Cute vs. Big: Round 1

Oooh, look at the little bundt cake. Isn’t it cute? Doesn’t it inspire you to talk in a baby voice… it’s a cutesy wutesy bundtsy wundtsy. NO! No it doesn’t. I hate little things, (little things being cute by definition). But they’re just so easy to love. You can pick them up, swing them around, give them piggy back rides, cuddle them and smother them. These are all things you can’t do with something that’s big. Big things are clumsy and awkward and don’t make people want to say “awwww.” And I want people to love my baked goods so I try to make little things, (this time using my new mini bundt molds), but no matter how hard I try, cute is not something that I can achieve. Maybe I’m harbouring a hate against cute things that extends beyond baking… You see, I’m almost 6’2, (188cm) so I think it’s obvious that I’m never the little one. And I’m going to come right out and say it- I’m jealous of the little girls. They have all the advantages. They can get away with anything they want just because they’re little. And it’s always the little girls that get picked up and swung around and piggy backed. Big girls can’t get away with anything, they can’t hide in little spaces, they can’t wear nice shoes and they have to carry themselves everywhere. Oh, and that’s another thing, just because I said it, doesn’t mean you can; I highly suggest you don’t use the word ‘big’ to describe a tall girl. I don’t care how you meant it, it sounds like you’re calling me fat. Nobody likes that... I seem to be getting sidetracked, (what else is new?) and you’re probably wondering what all of this has to do with today’s baking. Well, the above picture is how my mini bundt cakes were supposed to turn out, little and cute. Instead, they looked like this:



Big and awkward. The first picture is a fraud. I chopped off the bottom of the cake and ate it. The above photo is how my supposed “mini” bundt cakes really turned out. Not so mini after all. The thing is, even as I was pouring the batter into the molds I knew how they would turn out. I was well aware of the fact that I was overfilling them but that didn’t stop me. A smarter person would have filled the bundt pans ¾ full and then poured the extra batter into mini muffin cups, therefore multiplying the cute factor. Not me though. Perhaps I was secretly sabotaging the mini bundts, knowing perfectly well that they would overflow and wouldn’t be cute anymore if I filled the pan all the way to the top. Take that cute! Score one for big!



You’re probably thinking “Shut up Brilynn, just tell us about the cake, we don’t care about your big complex.” Fair enough. The cakes are Mini Cinnamon Swirl Chocolate Chip Bundts. I adapted the recipe from All Recipes.com, the original one had an equally long title and was called a Cinnamon Swirl Bundt Coffee Cake. I’ve never had the original, but I can only assume mine is better. Mine has chocolate chips in it.

Bri’s Not So Mini Cinnamon Swirl Chocolate Chip Bundt Cakes

INGREDIENTS
1 ¼ cup sour cream
3/4 cup butter
¾ cup white sugar
¾ cup brown
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup chocolate chips
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 eggs
2 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup brown sugar

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (205 degrees C). Grease bundt pans.
Cream sugar and butter together until well blended. Add sour cream and eggs one at a time and beat well. Add flour, baking soda, and baking powder and mix well. Stir in vanilla and the chocolate chips.
Mix the remaining brown sugar with the cinnamon.
Pour some of the batter into the prepared pans. Sprinkle generously with the cinnamon sugar mixture. Cover with cake batter, then more sugar and cinnamon mixture and then top with cake batter.
Bake at 400 degrees F (205 degrees C) for 8 minutes. Lower heat to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) and bake for an additional 20 minutes.

The verdict? They big and they’re spectacular! (Topped with cream cheese icing).

They may not be cute, but in a fight, we all know big wins every time.




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Food + Baking + Cinnamon + Chocolate + Bundt