It’s Pi Day, Pi Day, Gotta Get Down on Pi Day!

Partyin’ partyin’. Partyin’ partyin’. Oh, sorry, my apologies for going all Rebecca Black on you. But it is. Or it will be. You know. 3/14? Remember waaaaaaay back to high school? Pi? 3.14? Anyway, whether you remember or not, lots of people celebrate 3/14 with P-I-E in honor of P-I. Are you still with me?

Here’s the rub. I don’t really like pie. I’m a cake girl. All the way. So how does a cake girl celebrate Pi Day? I have been known to indulge in pie from time to time, so I’m going to share a few favorite recipes with you. Hopefully, you’ll enjoy one (or more!) of them sometime soon! And think back fondly to those high school days when things like pi actually concerned you!

By Mum's_lemon_meringue_pie_from_above.jpg: jules derivative work: Mlpearc powwow (Mum's_lemon_meringue_pie_from_above.jpg) [CC-BY-2.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)

This recipe is from my Dad’s Mom. She was a wonderful cook and I have her original recipe. It’s a quick and easy pie, perfect for spring or summer! I like this pie because it’s creamy, unlike Lemon Meringue. I would serve this with a dollop of whipped cream, I don’t care for meringue.

Lemon Icebox Pie

• 1 graham cracker crumb crust
• 1 can Eagle Brand
• 2 egg yolks, beaten
• 1/2 c lemon juice

Mix together. Pour into crust. Refrigerate until set, at least a few hours or overnight. You can top with whipped cream or meringue (browned) if you like.

Photo courtesy of http://www.howtoeatacupcake.net

Here’s a pie that’s not quite a pie. It’s from the gentlemen bakers at Baked, a Brooklyn, New York bakery. They have a cookbook of the same name. It’s awesome, you should totally check it out. Back to the pie in question, it’s really more of an oversized chocolate chip cookie. And it’s wonderfulllll. Holy moly! If you only make one pie in your life, make it this one. Served warm with a scoop of ice cream it’s unbeatable.

Tuscaloosa Tollhouse Pie

Recipe courtesy of the Baked, New Frontiers in Baking cookbook

• 1 ball of pie dough chilled (or, a store-bought crust, if you must)
• 1/2 c all-purpose flour
• 1/2 c granulated sugar
• 1/2 c firmly packed dark brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 3/4 c (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened, cut into cubes
• 1 T whiskey
• 3/4 c walnuts, toasted and chopped
• 1 1/4 c (about 8 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips

Dust a work surface with a sprinkling of flour. Unwrap the ball of chilled dough and put it directly on the work surface. Roll out into a 12-inch round. Transfer the dough to a pie dish and carefully work it into the pie dish, fold­ing any overhang under and crimping the edge as you go. Don’t stretch the dough to fit, it will shrink. Wrap and freeze the crust until firm, about 2 hours, or up to 3 months.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In a medium bowl, whisk the flour and sugars together until combined. Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the eggs on high speed until foamy, about 3 minutes. Remove the whisk attach­ment and add the paddle attachment. With the mixer on low, gradually add the flour mixture. Turn the mixer to high and beat for 2 minutes. Scrape down the bowl and add the butter. Beat on high speed until the mixture is combined. Scrape down the bowl, add the whiskey, and beat the mixture on high speed for 1 minute.

Fold the walnuts and 3/4 cup of the chocolate chips into the filling.

Pour the filling into the frozen pie shell and spread it out evenly. Top the fill­ing with the remaining 1/2 cup chocolate chips.

Bake in the center of the oven for 25 minutes, then cover the edges of the crust loosely with aluminum foil and bake for another 25 minutes (this will prevent the crust from browning too quickly). Test the pie by sticking a knife in the center of the filling. If the knife comes out clean, the pie is done. If the knife comes out with clumps of filling sticking to it, bake for another 5 minutes and test again. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool before slicing.

The pie can be stored in the refrigerator, tightly covered, for up to 2 days.

