Isn’t it funny – how different things in life start and stop and start again.

I took a walk thru my yard just now. And do you know what I found? My yellow roses budding, my peonies pushing up, my hydrangea showing its intentions! Ridiculous. It can’t be that time yet.

My sister started a new business not long ago and it is going gang-busters. I’ll probably tell you more about it soon. Amazing. Fantastic.

I have friends in heart-breaking endings. Others in joy-filled beginnings. Mostly I don’t know what to think, let alone ask “Why?” Thoughts of treatments beginning with the best of hopes, funeral processions moving at an unbearable pace, sweetest baby showers, wedding vows. awe-filled shock and wonder alternating.

We started attending a new church last year and love helping lead worship there. Michael even sang with me last week. Typically he’s a “yes” to guitar playing and a “no” to singing into a microphone. Wild. Happy.

I’ve been homeschooling for over fifteen years. Emily is graduating from Chattanooga State in a few weeks. And Isaac graduates from high school in May. Surreal. Unbelievable.

Different physical and emotional limitations have complicated life for the last few years. No space for in my heart for things I love – like taking photos or writing. But here I am, talking to you about it. Unexpected. Mind-boggling.

And what about this new job I’ve just begun, using all the creativity that’s jostling around in my body. Feels like home – like I’ve been at it for years, maybe longer, in the happiest of senses – yet it’s only been a few months. Unimaginable. Almost Breathtaking.

Even though we walk through seasons and cycles of death and life, grey barren landscapes turn to bright green buds on trees and the sun goes up and down; but I’m still surprised at it all, beautiful or otherwise, not to mention the ebb and flow of my own life. Gobb-smacked. Stunned.

I recently participated in a Bible Study on Ecclesiastes with my Bible Study Gals. It was actually wonderful. Do you know what I learned that completely caught me off guard when it should not have? My times are in His hands.

To everything there is a season. Even though the writer questions so much, The Teacher promises in Ecclesiastes that every inch of humanity is in the hands of the creator. Every moment is full of His purposes.

Rest easy, friends. His plan is good. Try not to look surprised.

Then all the people of Israel turned back to the Lord. So Samuel said to all the Israelites, “If you are returning to the Lord with all your hearts, then rid yourselves of the foreign gods and the Ashtoreths and commit yourselves to the Lord and serve him only, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines. So the Israelites put away their Baals and Ashtoreths, and served the Lord only…. (ISam. 7:2-5) While Samuel was sacrificing the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to engage Israel in battle. But that day the Lord thundered with loud thunder against the Philistines and threw them into such a panic that they were routed before the Israelites. The men of Israel rushed out of Mizpah and pursued the Philistines, slaughtering them along the way to a point below Beth Kar. (ISam. 7:10-11)

Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer, saying, “Thus far the Lord has helped us.” (1 Samuel 7:12)

I love this part of Israel’s story : where Israel decides to turn away from their idols (again) and turn towards the Lord in hopes that they would be delivered from the Philistines. Then Samuel sacrifices a burnt offering, the LORD delivers a lot of thunder and the Philistines run away scared like little girls and the Israelites are reminded One. More. Time. Our God is a rescuing God.

I wish I could tell you my memory was good; that I ALWAYS remember just the right thing at just the right time. But its not. In fact, its been pretty lousy the last couple of weeks.

In January I went to my normal checkup with my physician to look over my skin condition. Everything looked good, and in fact I’m doing well. We left Nashville that day after having lunch with friends and came home. All was well, and I found another reminder of God’s healing in my life. It’s this beautiful footed glass. I keep it out where I can see it, and be reminded. It’s a lovely reminder with all of its facets and simple beauty: God is good.

But, fast forward a few weeks, and here we are in a bit of an unexpected place with our youngest daughter and a pretty unsettling health concern. And where do I end up? I end up on the run from all my fears, just like the Israelites.

Look, its not easy to admit, but Samuel might as well have said it straight up to me: If you’ll turn from your idols and return to the Lord, commit to him, and love Him only – then HE will defeat your enemies. Of course my idols aren’t Ashtoreth or Baal, but they definitely are things I love: my sweet family, our health and well-being, our future, and lets not forget my own peace and comfort… none are bad, except when I love these things SO MUCH I can’t remember who to love more

AND worse, in this case, I’ve forgotten who loves me most.

What was the remedy? Remembering. I stared at this beautiful ebenezer on my dining room table and recalled His goodness. I spent time rehearsing His love for me, and the truth of His promises; He will deliver me in times of trouble. There was no thunder or lightening – but I know He is a promise-keeping, ever-faithful, always loving God.

