Christmas Eve Egg Nog Mini Bundt Cakes

Egg Nog is one of my hubby's favorite holiday flavors.  I know he grew up with his parents having it on Christmas Eve and my Dad always made his "spirited" bowl for the open house my Mom would host each year.  These little cakes remind me of those times.

It's been a hectic month and as we all do our last minute baking, shopping, and wrapping, it's nice to take a minute and remember how thankful we are for all we have.  Wishing you all the merriest Christmas and happiest New Year.

Christmas Eve Egg Nog Mini Bundt Cakes
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
8 oz. cream cheese
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 tsp. Egg Nog flavoring, or 1 tsp. vanilla extract, or 1 T. rum
1 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg

2 cups King Arthur all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/3 cup Egg Nog

Preheat oven to 350F-degrees.  Spray a 6-cup mini Bundt pan with baking spray and set aside.  In a stand mixer, using the paddle attachment, cream the butter and cream cheese together.  Add the sugar and beat on medium to combine.  Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Add the flavoring (or extract or rum) and mix once again.

Whisk the dry ingredients together, then add them to the bowl, alternating with the egg nog, starting and ending with dry ingredients.  The mixture is thick.

Scoop the batter into the prepared mini Bundt pan.

Bake for 18-20 minutes until golden brown.  Remove from the oven and after cooling for 5 minutes, turn them out onto a rack to cool.

I decided to treat these like a "doughnut" so I melted 3/4 + 2T (almost two sticks) of unsalted butter.  I also made a mixture of 1 cup granulated sugar, 1 tsp. cinnamon, and 1 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg.
Dip the cakes into the butter, then roll into the sugar mixture.

Alternatively, you can glaze the cakes with 1 cup confectioners' sugar, 1tsp. Karo light syrup, and 1-2 T egg nog.

I have one last post to do tomorrow of a Buche de Noel cake, then the baking is done. Enjoy!

Roasted Pineapple Mini Bundts and February's Apron Give-Away

In all fairness to San Francisco, I decided to come up with a treat that would honor their city as well because it is an honor to get to the Super Bowl.  Back in the early 80s, I traveled with my mom and dad to San Francisco to visit family.  My sister-in-law took us to China Town and it was there I purchased this bamboo steam basket, among some other necessities.  I've used it a lot in the kitchen, not for these bundt cakes, but for the best steamed dumplings and last fall I did tamales in it!

I chose to do roasted pineapple because when I was in Taiwan in 2010, to bring Maddie home, I learned that pineapple treats were part of the new year's celebration. This recipe is the perfect dessert for this year--the Year of the Snake, on February 10th and goes along with the apron material I chose for this month.

The red and gold "take out" boxes on a background of Confucius sayings--one of my favorites, which is on the apron is, "Study the past and you would define the future!"  I hold this saying close to my heart and it really defines why I blog.

Roasted Pineapple Mini Bundts
1 fresh pineapple
3 T firmly packed, light brown sugar
Preheat oven to 375F-degrees

Peel and slice the fresh pineapple.  I have had this handy pineapple "corer" for almost 20 years and I can honestly say, it was the best $9.99 I ever spent.

Slice the leaves and about 1" of the pineapple off

Press the corer in the pineapple and start twisting, clockwise

Presto! beautifully sliced pineapple is pulled from the shell

Place sliced pineapple on a baking sheet, lined with parchment and sprinkle with the brown sugar

Roast the pineapple for 20 to 25 minutes until golden brown.  Set aside to cool slightly, then, place on a chopping board and rough chop.  You should have about 1 cup of pineapple.

Cake:
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup firmly packed, light brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
4 large eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. pineapple flavoring (optional, but really enhances the flavor!) 
3 cups King Arthur all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 cup buttermilk

Lower oven temperature to 350F-degrees.
In a stand mixer, using the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugars together thoroughly, scrapping down the sides of the bowl as needed.

Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition and again scrape down the sides as needed.  Add the vanilla extract and pineapple flavoring, if using, and beat again.

Mix the dry ingredients together and add them alternatively with the buttermilk, starting and ending with the flour mixture.  Beat one minute more, then remove the bowl from the stand and stir in the roasted, chopped pineapple.

Scoop batter into the wells of the mini bundt pan, which has been sprayed with a non-stick baking spray.

Batter should come up about 2/3 of the way up.  Bake in the preheated oven for 18 to 20 minutes, until golden brown.  Make glaze while the cakes are baking--you will get about 14 mini bundts.  You could also do this in a 12-cup bundt pan--bake 45 to 50 minutes.

Glaze:
1/2 cup fresh pineapple juice

1 1/3 cup confectioners' sugar

Whisk ingredients together in a small sauce pan over medium heat.

Let sit in the pan about 5 minutes, then invert onto a parchment lined cooling rack and brush on the the glaze.

Once you've finished brushing on the glaze, remove the parchment paper so the glaze will dry.

To serve, you could sprinkle the top with confectioners' sugar and pour a cup of tea.

Enjoy!