Pie Dough (makes 2 singles or 1 double-crust pie)

• 3 c flour
• 1 T sugar
• 1 t  fine salt
• 2 sticks unsalted butter, cold
• 3/4 c ice water

Whisk together flour, sugar, and salt. Cut the cold butter into cubes and toss the cube in the flour mixture to coat. Put the mixture into the blow of a food processor and pulse in short bursts until the butter cubes are the size of hazelnuts.

While pulsing in quick, 4-second bursts, drizzle the ice water into the food processor through the feed tube.

As soon as the dough comes together in a ball, remove it from the processor and divide it into two equal balls. Flatten to a disk and wrap in parchment paper, then plastic wrap. Refrigerate the disks until firm, about an hour, before using.

By Dan Parsons (http://www.flickr.com/photos/dan90266/42759561/) [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)

Who doesn’t love apple pie? Communists. But they may like to too. I don’t know for sure, I haven’t asked any. But everyone likes apple pie. And this recipe is so good, why wouldn’t you? This is my go-to apple pie recipe. I think you’ll agree that it’s pretty awesome.Apple Pie

Recipe courtesy of the Food Network

Dough

• 2 1/2 c all-purpose flour
• 4 t sugar
• 1/4 t fine salt
• 14 T cold butter, diced
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten with 2 tablespoons cold water

Filling

• 2 T freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 3 pounds baking apples like Golden Delicious, Cortland, or Mutsu
• 2/3 c sugar, plus more for sprinkling on the pie
• 1/4 c unsalted butter
• 1/4 t ground cinnamon
• Generous pinch of ground nutmeg
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten

Make the dough in a food processor. With the machine fitted with the metal blade, pulse the flour, sugar, and salt until combined. Add the butter and pulse until it resembles yellow corn meal mixed with bean size bits of butter, about 10 times. Add the egg and pulse 1 to 2 times; don’t let the dough form into a ball in the machine. (If the dough is very dry add up to a tablespoon more of cold water.) Remove the bowl from the machine, remove the blade, and bring the dough together by hand.

Form the dough into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled, at least 1 hour.

Make the filling. Put the lemon juice in a medium bowl. Peel, halve, and core the apples. Cut each half into 4 wedges. Toss the apple with the lemon juice. Add the sugar and toss to combine evenly.

In a large skillet, melt the butter over medium-high heat. Add the apples, and cook, stirring, until the sugar dissolves and the mixture begins to simmer, about 2 minutes. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and cook until the apples soften and release most of their juices, about 7 minutes.

Strain the apples in a colander over a medium bowl to catch all the juice. Shake the colander to get as much liquid as possible. Return the juices to the skillet, and simmer over medium heat until thickened and lightly caramelized, about 10 minutes.

In a medium bowl, toss the apples with the reduced juice and spices. Set aside to cool completely. (This filling can be made up to 2 days ahead and refrigerated or frozen for up to 6 months.)

Cut the dough in half. On a lightly floured surface, roll each half of dough into a disc about 11 to 12 inches wide. Layer the dough between pieces of parchment or wax paper on a baking sheet, and refrigerate for at least 10 minutes.

Place a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Line the bottom of a 9-inch pie pan with one of the discs of dough, and trim it so it lays about 1/2 inch beyond the edge of the pan. Put the apple filling in the pan and mound it slightly in the center. Brush the top edges of the dough with the egg. Place the second disc of dough over the top. Fold the top layer of dough under the edge of the bottom layer and press the edges together to form a seal. Flute the edge as desired. Brush the surface of the dough with egg and then sprinkle with sugar. Pierce the top of the dough in several places to allow steam to escape while baking. Refrigerate for at least 15 minutes.

Bake the pie on a baking sheet until the crust is golden, about 50 minutes. Cool on a rack before serving. The pie keeps well at room temperature (covered) for 24 hours, or refrigerated for up to 4 days.

What is your favorite pie? Do you celebrate Pi Day? Does your family celebrate any other wacky holidays? Arbor Day, perhaps?

Sopapillas

Earlier this week I talked about breakfast. Well, I’m going to talk about it again. It’s important. But not the weekday, rushed, grab-a-bowl-of-cereal-and GET IN THE CAR! kind of breakfast. I’m going to tell you a story about weekend breakfast. Generally a WAY better experience.