Psalm 56:3-4 When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. In God, whose word I praise— in God I trust and am not afraid.

The thing is, when it comes to baking, I love to try new recipes. I especially love searching for just the right chocolate chip cookie recipe. I have tried many and I do mean many. For now I have a lot of favorites for different reasons. But this one truth remains: I always love a warm, fresh from the oven chocolate chip cookie – no matter what – and so, I can say honestly this was one of my favorites. Good news, the family loved them too.

This recipe I tried out yesterday was pretty darn good- close to perfection. It fits the description of “crispy and chewy”. I’ll say, the downside: the dough must chill for 24 hours – and all that means is I have to plan ahead for these babies. Guys, sometimes making cookies is a spur of the moment thing for us around here, so I guess that means these will be special occasion cookies. But I feel like it will be worth the wait.

Anyway… here are the cookies… don’t they look perfect? See that crispy top, but the gooey-chewy down inside? Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

I found the recipe on the new York times site – it is definitely not unique to me or anything!

Ingredients:

• 2 cups minus 2 tablespoons cake flour (8 1/2 ounces)
• 1 ⅔ cups bread flour (8 1/2 ounces)
• 1 ¼ teaspoons baking soda
• 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
• 1 ½ teaspoons coarse salt
• 1 ¼ cups unsalted butter (2 1/2 sticks)
• 1 ¼ cups light brown sugar (10 ounces)
• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar (8 ounces)
• 2 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons natural vanilla extract
• 1 ¼ pounds bittersweet chocolate disks or fèves, at least 60 percent cacao content (see note)
•  Sea salt

(My changes: I did All purpose flour in total, not the cake flour/bread flour combo. I did not use sea salt – these cookies have a good balance of salt already with the coarse salt included in the batter. I just used ghiradelli semisweet chips – 1 1/4 pounds of beautiful chocolate!)

Instructions:

1. Sift flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Set aside.
2. Using a mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream butter and sugars together until very light, about 5 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla. Reduce speed to low, add dry ingredients and mix until just combined, 5 to 10 seconds. Drop chocolate pieces in and incorporate them without breaking them. Press plastic wrap against dough and refrigerate for 24 to 36 hours. Dough may be used in batches, and can be refrigerated for up to 72 hours.
3. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat. Set aside.
4. Scoop 6 3 1/2-ounce mounds of dough (the size of generous golf balls) onto baking sheet, making sure to turn horizontally any chocolate pieces that are poking up; it will make for a more attractive cookie. Sprinkle lightly with sea salt and bake until golden brown but still soft, 18 to 20 minutes. Transfer sheet to a wire rack for 10 minutes, then slip cookies onto another rack to cool a bit more. Repeat with remaining dough, or reserve dough, refrigerated, for baking remaining batches the next day. Eat warm, with a big napkin.

(My changes : I chilled maybe 18 hours – it seemed long enough. I scooped the dough prior to chilling – have you ever tried to scoop chilled dough? It’s very hard!! The cookies did not need to bake for 20 minutes – I think we made it to about 16 minutes.)

It was two Sundays before Christmas, services were over and I was headed thru the foyer and down the hall to my car. My family was waiting for me, and I, I’m always the straggler chatting with everyone on my way. As I was walking, I heard a little voice, “Miss Melody! Miss Melody!” – And there standing near the front doors of the church was one of my favorite little friends.

You may not know this, but when you teach children’s choir you make a lot of friends at church that are not your age. Many of my friendships at church are in the 5-11 age range – and I treasure them all. But this little girl is one of the sweetest. She started out in choir absolutely terrified to be there – and she even accidentally fell of the stage in one of our rehearsals last year – but she has persevered! She’s not afraid anymore – and even better, we are big time buddies.

At any rate – there she was waving something in her little hand at me! Before I knew it she had pushed a candy cane into my hand. Her mama told me later that she had said she wasn’t sure who it was for, but she was bringing it to church in her purse to give to someone special.

I just about choked up on the spot. My young friend had given her best little gift. To Me.

These things take a while to ruminate with me, ya know? I’ve been thinking about that broken little candy cane, she gave to me. It isn’t much different than what I have to offer these days. Most of what I’ve got to give is a little bit (or in some cases a lot) broken.

