Eggnog Pound Cake

Eggnog Pound Cake

Yields: 1 loaf

Loaf:
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 cup flour
pinch of salt
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
3/4 cup eggnog
1 tsp vanilla

Glaze:
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 tbsp (or more for desired consistency) eggnog

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees fahrenheit. Grease an 8 x 4 loaf pan.

2. Cream the butter and sugar together for 3-4 minutes with a mixer. Add the eggs, one at a time.

3. Combine the flour, salt, baking powder, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a bowl.

4. Alternate adding the dry ingredients and the eggnog to the creamed butter/sugar combo. Add vanilla, then mix until just combined.

5. Bake for 40-60 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

6. Let the cake cool for 10 minutes in the pan, then remove. Let it cool completely before adding the glaze.

Pumpkin Cheesecake Bread

Yup. That's right. Pumpkin. Cheesecake. Bread. It has the best of all worlds.

I mixed this recipe up a little bit. This is my favorite pumpkin bread recipe. I love it! I found this recipe years ago. It's called "Pumpkin Pie Bread." This bread tastes like pumpkin pie, people. Pumpkin pie. In bread form.

Also, I'm kind of obsessed with cheesecake swirls, so I added one of those. Delish.

Pumpkin Cheesecake Bread

Yields: 2 loaves (either 8x4 or 9x5-- I did one of each!)

Pumpkin Bread Batter

3 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 tbsp pumpkin pie spice
2 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup veggie oil (or canola oil)
4 eggs
1 (15 oz.) can pumpkin purée
1/2 cup water

Cheesecake Swirl

1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese, room temperature
1/3 cup sugar
2 tbsp flour
2 eggs

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit. Grease two loaf pans (8x4 or 9x5 will work perfectly).

2. Whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and pumpkin pie spice. Set aside.

3. Beat together in a large bowl (a stand mixer works well) the sugar with the veggie oil. Add the eggs one at a time, beating between each egg. Add the pumpkin.

4. Add the dry ingredients slowly alternating with the water. Mix until combined.

5. Beat together the cheesecake swirl ingredients until smooth.

6. Pour a little more than half the batter between the two pans. Spread all of the cheesecake swirl batter in the two pans. Try to spread it out evenly, extending almost to the edges. Pour the remaining pumpkin batter on top and completely cover up the cheesecake swirl.

7. Bake for 55-70 minutes, or until a toothpick or cake tester comes out clean.

8. Let the bread cool in the pans for 15 minutes, then remove them and let them finish cooling on a cooling rack. Store in plastic wrap.

Happy autumn! 

Interested in more pumpkin recipes? Click the pictures!

 

Chocolate Cream Cheese Pound Cake

Imagine for a second you live in a house made of chocolate. Barring the constant melting, that house would be SWEET (pun intended). You could eat anything you want, and the smell would be beyond your wildest dreams.

That, my dear friends, is how my house smells right now. My home is chocolate bliss right now.

I decided to send a package to my sister who lives in San Francisco. I wanted to include in the package something baked and delicious for her to eat. She's been doing some weird Keto diet, but she's promised to abandon her diet for a day if I send something homemade. 

I made a mini pound cake to go with the big one so my family here would have something to taste. I feel like it's pretty cruel to bake something so fragrant and chocolatey and then just ship it all off without anyone here getting to try it. This pound cake is so good! The chocolate flavor is just so rich and deep. I tweaked the recipe from Tutti Dolci. 

Chocolate Pound Cake

Cream Cheese Ribbon
3 oz cream cheese, softened
1 tbsp sour cream
1 tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp vanilla extract 
Batter
1 1/4 cups flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup sour cream
3/4 cup buttermilk
2 tbsp mini semisweet chocolate chips
2 tbsp pecan pieces (optional)

Preheat oven to 350°F and spray an 8 x 4-inch loaf pan with nonstick spray. Combine cream cheese, sour cream, sugar, and vanilla and beat until smooth.

Whisk together flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. Beat butter and sugar in a large mixer bowl at medium speed until light and fluffy; beat in egg and vanilla. Combine sour cream and buttermilk in a small bowl. Reduce speed to low and add half of flour mixture, beating just to combine. Add sour cream mixture, then finish with remaining flour mixture.

Pour half the batter into prepared pan; dollop with cream cheese mixture and swirl layers together with a knife or wooden skewer. Top with remaining batter and smooth with an offset spatula; sprinkle with chocolate chips and pecans, if desired. Bake for 55 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean and cake springs back to the touch. Cool in pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes; carefully remove cake from pan and cool completely on wire rack. Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator up to 3 days.

There's the cream cheese ribbon! The tangy flavor of the cream cheese really balances the rich chocolate flavor of the cake.