I don’t really want to spring out of the bed at the crack of dawn on Saturday morning. But, the dog and cats are up by 6:30 at the latest, so I have to get up to preserve the peace. These sopapillas are perfect for breakfast on that kind of morning. I get up at 6:30 with the dog, feed everyone and let them out, whip up this dough, and go right back to bed. When I get up for real, the dough has risen and all I have to do is fry it up! So much easier than standing over the griddle or waffle iron.

Sopapillas 

• 1 box Hot Roll Mix
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1c very hot water
• 2t softened butter
• oil or shortening for frying
• a little flour for the board
• honey for dipping
• cinnamon sugar for dipping

So what are sopapillas? Little fried pockets of dough. Happiness in your mouth. Wonderfulness. My mom made these for us growing up and Mr. Bundt and the little Bundtlet ask for them all the time. Sometimes I even make them for dessert. Cover them with honey and sugar and cinnamon and enjoy!!

Can you tell it was early when I was taking these pictures? I’ve already left out the egg. Good grief.

Oh, wait! There it is. Don’t be like me. Be awake.

Gather up your ingredients. Whisk together the contents of the box (bag of floury stuff and yeast) in a large bowl. You don’t even need to get out the mixer. Awesome.

Stir in the hot water, butter, and egg until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl.

Once the dough comes together, flour a small surface. Plop the dough onto the floured surface and knead for about five minutes until dough is smooth.

Before.

After. See what a difference five minutes can make? And, seriously, you’re only about 10 minutes in at this point. Still groggy enough to go back to bed, I assure you.

Put your smooth little dough ball in a greased bowl, cover with a greased piece of plastic wrap or a clean dishtowel. I sit mine in a cooling oven because the house is so cold, but you can let yours rise on the counter if you have a good dog and your house is not freezing. Give it an hour or so to rise. Go back to bed, have coffee, check your email, catch up on your blog reading, whatever. When it’s doubled in size, you’re ready to proceed. If you do go back to bed and the dough gets HUGE, don’t worry. Not a big deal.

Behold, the risen dough.

Now, give it a punch or two and deflate it.

I have a nice Tupperware pastry mat I like to use to roll out my dough. But you can use the counter or whatever you have. Just dust it with a little flour.

Put your dough on the board and roll it out to about 1/4 in thickness. Shape does not matter, just roll it. Don’t overdo it.

Now, with a sharp knife, pastry cutter, or pizza wheel, cut the dough into squares or rectangles, about 4×4 or so. You can see from mine I have all different shapes and sizes. Neither of these things really matters. You can’t screw it up.

Heat a couple of inches of oil in a deep pan or pot to 360 degrees. Use your thermometer to check the temperature. You don’t want the dough to go into the oil before it gets to 360 degrees because it will absorb the oil rather than float and fry in it. I like vegetable or canola oil. You can also use Crisco.

Once the oil comes to temperature, drop in a couple of pieces of dough. I shouldn’t need to tell you to be careful when frying, but, let’s be honest, you might be doing this in your bathrobe, so be careful.

See how they puff up! It’s so exciting! Let them get a nice golden brown on the first side, then flip them over.

Sometimes they blow up so big that they create a third side. If so, just roll them onto that side for a minute. When all sides are brown, pull them out and drain them on paper towels. Repeat with remaining dough until the whole batch is cooked. You can usually get 20-25 sopapillas out of a batch.

I serve them with honey and cinnamon sugar. To make cinnamon sugar just mix about a cup of sugar with a few dashes of cinnamon. I like to pop open the bubbles on the sopapillas and pour in honey and the cinnamon sugar mixture and kind of roll it around so the inside of the   sopapilla gets coated with it. I’ve photographed them below with powdered sugar, you could use that too!

There you go! Weekend breakfast done! So easy and quick, but your family will think you made them something really special!

What kinds of things do you like to make for weekend breakfast? Or do you eat the same things and do a bigger lunch or dinner? I’d love to hear about your weekend rituals!

