Every now and then I have one of those 'I have completely forgotten how to swim' swims. Where I spash and kick and choke on water, and the only direction I seem to be able to go is down. Or sometimes backwards. The kind of swim where I am at the back of the rotation in the slowest lane, and am still getting lapped during 150 IM sets. The kind of swim where I shorten my 100m cooldown to 50m, because I truly don't think I can swim the last 50. I wish I was exaggerating.
It was just a bad swim, and they happen sometimes to everyone. From the novice flounderers like myself to speedy pros to you, your mom and everyone else. So I try not to let it get to me...but of course it does, just a little. Or sometimes a lot.
Did I want to give up? Yes. Did I want to jump out of the pool and hurl my pull bouy at the workout whiteboard? Yes. Did I want to yank my coach into the water by his ankles and yell, "If it's so easy, let's see you do it!" Yes.
But I didn't. Because I'm trying to be an adult.
When I'm frustrated about a workout, especially a swim workout, I try to focus instead on what I can do right, in the moment. So during my workout when I was swimming slower than I maybe ever had before and couldn't seem to get my flip turns right no matter what I tried, I decided it was a good time to focus on rotation. And high elbows. And high hips. And all those other little technique elements that get so often overlooked by self-taught swimmers like myself. If I'm going to swim slow, at least I can swim right. So I splashed on, throwing my hips around with each stroke, and scraping the ceiling with my elbows. Almost. Good technique did not make me swim faster. I know it won't until I put it all together, correctly, and learn to swim properly.
And if even that fails, there's always chocolate.
And if chocolate fails (as if!) there is this fantastic article on swim technique. I can't help but hope that reading it in bed with chocolate will make me faster.
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Monday, February 14, 2011
Things I Like: Mizuno Wave Rider
photo courtesy of Google Image Search
Welcome to the first installment of Things I Like. I like many things, and wanted to share some of my absolute favorite things with you.
I started running in Mizuno Wave Riders about a year ago. At this point, I cannot imagine running in anything else. Everyone says that once you find 'the shoe' nothing else will compare, and I believe it! The Wave Rider is light, which I love for speedy track sessions, yet durable enough for long runs. It's low profile, too, which I really appreciate. I don't like feeling like I have bricks strapped to my feet while I run, and the minimalism of this shoe works well for me. However it doesn't sacrifice support, and as someone with a history of planter fasciitis, I am pretty particular about a good support system in my running shoe. I've never experienced arch pain in a Wave Rider. I'm on my second pair and am about due for a third. I'm excited about the new colors, too-Mizuno does a great job with their shoe design. They're neither too boring or too bright, and they'll look good with any running wardrobe (what--it never hurts to have speed and style!).
I'm not getting anything by writing this review, nor does Mizuno even know I'm writing it. I only want to share my opinion on my favorite running shoe. Every runner and every runner's feet are different, and this shoe might not be 'it' for you. It's the one for me, however, and I'm never running in anything else!
Sunday, February 13, 2011
When Your Valentine is Inedible..
I suppose this confirms the existence of superstition. I should've known better than to write a glowing post about my amazing heart-shaped whoopie pies before actually tasting one. They taste like the kind of cookie you would give to someone as a valentine if you were really mad at them. They're anti-valentine cookies. They're deceiving, to be sure: bright red, appropriately shaped, and filled with the best frosting ever created. But one bite and oh no! you realize it's the opposite of a sweet valentine. It's a chalky valentine that tastes like all-purpose flour.
I reread the recipe, and am pretty sure I followed the recipe exactly. However, obviously, somewhere along the way I did something very wrong. Perhaps I added too much flour, or maybe I miscounted the brown sugar amount. I have no clue, and I will likely never know. All I know is I have some lovely flour cookies, and lots of cream cheese frosting (which I will certainly eat with a spoon for dessert). Ah well. There's always next year..Red Velvet Whoopie Pies Round Two!
I reread the recipe, and am pretty sure I followed the recipe exactly. However, obviously, somewhere along the way I did something very wrong. Perhaps I added too much flour, or maybe I miscounted the brown sugar amount. I have no clue, and I will likely never know. All I know is I have some lovely flour cookies, and lots of cream cheese frosting (which I will certainly eat with a spoon for dessert). Ah well. There's always next year..Red Velvet Whoopie Pies Round Two!
Will You Be My Valentine?
