Cinnamon Roll Cake

Hurricane Irene passed through NYC last night, and we hunkered down and spent the day indoors waiting for the storm. After several hours, an episode of Bachelor Pad, a batch of cookies, three games of solitaire and one movie, I was bouncing off the walls from boredom. I had scoured Facebook, read my Twitter page, and emptied my Google Reader in search of entertainment and had exhausted all options. Finally I turned to Pinterest as a last resort. I am new to Pinterest and haven't pinned anything myself, but I get on and flip through everyone else's pins when I get bored.

That is how I came upon this recipe. If there was no other reason for me to have joined Pinterest, this would be enough. A friend pinned this last night and I knew I had to make it immediately. So this morning after the hurricane had passed, I made Cinnamon Roll Cake for a Sunday morning breakfast to celebrate the fact that our windows didn't break and our power didn't go out during the storm.

I don't think I need to do much to convince you to make this cake. I mean, look at it. All that gooey, warm, cinnamon sugary, cinnamon roll goodness. You probably already have all the ingredients on hand. And this is a lot easier and faster than making actual cinnamon rolls. Plus, it is really pretty when it comes out of the oven (even without the icing!):

Cinnamon Roll Cake

Cake:
3 c. flour
1/4 tsp.salt
1 c. sugar
4 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 c. milk
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 c. butter, melted

Topping:
1 c. butter, softened
1 c. brown sugar
2 Tbsp. flour
1 Tbsp. cinnamon

Glaze:
2 c. powdered sugar
5 Tbsp. milk
1 tsp. vanilla

Mix everything together except for the butter. Slowly stir in the melted butter and pour into a greased 9x13 pan. For the topping, mix all the ingredients together until well combined. Drop evenly over the batter and swirl with a knife. Bake at 350 for 28-32 minutes. While still warm, drizzle glaze over the cake.

Recipe from Cookin' Up North, via Pinterest.

Pesto Chicken Pizza

I will admit, I was real proud of this one. I needed to use up the last of this jar of pesto sauce from Costco and what do you know, I ended up making one of my favorite homemade pizzas of all time. (The winner would be a classic sausage margherita with homemade pizza sauce, fresh sliced mozzarella, fresh basil and spicy italian sausage, in case you were wondering.) This pesto pizza tasted like something from a restaurant. The oil from the pesto sauce sort of soaked into the crust during baking, making it brown up nicely and taste amazing. This smelled so divine coming out of the oven. I am a big fan of pesto and I just loved this pizza.

Pesto Chicken Pizza

1 batch perfect pizza crust
1/2-3/4 cup prepared pesto sauce (I get a great deal at Costco)
1 1/2 cups fresh mozzarella cheese, shredded
1 small jar artichoke hearts, drained and roughly chopped
2 chicken breast halves, grilled and sliced
1/2 sweet yellow onion, sliced


Preheat the oven to 500° F. (If you have a pizza stone, preheat it in the oven and use a pizza peel or parchment paper to transfer topped pizza to stone before baking.) Sprinkle a baking sheet with cornmeal. Gently roll out the pizza dough into a large circle on a lightly floured counter top, leaving a thicker ring around the edge for the crust. Spread the pesto sauce in a thin layer evenly over the unbaked crust. Sprinkle with half the shredded mozzarella. Top with chicken, onion and artichoke hearts. Sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and browned. Let pizza cool for a couple minutes before slicing. Enjoy!

Pizza crust from Annie's Eats.

BBQ Pulled Pork Pizza

Klane loves barbecue pulled pork, but every time I make it we have a ton of leftover meat that we have to figure out how to use. This recipe was born out of a need to use up leftover pulled pork. I've done a barbecue chicken pizza before, and this is basically a twist on that. It felt like a gamble throwing pork on a pizza, but it turned out to be a winning combination. We loved this!

BBQ Pulled Pork Pizza

1/2 recipe perfect pizza crust
leftover pulled pork
1 small green pepper, sliced
1 roma tomato, seeded and diced
1/2 red onion, sliced
1/2-3/4 cup of your favorite BBQ sauce (I like Sweet Baby Rays)
1 1/2 cup fresh mozzarella cheese, shredded

Preheat the oven to 500° F. (If you have a pizza stone, preheat it in the oven and use a pizza peel or parchment paper to transfer topped pizza to stone before baking.) Sprinkle a baking sheet with cornmeal. Gently roll out the pizza dough into a large circle on a lightly floured counter top, leaving a thicker ring around the edge for the crust. Spread the BBQ sauce in a thin layer evenly over the unbaked crust. Sprinkle with half the shredded mozzarella. Top with pulled pork, tomato, onion and green peppers. Sprinkle with remaining cheese and drizzle a little more sauce on top. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and browned. Let pizza cool for a couple minutes before slicing so the toppings don't fall off!