Bake the Blog: Easy English Muffin Bread

I’ve been feeling some breakfast frustration lately. Does that ever happen to you? I have a pretty standard set of three or four things that I eat regularly. Lately I’ve been trying to drop a few pounds, so I like to have some protein in the morning. It helps get me through til lunch. However, eating a solitary egg doesn’t seem like much of a breakfast. I like my eggs runny and it’s nice to have something to dip in them or put them on. So, I turned to English muffins. Or, well, I tried to turn to English muffins. Have you tried English muffins lately? They’re not how I remember them. They were a colossal disappointment. In my head they were crispy and chewy with little pools of butter in those nooks and crannies. That’s not how they were in real life.

So, I set out on the interwebs to find a recipe to make my own. And, frankly, English muffins seemed like a lot of work. More than I had time for anyway. What about English muffin bread? I’ve always loved it. Let’s be honest, it’s bread, of course I love it. But I’m kind of picky about my internet recipes. I have to trust that this isn’t someone impersonating a bread lover and passing me a crummy recipe. I found this one I’d like to make, but, I can’t be trusted with that many loaves of bread. So when this one popped up in my blogroll from My Baking Addiction, a blog I’ve cooked from before and know to be a good source, it was ON.

This bread is quick and easy. Definitely worth a shot. But a note here, English muffin bread is good toasted. I wouldn’t eat it any other way. But that’s just me. You do it your way. Then remind me that I’m right.

English Muffin Bread

recipe courtesy of My Baking Addiction

3 cups All-Purpose Flour or Bread Flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon instant yeast
1 cup milk
1/4 cup water
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
cornmeal, to sprinkle in pan

With the paddle attachment of your stand mixer, blend the flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, and instant yeast.

In a bowl, combine the milk, water, and oil. Microwave until the temperature of the mixture reaches 120-130 degrees. This took about 1:15 in my microwave, but check at intervals. Make sure to stir the mixture before you check the temperature. The mixture should be pretty warm to the touch. As you can see, I let mine get too hot. If this happens, just let it cool on the counter or in the fridge for a few minutes.

Pour the hot liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients already in the mixer. Beat at high speed for one minute. Use a timer, just to be safe. The dough will be soft and sticky.

Grease a loaf pan with some cooking spray and dust it with cornmeal. A handful will do.

Scrape the dough into the loaf pan. I smoothed out the top.

Cover with a piece of plastic wrap sprayed with more cooking spray and let rise in a warm, draft free place about and hour. I like to heat my oven to the lowest temperature (175 degrees for me) when I begin a bread recipe. When it reaches 175 degrees I turn it off and leave the door closed. By the time I get the bread ready to rise it’s still warm enough to do the job, but cool enough not to cook it. If it seems too warm you can always crack the oven door. Since I keep my house as cold as a morgue, this is an important step.

After an hour the bread should have barely crested the top of the pan.

Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Remove the plastic and bake for 22-27 minutes until the top of the bread is golden brown. The interior temperature should be 190 degrees.

Let the bread cool in the pan for five minutes. Then turn it out on a rack to finish cooling.

Slice it up! Like I said, I think it needs to be toasted. It was good warm from the oven, but WAY butter crispy out of the toaster!

And here’s what it looks like on my breakfast plate. Soooo good.

I think a nice, dark toasting really brings out the nooks and crannies. So what have you been craving lately?

Babka or Bust!

When I saw this Babka recipe in my Cook’s Country magazine I was sitting at piano lessons. But that didn’t stop me from lusting after it. I LUUUUUV bread. All bread. Any bread. Rolls, muffins, loaves, whatever. I have rarely met a bread that I wouldn’t gladly give up vegetables for. And this sweet, cinnamony bread is no different. So the next day, I whipped up my first babka. And it’s GOOOOOD. It was good warm out of the oven, it’s good cold, and it’s good made into toast. I haven’t tried it (yet) but I bet it’ll be good as french toast, if it lasts that long.

