Grocery Store Blues

Do you find getting out of the grocery store frustrating? Was Johnny Cash spotted alive in Ireland? Really? You mind might get blowed by the Philosophy of Pheobe the Cat and here deep, insightful wisdom. You know, winter in coming but that is OK! And check out my most recent zombie footage. This weeks featured song "Tiny Circle" by Wolf People! Comedy, music, excitement and much more!

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Dark Chocolate Bundt Cake - Day #7 of Food Librarian's I Like Big Bundts 3

Dark Chocolate Bundt Cake

I Like Big Bundts - Day #7

Good Morning! It's Day #7 of my crazy I Like Big Bundts 3 celebration of the awesome Bundt cake. I hope you will make a Bundt on National Bundt Day - November 15th! Can you believe how fast the year is going? Halloween, Bundt Day, then Thanksgiving! :)

30 days.
30 bundts.
What? I'm only a week in? Stick with me and see if I make it!

For this bundt, I  headed to the library's 641 section and leafed through some cookbooks. Do you use your library to browse cookbooks? I hope so!  Classic Southern Desserts: All-Time Favorite Recipes for Cakes, Cookies, Pies, Puddings, Cobblers, Ice Cream & More from the Editors of Southern Living Magazine has a Dark Chocolate Bundt recipe. Can't go wrong with more chocolate bundts, right?

This bundt calls for a 16 ounce can of chocolate syrup. I searched and searched for a can of Hershey's but couldn't find it in the 10 stores I visited (this bundt marathon is hard work!). I ended up using Trader Joe's Midnight Moo chocolate syrup. I wasn't sure if the 16 ounce can was by weight or volume...and I only had 8 ounces (volume, 1 cup) that weighed 11 ounces. Anyway, it was all I had and it worked out okay. The book was published in 2010 by the editors of Southern Living - is canned chocolate syrup more abundant in the South (along with White Lily Flour)?

Just a dash of powered sugar was enough for this cake.

The crumb is tight. The combo of the chocolate syrup and melted chocolate make a heavier cake - no one is going to confuse this with a chiffon cake! Although the title is "Dark Chocolate" is uses semi-sweet chocolate and whatever is in the chocolate syrup. It isn't "dark" like bittersweet chocolate, but does have a rich chocolate taste. Perfect for an afternoon coffee break.

Recap of I Like Big Bundts 3:
Day #1: Buttercake Bakery's Marble Bundt Cake
Day #2: Lemon Bliss Bundt
Day #3: Double-Chocolate Bundt Cake with Ganache Glaze
Day #4: Spice Bundt Cake with Brown Butter Vanilla Bean Glaze
Day #5: Gingery Pumpkin Breakfast Bundt
Day #6: Maida Heatter's Budapest Coffee Cake Bundt

Recipe: Click here for printable recipe

Adapted from: Classic Southern Desserts: All-Time Favorite Recipes for Cakes, Cookies, Pies, Puddings, Cobblers, Ice Cream & More from the Editors of Southern Living Magazine



Bundt Pan: Traditional 12-cup Bundt Pan

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Monterey & Portola Hotel

Monterey, Northern California

I'm trying to intermix my marathon of Bundts with some other posts... one can't live on Bundts alone (well, you probably can so I take that back).

Last week, I went to Monterey for the Internet Librarian Conference. The conference was interesting for the most part, and we were lucky to have just lovely weather in this Northern California seaside town.

If you go to any conference in Monterey, I highly recommend the Portola Hotel & Spa. There are two hotels just outside the Monterey Conference Center: Marriott & Portola. For this conference, both offered discounted rates of $204/night. (I know, crazy pricey, but it is beautiful Monterey). Last year, I stayed at the Marriott and it was, well, your typical Marriott.

The Portola Hotel hands you a warm chocolate chip cookie when you check in. Dude, if you hand me a warm, made from scratch cookie after spending more than 5 hours in a car driving up from Los Angeles to Monterey? Well, you automatically have 5 stars in my book. It is like the Doubletree (I believe the hotel used to be a Doubletree) but the recipe isn't no Doubletree cookie (I've stayed a Doubletree in past). These cookies were sooooo good. After my Bundt adventures, my goal is to recreate them. I asked (twice) for the recipe, and they don't give it out...but they list the ingredients on the bag.

