feast.

marathon cake

Hi, Guys. Sorry I’ve been a little M.I.A. I’ve been on vacation in San Francisco — but now I’m back. And I bring cake! Chocolate cake!

So, apparently, everyone is training for and/or has run a half marathon but me. It’s seriously an epidemic. My cousin just informed me she’s training for a half, and everyone in my department at work other than me ran the Brooklyn Half. (Not to mention, other coworkers not in my program also ran it, and countless others have run other races.) I, on the other hand, am not a runner.

I do not run. I do not like running. People say they get a high from running, feel better afterward. This is not something I experience, and thus does not motivate me to run. I do, however, feel better after baking. Indeed, there are few things as comforting to me as cradling a big, heavy bowl against me and stirring the batter within with a big wooden spoon. So, they run; I bake. We eat together. It works out nicely.

Thus it was on the day of the Brooklyn Half. They ran. I baked. We ate brunch together—hosted by my friend Claire’s lovely mother. For the occasion, I chose a festive Bundt cake from my trusty Baked cookbook. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: people like Bundt cakes. Maybe it’s the hole? Maybe it’s because it looks so big and tall and grand and inviting. Maybe people just like saying the word “Bundt.” In any event, after running over 13 miles, I thought my friends deserved cake, and this one both turned out and was received quite nicely; the Baked boys have done it again. The crumb is dense and moist, and the addition of root beer, while subtle enough, was a nice twist on plain old chocolate cake.

Root beer bundt cake

From Baked: New Frontiers in Baking. I had no changes to the boys’ recipe (I didn’t fiddle at all, once again!), so you can find the original HERE

PS Did I mention how excited I am for ROUND TWO?!