Wednesday, October 20, 2010

I Make Brown Food

I have this running joke with myself and a select few that "I make brown food". You can quote me on that because I've said it more than once. I plate things up for dinner and it's one brown food, next to another brown food, next to another! It's kinda funny when you think about it. I joke that I'm going to change my blog title to " I make brown food" ha! but more than likely if I ever change the name it will be something like "Butter Love" :-)

Speaking of brown food, here is the perfect instance- pumpkin pound cake (brownish) with mini chocolate chips (dark brown) and walnuts (light brown). Did I mention it's BROWN? It's not the most photogenic cake but it sure was delicious. It was moist and tender, unlike a lot of pound cakes. In fact I don't make many pound cakes because I think they can be too dry but this one was very different. It was almost like a quick bread but a little richer. The additions of the chocolate and walnuts are optional, of course, but adding in dried cranberries or pecans would be just as good. This cake recipe comes from Cake Keeper Cakes which is the new cookbook The Cake Slice Bakers are now baking from. Woo hoo for a new cook book!

I made this loaf cake for Mr. H to take to class with him. Every Friday he takes his Dad to a Seniors with Alzheimer's class at the YMCA. They participate in water aerobics (which I would love to witness!) as well as sing-alongs, yoga for Seniors and then they have lunch. Most of the time they just swim and eat lunch, but there aren't always desserts and when there are, they aren't homemade. So Mr. H requested that I bake something for him to take with him and this months' Cake Slice cake was just perfect for that. I cut the loaf into slices, then sliced each piece in half. There was not a crumb left when he returned home. I call that a success! And unlike my neighbors, they were very appreciative. I even got a thank you email from one of the volunteers. How nice is that?!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Pound Cake from Cake Keeper Cakes

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  • 1 3/4 cups flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves (I substituted allspice for the cloves)
  • Pinch of nutmeg
  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
  • 1 1/4 cups sugar
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 cup canned pumpkin puree
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/3 cup milk
  • 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • 1 cup chopped walnuts

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Coat the inside of a 9x5-inch loaf pan with non-stick cooking spray and dust with flour.

Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon , salt, cloves and nutmeg in a mixing bowl.

Combine the butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl and cream with an electric mixer on medium high speed until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl once or twice as necessary.

With the mixer on medium low speed, add the eggs one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition. Stir in the pumpkin puree and the vanilla. Stir in the milk.

Turn the mixer to low speed and add the flour mixture, half a cup at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition. Add the chocolate chips and the walnuts.

Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top with a rubber spatula. Bake the cake until it is firm to the touch and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 55-60 minutes. (Mine took 70 minutes to bake through).

Let the cake cool in the pan for 5 minutes, invert it onto a wire rack and then turn it right side up to cool completely.

Store uneaten cake in a cake keeper at room temperature for 3 days, or in the refrigerator wrapped in plastic for up to 1 week.

53 comments:

Leslie Harris said...

I love the color of your cake! Mine came out much more brown than yours! :) This cake was delicious and moist. I should have mine up tomorrow. :P

tamilyn said...

I like brown. I like butter. It's all good :)

Julie @ Willow Bird Baking said...

Brown food just so happens to often be delicious! This looks yummy!

Faith said...

:) I think some of the best foods are brown!!!!
Looks delicious!

Sonia ~ Nasi Lemak Lover said...

this look so delicious and healthy!

All That's Left Are The Crumbs said...

Monica as always your cake looks wonderful. I sometimes think that a lot of my food is yellow. It's funny how we perceive our own stuff. Anyway I bet everyone at the Senior's Class just loved it.

Katie said...

Your cake looks delicious Monica and very soft and moist. I'm sure it was a great success with your dads friends. How nice of one of the volenteers to write you a thank you.
Just goes to show brown food doesn't always mean boring food!

Coleens Recipes said...

I'll take your brown food ANY day, it looks delicious. GREAT photos.

Caroline said...

I think your cake looks very photogenic! :)

♥peachkins♥ said...

i happen to love brown food...

Please Do Not Feed The Animals. said...

What a lovely gesture - to send your cake to the seniors class. I'm glad they enjoyed it. Well done you.
And it's a beautiful brown colour :).

Donna-FFW said...

Brown or not .. its always beautiful, and I just know it tastes delicious!

Debbie said...

Hi Monica, Thanks for this great recipe! I LOVE pound cakes and have never made a pumpkin one before. I'll be giving this one a try. It looks great!

Patricia @ ButterYum said...

You know what my favorite TV Chef, Anne Burrell, always says, don't you? "Brown food tastes GOOD!!!"

:)
ButterYum

Candi said...

"Brown Food is Good" that's what one of the Food Network chefs says...I always laugh when she says it because it's so true!
This looks so yummy!

Kirby said...

There is nothing wrong with brown! My walls in my bedroom are dark brown alnog with alot of other brown things in my house! And your brown bread looks and sounds fab!

Julie said...

Well, chocolate is brown, and it's good...so there ya go. The cake looks yummy, I'm sure those seniors loved it!

Anonymous said...

I don't think is a secret that I LOVE brown food. Seriously, If im not eating a salad, im eating brown food, be it dessert or not. Thanks for another one!

-Amalia

http://buttersweetmelody.wordpress.com/

Unknown said...

I love the way you plated it! Gorgeous as always! And I know how delicious this cake was so I understand why there was none left. Great job lady! But there was no doubt that you would knock it out of the park!

Keeley said...

Yum! I'd love to surprise my husband with this cake! Pumpkin and chocolate sound great together.

Smitten Sugar said...

I loved this cake too! I used white chocolate chips and omitted the nuts though! It was delicious!