I have never been that into Valentine's Day. Well, that's not true. I am very into the day-after-Valentine's-day chocolate sales. And I have, in years past, been very into making myself sick from excessive boxed chocolates. All of them. I even eat the gross fruity-moussy ones eventually, when all the other good chocolates are long gone. But other than overdosing on Whitman's and See's, I am usually pretty ambivalent about February 14th.
Except..for some reason, this year I am all about Valentine's Day. I think it's because, for the first time I can recall, I actually have a valentine! And not like when I was in third grade when I got heart-covered cards from the boys in my class. Because in third grade everyone gave everyone valentines, and Valentine's Day was nothing more than an excuse for another class party. Nope, this year I have a real valentine! And it's got me all mushy and sappy and gag-worthy. The only sad part? We can't actually celebrate Valentine's Day this year. I have work all day tomorrow, and a trainer ride to plow through once I get home from work, and then by the time I'm done having a quick shower and some dinner, it'll be bed time. Because we are 80-year-olds at heart, and since when is 8:30pm not a legitimate bedtime for 20-somethings anyways?
So instead of celebrating this loving day with my lover, I have decided to share my enthusiasm with my new co-workers by bringing them valentine cookies. Yes, this could potentially be seen as bribery. But honestly it's not. It's an excuse to try out some recipes, rid the final results from my self-controlless hands, and spread some Valentine's cheer, all at the same time! It's win-win-win!
So in honor of Valentine's Day, and in honor of finally, actually having coworkers (and even better, coworkers I can pass off baked goods to!), I am baking Red Velvet Whoopie Pies courtesy of Annie's Eats, and another batch of my favorite snickerdoodles, courtesy of Smitten Kitchen. The snickerdoodles will be rolled in red sugar, of course!
(Confession: I wasn't planning on making snickerdoodles for the office, but the red velvet recipe only yielded 10 sandwich cookies, plus one lone cookie. I know I made them too big, and if I hadn't run out of red food dye making the first batch, I would've made many more of these cookies. They turned out great! But since I can't think of anyone who doesn't like red, glittery snickerdoodles, they will be plumping up the cookie platter tomorrow.)
Happy Valentine's Day!
Except..for some reason, this year I am all about Valentine's Day. I think it's because, for the first time I can recall, I actually have a valentine! And not like when I was in third grade when I got heart-covered cards from the boys in my class. Because in third grade everyone gave everyone valentines, and Valentine's Day was nothing more than an excuse for another class party. Nope, this year I have a real valentine! And it's got me all mushy and sappy and gag-worthy. The only sad part? We can't actually celebrate Valentine's Day this year. I have work all day tomorrow, and a trainer ride to plow through once I get home from work, and then by the time I'm done having a quick shower and some dinner, it'll be bed time. Because we are 80-year-olds at heart, and since when is 8:30pm not a legitimate bedtime for 20-somethings anyways?
So instead of celebrating this loving day with my lover, I have decided to share my enthusiasm with my new co-workers by bringing them valentine cookies. Yes, this could potentially be seen as bribery. But honestly it's not. It's an excuse to try out some recipes, rid the final results from my self-controlless hands, and spread some Valentine's cheer, all at the same time! It's win-win-win!
So in honor of Valentine's Day, and in honor of finally, actually having coworkers (and even better, coworkers I can pass off baked goods to!), I am baking Red Velvet Whoopie Pies courtesy of Annie's Eats, and another batch of my favorite snickerdoodles, courtesy of Smitten Kitchen. The snickerdoodles will be rolled in red sugar, of course!
(Confession: I wasn't planning on making snickerdoodles for the office, but the red velvet recipe only yielded 10 sandwich cookies, plus one lone cookie. I know I made them too big, and if I hadn't run out of red food dye making the first batch, I would've made many more of these cookies. They turned out great! But since I can't think of anyone who doesn't like red, glittery snickerdoodles, they will be plumping up the cookie platter tomorrow.)
Happy Valentine's Day!
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Hard Work Is Fun!
I wanted to write a little bit about the workouts I've been doing lately..not all of them, because I can't remember them all! Just some of the fun ones!