Here we are peaking around the corner to 2020 – and I have a lot of hopes of what the year can be. But all I have to offer my Heavenly Father, in the midst of all those hopes is one pretty broken life. A lot of mess-ups, cringeworthy stuff, and junk. It’s the time of year to give my best. Let’s get real: I’ve got a few talents and gifts he’s given to me, and most of them are tainted with my own humanity and sin nature. Plain old broken stuff.

There’s good news penned by Christina Rossetti in a carol we sing at our Christmas concert every year:

What can I give Him, poor as I am?

If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb.

If I were a wiseman, I would do my part.

Yet what I can, I give him, give Him my heart.

I’m reminded that the best gift I can give to my Heavenly Father, now and all year long is my broken life. And even better is the gift of His promise to us – the renewal and restoration of every heart that belongs to Him. These are the best gifts.

Thanks be to God!

Heavenly Father, Here I am calling out to you, waving my gifts and ready to give them back to you. They are all I’ve got! But I know you love me, and I know you’re ready to take them and mend every piece that is broken! Thank you for this indescribable gift of peace this knowledge brings to my life! Amen.

Continue reading “Your best gift” →

The thing of it is, my most favorite week of the year is also my very busiest week too. The week after Thanksgiving before the first weekend in December is always a time full of rehearsals for our Church’s Christmas concert.

Whenever this week rolls around, I’m reminded of how much I love our church and the people we get to make music with at North Shore Fellowship all year long. My heart is so full from spending time with these amazing musicians and I’m filled to overflowing…

Specifically, over the last several years, I have ended up overflowing with – you guessed it- Cake. Lots of cake. Coconut Rum Cakes to be exact. I bake them up during the week; then, I take them to the final dress rehearsal and deliver them to our friends who are a part of our big NSF musical family. To be sure, I can’t make one for everyone every year – but I try to make as many as I can for these dear people who we love so very much. This year I made six.

Typically everyone loves them – its a huge favorite and I get texts the next day about people eating cake for breakfast or enjoying their piece by the fire. And while I believe them that it is good – I think its the big dose of love that I toss in that makes it taste so delicious.

It’s true with every gift that is given at Christmastime. It’s the love, not the gift itself that makes the difference. I’m telling you this in case you decide to make this cake for family or friends this year – You’ll need to add a big helping of love while you mix the batter and boil the glaze.

Now, lets get down to the business at hand: Coconut Rum Cake. I’ve edited the recipe I posted originally 7 years ago, to reflect what I actually do now. I hope you enjoy it! Let me know if you decide to make it! Don’t forget the love!

COCONUT RUM CAKE

Cake ingredients:

1 golden yellow cake mix ( I ALWAYS use Duncan Hines.)

1 3.5 oz box of jello instant coconut cream Pudding

4 eggs

1/2 cup oil

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup coconut rum

Cake instructions:

Preheat oven to 325. Prep a bundt pan with Pam baking spray. Combine the cake ingredients in the bowl of the stand mixer. Mix on medium for 2 minutes, until thoroughly combined. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for roughly 55 minutes. Remove from the oven and poke holes all over the “top” of the cake. Start the glaze now, while cake begins to cool.

Glaze ingredients:

1/2 cup unsalted butter

1/4 cup water

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup spiced rum

Glaze instructions:

Combine butter, water and sugar in a sauce pan – melt butter and bring to a boil, stirring once in a while. Boil mixture for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and add rum to the mixture. Once it is combined, pour about half over the cake, into the holes and down the sides. (I always run a knife gently around the edges of the cake, to loosen it from the pan and let the glaze run down). After you’ve poured the first half of the glaze onto the cake, let it cool for about 30-45 minutes. Next, turn the cake out of the bundt pan and pour the rest of the cake over the top of the cake.

Hello, friends.

I haven’t blogged in a while. 22 months to be exact. A lot has happened in those 22 months and I just haven’t been able to bring myself back to Daily Portion.

But, I’m here- I’m tip-toeing back on to my blog and in my teeny-tiniest voice I’m saying – I *think* I *might* be ready to share again.

What I can tell you: over these last months God’s Word has remained true more than ever! These words are so good for my heart…

Lamentations 3:22-25 Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, Because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness. “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, Therefore I hope in Him!”

I may not get something posted daily. (I do realize that’s the opposite of my blog title – but honestly, “weekly portion” just doesn’t sound right.) My hope is to share a recipe with its anecdote or an encouraging thought at least weekly. Mostly, I want to get back to finding courage to share God’s goodness with whoever needs to read it here.

Let’s journey together.

Love, Melody.

One of my favorite photos from this past fall at Cade’s Cove.

