Not a lot of sewing going on around the house, because have I mentioned that the Puppy has more clothing than a supermodel? Maybe Princess Charlotte has more, but it might be neck and neck. And despite my attempting to stop clothing being given as a gift, there's always something that people just can't resist. (And when I open the package, I can always see why.) And, the Puppy has enough of everything so gift giving is hard and clothes are small. I'm pretty half-hearted about saying no to clothes. So...no sewing recently other than repairing raveled sweaters and fraying ties on sun dresses. Also no knitting because it's HOT here.
But in a search for the Smitten Kitchen strawberry cake recipe that flew around the interwebs a few years ago, I poked around and found a recipe for an Italian cake that sounded right up my alley with pound cake texture and citrus flavors. She reviewed a recipe, then posted a link to the Ciambellone cake recipe from Caffe Marchio. The picture on the cafe website is gorgeous. Mine looks nothing like it, but it sure tastes amazing. I had a helper.
She helped pour the pre-measured dry ingredients and stirred them together. (No, she isn't tattooed, she had to have at least make it to double digits before I'll allow that...she got markers from Nonna for her birthday and decided that her body makes a better canvas than the paper does.) She cracks eggs like a champ, so I'd have let her do that this time, but she's developed a toddler's unwillingness to let go of things, so she just holds the eggs in her hands and says "E mio! E Mio!" and refuses to actually crack them.
She stirred away happily while I prepared the Bundt pan and washed up the first set of dishes. Then perched on her new step stool (the best birthday gift she got, IMHO and I'm not the one who bought it), and cleaned up the mixing bowl after I'd put the cake in to bake.
I did not prepare the Bundt pan well enough. I think the Pam spray mentioned in the directions may be essential because vegetable oil smeared around the pan did not do the job.
I got it out and glazed, after learning that some dissolved sugar is a good substitute for corn syrup. The inside looked much better than the outside.
I'd eaten a few bites of the cake when the Nanny returned home and pronounced it "Meravigliosa!" and asked for the recipe. Not too shabby even if it isn't pretty. More importantly, this is the first cake that has gotten the Puppy Seal of Approval. No idea why I decided to do Mamma and Me cake baking when she doesn't like cake, but this was worth the risk. One thing I'm just realizing is how truly transitional this age is. She looks like such a big girl in the cake making pictures but boy does she look like a baby again just a few hours later eating the cake.
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