Let's see..Friday was a super fun trainer workout. 90 minutes, set up in front of the TV so I could watch the ANTM marathon while riding! Best idea ever! The workout went like this: 20 min. warm-up, then 6x 1min. one-leg rotations. Those hurt! I've got to do them more often! Then into the main set of 2min./3/4/5/6//2/3/4/5 with one minute recovery between each set. I tried to keep the rep effort levels somewhere between tempo and TT effort..kind of hard to gauge without a HR monitor, but I worked hard and that's what matters most! After that it was 3min. easy, then 5x 1min. hard/ 30sec. easy. Then a 5min. cooldown, and that was it! Super fun workout, it definitely made me work and made me hurt, and the time seemed to fly by.
Friday's swim was also pretty good..I can't remember exactly what it was, but something like 200s/200d/200IM warm-up (with specifications I can't remember), then 6x75 with drills and IM, then 2x50, 2x50IM, 2x100, 2x100IM, 2x200, 2x200IM..then I think it was 4x50, 400pull, then some fast 50s, then 100pull cooldown. Can't remember exactly, but that was the gist of it. Some of the 200s turned into 150s for me..but still it was a good workout!
Saturday was my first race of 2011! a 10k, which is the first of a year-long monthly series. I haven't been running as much as usual lately, and haven't done any speedwork since Black Diamond in September! So I was pretty sure this race was going to be more of a 'use the environment to get through the run' type thing. I was expecting to run 8:45min. miles or so, because on my shorter runs I've been chugging along at 8:30s. Not sure why, I just haven't had much speed in my legs!
I started really conservative, and decided to run the first 5K at a very comfortable pace. I didn't look at my watch, I didn't worry about the people around me..just cruised. I was a little sleepy but didn't feel physically tired. I was so surprised when I came through the 5K mark and saw 24:25 on the clock..I thought I was running WAY slower. So I decided to see what I could pull of in the second half..and realized if I kept at that pace I could run a sub-50 minute 10k. I picked up the pace a little for the 4th mile, then at mile 5 I started going for it. I passed a few people, which really motivated me, and I ran the last half-mile or so all out. I crossed the line in 46:56! A huge PR for me, and totally unexpected! I cannot wait to run Part 2 of the series in February--hopefully I can run a 45:-something!
After the race I ran errands all afternoon, then around 4pm hit the gym for a short swim and core workout. The swim was pitiful..I was tired. Half hour easy, nothing special. Tried to focus on the technique pointers Coach Eric and my lanemates have given me..I was too tired to really figure anything out though! Then a core workout, and I was done!
Today I was supposed to ride 2hrs and run 40min. easy, but my legs are yelling NoNoNO! So I switched tomorrow's day off with today's workouts, and am going to sit on my butt watching football all day (I never thought I'd say that! Only when the Seahawks are in the Playoffs do I care about football!!).
Let's see..Friday was a super fun trainer workout. 90 minutes, set up in front of the TV so I could watch the ANTM marathon while riding! Best idea ever! The workout went like this: 20 min. warm-up, then 6x 1min. one-leg rotations. Those hurt! I've got to do them more often! Then into the main set of 2min./3/4/5/6//2/3/4/5 with one minute recovery between each set. I tried to keep the rep effort levels somewhere between tempo and TT effort..kind of hard to gauge without a HR monitor, but I worked hard and that's what matters most! After that it was 3min. easy, then 5x 1min. hard/ 30sec. easy. Then a 5min. cooldown, and that was it! Super fun workout, it definitely made me work and made me hurt, and the time seemed to fly by.
Friday's swim was also pretty good..I can't remember exactly what it was, but something like 200s/200d/200IM warm-up (with specifications I can't remember), then 6x75 with drills and IM, then 2x50, 2x50IM, 2x100, 2x100IM, 2x200, 2x200IM..then I think it was 4x50, 400pull, then some fast 50s, then 100pull cooldown. Can't remember exactly, but that was the gist of it. Some of the 200s turned into 150s for me..but still it was a good workout!
Saturday was my first race of 2011! a 10k, which is the first of a year-long monthly series. I haven't been running as much as usual lately, and haven't done any speedwork since Black Diamond in September! So I was pretty sure this race was going to be more of a 'use the environment to get through the run' type thing. I was expecting to run 8:45min. miles or so, because on my shorter runs I've been chugging along at 8:30s. Not sure why, I just haven't had much speed in my legs!
