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.

Olive Parmesan Cocktail Muffins #MuffinMonday

This weekend we celebrated the achievements of our elder daughter, the beautiful and talented Victoria.  But her graduation from Rhode Island School of Design was tinged with sadness for our family because, as we flew north for the weekend, we lost one of our patriarchs.  If you have been reading for a while, you’ve heard about my wonderful mother-in-law and how she has cared for her ailing husband, through increasing infirmity throughout this last year.  As she held that sweet, caring man in the wee hours of Friday morning, he passed peacefully from this world and was freed.

We had just been up to their home for a quick overnight after arriving in from Dubai, and before leaving for Providence.  As I usually do, I cooked dinner (this time with help from my own dear mother) and my mother-in-law invited her friends for drinks and a meal.  It’s my way of giving her a break and repaying the many kindnesses and constant support her closest friends provide when we are away.  I made these little olive Parmesan muffins for appetizers.  Bob ate one as part of his evening meal that night.  We didn’t expect that when we left the next day, we would never see him again.  After all, this time, we would only be gone three days.  But the ache of missing is there and real.

A couple of years ago, I wrote Bob a letter, which my sister printed for me and gave to him on the occasion of the joint celebration of his birthday and Fathers’ Day, thanking him for the part he played in raising my husband to be the wonderful father and husband he is.  When he married their mother, Bob took on day-to-day responsibility for three more young boys, in addition to his two.  Together, he and Heather had one more.  The stories of “yours, mine and our” holidays with six boys were rollicking and joyous, but I am sure they required a logistical mastermind and a firm hand and an enormous sense of humor.  I am more grateful than ever today that I wrote down the words and that Bob read them and knew of my gratitude.  It is a debt I can never repay, no matter how many meals I cook or muffins I bake.

Ingredients
2 cups or 250g all purpose flour
1 cup, grated, or 90g Parmesan cheese (plus a little extra for after baking, optional)
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup or 240ml milk
1/4 cup or 60ml canola oil
2 eggs
1/4 cup pimento stuffed olives

Method
Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C and liberally grease your two 12-cup mini muffin pans.

Grate your Parmesan, if not already grated, and cut the olives into three or four slices each.

Set aside 24 middle slices for decoration, making sure you have red and green represented in each slice.

In a large mixing bowl, combine your flour, salt, baking powder and Parmesan.

In a smaller mixing bowl, whisk your eggs, milk and oil.

Fold your liquids into the dry ingredients until just mixed.

Fold in the sliced olives.

Divide the batter between the prepared cups in the muffin pan.

Top each with a reserved olive slice.

Bake in your preheated oven for 15-20 minutes or until the muffins are lovely and golden.

Sprinkle on a little more Parmesan, if desired.  More cheese always equals better.

Allow to cool in the pan for a few minutes then remove to a wire rack to continue cooling.

These are fabulous warm and go great with a glass of wine or whatever cocktail you are serving.

If there is anything my father-in-law enjoyed, it was a good meal.  Bob didn’t talk much in his later years because, after surviving cancer of the larynx 30 years ago, he spoke with esophageal speech, using swallowed air and his stomach muscles to create sound.  As he aged, and his muscle tone declined, he was less able to muster the strength required.  But Bob was lavish with his smiles and his  “thumbs up” whenever he was pleased.  The twinkle in his eyes said more than words ever could anyway.  He was one of my most generous supporters and, except for onions, he ate everything I made with relish and two thumbs up.

On 20 June, he would have been 85.  Happy almost Fathers' Day and almost Birthday, Robert Martin Lane.  You were one of the good guys and you are deeply missed.

Lora’s Avocado Tomato Feta Salsa

When I lived in Kuala Lumpur, I got together once a month with a lovely group of ladies, ostensibly to play Pokeno.  Oh, don’t get me wrong, we did play, but the best part of the evening was definitely the potluck meal we shared.  We took turns hosting and if we were playing at your house, you were responsible for the main course.  The rest of us brought appetizers and side dishes and salads and desserts.  I don’t remember who was hosting when Lora made this lovely salsa but, after that, we hardly ever let her sign up to make anything else.  And, of course, she had to share the recipe.  I made it again a few weeks ago for my sweet neighbor’s even sweeter daughter’s third birthday celebration.  All the accompanying parents seemed to love it and even some of the children were digging in, with the tortilla chips.  Its delicious flavors made me miss my Pokeno ladies so I was grateful for new friends.

Ingredients

2 ripe avocadoes

4 red ripe Roma tomatoes, chopped (Lora says:  You can substitute, but make sure they are quality tomatoes. It makes a difference!)

1 small purple onion

1 small red chili pepper or 1 green jalapeño

1 bunch cilantro or fresh coriander

4 oz or 85g feta cheese

1/4 cup or 60ml olive oil

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

1 tablespoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon salt (I used Maldon flakes.)

Method

Mix your salt, cumin, vinegar and olive oil to make a dressing in the bottom of a mixing bowl.

Cut the avocados into halves.  Remove the seeds and, using the tip of your knife, cut just down to the peel, going first one direction and then perpendicular.  

Scoop the avocado out into the bowl and toss lightly with the dressing.

Core and chop the tomatoes.

Share a little with your helper, if he has been a good boy.  

He adores tomatoes! 

Mince your pepper, removing the seeds if you would prefer your salsa to be less spicy.  

Peel and dice the onion.

Trim the tough stalks off of your bunch of cilantro.  Chop the leaves roughly.

Crumble your feta cheese, if purchased whole.  

Add the tomatoes, pepper, onion, cilantro and crumbled feta to the avocado bowl.  Mix everything gently.

Chill, covered, in the refrigerator, until ready to serve.  If you can leave it for half an hour or more, that would be good since it allows the flavors time to merge.  

Serve with warm toasted pita wedges or tortilla chips.

Enjoy!