Tasty Tuesday

I'm sure you have heard the phrase 'necessity is the mother of invention'. I've found this to be especially true when it comes to cooking. A few years ago I decided to make a triple chocolate cake for a family get together. Found in a popular magazine, the recipe had become a favorite for those of us who are chocoholics. However, on this day my pantry was missing a couple of key ingredients - like chocolate chips and pudding mix. What to do?! I decided to experiment by switching out cinnamon chips for the chocolate chips and vanilla pudding for the chocolate. Since I love the taste of nuts with cinnamon, I also added the chopped pecans.

The resulting cake was a huge hit and now is a go-to recipe for many get togethers. If you are a fan of cinnamon you are sure to enjoy this moist and delicious cake.


CINNAMON DELIGHT CAKE

Ingredients:
1 package yellow cake mix
1 package (3.9 oz) instant vanilla pudding
1 ¾ cups milk
2 eggs
1 Tablespoon cinnamon
¾ cup cinnamon chips (I buy these at kingarthurflour.com)
½ cup finely chopped pecans

In a large mixing bowl, combine cake mix and pudding mix, milk and egg. Beat on low speed until moistened. Beat on medium speed for 2 minutes, adding cinnamon during the last 30 seconds. Pour one half of the batter into a greased and floured bundt pan. Evenly layer the cinnamon chips on top of batter, then layer the pecans on top of the chips. Add the remaining batter. Bake at 350 degrees for 55-60 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes then remove from pan. (I place it directly onto a cake platter at this time; however, you may want to place it on a wire rack to finish cooling.)

I usually top the cake with a simple glaze made of powdered sugar, milk, and 1 tsp. vanilla extract. If I’m in a hurry I may give it a light dusting of powdered sugar instead. Either way it is quite yummy. Although chocolate is most often the dessert of choice around my house, I do have a couple of folks in the family who prefer non-chocolate desserts. This is a favorite of theirs!

Happy cooking!
Molly