Cake #48 was more of a concept I’m going to share with you, rather than an actual recipe, I guess.

I made two in different flavors, and both were super delicious!  I WILL be making these again!  I made a Chocolate Whoopi Bundt and a Pumpkin Caramel Whoopi Bundt.

Here’s what I did:  I made 2 of my favorite cake recipes. Once they were cooled I cut the cakes in half horizontally.   Then I spread cream filling over the bottom layer and topped with the second cake layer.  For the Chocolate Whoopi Bundt, I topped the cake with a ganache.  I included the ganache recipe below.  On the Pumpkin Whoopi Bundt I drizzled my yummy caramel bourbon sauce.

In my case I added cinnamon to the cream that I made for the pumpkin cake, and vanilla to the cream that I made for the chocolate cake.

Here’s the recipe for the cream, and I have to tell you – it is one of the best things I’ve made all year!  I could have eaten the whole bowl of filling with a spoon!  De-Lish!!!

Whoopi Pie Bundt Cream

10 Tbl. unsalted butter, room temperature
1 (7 oz.) carton marshmallow creme
pinch of salt
1½ tsp. vanilla
2 c. powdered sugar

Whip butter and marshmallow cream together, slowly add vanilla, salt and powdered sugar.  Add the sugar in small portions until you have the desired consistency

Chocolate Ganache:
½ c. chocolate chips (I used milk chocolate)
3 Tbl. whipping cream

Place chocolate in a bowl, heat cream in microwave or on stove until bubbly, then pour over the chocolate.  Let stand for 3-4 minutes and then stir until smooth  and ready to spread on cake.

In the fall, I look forward to all things pumpkin.  Specifically, I love my Grandma Brubacher’s pumpkin pie, which has very strong maple overtones.  It is my favorite!

So, this week, my cake is a tribute to Grandma B’s pie.  And, really, it turned out beautifully! Unlike so many of the others I’ve gotten to taste his one and I think it may be a keeper!

here’s what I did:  I used last week’s pumpkin cake recipe, but made a few changes.

Ingredients
FOR CAKE:
2 and ¼ cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. cinnamon
2tsp. Pumpkin pie spice
½ tsp. salt
1 and ⅓ cups canned pumpkin
¾ cup buttermilk
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp maple extract
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
¼ cup brown sugar
3 eggs (I use extra-large)

extra cinnamon sugar for the pan.

browned butter frosting:

1/2 cup butter
4 cups confectioners sugar
1 tsp maple syrup
1 tsp maple flavoring
a few tsp of cream

Melt and brown the butter until the butter gets a nutty fragrance and begins to brown, then remove from the heat. Whisk in the sugar, then add add the cream and wet ingredients. Whisk until smooth. Pour warm frosting over cooled cake.

Instructions
Preheat oven to 350°. Spray a Bundt pan (I use a Bundt pan with 10 to 11 cup capacity) with Baker’s Joy (or grease and flour). Then create a coating by sprinkling a thick layer of cinnamon sugar all over the inside of the pan.  Set aside. Mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice and salt in a bowl. Set aside. Mix pumpkin, buttermilk, vanilla and maple extract in another bowl and set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer (or use a hand mixer and a large bowl), beat the butter and sugars until fluffy (about 3 minutes). Add eggs and beat until incorporated. Reduce speed to low and add flour and pumpkin mixtures, alternating (beginning and ending with flour mixture). Pour batter into prepared Bundt pan. Bake for about 60 minutes (I recommend checking at 45-50 minutes) or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean (crumbs on the toothpick are okay since it should be moist). Cool about 10 minutes and remove from pan. Then frost.

Guys!  I’ve been baking a cake a week for 43 weeks now.  Truly, some weeks have been more stellar than others.  Some cakes have been delightful, others not so much!  But this week’s is divine!  It’s that simple!  The crumb was perfect and the flavor was just what I was looking for in a pumpkin – fall – flavored cake.  This one definitely rates pretty high up there on the keeper list!

(I found this recipe on Pinterest, on the cozycakescottage blog! However, I did a few things to make it my own, and I did not make a frosting this time. )

Ingredients
FOR CAKE:
2 and ¼ cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. ground allspice
¾ tsp. nutmeg
½ tsp. ground ginger
¼ tsp. ground cloves
½ tsp. salt
1 and ⅓ cups canned pumpkin
¾ cup buttermilk
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
¼ cup brown sugar
3 eggs (I use extra-large)

extra cinnamon sugar and pecans for the pan.

