baking

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Look at that cake! It is perfect! And I do believe it’s the first time I have ever baked anything that didn’t end up mangled in some way. Whether I use the wrong pan, don’t grease the pan enough, drop the finished product, something always goes wrong. Not this time!

After making my pizza crust with almond meal a few weeks ago, I have become pretty obsessed with the nutrient dense product. It’s not too expensive, and while I love regular flour, it’s nice to have the added protein once in awhile.

After buying a new bag of almond meal at TJ’s, I started browsing the web for a breakfast type cake/quick bread I could make with the almond meal and found a simple recipe for a banana almond meal cake.

almond meal cake

I knew it had to be a Bundt cake because I wanted to use the Bundt cake I got for my birthday. Whenever I say/write Bundt, I think of My Big Fat Greek Wedding. Smile

bundt pan

The original recipe can be found on this beautiful blog. It all started with some rapidly ripening bananas.

bananas

And of course almond meal. I also used a half cup of whole wheat flour.

almond meal

The recipe also includes a half cup of yogurt;; I used my favorite, Fage 2%. It did not include cacao nibs, but I added them for a cocoa crunch and some added antioxidants.

cacao nibs

The batter was incredibly simple to make, but my non-stick pan was the real star in this baking effort. As you can see from the first picture, it came out of the pan so perfectly. And to make it even better, the cake is delicious. It’s really more like a banana bread. I’ve been eating it for breakfast topped with more Greek yogurt. Yum.

almond meal cake

And so we come to the end of yet another crazy work week. I am NJ bound to spend the weekend with my mom and sister. If you are celebrating a mom, aunt, grandma, or other special woman (or yourself!) this weekend, enjoy.

What are your weekend plans?

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Tags: baking, bananas, bread, cake, healthy, recipe

Doughnut Muffins

A few weeks ago, on the last mile of a grueling long run, I passed a box of doughnuts that someone had opened and left on the ground. At this point in the run, I was hungry (and realized very much that I need to carry fuel on these runs), and after seeing the doughnuts just wanted one. They were the convenience store type of doughnut, the yellow ones with the sort of waxy chocolate frosting. Even as I describe them that way, I still kind of want one. . .

I obviously didn’t touch the doughnuts on the ground, but since I rarely crave sweets and doughnuts usually make me feel too full and kind of ill, I thought it kind of weird that I had them on the brain. Running does strange things to one’s food cravings.

At Target this weekend, I passed a display of doughnut pans, and I decided to try my hand at baking my own doughnuts.

Wilton Doughnut Pan

I used a Wilton  recipe right off of the doughnut pan packaging, thinking they would kind of turn out like the powdered sugar doughnuts that come along with the chocolate ones.

I got my ingredients, including cake flour, together.

King Arthur Cake Flour

And I mixed them all up while the oven was pre-heating.

I kind of expected the doughnut dough to be more cake batter like, but it was dough, which I guess makes sense. . .

doughnut batter

It made it difficult to fill the pan without making a mess. Obviously I overfilled the doughnut pan. Would I have it any other way but messing up a baking project?

My doughnuts became muffins in the front. . .

doughnut muffin

And sort of doughnuts in the back. I dipped the cooled doughnuts in a mix of butter, sugar, and cinnamon, and let them cool before wrapping them up for snacks and breakfast. They didn’t really satisfy my doughnut craving, but they were good, slightly sweet, very cake-like, and with a nice hint of cinnamon and nutmeg. I should also add that the doughnuts came out of the pan really easily and cleanly. Despite claims of non-stick, I often find that pans love to cling to my desserts. I guess it was a semi-success.

What’s your favorite kind of doughnut?

doughnut muffin

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In completely unrelated, but far more important news, my cousin lost his entire home in a fire this past weekend. Thankfully he and his roommates were all okay, but they lost everything. The community of Asheville, NC has really come together to help them. I am not sure if I have any Asheville readers, but if you are from around there, a few businesses are hosting benefits. I am always grateful to businesses willing to help the community, and it really hits home when it’s your own family. Scary.

http://www.mountainx.com/article/40744/How-to-help-the-men-who-lost-their-home-to-a-fire-on-Friday

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Tags: baking, doughnuts, Food, muffins

Snow Day

Snow days are good for the soul. I am not known for my love of winter in general, but when snow falls at a convenient time (weekend or holiday) or is enough to keep my husband working from home, I don’t mind it. I just like for it to melt quickly rather than lingering, freezing on un-shoveled sidewalks, and turning filthy.

Saturday was just that sort of day. Last week I completed five pretty intense workouts. I won’t lie; I am super proud of my Boston Marathon training right now. I will never be very fast, but I feel strong and healthier than I have in marathons past. But the workouts make me crave fat and rest.

I also had a bunch of meetings last week with new or potentially new clients. Being a consultant is like constantly job-hunting it seems; putting myself out there so much is something that takes it out of me every time. I’m not naturally outgoing. . . at all.

By the time Friday night rolled around, I was achy, hungry, and exhausted.

The remedy? A snow day.

After sleeping for over 10 hours (!), I woke up to this. With nowhere to go, I read blogs, sipped on tea, and relaxed until I was ready for a spinning workout. I had planned on a day off, but the sleep made me feel so good!

Boston in the snow

The rest of the day was spent watching Downton Abbey.

Downton Abbey

Source

And baking a chocolate chip cookie pie.

chocolate chip cookie pie

chocolate chip cookie pie

And bringing that chocolate chip cookie pie, along with a bottle of one of my favorite wines, Piazzo Barbera, to our neighbors’ house for a lasagna dinner and movie watching.

This Barbera was one of the first wines I ever tried and purchased at The Urban Grape. It was such a solid introduction to their taste in wine, and it is one of the reasons we keep going back.

Piazzo Barbera

We watched Bridesmaids, feasted on lasagna stuffed with spinach, mushrooms, and turkey sausage, with a side of a garlicky bread, and followed it up with my cookie pie topped with vanilla bean ice cream.

We made the short, snowy walk home just after 11 pm and had another early-to-bed night. It’s great having neighbors who are also good friends. Despite all of the complaints we have about our actual condo, I love our neighborhood, especially in winter and summer!

If you had a snow day this weekend, how did you spend it?

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Tags: baking, Boston, Food, snow, wine

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