Parrot Cake Recipe (No Parrots Harmed)

Hi All! So, this blog has turned into more of a sporadic landing place for my crafts and things, and I think I like it that way. Less pressure. Today I bring you my latest Happy Baking Accident - Parrot Cake.

No, not this guy.

 Don't worry, despite my well documented aversion to birds, you won't be spitting feathers. The title comes from my failure to properly enunciate "Pear Cake," and the misunderstanding led to a much more interesting title (as well as many insensitive jokes about bits of crushed beak, the cake having glorious plumage, teaching it to say "HELLO," etc.), and so it was re-christened Parrot Cake. In reality, Parrot Cake is a spiced pear cake that is delicious when served piping hot with a scoop of vanilla ice cream as well as cooled with a cup of coffee or tea. I've only made it once, and didn't take photos of the process, but I will be making it again soon and will document it properly. It was too yummy a cake to wait any longer before sharing the recipe with you. So, here it is:

 

Parrot Cake

Prep Time - 30 min
Bake Time - 50 min
Yield - 12-16 servings

Ingredients: 
3 C all purpose flour
4 tsp baking powder
1.5 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1 C unsalted butter (softened)
1 C granulated sugar
3/4 C light brown sugar
4 eggs (large)
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
6 oz cream cheese
3 Tbsp 2% milk
2 large pears cut into small chunks (approx 2 C)
About 1 Tbsp salted butter

Instructions: 

Preheat the oven to 350° F.

Generously smear the salted butter around your bundt pan so it is well greased. Discard remaining salted butter.

In a medium bowl, add flour, baking powder, cinnamon, cloves, allspice, nutmeg, and salt. Whisk together (or use a fork) until mixture is evenly combined. Set mixture aside.

With an electric mixer, beat unsalted butter, brown sugar, and sugar together until creamed (light and fluffy). One at a time, add your eggs. Be sure to mix well after each egg. Add vanilla extract and mix. Add cream cheese and milk and mix until evenly combined.

Reduce your mixer to low and add the flour & spices mixture gradually. Mix until evenly combined. With a spatula, fold in your pear chunks until evenly distributed.

Pour the finished batter into the prepared bundt pan. Use your spatula to make sure the batter is evenly spread around the pan.

Bake 50 min, or until a pointy stick comes out clean (I use a chopstick - I think it adds a bit of worldliness to my dish) To remove from pan, I use my super special two plate trick. First, gently take a knife and slide it around the outside edge of the pan to release the cake. Place a large plate on top of your finished cake and flip it over. Then, take a second plate (your serving plate) and put it on top of your cake on a plate. Gently but with firm support, hold the cake between the two plates and flip it over so it ends up on your serving plate, bumpy side up. (Did that make sense? I will post photos eventually.)

Bumpy Side Up.

Serve piping hot with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, or cold with coffee or tea. Or do whatever you want, because this cake is always delicious.

The prettiest picture I have.

Happy Parrot Cake-ing!

What I'm Loving: Baby Camel Yarn

My new love. And my toes.

I've been in the Ann Arbor area for about a year now, and it's taken me this long to get to the local yarn shop, Busy Hands. I haven't really bought what would be considered a fancier yarn since I moved here - I've basically been working through my stash of Cascade 220 and Lion Brand Nature's Choice Organic Cotton, knitting far too many gifts for my friend's babies. Anything new I've bought has been on Amazon, so it goes without saying it had been far too long since I had set foot in an actual yarn shop.

I dragged Scott in not planning to buy anything - Ha! - and I even managed to resist most of the modest selection of soft textures and interesting colorways in the beginning. Then I saw a basket hung on the wall filled with the most beautifully textured camel colored yarn, so of course I had to go up and touch it. When I got close enough to read the label, I saw it said "Handspun Baby Camel." Of course the camel color was so perfect - it was actual camel! Duh. I immediately loved the texture of the Baby Camel yarn, thicker sections mixing with thinner sections...agh. Yarn love. And at $16.50 a skein, it wasn't the most horribly expensive yarn I had ever seen. If it were just some regular old wool yarn, I probably would have walked away. I probably could have even kept moving if it was llama yarn. But yarn made from baby camels? I immediately imagined the adorable faces of the baby camels, and thought how they would be so offended if I didn't buy their super cool hair.

Please buy my yarn! I made it for you with my own hair!

I decided I had to have it, and of course Scott (my enabler) was lovely enough to buy it for me, along with two sets of double pointed needles so I could make some beautiful gloves to go with the lovely coat he just ordered for me. (I'm getting particularly spoiled this week.) I'm not sure if he was happy because it made me so happy, or because I promised when the gloves were done it would be like holding hands with a baby camel. But not, because they have hooves. I've already started knitting one glove, and it's stitching out so nicely. And it's so soft too! Stay tuned for the pattern/tutorial.