So sweet that you sent with your hubby and so adorable you got an email thanking you!

Lyndas recipe box said...

Brown food is usually delicious food! Such is the case with this cake, which looks especially good.

Ingrid_3Bs said...

ha-ha! I've got nothing against yummy brown food though I do agree brown is tough. Perhaps a new camera will help? :)
~ingrid

Anonymous said...

I will totally disagree on your cake not being photogenic. Your pics are fantastic! I love how your hubby spends Fridays with his dad and go to that Alzheimer's class. I work with the elderly and so many times there is no family involvement at all. Anyways, back to the cake....I loved it too and am glad it was so well received.

Cassie said...

Brown or yellow or red or green, it doesn't matter: It looks FANTASTIC, and I'm absolutely sure it tastes great too!

Anna said...

Nothing wrong with brown food!
Your pictures are perfect -glad the cake was so rightly appreciated.

OhDearWatson said...

Looks delicious... brown food is some of the best food.

Evelyn said...

Recipes are always best when you get to share them. They're even better when you KNOW people enjoy them!

Unknown said...

I am totally ok with brown food lady!

Hennifer said...

This sounds so yummy (minus nuts) and i love the post! I feel that way often about the colors of my food. I'm trying though!

And that is very sweet about your hubby and his father! They should give the yoga a try!!!

Hennifer said...

This sounds so yummy (minus nuts) and i love the post! I feel that way often about the colors of my food. I'm trying though!

And that is very sweet about your hubby and his father! They should give the yoga a try!!!

Abby said...

That looks soooo good. I like brown food! Chocolate. Bread. Browned butter. Nothing wrong with that!

Avril said...

Even though you might cook a lot of "brown food" it is always made with lots of love and care AND it's d'lish! I am going to pay more attention to my food now to see if it is often "brown" - :-)

AND yahoo for appreciation and gratitude from the group of lovely people that you sent the pumpkin cake off to!

I thought your cake was much more photogenic than mine....but then you had many more shades of "brown" in your cake than I did...which helps give contrast. :-)

beauty be told said...

Monica as usual, it looks fantastic... as do these Think pink strawberry cupcakes that are staring at me right now on your blog! YUMMMMY

Brownieville Girl said...

When it is presented as beautifully as yours I'd love any coloured food!!!

vanillasugarblog said...

geez you make it sound so enticing "brown food" lol
just send me some loaves already will you? lol

Unknown said...

yours turned out really really well. i wanted to try it with the nuts but now im thinking maybe i should have because there are like 6 cupcakes left and i seem to be the only ones eating them :/

Nonna said...

OMGosh, those are too yummy looking and perfect to give as food gifts for the holidays...I am also a fan of brown & butter !!!

Future Grown-Up said...

You know, I'm pretty sure that with the way you could, you could make liver look good to me. This looks awesome.

Sue said...

I'll bet this made the house smell great! I always say that I cook white food. Chicken, baked potato...cauliflower. Sometimes our dinner plates just look so "blah"!

OvenDelights said...

Too bad for your neighbors, they don't know what they're missing!

By the way, I made the pumpkin bread you suggested, and it was a success! Very moist, and loved the cream cheese! I also made the pumkin cinnamon roll, they were divine! Thank you so much for your help :)

Emily said...

Wow! This looks fabulous!

Monica H said...

Future Grown Up- ha ha! Thank you for the compliment but I will NOT be making liver anytime soon :-)

Oven Delights- I'm so glad the pumpkin bread and cinnamon rolls turned out for you. They are definitely two of my faves.

Monica

OvenDelights said...

Sorry I'm back to answer your canned pumpkin question :) We are actually able to purchase 100% pure pumkin made by Libby in 15oz. and 29oz. cans. Thats a little odd that only certain areas carry the bigger size can. I always make sure I double read the label before I throw it into my grocery basket, I have been stuck with the pumpkin mix before and have had to make another trip back to the store! Got to go, I have another pumpkin bread cooling and calling my name, so love this time of year :)

Healthy and Homemade said...

Your brown food looks and sounds delicious!!

Elle said...

Yeah, I bake a lot of bread...and it's brown, too. Yay for brown!! Your cake looks yummy and it's nice to know it was appreciated, too.

cookies and cups said...

Brown food..ha! I love it ~ this bread looks soo yummy.
How sweet is your husband ♥ !

oneordinaryday said...

hehe
I did an event at Claudia's school today and we served all autumnal treats. We actually commented at one point that everything looked so brown! All delicious, Fall flavors - but mostly brown-ish. : )

I bet this homemade cake was such a treat for your FIL's class.

Natasha @ Saved by the Egg Timer said...

Thanks for the nice comment on my brown food cake :) That is the sweetest story about your hubby and dad! So nice for you to bring the dessert, I am sure they loved your homemade cake.

Kerstin said...

Awww, so sweet of you to make this treat for the class and so sweet you got a thank you note! Such a yummy brown treat :)

Anonymous said...

I've made this several times now :) I'm actually baking another cake as I type to give to a friend. Thanks so much for posting the recipe--it is delicious! A perfect fall treat. I love your blog.
--Jessie in VA

Cookin' Cowgirl said...

This looks amazing! I love pumpkin!
I'm having my first linky party on my blog and the theme is pumpkin. I'd like to invite you to come link up your favorite pumpkin recipe. The link is open until Wednesday at midnight, so please stop by and say hi.

http://cookincowgirl.blogspot.com/2011/07/pumpkin-blog-hop.html

~Cookin' Cowgirl

Julia said...

Chef Anne Burrell, on her show Secrets of a Restaurant Chef, is always talking about brown food being tasty - like caramelizing/browning meats and veggies. I like brown food, and butter, too.

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