Instructions
Preheat oven to 350°. Spray a Bundt pan (I use a Bundt pan with 10 to 11 cup capacity) with Baker’s Joy (or grease and flour). Then create a coating by sprinkling a thick layer of cinnamon sugar all over the inside of the pan.  Sprinkle chopped pecans win the bottom of the pan. Set aside. Mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, ginger, cloves, and salt in a bowl. Set aside. Mix pumpkin, buttermilk and vanilla in another bowl and set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer (or use a hand mixer and a large bowl), beat the butter and sugars until fluffy (about 3 minutes). Add eggs and beat until incorporated. Reduce speed to low and add flour and pumpkin mixtures, alternating (beginning and ending with flour mixture). Pour batter into prepared Bundt pan. Bake for about 45 minutes (I recommend checking at 40 minutes) or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean (crumbs on the toothpick are okay since it should be moist). Cool about 10 minutes and remove from pan.

I dare you to let this one cool, but I bet you’ll find you need to eat this one warm!!!

This week brought around a unique opportunity to bake for a brunch we were having for our Sunday School teachers at church.  Our children’s minister asked for people to bring food – and so, I thought it would be fun to sign up and bring a Bundt cake!  But what to bring???  I found what sounded like a yummy recipe online – Snickerdoodle Bundt Cake.

The recipe had all the ingredients to make it moist and delicious, so I thought I should try it!  I had second thoughts about the whole thing since I was baking it for a lot of people and I’d never made it before.  I used to believe I should never bake something for a crowd that I had never tried before.  Well, I’ve had to get over that this year, right? I’m giving away new cakes that I’ve never tasted to people and I have to be okay with it!

Snickerdoodle – normally is a yummy light, buttery, cinnamon tasting cookie that I love to make in the fall.  But, it was perfect for this occasion.  Also, I did sneak into the kitchen after the teachers had been served and snuck a bite.  Guys!  It was just right:  not too dense, perfectly moist and really did taste just like a snickerdoodle cookie!  🙂 update: because this cake was sooooo good, I was hired to make 2 more for a men’s prayer breakfast!  How exciting!!!

Here’s the recipe:(from DozenFlours.com)

Snickerdoodle Bundt Cake

Yield: It really depends on how big you cut the slices. Traditionally a 9″ Bundt should serve about 12, but if you cut the slices smaller, you can feed about 18 to 24.

Ingredients:
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 cup white sugar

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt

1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 cup white sugar

1 cup light brown sugar

3 eggs, at room temperature

2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup full-fat sour cream, at room temperature

Instructions:
In a small bowl, combine 1 cup of sugar and 2 teaspoons of cinnamon. Mix together really well and set aside. Preheat oven to 325F.
Here’s the exact way I made the crust: Using a spray product like Pam with Flour (I LOVE this stuff — seriously its changed my life!), generously spray a 9 inch Bundt pan, being careful to cover all the nooks and crannies, as well as the center tube. Don’t forget the tube, I almost did. Note: If you don’t want to use Pam with Flour, you can just grease the pan with shortening. Gently dust the entire inside of the pan with the sugar and cinnamon mixture. You should only need about 1/4 to 1/2 cup of sugar, but you want to try and evenly coat the inside surface of the pan, including the tube. Don’t rush. Save the remaining sugar and cinnamon mixture and set everything aside.
Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
Beat just the butter on medium speed for one full minute. Add the white sugar and mix for 3 minutes, until light and fluffy. Scrape down the bowl and blade and add the brown sugar.
Mix for 2 minutes until the mixture looks light brown and uniform in color. Add the eggs one at a time, beating each for 1 full minute. Stir in the vanilla. Add the flour mixture alternately with the sour cream; beat well.
Spread half of the batter into the prepared pan. Sprinkle with 1/4 to 1/3 of a cup of the cinnamon sugar mixture over top the cake. Spread the rest of the batter into the pan and sprinkle any remaining sugar mixture over the top. (If you run out of cinnamon sugar, you can mix just 1/4 cup of sugar + 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon together for the top of the cake. It should be more than enough.)
Bake in the preheated oven for 55 to 65 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean. Allow to cool for 10 minutes before inverting onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Cake #41 Maple Cream Bundt and a Happy Canadian Thanksgiving to you!  🙂

Each year when Columbus Day rolls around in the United States, my family begins our time of Thanksgiving.  We start intentionally working at planning acts of gratefulness and thanks at Canadian Thanksgiving, and we celebrate all the way to American Thanksgiving late in November.