I started really conservative, and decided to run the first 5K at a very comfortable pace. I didn't look at my watch, I didn't worry about the people around me..just cruised. I was a little sleepy but didn't feel physically tired. I was so surprised when I came through the 5K mark and saw 24:25 on the clock..I thought I was running WAY slower. So I decided to see what I could pull of in the second half..and realized if I kept at that pace I could run a sub-50 minute 10k. I picked up the pace a little for the 4th mile, then at mile 5 I started going for it. I passed a few people, which really motivated me, and I ran the last half-mile or so all out. I crossed the line in 46:56! A huge PR for me, and totally unexpected! I cannot wait to run Part 2 of the series in February--hopefully I can run a 45:-something!
After the race I ran errands all afternoon, then around 4pm hit the gym for a short swim and core workout. The swim was pitiful..I was tired. Half hour easy, nothing special. Tried to focus on the technique pointers Coach Eric and my lanemates have given me..I was too tired to really figure anything out though! Then a core workout, and I was done!
Today I was supposed to ride 2hrs and run 40min. easy, but my legs are yelling NoNoNO! So I switched tomorrow's day off with today's workouts, and am going to sit on my butt watching football all day (I never thought I'd say that! Only when the Seahawks are in the Playoffs do I care about football!!).
Friday, January 14, 2011
Masters and Mastering
Since my last post, I've been working on mastering a lot of elements in my training, namely consistency and diet.
Consistency..I'm not great at consistency. I always find myself readjusting my training schedule to accomodate other things. I spend so much time and energy on reworking my schedule, and am almost more focused on that than on my actual workouts. Then last week I reached a point where I realized that it's easier to just do the workouts as planned, instead of wasting so much time trying to reorganize everything every day. There are so many elements of triathlon training, and trying to adjust a tri training schedule every day is exhausting. Over the last week I've found that I've been a lot more consistent in my training. I'm still far from perfect, but I'm getting better. I don't know if this new mentality will stand the test of time, but right now it's workout out pretty well for me. I'll just keep taking it one day at a time!
In my post about water, I mentioned that since I'd been drinking more water I'd been getting less dizzy spells. Well as soon as I got back from Mexico they started up again. I decided it had to be something more than water..so I got tested for hypoglycemia, and also got my thyroid, calcium and iron levels checked. Everything came back normal, but I'm not convinced. A few days after I got my negative results I had a really bad episode on a run..I got dizzy, lightheaded, 'hot', weak and was having a hard time walking a straight line. I went right home and checked my blood sugar..68. Pretty low, but not dangerously so. Still, it's low enough to explain how I'd been feeling. So I'm keeping track of my blood sugar, and sure enough these episodes seem to occur when my blood sugar levels are below 85 or so. I've been focusing on what I'm eating more, and making sure I'm eating the right things. I've been feeling a little better overall, so hopefully I'm on the right path!
The other new development in my training..Master's swimming! Today will be my third workout with the group, and so far it's been amazing. Everyone is so nice and helpful! I'm learning so much at each workout, while I am sort of taking a step backwards in training, in that I'm focusing a lot on the basics, I'm still getting in a great workout at each practice and am breaking down everything to learn it right from the beginning. Just what I need, as a self-taught swimmer! Although breaststroke might get me into trouble..after working on it on Wednesday, I woke up to serious knee pain on Thursday morning. I couldn't walk up a flight of stairs, and definitely couldn't run or do yoga as I'd planned! I spun on the trainer but the pain didn't go away, so I decided to call it a day and rest up. This morning my knee feels %100 better, though I think I need to ease into breaststroking a little slower. Can't have knee injuries--I need my knees (haha--get it??)!
I'll post more about my actual training sessions later--I just wanted to write about some major steps in my overall training changes!
Consistency..I'm not great at consistency. I always find myself readjusting my training schedule to accomodate other things. I spend so much time and energy on reworking my schedule, and am almost more focused on that than on my actual workouts. Then last week I reached a point where I realized that it's easier to just do the workouts as planned, instead of wasting so much time trying to reorganize everything every day. There are so many elements of triathlon training, and trying to adjust a tri training schedule every day is exhausting. Over the last week I've found that I've been a lot more consistent in my training. I'm still far from perfect, but I'm getting better. I don't know if this new mentality will stand the test of time, but right now it's workout out pretty well for me. I'll just keep taking it one day at a time!