Butter, pastry flour, rolled oats, Guittard chocolate chips, butter, pasteurized eggs, milk, salt, baking powder and baking soda. All rolled up into such goodness. I'm sure the oats are pulverized (like those "Mrs. Field's Copy" recipes) as you couldn't see them. Um, and I may have gone up to the desk asking for another cookie. You know, for research purposes and all.

Anyway, back to the Portola. It has a LEED Silver rating and doesn't have air conditioning in the rooms - they have ceiling fans and sliding glass doors with tiny balconies (not enough to sit on...but higher price rooms may have). One thing I hate about hotels is the crazy A/C. Since Monterey has ocean breezes, I totally enjoyed the lack of A/C. (They do have heaters in the room). They have Keurig coffee & tea makers, and mini refrigerators in the room. And I liked that they had a recycling bin along with their trash bins.

The Monterey Farmer's Market is held on Tuesdays. I love going to different farmer's markets. Love that they still have strawberries (grown in nearby Salinas) in mid-October. I tried my first Mutsu apple from the Prevedelli's farm

I jogged from the hotel to the Monterey Aquarium one morning... I haven't been the aquarium for many years and hope to visit it again soon.

If you plan a visit to Northern California, don't skip beautiful Monterey!

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Maida Heatter's Budapest Coffee Cake Bundt - Day #6 of Food Librarian's I Like Big Bundts 3

Budapest Coffee Cake Bundt

I Like Big Bundts - Day #6

Happy Saturday! Have I got a Bundt for you today...you may just head back into the kitchen and whip this one up! We're on Day #6 of I Like Big Bundts! I was treated to this cake in Connecticut while visiting Mary of Popsicles and Sandy Feet. (We call ourselves East Coast Mary and West Coast Mary). My friends and I pulled up into her driveway, walked into her beautiful house and what is on the countertop? Two Bundts! Mary made two 6-cup bundts with these awesome Nordic Ware pans.

Smaller Bundts (from Maida Heatter's Book of Great Desserts) made by Mary of the Popsicles and Sandy Feet! So cute!!

I'm crazy. Certified. I'm making 30 bundts because I cannot lie. I Like Big Bundts! And this is my third (and probably final) year of bundt craziness! If you look at this page, you'll find the 60 other bundts from the past year! I hope you make a bundt for National Bundt Day on November 15th. If you do, I have a special treat just for you. (Submission info coming next week).

This cake has layers of cake and a nutty, cinnamon filling. It is so delicious! I made mine in the traditional 12-cup Nordic Ware pan.

When this lovely cake comes out of the oven, you let it rest for a bit and then pour the glaze.

The different layers make for such a pretty cake! Who wouldn't want this for breakfast or tea? Or, heck, anytime!

Nutty, Cinnamon, Rich, Moist and just plain delicious!

Recap of I Like Big Bundts 3:
Day #1: Buttercake Bakery's Marble Bundt Cake
Day #2: Lemon Bliss Bundt
Day #3: Double-Chocolate Bundt Cake with Ganache Glaze
Day #4: Spice Bundt Cake with Brown Butter Vanilla Bean Glaze
Day #5: Gingery Pumpkin Breakfast Bundt

Recipe: Click here for printable recipe 

Adapted from Maida Heatter's Book of Great Desserts

Bundt Pan: Traditional 12-cup Bundt Pan

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Gingery Pumpkin Breakfast Bundt - Day #5 of Food Librarian's I Like Big Bundts 3

Gingery Pumpkin Breakfast Bundt

I Like Big Bundts - Day #5

Whoo hoo! We're on Day #5 of I Like Big Bundts...my crazy quest to post 30 bundts leading up to National Bundt Day on November 15th. I hope to inspire you to make a bundt cake on this fun holiday!

Today, we have something perfect for the fall season (unless you are @noshwithme who tweeted yesterday that she actually hated the poor innocent pumpkin (while you shake your head at this thought, be sure to check out her yummy blog for some great recipes)). Day #5's bundt is the Gingery Pumpkin Breakfast Bundt from Bill Yosses' lovely book, The Perfect Finish.


This recipe incorporates fresh ginger, walnuts and raisins for a yummy cake. Made with dark brown sugar, it stays moist (well, I imagine that would happen if we had any leftover pieces at the library). I tossed a quick powdered sugar glaze on it (not in the original recipe) because I wanted to jazz it up a bit.

Thanks to my dear friend, JustJenn of JustJennRecipes for designing this logo and sending me lots of support. Check out JustJenn's stationery collection for all your gift giving needs (including gifts to yourself!)


It's called a "Breakfast Bundt" and, as they say, Breakfast is your most important meal of the day. So dig in.

