Easy Pumpkin Shaped Cake – Great for Thanksgiving!

Here in Canada, Thanksgiving is long over but my American friends are gearing up for their turkey day next week. For those of you on dessert duty this year, I’ve got you covered! If you’re in Pinterest then you’ve probably seen this idea done a bunch of times but here’s my take on the pumpkin shaped cake.

This really could not be easier. Simply bake two bundt cakes and then stack them together like a two layer cake (with the bottom one upside down, of course). For my cake I used boxed mix and, though I admitted it, if you don’t want to tell anyone then no one will know the difference ;). Cover the whole cake in orange frosting and then add stem and leaves. For a stem I just rolled a brown paper bag. I’ve seen these made with an ice cream cone stem and that looks great too but I didn’t want to buy a whole box of cones that would just go stale in order to use one for this cake. The last step was to pipe on some leaves. If you’ve got icing tips then go for it, if not you could make your leaves out of paper or, if you prefer edible, cut them out of green fruit leather.

Such a simple idea that makes a really big impact!

By the Batch – Honey Apple Bundt Cake

I hope everyone celebrating has had a lovely Rosh Hashanah! If you follow Sugar and Shimmer on Facebook you’ll know that I was busy in the kitchen this weekend baking up a storm. Today I want to share with you a recipe for an incredible Honey Apple Bundt Cake courtesy of the Shiksa in the Kitchen (love her!). I made some slight modifications but all credit to Tori – check out her original recipe here.

Ingredients

Cake

• 3 eggs
• 1 cup honey
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/4 cup dark brown sugar
• 1 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 3 cups all purpose flour

• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 4 Granny Smith apples - peeled, cored, and shredded

Icing

• 1 cup + 3 tbsp icing sugar
• 1/4 tsp vanilla

• 1-2 tbsp milk

Directions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. In a large mixing bowl, beat the eggs until they are frothy. Whisk in the honey, white sugar, brown sugar, oil and vanilla.

In a separate medium mixing bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, and spices.

Incorporate the flour mixture into the liquid, stir to blend. Fold in the shredded apples.

Spray your Bundt pan with cooking spray, making sure to evenly coat the entire inner surface. Pour your batter into the pan, no more than 3/4 full. Use a spatula to gently push the batter to the outside of the pan, pushing slightly up the walls. Smooth the batter on the top so it is flat and even all the way around the pan.

Bake cake in preheated oven for 75-90 minutes. When the edges darken and pull fully away from the sides of the pan, and the cake browns all the way across the surface, it should be done. You should be able to insert a toothpick into the thickest part of the cake and have it come out clean.

Let the cake cool for exactly 10 minutes, then invert it onto a flat plate. Tap the Bundt pan gently to release the cake. If your cake sticks, use a plastic knife to carefully loosen the cake around the center tube and sides. Allow cake to cool completely.

To decorate sift 3 tbsp icing sugar on to cake. Next, make your drizzle icing. Sift 1 cup of powdered sugar into a mixing bowl. Add ¼ tsp of vanilla extract and 1 tbsp milk to the bowl and stir. Add additional milk by teaspoonfuls, mixing constantly, until the mixture has the texture of thick honey. Drizzle over the cake. Allow icing to dry completely before serving, about 30 minutes.

According to Sarah

This cake came out beautifully! Mine baked for 80 minutes and was perfect. It released from the Bundt pan very easily and I love the suggestion for decorating. The cake itself was moist but not mushy – it had the perfect amount of springiness to it. One suggestion, make it on the day you intend to eat it because it does get soggy after sitting for a couple of days. Though that shouldn’t be a problem because it’s so good it’ll get eaten up quickly! Even my very picky mom – who normally doesn’t eat dessert with fruit in it – thought this was delicious :)

By the Batch - Pumpkin Dump Cake

Let me preface this post by saying that this cake is much better than its name implies. I found the recipe via the infinite wonder that is Pinterest and thought to myself, "Who would put the word dump in the name of a cake??". It turns out "dump cake" implies that you simply dump the ingredients in your pan and bake so it makes sense but there's got to be another way to make that known. Especially when the end result looks as delicious as this!

I made the poorly named Pumpkin Dump Cake using a recipe from Cookies & Cups. Here's how you can try it for yourself.

