2 cup shredded orange marmalade plus more to glaze
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup or 220g cooked pumpkin (canned or fresh)
1 cup or 240ml buttermilk  (or 1 tablespoon white vinegar mixed 10 minutes ahead with 1 cup or 240ml whole milk)
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled

Method
Preheat the oven to 400°F or 200°C and line your muffin tin with paper liners or spray thoroughly with non-stick spray.

Mix together all of your dry ingredients: the flour, baking soda, baking powder, sugar and salt in a large bowl.

In another small bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients except the butter: the orange marmalade, the eggs, the pumpkin and buttermilk. 

Once they are thoroughly mixed, whisk in the melted butter.

Pour the liquid mixture over the flour mixture and fold it in with a rubber spatula until the flour is incorporated.  Do not over mix.

Divide the batter between your muffin cups and bake for 20-25 minutes or until the muffins are golden brown and a toothpick inserted into one comes out clean.

Allow to cool for a few minutes and then remove the muffins from the tin. 

Add about half a teaspoon of marmalade to the top of each muffin and spread it around with the back of your teaspoon to glaze.

Enjoy!

Lemon Mint Juice

When I arrived to live in Egypt eight months ago, it was cold!  Much colder than I expected.  The heater in our house didn’t work properly and I baked just to keep the oven on to warm the kitchen.  I drank a lot of tea and coffee to warm myself from the inside and I wore my new Marks & Spencer cardigan every single day, with fuzzy slippers inside and shoes with socks when I went outside.  It was quite the fashion statement.  As the year wore on, winter gradually disappeared and summer took its place.  Our evenings are still pleasant but during the daytime, a refreshing drink hits all the right spots.  If it’s summer in your part of the world right now, you will enjoy Egypt’s traditional drink made with lemon and fresh mint.  It’s one of my favorite things and is so easy to make. 

Ingredients for two refreshing glasses

1 large lemon

Handful of fresh mint (or more if you prefer)


1/4 cup or 60ml simple syrup 

Ice for blending and serving

Method

Pick the leaves off of your bunch of mint and rinse well in a salad spinner.  Spin to dry.  Put your mint in a blender.

Peel the lemon and use a sharp knife to cut it into chunks, making sure to leave behind the white parts that separate the pegs of lemon.  Add the lemon chunks to the blender.

Add in your simple syrup and another 1/4 cup or 60ml of water. 

Put in a few cubes of ice.  Blend until completely liquid. 

Serve over more ice.

Enjoy!

Salted Caramel Macchiato Muffins #MuffinMonday

These Salted Caramel Macchiato Muffins are your favorite Starbucks caramel macchiato in muffin form, dripping with salted caramel. Perfect for that on-the-go breakfast or mid-morning snack.

Every morning of every day, the first thing that passes my lips is a hot cup of coffee, with two teaspoons of creamer and one teaspoon of sugar. When I have time to linger over it, I love nothing more than to hold that cup lovingly near my nose and inhale its delicious aroma. 

Is there anything more delightful than to wake up to the smell of coffee brewing in the kitchen or even over a camp stove, while you stretch languidly in bed? I think not. (Unless it is the smell of bacon frying in the same situation. But that is a whole other post.)

I give you a coffee haiku.

Precious elixir

My good reason for rising

Coffee, always. Yes!

This week’s Muffin Monday original recipe was for a cappuccino muffin with semi-sweet chocolate chips. Which could already have been perfect. But we all know that I can’t leave well enough alone. 

What would take this muffin to the next level of perfection? The addition of salted caramel sauce, of course. Best of all, you can’t spill this and burn yourself as you travel to work on a busy train or bus or car.  Think of it as your morning coffee made more user friendly. And more delicious. You are welcome. (And don’t even get me started about how great these smell while they are baking! I feel another haiku coming on.)

Salted Caramel Macchiato Muffins

For the caramel sauce, use store bought or make your own from this recipe at Baked Bree, which is what I did. Make the whole batch.  You won’t regret it.  This stuff is great on everything, if you can stop yourself from eating it straight out of the jar with a spoon.)

Ingredients

2 cups or 250g flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup or 170g vanilla sugar (or sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract)

1 cup or 240ml milk

2 tablespoons instant coffee granules

1/2 cup or 115g butter, melted and cooled

1 egg

3 1/2 oz or 100g semi sweet chocolate chips

1/8-1/4 cup or 30-60ml salted caramel sauce 

Method

Preheat oven to 375°F or 190°C.  Lightly grease 12 muffin cups or line with muffin papers.

In a large mixing bowl, combine all of your flour, baking powder, salt and sugar.  

Mix your milk, egg, and coffee granules together.  Stir until coffee is dissolved.  (Don't forget the teaspoon of vanilla extract if you don't have vanilla sugar.)

Add in the melted butter.  Mix well.

Pour coffee mixture into your dry ingredients and stir until just combined.

Fold in the chocolate chips being careful not to over mix.

Divide batter evenly among muffin cups.

Spoon on about half a teaspoon of the caramel sauce for each muffin and swirl with a pointy knife or a toothpick.

Bake for about 15 to 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean.  Let cool five minutes in the muffin pan then place on cooling rack.

 When completely cool, drizzle with extra caramel sauce. 

Enjoy!

Need some more muffin recipes?  Of course you do!

• Banana Bacon Peanut Butter Chip Muffins 
• Cardamom Cinnamon Apricot Muffins
• Double Nutella Swirl Muffins
• Honey Date Pine Nut Muffins 
• Quick Bread Breakfast Muffins
• Sour Cream Chocolate Chip Muffins
• Strawberry Shortcake Muffins