In my post about water, I mentioned that since I'd been drinking more water I'd been getting less dizzy spells. Well as soon as I got back from Mexico they started up again. I decided it had to be something more than water..so I got tested for hypoglycemia, and also got my thyroid, calcium and iron levels checked. Everything came back normal, but I'm not convinced. A few days after I got my negative results I had a really bad episode on a run..I got dizzy, lightheaded, 'hot', weak and was having a hard time walking a straight line. I went right home and checked my blood sugar..68. Pretty low, but not dangerously so. Still, it's low enough to explain how I'd been feeling. So I'm keeping track of my blood sugar, and sure enough these episodes seem to occur when my blood sugar levels are below 85 or so. I've been focusing on what I'm eating more, and making sure I'm eating the right things. I've been feeling a little better overall, so hopefully I'm on the right path!
The other new development in my training..Master's swimming! Today will be my third workout with the group, and so far it's been amazing. Everyone is so nice and helpful! I'm learning so much at each workout, while I am sort of taking a step backwards in training, in that I'm focusing a lot on the basics, I'm still getting in a great workout at each practice and am breaking down everything to learn it right from the beginning. Just what I need, as a self-taught swimmer! Although breaststroke might get me into trouble..after working on it on Wednesday, I woke up to serious knee pain on Thursday morning. I couldn't walk up a flight of stairs, and definitely couldn't run or do yoga as I'd planned! I spun on the trainer but the pain didn't go away, so I decided to call it a day and rest up. This morning my knee feels %100 better, though I think I need to ease into breaststroking a little slower. Can't have knee injuries--I need my knees (haha--get it??)!
I'll post more about my actual training sessions later--I just wanted to write about some major steps in my overall training changes!
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Pear Pecan Praline Cake
Want to know what I did on Friday? I made bundt cakes. It took all afternoon.
Why two? Because I ruined the first one.
(Actually there is a much longer, sadder story associated with this cake. I tried to make it for my boyfriend's family. I ruined it. I had to bring store-bought pound cake and strawberries to his grandmother's house for dessert. Yes, I cried. Friday's cake was supposed to be Cake Redemption. Now I'm convinced that cake is cursed.)
Back to Friday..
What did I learn on Friday, other than I am not meant to make a successful orange chocolate bundt cake? I will never not grease and flour a bundt pan again.
I tried loosening the cake with a rubber spatula, a butter knife, and a skewer that I bent to form the shape of the bundt pan. I gave the cake a steam bath. I froze the cake for an hour and tried all my methods again. I aggressively whacked the bundt pan with the rubber spatula, then a wooden spoon.
I owe my mother a new bundt pan..and still the cake came out ruined. Topless. Yikes.
While I was tackling the cake, I put Backup Cake in the oven. This cake, to be exact. I didn't mess with the recipe, and I made sure to grease and flour the bundt pan (it was also one of those pans that separates at the bottom for easy cake removal).
I am kind of really glad that I ruined the first cake. Because Cake #2 was amazing.
The only change I made was to the topping..I thought pecans might go better..maybe because of the alliteration, maybe because I had fresh pecans and sad, stale walnuts. I also chopped them much smaller than Joy chopped her nuts. This way, the praline and nuts kind of coated the outside of the cake.
The praline is incredible. The cake itself is incredible. And everyone who's tried it has been shocked that such a simple spice cake could be so incredibly..incredible.
I think it's the whipped egg whites that really send it over the top. Who knows. What I do know is that my dad has had this cake for breakfast and lunch two days in a row.
Try it!
Pear Pecan Praline Cake
Ingredients:
2c all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp. nutmeg
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 1/2tsp. allspice
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2tsp. salt
2 sticks softened unsalted butter
3 large eggs, separated
1c sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1c buttermilk
3 pears (I used one comice and two bosc) peeled and chopped into 'diced' sized pieces
(the recipe calls for 1c chopped walnuts too, but I don't like crunchy things in my cake, so I omitted them)
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease and flour a bundt pan. sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a large bowl. In an electric mixer, beat together butter, sugar and spices on medium, until creamy (about 4 minutes). Beat in egg yolks one at a time, then add the vanilla. Alternate adding the buttermilk and flour mixtures in thirds. Fold in the pears. With a hand mixer whip the egg whites until they just form peaks. Fold the egg whites into the batter just enough to be thoroughly incorporated. Don't over-fold. Pour batter into bundt pan and smooth the top. Bake for about 45 minutes to 1 hour (my cake took a little over an hour..just keep checking it at 45 minutes every 5 minutes.) Cake is done when a skewer inserted into it comes out clean. Cool cake in pan on a wire rack for ten minutes. Remove cake from pan and return to rack to cool. Then, make your praline!
