Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Tuesdays with Dorie - Cinnamon Cake

This week for TWD we baked a cinnamon cake; it's not your average cinnamon cake though. This cake has a middle layer of gooey cinnamon sugar filling, and is topped with a chocolate icing. I've read raves reviews from the bakers that followed the recipe more closely than I did, but I changed up the recipe quite a bit as I was baking it for the neighbor kids. My neighbor is taking care of her grandkids as their mother is very ill and in the hopital. They always seem to be running way late for school in the morning, so I thought I'd bake the cinnamon cake as more of a breakfast cake that she could feed to the kids.

So, instead of the chocolate icing, I just dusted on a bit of powdered sugar--really just for show as I found the cake plenty sweet just as baked. I did not add the espresso powder, and I cut bake just a tiny bit on the cinnamon. I also add a bunch of blueberries with the cinnamon-sugar filling for an antioxidant boost. Unfortunately, my blueberries sunk to the bottom. I should have dusted them with flour first to help keep them suspended in the batter. The sunken blueberries didn't affect the taste of the cake, it was really more of a cosmetic thing.

Anyway, since I cut the cake before dropping it off at the neighbor's house, I was able to taste a piece. Yum! Ths is a lovely cake--moist and not too sweet. Plus, the blueberries, even sunken as they were, added lots of extra flavor and fruity goodness.

Please see the adorable blog, Tracey's Culinary Adventures, to get the recipe and to see how gorgeous her cakes turned out. http://traceysculinaryadventures.blogspot.com/2009/06/twd-cinnamon-squares-two-ways.html

Also, please check-out other TWD bakers and their creations. http://tuesdayswithdorie.wordpress.com/

8 comments:

  1. I love the powdered sugar topping. Glad you enjoyed it. I'm sure your neighbors appreciated it.

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  2. How kind of you to make that for your neighbor. And blueberries made it even better!

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  3. Thanks for baking with me this week! So sweet of you to think of your neighbor and prepare the squares with the kids in mind. I love your changes and the final result is gorgeous!

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  4. What a thoughtful neighbor! Your Cinnamon Blueberry Squares look mighty tasty, especially with the powdered sugar coating! I'm sure the kids loved them!

    PS When I bake with blueberries, I freeze them and they usually don't sink to the bottom that way.

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  5. This looks great and you found such a great way to share it! The blueberries sinking to the bottom create a great effect -- like an upside down blueberry cake! You may be on to something here!!

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  6. That was so sweet of you, I like your adaptations.

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  7. You know, I bet the blueberries were wonderful with all of the cinnamon. Hope all is well with your neighbor soon.

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  8. How thoughtful you are to your neighbor's kids. The blueberries were a nice addition...mine always end up on the bottom. I just made an accidental buttermilk cake with blueberries! :)

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