Celebrating 6 Years Of "Lick The Bowl Good" With A Giveaway! (CLOSED)

Every year my blog anniversary comes and goes and I forget about it. I intend to do something special to celebrate the day (November 3rd) and time escapes me, stuff comes up and then the holidays hit and my blog birthday goes unmentioned again. Well this year, to say "thank you for sticking by me!" I have a giveaway for you. I've been blogging for 6 years and so much good has come out of it. I've connected with some amazing people, made and eaten lots of tasty treats and some not so great ones too. I've learned a lot about baking formulas, food styling and photography and I even wrote my own cookbook, gosh darn it! Such an amazing opportunity and accomplishment that was! Would you like to win a signed copy of Lick The Bowl Good? 

I'll tell you more about the giveaway in a moment, but first let me tell you about this cake, streusel squares to be exact. The recipe comes from Great Cakes by Carole Walter. The Cake Slice Bakers are baking from this new book. This was a good recipe, the cake had a soft tender center, lightly scented with vanilla. The topping was the best part though- those buttery, cinnamon-y crumbs were hard to resist. This would be a great one to share with a crowd or to give as gifts this Christmas. You can even play up the flavorings a bit and use rum, lemon, or almond extracts in the cake. 

Streusel Squares
Recipe from Great Cakes by Carole Walter
via All That's Left Are The Crumbs

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Streusel Topping:

• ⅓ cup (⅔ stick) unsalted butter
• 1¼ cups unsifted all-purpose flour
• ⅔ cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Cake:

• 2¼ cups unsifted all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¾ cup (1½ sticks) unsalted butter
• 1 cup superfine sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 large egg yolk
• 1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup milk 
• 1 large egg white

Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat to 350⁰F. Butter a 9 x 13 x 2” pan.

To Make The Streusel Topping: Melt the butter, then cool slightly.

Add the flour, sugar and cinnamon all at once and stir with a fork until the mixture forms small crumbs. Take a handful of the crumbs and make a fist to press the mixture into a large clump, and then separate into smaller clusters, at least two or three times the size of the original crumbs.

Repeat until all of the crumbs have been reshaped, then set aside.

To Make The Cake: Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt, set aside.

Cut the butter into 1-inch pieces and place in the large bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment to soften on low speed. Increase speed to medium-high and cream until smooth and light in color, about 1½ to 2 minutes.

Add the sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, taking about 6 to 8 minutes to blend it in well, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary.

Add the eggs and additional yolk, 1 at a time at 1-minute intervals, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary.Blend in the vanilla.

Reduce mixer speed to low and add the dry ingredients alternately with the milk, dividing the flour mixture into three parts and the milk into two parts, starting and ending with the flour. Mix just until incorporated after each addition, scraping the sides of the bowl and mix for 10 seconds longer.

Spoon the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the surface with the back of a tablespoon.

Beat the egg white lightly with a fork, and using a pastry brush, spread about half of the beaten egg white over the top of the cake batter. Discard the remainder - the egg white helps the streusel adhere to the top of the cake.

Sprinkle the entire surface of the batter generously with the streusel, gently patting the crumbs into the batter with the palm of your hand; do not press hard.

Center the pan on the rack and bake for 40 to 45 minutes, or until the cake is golden brown on top, begins to come away from the sides of the pan, and the streusel is crisp. A toothpick inserted into the center should come out dry.

Remove the cake from the oven and set on a cake rack to cool. When ready to serve, dust the top with powdered sugar and cut into squares.

Can be stored at room temperature for up to 5 days.

The Giveaway! 

1. A Signed Copy of Lick The Bowl Good

2. Red Striped Paper Straws

3. Kitchen Utensils Magnets

4. Magnetic Note Pad

5. Baker's Twine

6. "For You" Baker's Tags

7. Recipe Cards

8. Sticky Notes for Bookmarking Your Favorite Recipes :-)

Giveaway open to U.S. residents only. You have 4 chances to win. Please leave a separate comment per entry. 

Entry #1 (mandatory entry)- Leave me a comment on this blog post telling me about your favorite holiday traditions.