This year was no exception and so, I needed to (obviously) bake a cake.  Because it is fall, I thought it would be a good time to break out one of those “fall flavors” I’ve been waiting to try and so, I made this maple cream cake!  And friends – if you ever thought you needed to have pancakes and syrup in the form of a cake – this would be it!  It was moist and syrup-y sweet.  Fantastic.  We loved it!

Here is the recipe. (I found it on Pinterest, but made a few adjustments to make it my own. )

Cake #41 Maple Cream Bundt

For the cake:
¾ cups Canola Or Vegetable Oil
1 cup Granulated Sugar
1 teaspoon Maple Extract
3 whole Eggs
1 cup Sour Cream
½ cups Milk
¼ cups Pure Maple Syrup
2-¾ cups Cake Flour
2 teaspoons Baking Powder
½ teaspoons Baking Soda
¼ teaspoons Salt
1 teaspoon Cinnamon
1 can Sweetened Condensed Milk (14 Oz)

Frosting recipe
¼ cups Softened Butter
¼ cups Pure Maple Syrup
1 cup Powdered Sugar
½ teaspoons Maple Extract
1 cup plain whipped cream (optional)
½ cups Chopped Walnuts (for Garnish)

Instructions
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Coat bundt pan liberally with non-stick cooking spray. Set aside.
In large bowl, whip oil, sugar, vanilla, eggs together until combined.
In small bowl, stir together sour cream, milk and maple syrup.
Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon together.
With mixer on low, alternate milk mixture with dry ingredients until everything is just incorporated. Scrape sides of bowl and mix briefly.
Pour batter into prepared bundt pan, level the top and bake 55 min-1 hour 5 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean after being inserted.
Remove from oven and cool in the pan 15 minutes. Poke small 1 inch deep holes into the top (which ends up being the bottom) of the cake and spoon 1/3 of the sweetened condensed milk into the holes and over the visible cake. Let this soak in 15 minutes and then turn cake out of pan onto cooling rack. {You may want to run a knife along the sides to ensure the cake will come out of the pan nicely.}
Poke more small holes {about 2 inches deep} into the top of the cake and spoon the remaining sweetened condensed milk into the holes and over the entire cake so it is completely covered. Let cake sit 1-2 hours so sweetened condensed milk can be absorbed.
Carefully remove cake from cooling rack and place onto cake stand. {It will be sticky!}
For the frosting, whip butter and maple syrup together until combined. Stir in vanilla and powdered sugar until completely smooth. Spread frosting over top of cake and down the sides slightly. Top with chopped walnuts.
Store in refrigerator until ready to serve.

Well, long time, no cakes,  right?  I promise, I’ve been baking! We’ve had a little glitch with our technology around here and that’s complicated things a bit (to say the least).  But I’m up early this morning, with a good cup of coffee and I’m catching up!

The good news is – two weeks ago I made a cake for a friend’s birthday and it turned out to be pretty darn good!  I took the Kentucky butter cake recipe that I tried back several weeks ago in the summer and turned it into a Kentucky bourbon cake. I also took my favorite caramel sauce recipe and made it into a caramel bourbon sauce.

Here’s the recipe:

Kentucky Butter Bourbon Cake with Caramel Bourbon Sauce

Cake:

1 cup butter
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 tbsp bourbon
3 cups cake flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 cup buttermilk

bourbon butter glaze:

1/3 cup butter
3/4 cup sugar
2 tbsp water
2 tbsp Bourbon

Caramel bourbon sauce:
3/4 butter
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
2 tbsp water
1/2 cup evaporated milk
2 tbsp Bourbon

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 325.  Prep the Bundt pan.  Put all of the cake ingredients in the mixer – mix on low for 30 seconds, then on medium speed for three minutes.  Pour batter into the pan and bake for 65 -70 minutes.

Make the butter glaze once the cake is finished baking.  Combine all of the glaze ingredients in a small pan over medium heat – just until the butter is melted and the sugar dissolves. Do not boil.  Poke holes all over the cake and pour most of the glaze over the cake.  When the cake is cooled, invert it onto your serving platter and cover with the remaining glaze.

at this point I made the caramel sauce – combine the butter, brown sugar and water in a small pan.  Bring to a boil for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Then remove from Heat and stir in evaporated milk and bourbon.  (1/2 cup for moderately thick sauce, 3/4 cup for a thin sauce.  ) serve the sauce warm with the cake.

I think the cake would be super yummy without the caramel bourbon sauce.