Time to get my baking shoes on

It's been a busy week. Lots of work on and not much time to do it. Weeks like these, sometimes you get to the Thursday night, knowing you're so close to the weekend, and you just want something to treat yourself. Then you also see that there's nothing nice in the fridge for lunchboxes the next day and the decision's made - it's time to bake!

Last weekend I made fluffy pancakes with maple syrup and bacon for breakfast. I LOVE this combination, it's amazing. The only thing that can top it is to add some caramelised banana slices (done easily on the grill or fry pan with a little bit of sugar to assist in the caramelisation). After breakfast, we had a fair bit of maple syrup left over. And yes, I realise it can be stored easily, however I had the delicious taste of maple teasing my tastebuds and vowed to make my next baking venture in maple! 

So, back to Thursday night and the need to bake something... a bag of pecans sitting in the cupboard just waiting to be used, left over maple... it was a no brainer!

 

Maple and Pecan Cake

Adapted from Taste.com.au

This recipe is quite straightforward, however different as you mix all the wet ingredients with the butter and then fold through the dry ingredients. The original recipe also has a buttercream icing, however I made this as a more nutty, loaf cake, and if making again, would do a sugar crumble on top (as instructed below). A great "coffee" type cake!

125g unsalted butter, softened
125g caster sugar
2 eggs
65ml milk
225ml pure maple syrup
2 1/3 cups (350g) plain flour
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
2 tsp baking powder
50g pecan nuts, lightly toasted, chopped 

For the crumble:

100g plain flour

50g brown sugar

50g butter, at room temperature

100g pecans, roughly chopped

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Grease a loaf tin and line with baking paper. 

Beat butter and sugar in the bowl until light and fluffy. Beat together the eggs and milk before adding to the butter mixture, followed by the maple syrup. Make sure all ingredients are well incorporated. Sift dry ingredients together and fold into the mixture. Spread the mixture into prepared pan.

Make the crumble. In a bowl, rub (preferably using your fingers, as it's fun) together 100g plain flour with 50g brown sugar and 50g butter. Add the pecans and sprinkle crumble over the top of the cake. Bake for 1 hour or until an inserted skewer comes out clean. Remove from oven and cool in pan for 5 minutes, then turn out on a wire rack to cool completely.