Entry #2- "Like" Lick The Bowl Good on Facebook

Entry #3- Follow monica_h30 on Instagram

Entry #4- Share this giveaway with your friends and family and help spread the word about Lick The Bowl Good

Please remember, if you enter more than once to leave me separate comments per entry. 

I will select and announce the winner using random.org on Monday, December 30th. 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Best of luck and Happy Holidays to you all. Thank you for your generosity and support over the last 6 years. My family and I are thankful for you.

~Monica Holland

Apples and Spice

It's almost Thanksgiving, are you all ready? I'm always interested in what people are making. Ham or turkey? Stuffing or dressing? Cranberry sauce- fresh or jellied? Pumpkin or pecan? There are so many different foods, I want a buffet table so I can sample everything! What's on your Thanksgiving menu? Our family does Holiday gatherings pot-luck style so not everyone has to do the work on heir own. Less stress that way. I'm in charge of a side dish and chocolate pecan pies this year. 

I baked my cake in my Autumn Harvest Bundt that my hubby gave me years ago. It's such a pretty pan, but the detail didn't show up as much as I hoped it would. I'm thinking a pound cake would do well in a pan like this, with a light dusting of powdered sugar. 

If you like spice cake, you might like this cake. It was really moist and spicy. A little too spicy for me, if I'm being honest, but if spice is your thing you'll like this. In this applesauce cake was lemon zest too, which was a nice addition. It brightened the flavor and helped cut through the spice. If I made this again, I'd leave out the allspice all together, cut the amount of nutmeg in half and add more chopped apples. The glaze though, was delicious! I could eat the glaze straight out of the bowl with a spoon. Below is the recipe for the cake, as I made it. 

Stay tuned for a holiday pie recipe and a giveaway... coming soon! Click to see the other cakes made by the Cake Slice Bakers.

Apple Sauce Spice Bundt Cake 

adapted from Great Cakes by Carole Walter

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• 2 1/4 cups sifted unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 3/4 cup pecans, lightly toasted finely chopped (optional)
• 1/3 cup butter, room temperature
• 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
• 1/3 cup vegetable shortening
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 2/3 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
• 2 large eggs
• 1 medium sized Granny Smith apple, peeled and diced, about 1 cup
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup applesauce

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. utter a 9" fluted tube pan, dust it lightly with flour and invert over the kitchen sink to tap out excess flour.

Sift together flour, baking soda, salt and spices in a triple sifter. Stir in chopped pecans, if using. Set aside.

Place the butter and shortening and lemon zest in large bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the beaters or paddle attachment. Beat over medium-high speed until creamy and smooth, about 2 minute. 

Add the granulated sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, taking 3 to 4 minutes to blend it in well. Add the light brown sugar over an additional 3 to 4 minutes. Scrape the sides of the bowl occasionally.

Add the eggs, one at a time until well blended. Reduce speed to medium-low. Add the fresh apple and the vanilla. 

Reduce mixer speed to low. Add the flour/nut mixture alternately in three additions with the applesauce in two additions, starting and ending with the flour. Beat just until incorporated after each addition. Scrape the sides of the bowl occasionally.

Spoon the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Center the pan on the rack and bake in the preheated oven for 35 to 40 minutes or until the cake begins to leave the sides of the pan and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Remove from oven. Place the pan on a cake rack to set for 10 to 15 minutes, then invert the cake onto the rack and remove pan. While the cake is still warm you may want to pour Brown Sugar Glaze over the top, letting it drip naturally down the sides. Garnish the top with chopped pecans if you wish.

Brown Sugar Glaze

• 3 Tablespoons butter
• 3 Tablespoons brown sugar, packed
• 3 Tablespoons heavy cream
• 3/4 cup sifted powdered sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

In a small saucepan, melt the butter with the brown sugar over low heat. Then stir in the heavy cream and cook slowly until the mixture comes to a gentle boil. Simmer for 1-2 minutes.

Take the pan off the heat and gradually add the powdered sugar in three additions, whisking until smooth. Add in the vanilla and whisk to combine. 

If the icing is too thick, add another tablespoon of the cream. You want it thin enough to pour but not runny. It sets quickly so get it on the cake as quickly as possible.

My little barefoot donkey on Halloween :-)