Ingredients:
1 15 oz can Pumpkin - this is about half of the bigger 867ml cans you'll find in Canada.
1 10 oz can Evaporated Milk
1 cup light brown sugar
3 eggs
3 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 box yellow cake mix - I used Angel Food because that's what was in the house
1 cup butter melted
1 cup coarsely crushed pecans
1/2 cup toffee bits (optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350. Spray a 9×13 baking pan lightly with cooking spray. In a large bowl combine the pumpkin, evaporated milk, sugar, eggs and pumpkin pie spice. Pour into your prepared pan.

Sprinkle your entire box of cake mix on top, followed by your nuts and toffee chips. Pour your melted butter evenly on top. 

Bake for 45-50 minutes until centre is set and edges are lightly browned.

We ate it warm from the oven yesterday and I am eating a cold piece with my lunch at work as I type and both are equally delicious. And this is coming from a girl who doesn't like pumpkin pie one bit. If you're looking for something interesting to make with that can of pumpkin hanging out in your cupboard then give this recipe a try. Easy and so yummy. But about that name...

By the Batch - Apple Honey Bundt Cake

As I mentioned last week, we had a special dinner for Rosh Hashanah last week. Chris made brisket, matzo ball soup and latkes - all delicious (or so I'm told since I don't eat meat so didn't partake in the brisket). I made some lovely Challah and then we finished off the meal with an Apple Honey Bundt Cake recipe that I found on AllRecipes.com. It was incredibly good!

Ingredients:
1 cup white sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
3/4 cup honey
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
3 apples - peeled, cored and shredded
3/4 cup chopped walnuts


Directions:
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9 inch Bundt pan.

In a large bowl, stir together the sugar and oil. Beat in the eggs until light, then stir in the honey and vanilla. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and allspice; stir into the batter just until moistened. Fold in the apples and nuts.

Bake for 50 to 65 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a toothpick inserted into the crown comes out clean. Let cool for 10 to 15 minutes before inverting onto a plate and tapping out of the pan.

Everyone loved this cake and it was very easy to make. The most time consuming part was peeling, coring and then shredding the apples but it was well worth the effort. The only changes I made were to leave out the allspice (because I didn't have any) and to add an extra 10 minutes to the cooking time. It could just be my oven but it was definitely not finished baking even after 65 minutes.As you can see in the picture above, the cake was well enjoyed.

I hope you all have a sweet new year!

A Happy Birthday

This past weekend we celebrated my dad's birthday. The family got together to eat cake and watch Dad open presents. I made the cake and decided to keep it simple - chocolate cake with chocolate icing covered in candy.

I went with M&Ms because my dad's initials are M.M. When I asked Chris to pick me up a big bag at the grocery store I had to convince him that was the reason and it wasn't just a pregnancy craving!

I also made a birthday card with a collection of paper embellishments that made me think of the birthday boy. I love how cards can come together using random pieces that you might not think belong together.

Happy Birthday, Dad!

Easy/Impressive Cake Decorating

I may have mentioned that I was taking a Wilton Method cake decorating class at my local Michaels store. I had actually attempted to take the class a couple of years back but, due to health reasons, I had to quit halfway through. I'm pleased to say that this time around I received my certificate of completion along with a bunch of tips and tricks for cake decorating! Today I want to show you just how easy it is to add pictures and drawings to the tops of your cakes.

I made this cake in my second class. I wish I had pictures of the process to share but I was mostly covered with buttercream the whole time, not to mention the teacher probably would have looked at me strangely! But the concept is really simple.

All you need to start is a line drawing. Obviously, mine was of a cupcake but you can use anything you find on Google or in a colouring book - just try to keep it simple for your first try. Tape a piece of parchment paper over your drawing and then use piping gel to trace all of the lines. Piping gel comes in a tub or a tube - if you're not going to be using it often then just buy a tube. It doesn't really matter what colour since you'll be covering it up with icing.

Once you've traced your design, take your parchment paper and invert it onto the top of your cake. Use your finger or a little paintbrush to go over all of your piping gel lines. Then carefully peel back the parchment to reveal your drawing transferred onto your cake. The next part is easy - just fill in the design with various colours of icing!

Mine is far from perfect but it gives you the idea. The best part is that I only had to use one icing tip to make this whole cupcake (except for the skinny wavy lines on the cupcake bottom). I even used the same Wilton 12 tip to pipe the simple border at the bottom of my cake.If you want to try this out without investing in tips you can always just snip the corner of a Ziploc back and pipe your icing through the hole!

Easy and impressive - try this for your next birthday celebration!