Happy after-Thanksgiving, friends!
I feel like this is the week when we gingerly step on the scale with one eye closed, praying all of those Thanksgiving calories just hit our tastebuds and bypassed our hips. And now we brace ourselves for the Christmas tidal wave.
To accompany that wave, I thought I’d offer the most interesting recipe I pulled off at Thanksgiving…
A MAGIC cake!
Yes, you read that right. I successfully pulled off a bit of culinary magic for Thanksgiving this year. And I was as fascinated by this as I’m sure you will be!
(And by “magic,” obviously, I mean “science” was involved.)
Here’s the link to Southern Living’s Pumpkin Spice Magic Cake.
Before starting, I did what every wise baker should do and actually took the time to read over the recipe. And what I found made me very nervous.
The beautiful picture next to the recipe showed a flan sitting on top of a pumpkin-spice cake, but when you put the batters into the Bundt pan, you put the pumpkin-y cake batter in first, followed by the flan. So that means…the two should switch places in the oven?!
I did the only logical thing at this point and googled “Southern Living magic pumpkin cake,” and, thankfully, I wasn’t the only one who wondered, as I came across this article. It reassured me that I had read the recipe correctly and that I hadn’t discovered a misprint.
And so, I went for it with Thanksgiving dinner at stake!
(Just kidding. There were like five other desserts at dinner.)
Thankfully, it turned out almost perfectly! I had purchased the wrong kind of caramel sauce, as I couldn’t find Mexican cajeta at our local grocery store. I bought dulce de leche when I should’ve bought something more…liquid-y. That’s why the top of my cake looks wonky. This cake also made me realize I really like flan.
1.Prepare the Cake: Fill a large roasting pan with hot water to a depth of 2 inches; place on rack in lower third of oven. Preheat oven to 350°F. Generously coat a 14-cup light-colored Bundt pan with cooking spray.
2. Beat butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar in bowl of a heavy-duty stand mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add egg; beat just until blended. Sift together flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl. Whisk together pumpkin, buttermilk, and vanilla in a separate bowl. Add flour mixture to butter mixture alternately with pumpkin mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture, beating on low speed after each addition (batter will be thick).
3. Evenly pour 1⁄4 cup of the cajeta into prepared Bundt pan. Gently spoon batter over cajeta; smooth top of batter. Set aside.
4. Prepare the Flan: Place condensed milk, evaporated milk, cream cheese, eggs, and vanilla in a blender. Process on high speed until completely combined, about 30 seconds, stopping to scrape down sides as needed. Pour mixture over batter in Bundt pan. Cover loosely with aluminum foil.
5. Carefully remove roasting pan with hot water from preheated oven. (Water should be steaming when removed from oven.) Gently place Bundt pan in prepared roasting pan, and return to oven. Bake at 350°F until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean, 1 hour and 30 minutes to 1 hour and 45 minutes, rotating Bundt pan halfway through bake time.
6. Remove Bundt pan from roasting pan; transfer to a wire rack to cool until slightly warm, about 45 minutes. Gently invert onto a rimmed serving plate. Spoon remaining 1⁄4 cup cajeta over top; sprinkle with pecans. Serve additional cajeta on the side.
7. Wow all of your friends with your magical baking abilities!
What was your favorite holiday recipe this year?
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