Happy Birthday Chelsey & Snickerdoodle cake

Hey there, this is Chelsey's mom and I hope you don't mind me taking over Cookteens blog for this post.  You see, Chelsey is currently in Italy, trying to make her way home despite the volcanic ash that is over Europe.  And to top it all off, Today is her 17th Birthday.  She requested I bake her a Snickerdoodle cake for her birthday and asked me to take pictures and put it on the blog for her...so bear with me as I am not as good at this as she is. 

I hope you don't mind that I put a little note to her here as well.


Dear Chelsey,
Right now you are a sleep in Italy wondering if the volcano eruption in Iceland is going to effect whether or not you take off from Rome airport to come home tomorrow.  And at this moment, I (your parental figure aka Mommy) just baked you a birthday cake to celebrate with you on this, your 17th birthday!! 

 Mom (me) & Chelsey

I know how hard you worked to save up the money to go on this trip to Italy and from the few, and by few I mean 4 pictures you tweeted for me to see, it looks like you had a wonderful time exploring the food culture of what I consider to be the best place on the planet to eat (tied with France of course).
A couple years ago you asked me where my favorite place in the world was to visit and I remember telling you that Italy was my all time favorite for so many reasons, the people, the clothes the sites and especially the FOOD!  Iceland was on the top of my list too because it is so remote and unusual.  I loved going to the Westman Islands that was re-built after a volcano erupted in the 1970's and you were so interested when I showed you that we baked a loaf of bread in the dirt, because after 40 years... the ground is still that hot! I am so glad you were inspired to pursue your passion of writing about food through this blog and hope that this is one of many trips for you to come.  

Ralph and bread baker giving the bread a taste

 Hopefully, this volcano in Iceland will stop erupting soon so people can go on with their lives and continue on their journeys. 
I hope the journey of your life is filled with wonderful food, friends and fantastic trips. 
Love you,
Mommy

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SNICKERDOODLE CAKE

I found the recipe for the cake on Dozen Flours blog, its full of cinnamon and sugar deliciousness. You can also get the print version of the recipe at My Baking Addiction. 

Preheat oven to 325.

 

In a small bowl, combine 1 cup of sugar and 2 teaspoons of cinnamon. Mix together really well and set aside. 

Generously spray a 9 inch Bundt pan, being careful to cover all the nooks and cranies, as well as the center tube.

Gently dust the entire inside of the pan with the sugar and cinnamon mixture. You should only need about 1/4 to 1/2 cup of sugar, but you want to try and evenly coat the inside surface of the pan, including the tube. Save the remaining sugar and cinnamon mixture and set everything aside.

 Sift together 2 1/2 cups of flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda and1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt. Set aside.

Beat 1 cup of unsalted butter, at room temperature, on medium speed for one full minute. Add 1 cup of sugar and mix for 3 minutes, until light and fluffy. Scrape down the bowl and blade and add 1 cup of light brown sugar.

Mix for 2 minutes until the mixture looks light brown and uniform in color. 

 Add 3 eggs, one at a time, beating each for 1 full minute. 

 Stir in 2 teaspoons of vanilla. (look Chelsey, I used the good stuff for ya!)

 Add the flour mixture alternately with 1 cup of sour cream; beat well.

 Spread half of the batter into the prepared pan. 

 Sprinkle with 1/4 to 1/3 of a cup of the cinnamon sugar mixture over top the cake. 

 Spread the rest of the batter into the pan and sprinkle any remaining sugar mixture over the top. (If you run out of cinnamon sugar, which I did, you can mix just 1/4 cup of sugar + 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon together for the top of the cake.)

Bake in the preheated oven for 55 to 65 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean. 

 Allow to cool for 10 minutes before inverting onto a wire rack to cool completely.

 

Phew, no sticking. 

I may make a cinnamon frosting to drizzle on top tomorrow...not sure yet. 

The house smells so wonderful right now, I have to make sure Chelsey's dad doesn't sneak downstairs and try and grab a taste!

With love and cupcakes,
CookTeen's Mom