One word of caution, and this is for bread in general, not just this babka. Successful yeast dough relies upon blooming the yeast properly. That means that you need the right temperature liquid. Don’t guess, take the temperature of the liquid. This recipe calls for you to do that, many do not. Checking the temperature will ensure much more reliable results.

Babke

Recipe courtesy of Cook’s Country 

Filling

• 1 cup packed (7 ounces) light brown sugar
• 1/4 cup (1 3/4 ounces) all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 1 large egg white (reserve the yolk for the dough)
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon salt

Dough

• 1/2 cup whole milk, heated to 110 degrees
• 2 large egg yolks plus 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups (10 ounces) all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup (1 3/4 ounces) sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons instant or rapid-rise yeast
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces and softened

I love to bake. The smell of bread or cookies baking in the oven is my favorite. It warms up the house on a cold day and it puts a smile on the face of anyone who comes in your door!

For the filling, combine all the ingredients in a bowl. Reserve one tablespoon of filling.

For the dough, heat the oven to 200 degrees, when it reaches temperature, turn it off. Whisk together the milk, egg yolks, and vanilla. I separate the eggs using the shell and two small bowls. You can use a fancy egg separator if you have one, but here’s s tip. Shell bits are attracted to the shell from which they came. So, if you should drop a piece of shell in by accident, you can fish it out using the larger piece of shell it came from. Who knew, right? See? Science is good for something.

Using a stand mixer with the dough hook attached, mix flour, sugar, yeast, and salt on low speed. You’ll notice that I weigh my flour instead of measuring it in a cup. I find that this yields much better results with my baking. It’s also convenient to have a scale to weigh other foods. If you don’t have a scale, don’t fret. Fluff your flour before spooning it lightly into the measuring cup for best results.

Once dry ingredients are combined, add the milk mixture slowly and mix until the dough comes together. This should take about three minutes. Set a timer if you need to.

Increase the mixer speed to medium-high and add the butter, one tablespoon at a time, until incorporated. This should take about a minute.

Continue to mix until the dough comes away from the sides of the bowl and is smooth, about 10-12 minutes.

Grease a large bowl, transfer dough to bowl, cover with plastic wrap and place in your turned-off oven. After about an hour, dough will have risen slightly. Remove from the oven and place in the fridge about an hour, or until dough is about doubled in size and is firm.

Reheat your oven to 200 degrees (again). When it reaches temperature, turn it off (again).

Punch down the risen dough on a lightly floured board or counter. I like to square mine up after punching it down.

Roll out the dough to a 20×14 inch rectangle. I use a ruler to make sure I’m close to the measurements.

Spread the filling onto the dough leaving a 1/2 inch margin all the way around.

Start with the short side and roll up the dough into a cylinder. Pinch along the seam to seal. Put the cylinder seam side up and roll back and forth until the length of the dough roll reaches 18 inches.

Spread the reserved tablespoon of filling over the top of the cylinder. Fold the dough in half on top of itself and pinch the ends to seal.

Then, gently twist the cylinder twice as if you’re forming a double figure eight.

All this rolling, folding, and twisting is what gives the babka those yummy nooks and crannies for the cinnamon and sugar filing to get into!

Place your babka, seam side down, in a loaf pan lined with parchment. Let the extra hang over the edges, these will be handles later and it will help you remove the dough from the pan. The parchment also keeps the babka from sticking to the pan should any sugary stuff leak out. Cover with plastic wrap.

Put the bread, covered in plastic, in the turned-off oven until doubled in size, about one hour. Once the dough has risen, take the babka out of the oven and remove the plastic wrap. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Beat one whole egg lightly. Brush the loaf with the beaten egg.

Bake about 45 minutes or until the loaf is a deep golden brown (about 190 degrees). Cool in the pan on a wire rack for 20 minutes, them remove the loaf from the pan and cool completely (if you can stand to wait!) about two hours.

This babka is so beautiful inside and out! It’s wonderful with a cup of tea for breakfast or an afternoon snack!

What do you like to bake? Do you have a favorite baked good? Or a favorite memory of baking?

