Baking for the Holidays?

The other day I decided to make some little "Christmas cakes."
Let me mention right here.........that I don't like to cook or bake really.
Anyway not like others seem to.

However, one must "eat" in life right? And it is rewarding at times too....so I do it.

This day was one of those "rewarding times" in the cooking department at our house.

My husband has a friend we love dearly at his company that I made a special
"Coffee Cake" for, one Christmas a few years ago as a gift, and he has BEGGED me ever since then to make him another one.

Every time I see that man he is asking me for another cake.
In fact....he asked me last week again. BLAH!

SO I finally broke down and decided to do that for him the other day.

I thought I would "share the journey" with you all.

Here is my prep area...

I use the "mini Bundt pan" for these. The recipe is for a big bundt pan but I just mix it for a full one and then pour half into the mini bundt pan because I think they are cuter for gifts and I get two out of the mixture.

Here is the recipe if you are interested.
Believe me it's super easy or I wouldn't be making it.
And it's very tasty.


~~Jewish Sour Cream Coffee Cake~~
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes
Ingredients:
2 eggs
1 1/2 sticks butter (3/4 cups, 150 grams), room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 cup sour cream
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
TOPPPING
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup chopped pecans (you could use mini chocolate chips or whatever other great thing pops into your mind.)
2 Tablespoons cinnamon
Preparation:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Spray bundt pan with non-stick spray.
2. In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add eggs and vanilla.
3. Sift dry ingredients together.
4. Alternate adding dry ingredients and sour cream to the cake batter.
5. In a separate bowl, mix topping ingredients (pecans, brown sugar, cinnamon).
6. Sprinkle 1/4 of the topping into the bundt pan.
7. Spread 1/2 batter into bundt pan, add 1/2 of the topping, and then add remaining batter.
8. Sprinkle rest of topping mixture on top of the batter.
9. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 45 minutes or until a butter knife or toothpick comes out clean. Once it cools in the pan.....I take a knife and slide it all along the pan sides (carefully as to not scratch up the Teflon coating) to make sure it isn't sticking.

Then I flip it over into a decorative box like this one.


Then I put a little
"Snow on the Mountain".....I like to think of it that way.
But in "bakers terms"....use a little strainer or your sifter and dust some powered sugar over the (make sure it's cooled off enough first) little cake.

Look how cute it is.

Place the lid on the box and add a nice ribbon to finish it off.
This is about as good as it gets baking wise in my house aside from some occasional cookies like these I made for a "Cookie Exchange" I went to with about 25 ladies at Miss Sandi's house recently.
I took these....
"Peanut Butter Cookies with mini Reeses Peanut Butter cups in them "


Miss Priss and I do usually make homemade Fudge for gifts for our neighbors.

My Mom would have a "fit" if she read this because she is and has always been quite the baker and cook all of her life.

Honestly,
I nearly called her to ask her how to measure the flour when it's sifted because I hadn't done it in so long. Ugh.
I was confused by this small, yet important question that I had....
"Does one measure flour before you sift it? OR do you sift it and THEN measure it from the sifted amount??"
I looked it up online instead of calling her. HA!
Terrible.

What kinds of great things do you stir up to eat for the Holidays??
Are you giving them as gifts?

Homemade things, baked or otherwise, really are a "Treat"...
I realize this as I see it happening less and less in our society today.
Sadly.