September - Southern Living's Apple-Cream Cheese Bundt Cake

September's cover, Apple-Cream Cheese Bundt Cake, was the perfect way to move into fall -- apples being the gateway drug to the full-on pumpkin of October.  I made it on one of the first cool days of September that make those 100-degree days of summer seem like a thing of the far, far past.

Like August's pie, this did take about four hours, but again, it was worth it.  The spices in the cake, cinnamon, allspice and nutmeg were a perfect blend.  I really like using allspice - it's like cardamom in that you can't quite nail down what it tastes like, but it can really change the flavor of what you use it in.  It's a little bit cinnamon, a little bit nutmeg, a little bit something you can't put your finger on.  If you want to read about what it really is click here.

The "cream cheese" part is a basic cream cheese filling.  Personally I think the cake would be just fine without it.  The recipe makes a LOT of filling.  You are supposed to make it stay in a ring around the bundt pan 1" from either side of the pan.  That's kind of impossible.  Maybe I'll make it again so I can get it "right."  While the filling is optional, the frosting is not.  It is a wonderful praline sauce that really brings everything together. 

This cake was a completely wonderful experience that lasted for a week.  Meaning that I pretty much ate one or two slices a day for a week.  It's a good thing calories escape when you slice cake.

Baking the Cover

I am often overwhelmed by guilt - yes, I'm a mother and a daughter - but that's not the guilt I'm talking about.  This guilt is directed toward my cooking magazines.  I get them, I devour them, but I never make all I planned to.  I have dog-eared copies of Cooking Light, Midwest Living, Southern Living, and Bon Appetit all over my house.   

Often when I'm dealing with deep feelings like guilt, I need a plan to pull me through.  That's why "making the cover" is so brilliant.  I've decided to make the cover recipe from one of my magazines each month.  So simple!  I'm committing to the COVER, so even if I dog-ear-and-don't-make any of the other recipes, I'm off the hook because, I've made the COVER.

The plan came together after I made my first cover, August 2011 Bon Appetit -- Lime Blackberry Italian Meringue Pie.  We were invited to our good friends' house one weekend.  When she picked my kids up for school that Friday, I brought out the magazine and told her, "I don't know what you would like me to bring this weekend, but I was thinking about THIS" and I showed her the photo.  She was in!

It turned out beautifully (although my custard could have cooked a little longer or chilled a little longer), but we did rename it Five Hour Pie.  That's how long it took -- from the time we got home from church to the time we were walking out the door for dinner.  But, it was among my best five hours all summer.  I love spending a day in my kitchen, NPR in the background, in my cooking-zone.  And taste-wise it was totally worth it.

September's cover has been chosen - the apple cake on the front of Southern Living.  I wonder what October will bring?