Cinnamon Swirl Pound Cake

I love cinnamon, and try to make things that have cinnamon as often as possible.  When I received my Secret Recipe Club assignment for the month: Everyday Mom, I quickly settled on this recipe.  I also chose this recipe because a bundt cake pan is something that I've wanted to get for a long time, so I was excited when I found mini-bundt cakes and look forward to using it to try other delicious recipes.

                      

Everyday Mom is written by Kim, who looks like she has a lot of fun making stuff with and for her kids.  I don't have kids yet, but hope that someday I can do food projects with my kids.  I'm sure that will be yet another journey that my cooking will take us on.  Check out Kim's blog to find kid friendly recipes and a lot of good-looking desserts.

Cinnamon Swirl Pound Cake
from Everyday Mom
Ingredients
Cinnamon Streusel Swirl:
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon salt
3 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Buttermilk Pound Cake:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cake flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
2 cups granulated sugar
3 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 tablespoon finely grated orange zest
1 cup buttermilk

Directions
1) Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Grease the inside of a 10-inch Bundt pan or all the compartments of a mini-bundt cake pan. Dust the pan with flour and shake out the excess.
Cinnamon Swirl:
2) In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt, breaking up any large lumps of brown sugar. Add the melted butter and stir until blended and crumbly.
Pound Cake:
3)  Sift together the flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and nutmeg into a medium bowl. Whisk to combine, and set aside.
4) In the bowl of an electric mixer, using the paddle attachment, beat the butter at a medium speed until very creamy, about 2 minutes.
5) Gradually add the sugar and beat at medium-high speed until well blended and light, about 4 minutes.
6) At medium speed, add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Beat in the vanilla extract and orange zest.
7) At low speed, add the dry ingredients in three additions, alternating with the buttermilk in two additions and mixing just until well combined.
8) Scrape half of the batter into the prepared pan and smooth it into an even layer. Sprinkle the streusel mixture evenly over the batter. Scrape the remaining batter on top and smooth it into an even layer.
9) Bake the cake for 65 to 75 minutes for a normal bundt cake pan or 45 minutes for mini-bundt cake pans, until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool the cake in the pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes.

While I was writing this blog post, my husband snuck two out of the pan while I wasn't looking and declared these really good.  I love pound cake, so I knew they would be delicious.  I put cinnamon in the batter as well, and unfortunately, I couldn't really taste the cinnamon.  Next time, I think I'll ad even more.  These are fantastic by themselves, but I can't wait to find toppings to try with them.

If you have a favorite recipe using your bundt cake pan, please feel free to leave me recipes in a comment.