Pecan Praline Topping
Ingredients:
3/4c light brown sugar, packed
1/4c whipping cream
1/2c butter
1c diced pecans
Directions:
In a small saucepan melt together the cream, butter and sugar over medium-high until incorporated. Bring to a boil. Boil for three minutes, stirring very often. Reduce heat to low and stir in pecans.
Pour glaze over cake, so that the praline covers the top and runs down the sides. Decorate the cake by pressing whole pecan halves around the outer ring of the cake if you used a flat bundt pan.
Serve warm or at room temperature.
Enjoy!
Why two? Because I ruined the first one.
(Actually there is a much longer, sadder story associated with this cake. I tried to make it for my boyfriend's family. I ruined it. I had to bring store-bought pound cake and strawberries to his grandmother's house for dessert. Yes, I cried. Friday's cake was supposed to be Cake Redemption. Now I'm convinced that cake is cursed.)
Back to Friday..
What did I learn on Friday, other than I am not meant to make a successful orange chocolate bundt cake? I will never not grease and flour a bundt pan again.
I tried loosening the cake with a rubber spatula, a butter knife, and a skewer that I bent to form the shape of the bundt pan. I gave the cake a steam bath. I froze the cake for an hour and tried all my methods again. I aggressively whacked the bundt pan with the rubber spatula, then a wooden spoon.
I owe my mother a new bundt pan..and still the cake came out ruined. Topless. Yikes.
While I was tackling the cake, I put Backup Cake in the oven. This cake, to be exact. I didn't mess with the recipe, and I made sure to grease and flour the bundt pan (it was also one of those pans that separates at the bottom for easy cake removal).
I am kind of really glad that I ruined the first cake. Because Cake #2 was amazing.
The only change I made was to the topping..I thought pecans might go better..maybe because of the alliteration, maybe because I had fresh pecans and sad, stale walnuts. I also chopped them much smaller than Joy chopped her nuts. This way, the praline and nuts kind of coated the outside of the cake.
The praline is incredible. The cake itself is incredible. And everyone who's tried it has been shocked that such a simple spice cake could be so incredibly..incredible.
I think it's the whipped egg whites that really send it over the top. Who knows. What I do know is that my dad has had this cake for breakfast and lunch two days in a row.
Try it!
Pear Pecan Praline Cake
Ingredients:
2c all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp. nutmeg
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 1/2tsp. allspice
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2tsp. salt
2 sticks softened unsalted butter
3 large eggs, separated
1c sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1c buttermilk
3 pears (I used one comice and two bosc) peeled and chopped into 'diced' sized pieces
(the recipe calls for 1c chopped walnuts too, but I don't like crunchy things in my cake, so I omitted them)
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease and flour a bundt pan. sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a large bowl. In an electric mixer, beat together butter, sugar and spices on medium, until creamy (about 4 minutes). Beat in egg yolks one at a time, then add the vanilla. Alternate adding the buttermilk and flour mixtures in thirds. Fold in the pears. With a hand mixer whip the egg whites until they just form peaks. Fold the egg whites into the batter just enough to be thoroughly incorporated. Don't over-fold. Pour batter into bundt pan and smooth the top. Bake for about 45 minutes to 1 hour (my cake took a little over an hour..just keep checking it at 45 minutes every 5 minutes.) Cake is done when a skewer inserted into it comes out clean. Cool cake in pan on a wire rack for ten minutes. Remove cake from pan and return to rack to cool. Then, make your praline!
Pecan Praline Topping
Ingredients:
3/4c light brown sugar, packed
1/4c whipping cream
1/2c butter
1c diced pecans
Directions:
In a small saucepan melt together the cream, butter and sugar over medium-high until incorporated. Bring to a boil. Boil for three minutes, stirring very often. Reduce heat to low and stir in pecans.
Pour glaze over cake, so that the praline covers the top and runs down the sides. Decorate the cake by pressing whole pecan halves around the outer ring of the cake if you used a flat bundt pan.
Serve warm or at room temperature.
Enjoy!
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