10.26.2011

Monique's Little Acorns


Monique from La Table de Nana posted this super little fall recipe a while back. I knew I was having my Garden Club for coffee this week and thought this would be perfect on the table. Don't they look great in my pumpkin bowl? And they're delicious, too. (Find the acorn mold HERE. Or HERE.)

A bench note: my first batch turned out too light. I raised the oven temp to 370 and increased the time to 12  minutes. Don't take them out until they get golden brown on top; then the bottom will be the perfect color. Luckily, there's lots of batter so you can experiment with oven temps and time a bit.



They were a hit at the coffee!

Acorn Pound Cake

From King Arthur Flour via Monique



Ingredients:

14 tablespoons (1 3/4 sticks) unsalted butter
3-ounce package cream cheese, at room temperature
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 3/4 cups All-Purpose Flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons vanilla extract 
1/4 teaspoon almond extract 
5 eggs

Method:
Preheat oven to 350. (I heated to 370)
In a mixer, beat the first two ingredients until there are no lumps left.
Add the salt, sugar, flour and baking powder. Mixture will be quite thick. Add the extracts and the eggs, one at a time. The mixture will now be light and fluffy.
The key for perfect acorns, according to Monique:

A combination of cooking spray and flour. The cooking spray coats all the nooks and crannies and the flour adds a thin layer of non-stick protection that results in a smooth as silk finish on the outside of your baked goods. In this case, less is definitely more. Filling the wells too full will result in acorns that puff and flow over the sides of the well. Surprisingly, just 2 to 3 teaspoons of batter is plenty. A teaspoon scoop proved to be just the right size and made scooping a breeze.
Bake the acorns for 8 to 10 minutes ( I baked longer) or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of one of the nuts comes out clean.
Cool in the pan for about 2 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

27 comments:

  1. Too cute! I want to make them out of cornbread for Thanksgiving...and I really want to join your garden club!

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  2. I love those little baked acorns. I agree with Sue, would be great for Thanksgiving.

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  3. They are so cute in that bowl! Perfect!
    My friend wants a pan..hope they still have them..have not spotted them online~

    Cute cute!

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  4. They are so cute! I like the sound of the cream cheese batter too.

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  5. Precious! I am a sucker for sweet little shapes...

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  6. Barbara love these look absolutely beauty!!! so cute! gloria

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  7. They are so cute! I can see that they are acorns, so why do I think I'd also have an urge to put faces on them!?!

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  8. Very cute in the pumpkin bowl! They look delicious!

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  9. What a darling way to serve them! They do look like little acorns when they're well browned.

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  10. Those are fabulous and so,so appealing. Will have to try source this pan in the UK.

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  11. I love them! So festive! They would be so cute on the Thanksgiving table!

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  12. So cute and scrumptious!

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  13. I love the mold for those, how perfect for fall!

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  14. Aww those are super cute! that mold is perfect and the actual cake sounds delicious.

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  15. these are SOOOOOO CUTE!!! and adorable in your pumpkin container Barbara - how could they NOT be a hit for your Garden Club coffee?!!

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  16. These pound cake acorns look absolutely delightful. Perfect for autumn and entertaining guests.

    Velva

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  17. Those are just adorable. I envy your garden club!

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  18. Your club must have been thrilled... what a perfect presentation. Love the tureen you used. It's wonderful when people give the little tricks that make things that are a little unusual work... very sad when they don't and you are left to make the mistakes... wasting time and ingredients.

    Bravo for a great dish!!

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  19. adorable, i wish i could reach in and grab one. and i love your bowl!

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  20. Those are so darn cute. Now I need to have that pan.
    Mimi

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  21. Those acorn mini pound cakes look so adorable!

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  22. Barbara This sounds marvelous. And you're so right, the acorn poundcakes look divine in the pumpkin dish. I could easioly see myself overindulging in these.

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  23. Being a bit obsessive about cake pans, I've had this mold for a few years. I will have to try your poundcake recipe as it looks divine and now I know it'll hold up well in the pan. Thanks!

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  24. i haven't seen those molds before--how festive!

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  25. These are adorable! I'm sure I could pop quite a few of these in my mouth (so little and cute!)

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