If you feel like a medium yarn splurge, or need something to put on your holiday list, this Handspun Baby Camel Yarn from Lotus Yarns is an absolute must have - if only so that you can say you knitted with baby camel hair. Keep in mind when buying it that it does come in the natural color of the camel, so skeins may differ slightly in color. Buy it in person if you can, but you can find it online for a bit more than I paid here. So go and buy some, I'm enabling you. This yarn definitely has the cool factor.

Find me on Ravelry!

Thanksgivukkah/Back in Business

 

So it looks like I've been absent from here for about a year. Yikes. I could go on and on about family issues and personal health, or I could just jump back right where I left off - Chanukah! But, that's not quite as easy as we think it is this year. For those of you who own a calendar, you'll notice that it is, in fact, November. This year is special. So special, that we won't see another year like this for over 70,000 years. This year, we face the holiday shopping ruining, traditional cooking meshing, confusing celebratory anomaly that is:

THANKSGIVUKKAH

Unlike with regular Chanukah/Hannukah/Hanukah/Chanukashdfasdf, I'm definitely sure that's how it should be spelled. So, what does this mean? For many of you who don't celebrate Chanukah, a whole lot of nothing, right? Consider, for a moment, the opportunity you have here. Non Jewish people may not be familiar with the delicious foods of Chanukah, and you may be surprised to see how, by combining many traditional Thanksgiving foods with the holiday food of my people, you can have a downright delicious cultural learning experience. I've gathered a few recipes that combine the All American Thanksgiving foods we hold dear with some of the tastiest of Chanukah treats. So this year, Jewish or no, let your tummies and your kitchen utensils live a little!

Recipes best accompanied by a viewing of Rugrats Chanukah for the full cultural experience.

1. Kosher Pumpkin Donuts - Thanksgivukkah Boston
2. Challah Bread Stuffing - Gothamist
3. Chocolate Cranberry Cake w/Gelt Glaze - What Jew Wanna Eat
4. Potato Latkes Topped w/ Turkey & Cranberry Chutney - The Girl in the Little Red Kitchen
5. Sufganiyot Stuffing w/ Bacon - My Name is Yeh
6. Pumpkin Challah - The Shiksa in the Kitchen
7. Latke-Crusted Turkey Stuffing Fritters w/Liquid Cranberry Core & Turkey Schmaltz Gravy - Serious Eats
8. Sweet Potato Noodle Kugel - Rhubarb and Honey
9. Homemade Manichewitz Flavored Marshmallows - Cupcake Project

-Cami

8 Nights of Chanukah - Etsy Menorah Roundup

Because it's nearing the end of Chanukah, and you're probably getting bored with your menorah already, maybe you should get a jump on next year and buy yourself a unique, stand out menorah. Here are six stylish options from Etsy that will certainly make you the Channukiyah trendsetter of 5774.

1. Ceramic Flowers Menorah - orlydesign

2. The Sabra Menorah - JudaicaDesignsUSA

3. Green Ludwig Eco Friendly Menorah - StilNovoDesign

4. Sweet Simple Strong Grey Concrete Menorah - houseofrosenberg

5. Walnut and Brass Re-imagined Menorah - ChicagoManMade

6. Tree of Life Menorah - Nelles

8 Nights of Chanukah - DIY Candles

Leave it to Martha to be the only one with a worthwhile Chanukah candle tutorial out there - and it's from 1996! When in doubt, turn to vintage Martha. I've always liked the idea of dipping candles, but there is something about these beeswax sheets that's charming to me. Plus, the idea of a minimal mess project is always charming to me. 

Hanukkah Candles 

Martha Stewart

Martha Stewart Living, December/January 1996/1997

"Give your celebration a special glow with these hand-rolled candles, made from sheets of beeswax in the subtlest shades of ivory, butter yellow, and deep olive. Make a set for yourself, and make more to give as holiday gifts that are both pretty and useful; during the eight days of Hanukkah, a total of forty-four candles are lit."

Hanukkah Candles How-To

1. Using a utility knife and ruler, slice wax sheets into 2-by-4 1/2-inch rectangles.

2. Cut wicking into 5 1/2-inch lengths; make a knot close to one end.

3. Warm wax with a blow dryer until just pliable, 10 to 15 seconds.

4. Lay wicking along edge of wax with 3/4 inch of wick hanging beyond wax.

5. Roll wax around wicking; press seam with your finger to smooth and seal.