I Like Big Bundts and I Cannot Lie: Cranberry Orange Bundt Cake

You other brothers can’t deny, That when a girl walks in with an itty bitty waist, And a round thing in your face . . . oh, sorry, it had to be done. Apologies to Sir Mix-a-Lot. But he does. And I do. In fact, I’m so in love with this particular bundt cake that I’ve made it three times since Christmas. And the spellchecker keeps changing bundt to burnt. So if I say burnt cake at some point, know I mean bundt. No one likes a burnt cake.

This is the perfect cake to go with an afternoon cup of tea or coffee, or a light midnight snack! It makes a generous sized bundt so you can take half to a friend, neighbor, or hairdresser.

Cranberry Orange Bundt Cake

Serves 18. Calories 249, Fat, 8.7g

Recipe adapted from Cooking Light

• 13 1/2 ounces all-purpose flour (about 3 cups) plus several tablespoons for flouring the pan
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
• 12 tablespoons butter, softened + extra for greasing the pan
• 3 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup low-fat buttermilk
• 1 cup sweetened, dried cranberries
• 1/2 cup fresh orange juice
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1/4 cup fresh orange juice
• 1 tablespoon butter, melted
• 2 teaspoons grated orange rind

Combine 1c sweetened , dried cranberries and 1/2 c fresh squeezed orange juice in a microwave safe dish. Microwave for 1 minute, let stand for 10.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a large bundt pan with softened butter. Heavily. Generously. Thickly. Make sure to get into every crack and crevice. When you think you have enough butter on there, put on a little more. Generosity in this step will ensure an easy release later. I use cheap paint brushes for tasks like these then pop them in the dishwasher. Don’t have a brush? Use a knob of butter and a paper towel. After you’ve buttered, dump a tablespoon or two of flour in the pan and shake it around. Coat every buttered surface. Do this over the sink and you can tap out the excess. See? Looks like snow.

Weigh your flour or lightly spoon it into measuring cups. Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl.

In a bowl, mix granulated sugar, and 12 tablespoons of butter on medium speed until well blended. Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition.

Beat in vanilla. Add flour mixture and buttermilk alternately to the butter mixture, beginning and ending with flour.

Fold the cranberry mixture into the batter. Notice that I’ve given up the mixer for a soft spatula. Folding is simply using the motion of a J (Go ahead, draw a J in the air in front of you, get the idea?) to carefully incorporate the ingredients.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth out the top. Bake at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes, but start checking for doneness at 30 minutes. It’s also nice if you can rotate your pan halfway through cooking. Most ovens have hot spots and this will keep your cake cooking evenly.

Once the cake is done, cool on a wire rack for five minutes, then turn the rack over onto the top of the bundt pan and flip to release cake onto rack and continue to cool. Do not pull a Mr. Bundt and pick the pan up and beat it against the rack. This will not get you a pretty cake. I am not making this up.

Now for the best part! Glaze!

Zest your orange. I use the same orange that I used for juice. No reason to waste any. Do not zest your fingers. Trust me. It will not add to the flavor. Also, don’t zest into the white part of the peel called the pith. It’s bitter and also won’t add to the flavor.

Combine the powdered sugar, 1/4c fresh orange juice, 1T melted butter, and orange rind. Stir until smooth. Glaze will be loose.

Now, here’s what I think. And since I’ve made this cake three times I’m an expert so listen up. This glaze is GOOOOOOD. You could just pour it over the warm cake, let it run off, and eat. But that seems to be a waste to me. You can see from the photos that I put a sheet of Cut-rite in the bottom of a sheet pan, sat the rack with the cake on top, and poured on my glaze. This catches the excess glaze but it also keep you from sticking your tongue in there and lapping up the glaze like a crazy person. Not that I’d know anything about that. Then, as the glaze ran off and cooled, I scooped it up with my spatula and poured it over again and again until I had coated the entire cake and used up almost all the glaze. Much messier and a little more time-consuming, but SO worth it.

Either way, it’s a beautiful, light cake.

Any foods you’re addicted to lately? What’s your favorite snack cake? Is there a food that helps you get through winter?