Christmas Recipes - 2/9 - The Idea Room

Chocolate Cinnamon Bread

‘Tis the season…the season for amazing and decadent baked goods. I always LOVE baking this time of year and am always on the search for something good…and I think I am on to something. Have you ever tried Chocolate Cinnamon Bread? I love the Cinnamon Chocolate combination. Wow! So delicious!

I found this Starbucks recipe while searching online for Chocolate Cinnamon Bread. I have never been in a Starbucks store or had one of their drinks {gasp…except one time when my friend Beckie and I sat in the car while her husband ran in to get him a drink}. But the recipe sounded so good and so I was compelled to make it.

And it was so good…dense and full of chocolately-cinnamony goodness. This recipe was a big hit with the entire family. And although it is referred to as a bread, it had a cakey feel and taste to it…who wouldn’t want to eat that?

I would definitely make this for company or bring it to a party, or keep it all for myself and eat if for breakfast. I added a three of drops of Cinnamon Essential Oil in addition to the rest of the ingredients for a little extra kick of cinnamon.

Chocolate Cinnamon Bread

Ingredients

Chocolate Batter –
3 sticks unsalted butter at room temperature
3 cups granulated sugar
5 large eggs at room temperature
2 cups flour
1 ¼ cup dutch processed cocoa
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp salt
½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
1 cup buttermilk
¼ cup water
1 tsp vanilla

Cocoa Spice Topping –

¼ cup granulated sugar
¾ tsp cinnamon
½ tsp dutch processed cocoa
Pinch of ground ginger
Pinch of ground cloves

Instructions

Pre-heat oven to 350 F.
Line two 9 x 5 x 3 loaf pans with parchment paper.
Mix the butter and sugar together in an electric mixer until light and creamy. Then add the eggs, one at a time, mixing until each is fully incorporated.
Sift together flour, cocoa, cinnamon, salt, baking powder and baking soda. In a separate bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, water and vanilla. With your mixer on a low speed, begin adding the contents of each bowl to the butter mixture, alternating between the two until your mixture is fully blended, but not overly whipped.
Split your batter between the two pans. If your batter is slightly uneven, you can lightly shake the pan to even out the tops.
Make your Cocoa Spice topping by combining the sugar, cinnamon, cocoa, ginger and cloves. Sprinkle over the tops of the loaves.
Bake for 45-50 minutes.

http://www.theidearoom.net/2012/11/chocolate-cinnamon-bread.html

I ended up having to bake it for a total of 55 minutes for it to be fully baked all the way through after testing with a toothpick inserted into the middle of the bread. I threw a piece of tinfoil over the top of the bread and baked it for that extra 10 minutes so the inside would cook without burning the top of the bread.

I love how the top is a crispy layer with that additional crumb topping…

Yep…this one is going to be a keeper. What about you? Have you ever had this Chocolate Cinnamon Bread? Are you a fan? Will you be giving this recipe a try this holiday season?

Cinnamon Banana Cake

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Yesterday was Mr. Idea Room’s birthday! He likes food in general…but he really likes cake. Especially our Cinnamon Banana Cake. This recipe has been part of my family’s recipes for as long as I can remember. We actually call it Sandy’s Cake. I have no idea why. I should probably ask because there could be a great family history story behind it.

Anyways…One of my favorite things about this cake is that it is made with bananas. And for some reason when I buy bananas…they either are gobbled up quickly before I can use one on my bowl of Cheerios in the morning (grrr…and yes…I LOVE me some Cheerios). Or, they sit and turn brown forgotten in the fruit basket.

So, this is one of our favorite go to recipes. This is also a recipe that we like to make and share with our neighbors and friends.

Cinnamon Banana Cake

1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 ripe bananas
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
2 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. baking soda
1 dash salt
3 cups flour
1 pint sour cream (2 cups) or vanilla yogurt

Blend butter, sugar, bananas, eggs and vanilla. Add remaining ingredients. In another bowl make the filling.

Filling:
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 Tbs. cinnamon
1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)
1 cup chocolate chips (optional…but why wouldn’t you?)

Layer batter and filling twice in a 9X13 dish. Bake 350 degrees F for 45 minutes.

* Sometimes the middle of the cake needs to bake longer. If so, put foil over the cake after the 45 minutes and bake it for another 5 minutes. Test with a toothpick in the middle to see if the batter sticks to it, if it comes out clean…the cake is finished.

Click here for a printable version of our Cinnamon Banana Cake Recipe.

May 16, 2012 · Filed under: Christmas Recipes, Recipes, Treats Tagged with banana cinnamon cake, cinnamon banana cake recipe, cinnamon banana cake recipes, cinnamon cake, cinnamon cake recipe, cinnamon struesel cake, cinnamon swirl cake

Candy cane swirl cake

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This is a story about a Candy Cane Swirl Cake that tasted better than it looked…

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{Don’t let the picture fool you…that is some creative photography…}

I don’t really share my craft/cooking fails with you guys and I don’t want you to think that I never have any…cause believe me…I do. Not everything turns out like I had imagined it in my head. Can anyone relate? I wanted to share this delicious cake we made over the Christmas holidays but it was just not pretty enough to make the cut. Even though it tasted really great.

{See? I told you!}

I originally saw the Candy Cane Swirl Cake at Betty Crocker. But instead of using a box cake, I decided to make my favorite white cake recipe from scratch.

White Cake Recipe

1 cup butter
2 cups white sugar
4 large eggs
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 3/4 cups milk

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Grease and flour pans lightly. I used three 8 inch round pans.
Cream together butter & vanilla extract.
Add sugar slowly until all is added and it is mixed well.
Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
In a separate bowl sift flour, baking powder and salt together twice.
Now add flour mixture, alternating between the milk and flour. Mixing well after each again.

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1/2 teaspoon red food color (see Directions #1 below)

1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract (see Directions #1 below)

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350°F (325°F for dark or nonstick pan). Generously grease and flour 12-cup fluted tube cake pan. Make cake batter as directed above. Pour about 2 cups batter into pan. In small bowl, pour about 3/4 cup batter; stir in food color and peppermint extract. Carefully pour pink batter over white batter in pan. Carefully pour remaining white batter over pink batter.

2. Bake cake at 350°F and cool completely.

3. In small bowl, mix white icing ingredients. If necessary, stir in additional milk, 1 teaspoon at a time, until smooth and spreadable. Spread over cake. Sprinkle crushed candy on top. Store loosely covered.

White Icing:

1 cup powdered sugar

1 tablespoon milk or water

1/2 teaspoon vanilla, if desired

I am not quite sure why my cake fell apart. Maybe the box cake would have been better to use in the bundt pan. But it sure did taste good. And there were several salvageable pieces of cake that I was able to serve up that looked halfway decent. Hehe. And with some creative photography I was almost able to make it look…well…somewhat presentable.

I have decided to share more of these creativity failures with you as part of trying to keep it real. What do you think? Are you looking forward to seeing some of my creative catastrophes??