Cinnamon Swirl Pound Cake

Is anyone else having a hard time baking in quarantine? I feel like my shit just isn't turning out like it usually does. Can it sense my stress? I don't know, but I was determined to have something come out, and this cake did NOT disappoint. Thank god- I felt like I was losing my touch for a minute! This is a straight up pound cake recipe with a cinnamon swirl and some streusel for good measure. By straight up, I mean all the same weight for butter, sugar, and flour. I did weigh this, but I will try to give you pretty close to cups measurements. It's easiest to start with the accouterments and then move on to the batter so that you have everything ready to assemble.


For the Cinnamon Swirl:
3 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp cinnamon
1 tbsp milk (I used heavy cream because that's what I had)

1. Combine all ingredients a small bowl.
2. Pour into a small piping bag or ziploc bag for assembly.

For the Streusel:
1/3 c packed brown sugar
1 tbsp unsalted butter, cold
2 tbsp all-purpose flour
1/8 tsp ground cinnamon

1. Combine all ingredients into a small bowl and mix with fingers until you get the butter about the size of peas. Set aside until assembly.

For the Cake:
3 sticks unsalted butter, room temp (12 oz)
1  1/2 c granulated sugar (12 oz)
1 3/4 c flour (ish) (12 oz)
6 large eggs (12 oz)
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1. Prepare a bundt pan with goop and preheat oven to 325F.  *You can also do this in a loaf pan or really any pan that it'll fit into, and do your streusel on the top.
2. Cream together butter and sugar in a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment until the mixture becomes a pale yellow and is slightly fluffy. This will take about 2 - 3 minutes.
3. Slowly incorporate eggs, making sure mixture is combined between each addition.
4. Combine dry ingredients in a small bowl. Then add them to the wet ingredients slowly until incorporated.
5. Add the vanilla. Let's assemble!

Assembly:
1. Pour half of the batter into the prepared bundt pan.
2. Cut a hole in the corner of the ziploc bag and pipe in swirls of the cinnamon swirl mixture, using half now, and half later.
3. Take a toothpick or butter knife and swirl the mixture into the cake batter just slightly- like you're making a marble cake.

4. Sprinkle half of the streusel topping on top.

5. Repeat- cake batter, cinnamon swirl, toothpick, streusel.
6. Bake for about one hour, but check at about 50 minutes. When a toothpick inserted comes out clean, you are good.
7. Allow to cool before turning it out, and then glaze.

For the Glaze/Icing:
1 cup (ish) powdered sugar
3 tbsp milk (again I have heavy cream)
1 tbsp corn syrup *I tried this, and it does make it thicker and a little more luxurious

1. Mix together until it's at the consistency you want.
2. Pour on top of the cake. *mine was really thick, so it was more of a smear than a pour, but I liked it like that. Follow your heart.

Everything Bagel Crackers

It's still quarantine time. Still.. Week 6 of at least 10... Mustn't dwell. Anyone struggling a little bit, like I am? I wanted to get into the kitchen and play around with some recipes because that makes me feel better, but as I have said a few times already, I need treats that the two other people in my house will actually eat with me, and I need to not make a million of something. This recipe checked both of those boxes. I also wanted to try making crackers because I have really only made shortbread, and that is so not the same. These crackers are crunchy and sharp and would be a great addition to a charcuterie board if you happen to have the fixins at home. I didn't, so I've just been eating them straight up or with some hummus. You really can't go wrong. Did I also mention that this recipe from start to eating is like maybe 30 minutes at most? I didn't count the crackers because I am bad at forethought, but this recipe makes two cookie sheets-worth of crackers.

For the crackers:
4 tbsp (1/2 stick) butter, cold and cubed
1 1/4 c-ish all-purpose flour
1 tbsp granulated sugar
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tbsp everything bagel seasoning (plus more for topping)
1/3 c cold water

1. Preheat oven to 400F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. In a food processor, add in all ingredients but the water and pulse to combine. *I just have one of those baby food processors, and that's totally fine. I feel like you could probably make this by hand like you would a pie crust, but I didn't try that yet, so I don't have a ton of pointers for you.
3. Slowly stream in the water while pulsing until the dough starts to come together and pull away from the sides.

4. Dump out onto a clean surface with a little flour dusted and roll out really as thin as you can get it.

5. What I should have done is probably do this step here, but I did it when they were cut, which is fine, but I bet it would be easier here- sprinkle some more everything bagel seasoning on top of the dough and gently press down so that the seasoning sticks.
6. Take a pizza cutter and cut the dough into strips and then into squares, or really whatever shape you want. *Also, as you can see, I am really bad about cutting into even squares. Like I really can't do it, and I can't be bothered to measure out and do it precisely when I'm just making them for my own snackies.

6. Place the squares onto lined baking sheets and dock with a fork to give some steam holes.

7. Bake for about 10-13 minutes or until they are slightly golden brown. I rotated my pans about halfway through.
8. Allow to cool completely before devouring. Store in an air-tight container.