October 2010

I made this cake with dessert in mind, but sometimes the morning light hits just right, the tea kettle sings, the mug of milky Earl Grey glistens, and a cake just begs to belong to breakfast.  This was one of those cakes.

Cake Ingredients

16 Tablespoons (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature and cut into ½-inch pieces
6 large, free-range local eggs
½ cup organic sour cream
1 ¼ cup organic heavy cream
¼ cup pure maple syrup
1 ½ tablespoons pure vanilla extract
½ cup St. Vincent’s Unbleached Flour
2 ½ cups whole-wheat pastry flour
1 cup pecans, toasted, cooled and ground fine*
¾ cup organic pure cane sugar
¾ agave syrup
1 ½ Tablespoons baking powder
1 ¼ teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt

*Toasting the Pecans releases their essential oils, a stronger aroma and more flavor.  Toast the nuts in an un-oiled skillet over medium heat, shaking the skillet occasionally to prevent scorching.  Remove from heat after 3-5 minutes, after the nuts have begun to darken in color.

Glaze Ingredients

1 cup organic confectioners sugar
2 Tablespoons juice and 1 tsp grated zest from 1 organic orange
maple syrup and vanilla extract to taste/texture preference

For the Cake

Adjust an oven rack to the lowest position and preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a 12-cup, stone, bundt pan.

Whisk the eggs, sour cream, heavy cream, maple syrup, agave syrup and vanilla together in a medium bowl.

Mix the flours, granulated sugar , baking powder, baking soda and salt.  Using a mixer, add the butter and half of the egg mixture and beat on a low speed, about 15 seconds.

For the Glaze

Combine the sugar, orange juice and orange zest in a food processor.  Add maple syrup and vanilla to taste.

Slice and enjoy!