Cinnamon Pecan Swirl Bundt with Cinnamon Glaze

Have you ever started a new project or job thinking you would enjoy it but then you are utterly surprised by the amount of joy it brings?  Motherhood was like that for me.  Who knew how gorgeous new babies would smell fresh out of a bath or nuzzling into your shoulder still sleepy from a nap?  You could have told me, but I would never have believed, that I could enjoy changing diapers because I could wonder anew at the perfect little body that we made.  How?!  Or the pervasive elation that comes from seeing a child succeed beyond her own wildest dreams, through hard work and perseverance.  When finally she rolls over.  Or draws her first letters, tongue out, concentration immense.  (Don’t even get me started on when she strides across the stage at her university commencement ceremony!)  Is there any sweeter smile than that of a child shyly proffering the gift she made by hand?  How can you not open your arms and embrace the giver and the gift?  Witnessing my girls grow and blossom into the creative, caring, loving, diligent people they are meant to be makes me deeply joyful, down to my soul.

Almost two years ago, I started this blog without any idea of the joy it would bring either.  I knew I would like the cooking and the writing.  The photography and social media were more of a stretch but I have come to love the challenge of those as well.  The blogging community, including my readers (Yes, you lovely people!) became that sweetly smiling child for me, offering a friendly hand, a supportive word, a pithy comment.   When this post goes live this morning, I will be at my very first blog conference, meeting with members of the community and, I hope, learning how to be better at this blogging thing.  This thing that gives me joy. Thank you for coming along for the ride.

This month’s BundtaMonth theme is swirly cakes!  My cinnamon-pecan-brown sugar filling didn’t so much swirl as solidify into pecan candy, but I can tell you that the Bundt itself was buttery and delicious and the "candy" center was deliciously crunchy.  Scroll on down to the end to see what everyone else made.  Many of them actually swirl.

Ingredients
For the cake:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons  baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups white sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk

For the swirl:
3/4 cup pecans
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
 1/2 cup brown sugar
Pinch salt

For the glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2-4 teaspoons milk
Pinch salt

Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C and prepare your Bundt pan by greasing it liberally with oil, butter or cooking spray.  Now shake a little flour around in the grease until the whole inside is well coated.  Set aside.

Toast your pecans lightly in a dry skillet on the stove.  Keep tossing or stirring the pecans so they don’t scorch.  This takes just a few minutes.  When the pecans have cooled, chop them with a knife.

In a small bowl, mix together the ingredients for the swirl, including the chopped pecans.  Set aside.

In a bowl, mix together your flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.

In the bowl of your upright mixer or a big mixing bowl, if you are using a handheld mixer, combine the butter and sugar.  Beat until light yellow and fluffy.

Add in the vanilla extract.  Now add in the eggs, beating well between each addition.

Egg one

Egg two

Egg three

Now add in a third of the buttermilk, followed by a third of the flour mixture, beating between each addition.  Continue alternating buttermilk and flour until it is all mixed together and your batter is complete.

Spoon about half your batter into the prepared Bundt pan and smooth it out.

Sprinkle on the swirl mixture.

Top with the remaining batter, smoothing it out when you are done.

Bake for about 30-40 minutes or until the cake is lightly browned and a toothpick comes out clean.

Cool for about 15-20 minutes.  The cake should begin to pull away from the sides of the pan.

Turn the cake out onto a plate and leave to cool completely.   If any pieces stick to the bottom of the pan – sadly, this happens sometimes – just loosen them with a spatula and stick them back on the cake.   Glaze covers a multitude of sins.

In a small bowl, (The one the swirl ingredients were in will do nicely and you don’t even have to wash it first.) combine the powdered sugar, vanilla, pinch of salt and two teaspoons of milk.  Mix thoroughly with a small spoon.

Keep adding milk one teaspoon at a time until the glaze is barely pourable.   Drizzle it over the top of the completely cooled Bundt.

Enjoy!

Have you ever taken on a project or started something new that you enjoyed more than you ever thought you would?

Here is how you can be a part of Bundt-a-Month:
▪ Simple rule: Bake us a swirly bundt
▪ Post it before June 30, 2013
▪ Use the #BundtaMonth hashtag in your title. (For ex: title could read  #BundtaMonth: Cherry Bundt)
▪ Add your entry to the Linky tool below
▪ Link back to our announcement posts

• Apple Swirl Bundt Cake by Renee at Magnolia Days
• Cinnamon Praline Pecan Swirl Bundt Cake by Karen at In the Kitchen With KP
• Cinnamon Pecan Swirl with Cinnamon Glaze by Stacy at Food Lust People Love
• Chocolate and Peanut Butter Swirl Bundt by Anita at Hungry Couple
• Chocolate Matcha Swirl by Kim from Ninja Baking
• Double Chocolate Swirl Bundt Cake by Lora at Cake Duchess
• Lemon Raspberry Swirl Bundt Cake by Carrie at Poet In The Pantry
• Lemon Basil Blueberry Swirl Bundt Cake by Kate at Food Babbles
• Nutella Swirl Bundt by Veronica at My Catholic Kitchen
• Nutella Swirl Bundt Cake by Anuradha at Baker Street
• Orange Creamsicle Bundt by Holly at A Baker’s House
• Strawberry Nutella Swirl Mini Bundts by Alice at Hip Foodie Mom
• Strawberry Swirl Cream Cheese Bundt by Sandra at The Sweet Sensations
• The Spiced Life Espresso Swirled Bundt Cake by Laura at The Spiced Life
• Vanilla Cherry Swirl Mini Bundt Cakes by Heather at Hezzi D’s Books and Cooks
• Zebra Bundt by Tara at Noshing With The Noland

