Cinnamon Swirl Bundt Cake

A delicious moist bundt cake with swirls of cinnamon sugar and topped with a delightful cinnamon crumble 

Hello 2018! I am so excited for the New Year! I took some time over this past week to think about all the different things I want to accomplish. Recipes I want to make. Tutorials I'd like to share. I am really excited to bring more delicious content to By Jaclyn this year. I am also hoping to increase the number of videos I share here, so you can really get a feel for different recipes and tutorials. 

Okay, lets talk about this cinnamon swirl bundt cake. You have to admit that it is a beautiful looking bundt cake. The swirl of cinnamon and sugar adds beautiful visual interest and a punch of flavour.  While the cinnamon crumble adds a wonderful crunchy texture to the cake. This cinnamon swirl cake is the perfect coffee cake. 

Cinnamon Swirl Bundt Cake

Ingredients

Filling 

1/2 c brown sugar 

2 tsp cinnamon

Bundt Cake 

2 c flour 

1/2 tsp salt 

1.5 tsp baking powder 

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 c butter, at room temperature 

1 c sugar 

2 eggs 

1/2 c milk 

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 c sour cream 

crumble 

1/2 c butter, melted 

1 c flour 

1 c brown sugar 

2 tsp cinnamon 

Directions

For the cinnamon filling: In a small bowl mix together brown sugar and cinnamon for the filling. Set aside.

For the Cake: Pre-heat oven to 350F. Grease a bundt cake pan, set aside. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, salt, baking powder and cinnamon.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, fixed with a paddle attachment, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add in eggs, one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition. Add in vanilla. 

With the mixer on low, add in half of the flour mixture. Mix in the milk. Followed by the remaining flour mixture. Stir in the sour cream until just combined. 

For the crumble: In a bowl combine flour, brown sugar and cinnamon. Stir in melted butter. Course crumbs should form.

Fill your bundt pan with half of the cake batter. Layer the cinnamon filling on top. Top filling with remaining batter. Add cinnamon crumble on top.  Bake for 40-45 mins or until toothpick comes out clean.

Orange Chocolate Panettone

Panettone is a delicious Italian holiday tradition. This panettone had a wonderful orange citrus flavour and is studded with chocolate. Panettone makes a delightful gift and an even better french toast! 

Panettone is a traditional Italian Christmas bread and over the years the various flavours have seemed to get more elaborate - one year our panettone had ice cream inside! You can't leave my grandmother's house around Christmas without her gifting you at least one. My favourite have always been the ones studded with chocolate.  Panettone also makes for a delicious french toast - a perfect festive Christmas morning breakfast.

Last year, I made these mini orange cranberry white chocolate panettone. They were delicious and the perfect individual size. This year, I wanted to try making a traditional sized panettone. Since I do not own a panettone pan, I used one of my 8 X 3 inch cake pans with a tall collar of parchment paper to add height to the pans. This worked out great! 

I love the combination of orange and chocolate together. The perfect amount tart and sweet. I used a semi sweet chocolate in my panettone but a sweeter milk chocolate would also work well. To really up the chocolate flavour I dipped the top of the panettone in additional chocolate. The panettone also freezes well - so you can make it in advance if need be. I would recommend freezing it before you dip it in the additional chocolate.  

Orange Chocolate Panettone

Ingredients

2 packages instant yeast

4 c all purpose flour

1 tsp salt

3/4 c warm milk

1/4 c butter

1/2 c sugar

3 eggs

2 egg yolks

1 tsp vanilla extract

zest 1 orange

4 oz semi sweet chocolate, chopped

1 egg

2 tbsp milk

3/4 c, semi sweet chocolate chips

Directions

Grease a large bowl with butter, set aside. In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, mix together flour, yeast and salt on low speed for 5 minutes

In a small saucepan over medium heat combine milk, butter and sugar. Heat until all the butter is melted and mixture is warm. On low speed, slowly pour the milk mixture into the flour mixture. Mix until just combined. Add in eggs, egg yolks and vanilla. Stir in orange zest and chocolate until just combined. The dough should be sticky to the touch

Transfer dough to prepared bowl, cover with plastic wrap. Allow dough to rise in a warm, draft free area until doubled in size (approx 90 mins).

Grease and line an 8 inch cake pan with parchment paper, creating a cuff around the top of the pan.

Once dough is doubled in size, punch dough down. Turn onto a lightly floured surface. Roll into a ball and place in prepared pan. Cover with clean tea towel and let rise until doubled in size (approx 90 mins).

Beat together remaining egg and 2 table spoons of milk to create egg wash. Brush top of panettone.  Bake at 350F for 35-40 minutes or until the top is golden brown.

Allow panettone to cool for 10-15 minutes in the pan before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Melt chocolate chips, and top panettone with melted chocolate.

Orange Cranberry Pistachio Biscotti

This biscotti is flavoured with orange zest and dotted with dried cranberries and roasted pistachios making for a beautiful festive holiday cookie that is sure to please anyone on your list! The chewy dried cranberries paired with the crunchy pistachios makes for a delicious texture combination.

I typically make biscotti every Christmas. I tend to play around with different flavour combinations - since the possibilities are seemingly endless. This year I decided to go with an orange, cranberry and pistachio flavour. I love the way that it turned out! The pistachios and cranberries make for a very festive looking biscotti and all of the flavours play really well together. Adding a drizzle of white chocolate finishes off this beautiful looking biscotti making it extra festive and perfect for the holidays! 

Biscotti is a cookie that you bake twice. First as a log, then you cut it into individual cookies and bake it again. The second baking helps to toast the cookies, drying them out. This means that the cookies last for longer than your typical cookie. This is one of the things I love about making biscotti for the holidays. You can make it early on, giving you plenty of time to prepare other dishes or baking closer to Christmas. Biscotti also makes a simple and affordable gift for friends and family to enjoy with their coffee or tea.  Wrapped in a beautiful mug with some cellophane it makes for an adorable hostess gift!

Orange Cranberry Pistachio Biscotti

Ingredients

1/2 c butter, at room temperature 

1 c sugar 

2 eggs 

1 tsp vanilla 

2 1/4 c flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt 

2 tbsp orange zest

1/2 c dried cranberries 

1/2 c  roasted pistachios, chopped 

1/4 c white chocolate chips, melted

Directions 

Preheat oven to 350F. Line a baking tray with parchment paper and set aside. 

Sift together flour, baking powder and salt.  

In the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment, over medium to high speed beat together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add in eggs one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition. Mix in vanilla. 

On low speed, mix dry ingredients into wet, until just combined. The dough will be fairly dry but should start to come together in large clumps. Stir in orange zest, cranberries and pistachios until just combined. 

Turn dough out onto the countertop. Knead dough until it comes together. Shape into a large log  (about 3 inches wide and 1 inch thick) and press to flatten slightly. Transfer to prepared baking sheet. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until the edges are lightly browned. 

Allow biscotti to cool for 15-20 minutes before cutting into slices (cut on a diagonal for a more elegant look). Lay slices on baking sheet. 

Bake in a 325F oven for 10-15 minutes or until lightly browned and almost dry. Transfer to wire rack to cool completely.  Drizzle with melted white chocolate.