Delicious Winter Pumpkin-Sour Cream Bundt Cake

It's been a while. School is insane!

I'm guilty of spending way too much time on Pinterest lately, which is where I got the idea to buy a bundt pan and make up a recipe for fun! My sister says this cake melt-in-your-mouth moist and my mother loves the flavor, so I'd say the recipe is a keeper!

I finished it off with a maple glaze, which I'll attach to the end of the post.

The Cake:

• 1 Cup (two sticks) butter (I used light and it was more than fine!)
• 2 Cups granulated sugar 
• 3 Cups all purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon (I used more, but I have a cinnamon addiction)
• Pinch of salt
• 4 Eggs (I used large)
• 1 Cup pumpkin puree
• 1 Cup sour cream 
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350 Degrees and grease up a bundt cake pan with shortening or cooking spray
2. Beat the sugar and the butter until VERY light and fluffy. Don't rush this process! I truly believe that the fluffiest cakes are a product of beating these ingredients for a LONG time. I did it for 7-8 minutes at medium speed in my stand mixer. 
3. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt until evenly distributed. 
4. Add one egg at a time to the butter-sugar mixture, waiting until each is well incorporated before adding the next.
5. Add the pumpkin, sour cream, and vanilla, and mix well until evenly distributed. 
6. SLOWLY add in a little flour at a time. Take your time or the flour will fly everywhere! Don't over-beat at this point or you'll get a tough cake. Mix just until well incorporated.  
7. Bake for about 50 minutes or until knife inserted comes out clean. Oven baking times vary like crazy so please check every five to ten minutes starting at 40 minutes! 

Maple Glaze

• 1 Cup confectioners sugar
• 2 Tablespoons Maple Syrup
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Milk (Just keep about 1/4 cup next to you, you'll have to add as needed)

1. Put the confectioners sugar, syrup, and vanilla extract in a medium sized bowl and stir until combined as much as possible
2. Add small amounts of milk, a little at a time, and mix until the glaze is a pancake-batter consistency. 
3. After the cake cools, spoon the glaze over the top. (Optional: sprinkle some cinnamon over the glaze for some extra fall spice!)

Cake Pan Monkey Bread

I saw this on food network the other day and I really wanted to try it. The finished bread came out beautiful even though I didn't really have the traditional bundt cake pan! Of course, I had to completely wing the recipe because I happen to be incapable of following recipes, but I was very happy with the results.

The Dough:

• 1 Package Active Dry Yeast
• 1/2 Cup Granulated Sugar
• 1/4 Cup Brown Sugar
• 1/4 Cup Warm Milk
• 3/4 Cup Warm Water
• 2 Eggs
• 1/2 Stick Melted Butter
• 3 Tablespoons Vegetable oil 
• 1 Cup Flour (I used all purpose and a little bit of whole wheat) plus up to two cups  more on the side 
• Apple Pie Spice

1. Set oven to bread proof if you have that setting. If not, simply start at step 2
2. Place all ingredients (minus the two cups of flour you should have set to the side) into a stand mixer and beat with the dough paddle until well combined. 
3. Attach the dough hook to the stand mixer and slowly add more and more flour until a sticky dough begins to be formed. The amount of flour changes based on humidity and flour type, so you can't really use exact measurements at this point. Stop adding when the dough begins to crawl up the hook and doesn't stick to your finger very much when pressed. (If you don't have a stand mixer, you will have to knead by hand and you will have to make sure the dough isn't sticky at all. I tend to prefer the stand mixer method because I can leave the dough a bit stickier and it comes out very tender and cake-like) 
4. When the dough has been kneaded for about ten minutes, place it in a greased and floured bowl and allow to rise until doubled in size, about an hour or two. 
5. Punch down and knead a couple times, then place it back into the bowl and allow to double again.
6. After the second doubling, knead the dough a few times. Then, grease and flour a round cake pan. Prepare the sugar-butter topping as directed below. 

Sugar-Butter Topping

• 1 Cup Brown Sugar
• 1 Stick Melted Butter

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Melt the butter in a saucepan, then whisk in the brown sugar into the simmering butter and stir for two minutes. Remove from heat. 
3. Pour half of the mixture onto the bottom of the greased cake pan. Begin rolling out balls of dough about two inches to three inches wide and cover the bottom of the cake pan with those balls of dough. Continue layering until all the dough is used. I ended up with one layer on the bottom and a couple dough balls on a second layer. 
4. Bake at 350 degrees until the top is golden brown and a toothpick removing the dough from the center comes out with dough that is no longer sticky (alternately, try to press down on the center of the bread to see if it springs back). This is hard to tell because different shaped breads cook at different times, so you might have to remove some of the dough from the inside of your bread to make sure it's done. If the top is cooking too fast, put foil over to stop browning. 
5. Flip the bread out so the taller side (second layer) is on top. Pour the remaining topping over the top of the bread. 
6. Rip off pieces and enjoy!

Peanut Butter Pumped Banana Bread

Mmmmm. Bananas and peanut butter.

This bread is LOADED with bananas and chunky (you can use smooth if you want) peanut butter. It's crunchy on the outside, but absolutely melts in your mouth. It's actually extremely easy to make, too!

The Bread:

• 1 Stick of Butter (I used light butter) 
• 1 1/2 Cups Sugar
• 2 Eggs
• 2 Tablespoons Vegetable Oil
• 1 Cup Peanut butter (your favorite kind!)
• 1/4 Cup milk
• 3 Mashed Small to Medium Bananas (or two large)
• 2 Cups Flour (I used 1/2 Cup Whole Wheat and 1 1/2 Cups All Purpose)
• 2 Teaspoons Baking Powder
• Apple Pie Spice (optional, you can add a pinch if you like spices in your banana bread)
• Chocolate Chips
• Cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Cream butter and sugar in a large bowl until very light and fluffy using a hand or stand mixer. Add in the eggs one at a time and continue to beat until everything is very frothy and light. 
3. Add in the veggie oil and peanut butter and mix until well combined. Add in the milk and mashed bananas and stir in using spoon until just combined (you don't want to use the mixer anymore at this point or you'll get rid of the yummy banana chunks!)
4. Sift together the flour, baking powder, and apple pie spice (optional), cinnamon, and chocolate chips. Pour together all at once into the wet mixture. DO NOT use a mixer or you'll get a rubbery cake!
5. Fold in the dry ingredients until JUST combined. To ensure a tender cake, I always stop stirring after ten folds even if I can still see flour. It's okay if all the flour isn't combined! As long as there isn't too much unmixed, you're better off undermixing than overmixing because the bread won't have melt-in-your-mouth texture if you do too much!
6. Bake covered in foil for ten minutes, then (depending on your baking dish) bake another ten minutes uncovered or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean or the bread "springs" back when pushed down! 
7. Enjoy your yummy bread!