Even more bundt fun! Follow Bundt-a-Month on Facebook where we feature all our gorgeous bundt cakes. Or head over to our Pinterest board for inspiration and choose from hundreds of Bundt cake recipes.

Cinnamon Gingernut Muffins with Cinnamon Glaze #MuffinMonday

These cinnamon gingernut muffins are baked with gingernut biscuits inside and as topping for the tender sweet and spicy muffin below. Add cinnamon glaze for an extra kick!

We are settling in nicely to life in our new house here in Dubai and I am delighted to tell you that I have met some of my neighbors. Lovely couple with two adorable children and, even as I type, a day-old newborn boy! I brought them over some of these a couple of days back because they love cinnamon and pregnant ladies can’t eat enough. Am I right?

It’s great to live in an actual neighborhood where you can get to know your neighbors and I look forward to meeting more of them.  Especially the guy with two Corvettes and my dream car, a Mercedes 450SL convertible out front.  I want to be friends with his cars. :) (Update: Got a closer look and its a 350SL.  Close enough for me!)

But let’s get to the topic at hand today, which is muffins!  Originally, I wanted to add gingernut biscuits to last week’s muffin because, as you might recall, the recipe was banana bread and I thought the ginger biscuits would go so nicely with the banana.  And then the little grocery store next to the hotel apartment didn’t have gingernuts.  Sure, it had every OTHER McVitie’s variety but not the one I wanted. And that’s when the Bananas Foster muffin brainwave struck. I had rum from Duty Free. And I had the bananas! I bought some brown sugar and was on my way. Which left the gingernut idea still kicking around, waiting for a chance to be made.

And when this week’s muffin recipe hit my inbox and it was a cinnamon centric muffin, I knew its time had come. Because what goes better than cinnamon and ginger? Exactly nothing, that’s what!   And to add to my excitement, I had traveled from Cairo with a bag of cinnamon chips in my suitcase because I had found it at the store right before I left and I couldn’t leave it behind. I just couldn’t. So I added on a crumble topping made with more crushed gingernut and extra cinnamon chips. And then, since we are in the Holiday Series, TOPPED the topping with a cinnamon glaze. I tell you truly, folks, these were good!  If you like cinnamon and ginger.

Ingredients
For the muffin:
6-7 Gingernut biscuits or 2 1/4 oz or 65g other very gingery gingersnap cookie
1 3/4 cups or 220g flour
3/4 cup or 170g sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 cup or 115g melted butter
3/4 cup or 180ml milk
2 large eggs
2 oz or 50g cinnamon chips

For the topping:
6-7 Gingernut biscuits or 2 1/4 oz or 65g other very gingery gingersnap cookie
2 oz or 50g cinnamon chips
2 tablespoons flour
1/4 cup or 60g cold butter, cut in chunks

For the glaze:
1/2 cup or 65g icing sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon full fat yogurt

Method
Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C and line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners or grease it lightly.

Pop your gingernut biscuits into a baggie and crush them with a rolling pin or the handy dowel you used to make pecan pie baklava last week.  Not too small!  You want some chunks.

Put half the crushed biscuits in a bowl with the other topping ingredients.  Use a pastry blender or two knives to cut the butter into the dry ingredients to make a crumble.  Set aside.

Put the remaining crushed biscuits in a large bowl with the rest of the dry muffin ingredients:  the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and cinnamon.  Stir to combine.

In a smaller bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk and melted butter.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix until just combined.  Fold in the cinnamon chips.

Divide the batter into your prepared muffin tins.

Sprinkle each with topping, break it apart with your fingers if need be.  Press in lightly.

Bake the muffins for 20 to 25 minutes, or until they're golden brown. Remove them from the oven, and let them cool for five minutes before transferring them from the pan to a rack to cool.

These smelled so good baking that I ate one hot, before the glaze.  So sue me.

Meanwhile, mix your one tablespoon of yogurt with the teaspoon of cinnamon and icing sugar to make the glaze.  It looks too dry at first but just keep stirring!  Icing sugar is a magical substance that turns runny with very little liquid.

Once your muffins have cooled completely, drizzle them with the glaze.  You can do this with a spoon but the glaze goes farther if you use a piping bag with a small tip.

Enjoy! And bring some of these to your neighbors today!  Pregnant or not, they'll be grateful.

Pin these Cinnamon Gingernut Muffins! 

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