Right now, it is 9:30 at night.
I know that doesn't seem too late. But to me, it is.
Maybe it's because the baby has been sick. Maybe it's because I'm sick now. But it feels crazy late.
The kids are in bed, the dishwasher is running with dinner's dishes being cleaned. But there are toys all over the floor. There is clutter all over the tables.
I can only do so much. LOL!
I have a problem with balance. I'm trying to work on this.
I tend to be an all or nothing person. So when I do something, I do that thing all the time.
Lately, I have been consumed with the kids and...reading actually. I've read a number of books recently.
But these kids. They are crazy.
Baby N is crawling all over the place, getting into everything he can. He has started pulling himself up and walking along the furniture. Whenever I try to use my computer while he is awake (it sits on my lap) he comes over and grabs the screen and tries to eat it.
Needless to say, I don't get on the computer much while he's awake. (And what's up with that saying anyway?? If it was "needless" for me to say it, why did I say it?? I digress...)
Little Butt has been in soccer. She has practice during the week and a game every Saturday. A lot of my time has been taken up by that lately, but she's having a blast and the season is almost over so it's all good.
As for me, personally, I've started working out again and it feels amazing. I just love that kind of stuff.
I've been having trouble with the balance act here too. When I work out and eat right, I don't really allow myself much wiggle room. Therefore, I stop baking. Then, I stop blogging. See the trend here?
But when I go the other way and start baking, I stop working out. I need to find that balance.
I know it's out there. And I know I can do it. I did it before. I can do it again.
So here I am. At 9:30 at night (well, now it's 9:45pm) trying to find balance.
I'm not going to pick up the toys on the floor. I'm not going to clean off the tables. Instead, I'm blogging. And it's nice.
What I have for you tonight is a delicious cake that was voted the top cake for the Cake Slice Bakers April pick (did you notice how late I am to post this??)
This cake had a sweet, yet spicy crumb (thanks cardamom!). It was fluffy and light as opposed to heavy and dense. The ribbon of cinnamon streusel was perfection.
The original recipe called for orange zest but I omitted that because I wanted the spice to be the main attraction.
This cake reminded me a lot of a coffee cake. But I'm a sucker for texture and may add some chopped pecans to the cake next time.
I enjoyed this cake so much that I ended up making it twice within a week! Yes, it's that good. I suggest you try it. Maybe make it for Mother's Day?
No matter what the occasion, this cake is not to be missed.
Let's bake!
First up, make the streusel. Whisk together your flour, cinnamon, salt, and brown sugar.
Stir in your melted butter until well combined and it gets all crumbly. Go ahead and set that aside for now.
Now we get to start the cake! Whisk together your dry ingredients. Don't forget that cardamom! It's awesome. If you don't have any of that you can substitute ground nutmeg. ;-)
Now we beat the butter into submission and gradually add the sugar.
Then the eggs. Don't be too hasty. You only want to add those one at a time. And make sure you beat well after each addition. And scrape down the sides of the bowl whenever you need to.
Now go ahead and mix in your vanilla.
Now comes the tricky part! Well, not so tricky really. In 3 additions, you are going to add the dry ingredients.
Alternating with the buttermilk in 2 additions. Get it? Flour, buttermilk, flour, buttermilk, flour. See? Not too hard really. Mix that baby until it is juuust combined.
Now go ahead and pour half the batter into your prepared pan. You did prepare your pan right?? If not, please do so now.
Okay. Now, pour half the batter into the pan and smooth it out. Then top it with that delicious cinnamon streusel you made earlier. You did taste it right?? Oh, is that just me??
Now carefully scrape the rest of the batter over the top of the streusel. Smooth it out.
Now bake that baby up until it's nice and done. Then let it cool completely.
Top it with a crap ton of powdered sugar. It just makes it so much better this way.
Slice, serve, and enjoy!!!
Cinnamon Swirl Buttermilk Pound Cake
Adpated from The Cake Book
Printer Friendly Version
Ingredients:
For the Cinnamon Streusel Swirl
- 1/2 cup unbleached all purpose flour
- 1/3 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- pinch of salt
- 3 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
For the Buttermilk Pound Cake
- 2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
- 1/2 cup cake flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/8 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup buttermilk
Directions:
- Position rack to the center of the oven and preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
- Spray the inside of a 10 inch bundt pan with baking spray.
- Make the cinnamon streusel swirl: In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Add the melted butter and stir until blended and crumbly. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cardamom. Set aside.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, using the paddle attachment, on medium speed, beat the butter until very creamy, about 2 minutes.
- Gradually add the sugar and beat at medium-high speed until light and well blended, about 4 minutes.
- Reduce speed back down to medium and add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Beat in the vanilla extract.
- At low speed, add the dry ingredients in three additions while alternating with the buttermilk in two additions. Beat until just combined.
- Pour half the batter into the bottom of the bundt pan. Use a rubber spatula to smooth it into an even layer.
- Sprinkle the streusel mixture evenly over the batter.
- Carefully scrape the remaining batter over the streusel mixture and smooth into an even layer.
- Bake the cake for 65 to 75 minutes or until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Cool the cake in the pan for 15 minutes then invert onto a wire rack to cool completely.
- Dust cake lightly with powdered sugar immediately before serving.
- Slice, serve, and enjoy!!