Whoo hoo! It's Friday. I hope you have a great weekend...come back tomorrow for, you guessed it, another Bundt!

Recap of I Like Big Bundts 3:
Day #1: Buttercake Bakery's Marble Bundt Cake
Day #2: Lemon Bliss Bundt
Day #3: Double-Chocolate Bundt Cake with Ganache Glaze
Day #4: Spice Bundt Cake with Brown Butter Vanilla Bean Glaze

Recipe: Click here for printable recipe
 
Adapted from The Perfect Finish by Bill Yosses (page 27)

Bundt Pan: Traditional 12-cup Bundt Pan

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Spice Bundt Cake with Brown Butter Vanilla Bean Glaze - Day #4 of Food Librarian's I Like Big Bundts 2011

Spice Bundt Cake with Brown Butter Vanilla Bean Glaze

I Like Big Bundts - Day #4

Whoo hoo! I'm up to Day #4 of I Like Big Bundts. Only 26 more to make! Eeck! I'm crazy about the Bundt and am always looking for recipes and inspiration. This year, I decided to reach out to my baking teacher, Carol Cotner Thompson for a recipe.

Carol Cotner Thompson teaches professional baking and cooking classes at the New School of Cooking in Culver City, California. I took the Pro Baking I classes in 2009 and loved it! Carol has over 20 years of culinary education experience (yeah, she started when she was a child) and is a thoughtful instructor. Funny, relaxed and filled with insight of the baking and culinary world. Carol has a blog with recipes and you should definitely check it out!

I hope you bake a bundt on National Bundt Day (more like International Bundt day with the number of different countries that participated in the last two years) on November 15th. Let's all spread some bundt love around...and Carol's is the perfect recipe to do just that! (Submission info will be posted next week)

Carol spices up this bundt with cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice. Butter and cream cheese are used in the cake. And the glaze? Awesomeness! You brown some butter and mix it with vanilla beans (I used vanilla paste), milk and powered sugar. Brown butter is so amazing. The combo of the brown butter bits and vanilla bean seeds is subtle-looking but gives the glaze a great flavor.

There's nothing like pulling a yummy bundt from the oven!

Be sure to stop by Carol's blog to see more recipes, and if you are in the Los Angeles area, check out New School of Cooking for some fun professional and recreation classes in both pastries and savories. You can read a series of posts about my 2009-10 Pro Baking Classes here.

Thanks so much Carol for the recipe and your support of my baking adventures. :) - mary

Recap of I Like Big Bundts 3:
Day #1: Buttercake Bakery's Marble Bundt Cake
Day #2: Lemon Bliss Bundt
Day #3: Double-Chocolate Bundt Cake with Ganache Glaze

Recipe: Click here for recipe on Carol Cotner Thompson's blog

Bundt Pan: Traditional 12-cup Bundt Pan

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Double-Chocolate Bundt Cake with Ganache Glaze - Day #3 of Food Librarian's I Like Big Bundts 3

Double-Chocolate Bundt Cake with Ganache Glaze

I Like Big Bundts - Day #3

Chocolate and Bundt are perfect together. Really. Like true love.

We're on Day #3 of I Like Big Bundts marathon of Bundts. I'm actually in beautiful Monterey, CA for the Internet Librarian conference!

Today's Bundt is from Food & Wine. It's Double chocolate (melted bittersweet chocolate and cocoa powder) with a chocolate gananche.

Have you circled November 15th on your calendar? It's National Bundt Day and I hope you make a Bundt for someone you love, like, or just tolerate...everything will be better with a Bundt. Last year, about 90 bakers made Bundts around the world - I hope you can join me again! (Submission instruction will be posted next week)

This bundt doesn't require your Kitchen Aid mixer! You can make it with a few bowls and a whisk. Sometimes my Kitchen Aid needs a break.

I was running around the kitchen when I made this (most of my baking is done in the morning before work...about 4:30 am) and missed the butter in the ganache. I also think I let it sit for a little too long so it wasn't nicely pourable. But it still worked out!


See you tomorrow for...wait for it... another Bundt! :)

Recap of I Like Big Bundts 3:
Day #1: Buttercake Bakery's Marble Bundt Cake
Day #2: Lemon Bliss Bundt

Recipe: Click here for printable recipe

Bundt Pan: Traditional 12-cup Bundt Pan
Adapted from Double-Chocolate Bundt Cake with Ganache Glaze from Food & Wine's website

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