Nigella's Maple & Pecan Bundt Cake

This lovely Maple & Pecan Bundt cake marks my first exploration into Bundts!

My reasons for making this were threefold:

1. As my inaugral entry to the Forever Nigella blog challenge
2. In honour of my recent trip to Canada as it includes a good helping of maple syrup
3. Because I have never made a bundt before, and fellow blogger @Dolly Bakes can often be heard singing 'I like big bundts' on twitter...and I have to say I often end up singing it all day!! Many apologies if you now spend the rest of today with this tune in your head!!!

The Forever Nigella challenge gives you a lot of freedom to pick a recipe. The only stipulation is that your recipe must come from the Domestic Goddess herself. So this maple and pecan bundt comes from 'Kitchen' by Nigella. This challenge is hosted by Maison Cupcake.

This recipe was really simple to make and the filling really lifted the sponge. A rather moreish cake which is ideal with a cup of tea! Your friends will also marvel at the impressive bundt moulding on the turned out cake! I did however, have to buy my rather expensive Nordic Ware bundt tin...but it is an investment for the future, as it really is a top quality tin...and there was absolutely no sticking!

Altogether now... 'I like big bundts and I cannot lie...when a baker walks in...'

Maple and pecan filling:

75g plain flour
30g unsalted butter
1 tsp ground cinnamon
150g pecans, chopped
125ml maple syrup

For the sponge:

300g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1tsp bicarb of soda
125g unsalted butter
150g caster sugar
2 eggs
250ml creme fraiche
Icing sugar for dusting

I preheated the oven to 180c/160c fan/gas 4 before using Wilton Cake Release to grease my 23cm bundt tin.

This was simple to make, it was just a case of making up the filling to start by mixing the flour and butter with a fork to make a crumble like mixture. To this was added the cinnamon, maple syrup and chopped nuts, before mixing again to make a sticky, nutty paste.

To make the sponge to surround the filling, weigh the flour, baking powder and bicarb of soda into a bowl. In a seperate bowl, cream together the butter and sugar to a light and fluffy texture. To this add a spoon of the flour mix, then an egg, another spoonful of flour and then the second egg, mixing as you go. Add the remaining flour and beat, before adding the creme fraiche. This will make a fairly stiff cake mixture.

Put half of the cake mix into the bundt tin and push it up the sides to make a little trough for the maple and pecan filling. Carefully add the filling in the trough and then add the remainder of the cake mix on top and gently spread it out using the back of a spoon. The cake should be baked for 40 minutes but mine was ready in 30 minutes.

Once out of the oven, cool the bundt in the tin for 15 minutes before turning out...et voila!

Wheel-a-thon 2012

Today we held our annual Wheel-a-thon at Kensington Courts, and what a fabulous afternoon.

There was lots of preparation at Kindergarten today for the sausage sizzle, with help from Whanau and, of course, the children.

'Contribution'

The children came up with some great ideas with what to do with the left over bread....make snacks, and marmite sandwiches!

At last 4 o'clock arrived (and it had been a long time coming for lots of us) and we all started to gather at the courts. There was a selection of wheeled vehicles, from bikes, scooters, skateboards, skates and heelys.

'Participation'

Lined up - ready to go!

We were so impressed to see some of the mums, dads, and grandparents who took part - well done!

It was easy to see that lots of time and consideration had gone into making many of the bikes and scooters look wonderful with some fantastic decorating. Great effort everyone.

(We loved the rockets on Aimee's trike.)

Thank you to our families for your support and help.












The events we hold out of our Kindergarten hours are really special to us. It is always such a pleasure to welcome and meet family and friends that are not able to come into Kindergarten, but that we hear lots about through our children.

Money raised from the Wheel-a-thon will go to upgrading our garden area and providing new safety matting. We will let you know as soon as possible how much we raised. Thank you to everyone for making it such a thoroughly enjoyable and fun afternoon.

Christine