Navy and Neutrals

Hello Friday! Good Friday, at that. We're heading to Virginia on the weekend to spend Easter with family. No more egg hunts and candy since apparently we're too old for that but good food is a nice trade-off, no? And I'm sure cake or cookies will be involved. I hope.

I seem to be playing these sandals on repeat. But now you know what I meant when I said I needed a pair of neutral sandals. Some of you asked if they were comfortable and surprisingly, they are. I wore them out for a few hours and even though I was ready to take them off, I didn't run into a frenzy trying to rip them off my feet.

On that note, have a relaxing weekend! And safe travels if you're on the road!

Top: Target // Scarf: Calvin Klein (love this one) // Shorts: Target (similar here, here) // 
Shoes: Chinese Laundry // Bracelets: Target // Earrings: Target

Glazed Cinnamon-Pecan Coffee Cake

Two cakes in one week. Life is good. In case you missed it, I posted the recipe for Layered Strawberries and Limoncello Cream Cake on Tuesday. It was amazing. Today's cinnamon roll cake is a denser cake that uses more of a pound cake base, has a cinnamon-pecan layer in the middle and is topped with a sugary glaze. You can always opt out of the glaze if you want a "healthier" cake. For me, the glaze brings everything together and reminds me of a cinnamon roll.

Try this cake for breakfast, with a cup of coffee, tea or milk. It's also great for entertaining since it feeds multiple individuals and is quite filling. I'm not a huge fan of cinnamon rolls - I've never cared for the dough - but I do love the buttery-nutty-cinnamon flavors that go into a cinnamon roll. This cake combines all those flavors but uses cake instead of the classic bread-type pastry dough. 

Are you a fan of cinnamon rolls? If so, where have you had the best, MOIST (because most of the rolls I've had have been dry) rolls?

GLAZED CINNAMON PECAN COFFEE CAKE

INGREDIENTS

1 c sugar

4 T butter

3 T ricotta

3 c flour

2 tsp baking powder

5 eggs

1 c milk

2 tsp vanilla

Filling

2 tsp cinnamon

2 tsp flour

3 T sugar

1/2 c pecans, chopped

2 T butter

Glaze

1/2 c powdered sugar

2 T butter

1 T milk

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS

Whip sugar, butter and ricotta until thoroughly combined. Set aside. 

In a separate bowl, whisk flour and baking powder together. 

In a third bowl, whisk eggs, milk and vanilla together. Add to flour mixture and mix well. Then slowly add flour/eggs to ricotta mixture, mixing well after each addition. Batter will be thick. Pour HALF of batter into a greased and floured bundt cake pan. 

In a small bowl, mix cinnamon, flour, sugar and pecans together. Cut in butter. Sprinkle over top batter in bundt cake pan. Pour remaining batter over cinnamon mixture. 

Bake in preheated 350F oven for 50-60 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the middle. Remove from the oven and cool. 

While cake is cooking, melt butter and sugar together in a small saucepan. Remove pan from heat. Add milk and vanilla and whisk for 2 minutes.  Flip cake on to a plate once it cools and drizzle with glaze.