Friends You Love - Monday Blog Hop - Mo' Betta

<center><a href="http://www.friendsyoulove.com" target="_blank"><img alt="Friends You Love"<br /> src=""/></a></center>

Guess who's back?  Back again?  Shady's back...tell a FRIEND!  Ok...so maybe it isn't Shady...at least not the real Slim Shady....BUT, it's Friends You Love!

Last year Friends You Love was such an amazing event we brought it back. The friendships forged between women deserve to be celebrated.  In fact, it takes a whole month to celebrate just how special those bonds are!  We have all sorts of amazing things lined up for you all this month so stay tuned!

The rules of the blog hop are simple...I deviate from them of course...rebel that I am.  You are supposed to reach into your followers/subscribers ask someone you don't know that well to guest post to make new friends.  I on the other hand like to highlight people I have come to know and love, hoping that you will love what I do!

I thought I would share with you my most faithful Share a Spoon contributors!  Kicking that off...I give you Kim from Mo' Betta!  

I was so excited when Think Tank Momma asked me to guest post for Friends You Love!  I never expected that I would develop friendships with people I've never met when I started my blogging adventure, a little over a year ago.  It's definitely a great perk, and motivating reason to keep at it!  My name is Kim, and I blog over at Mo'Betta.  My blog centers around mommyhood x 3, and all the drama that entails!

I try to prepare healthier meals for the fam, while dealing with my 3 y/o's food allergies (eggs, peanuts, tree nuts) and my husband's diabetes.  Not to mention my kids are notoriously picky!  That being said, today's recipe has nothing to do with any of that :)  This is a cake I made for my Grandmother's birthday this weekend, and I fully believe that calories do not count when eaten on a special occasion.  (This explains why my jeans are too tight.)

Pumpkin Spice Bundt Cake with Creamy Pumpkin Glaze adapted from Dine & Dish

*my changes are in italics

2 cups granulated sugar  *1 cup granulated sugar, 1 cup brown sugar

1 cup butter, softened *1/2 cup Smart Balance butter, 1/2 cup olive oil

4 large eggs

1 cup canned pumpkin

1 cup sour cream *1 cup plain nonfat yogurt

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

3 cups all-purpose flour *2 cups AP flour, 1 cup white whole wheat

1 tablespoon cinnamon *1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350 F.  Grease and flour a 12 cup Bundt pan.  *I used Pam Spray, flour, then sprinkled some cinnamon sugar in the pan.  Add sugar, oil, and butter to a large mixing bowl.  Beat on low until light and fluffy.  Slowly add the eggs, one at a time, and continue mixing until well incorporated.  Add the pumpkin, sour cream and vanilla, mixing on low speed until well blended.  While mixer is still going on low, add the flour, one cup at a time.  Then add spice, baking soda, and salt.  Blend until well incorporated.  Pour cake batter into prepared Bundt pan.  Bake for 60 minutes or until knife inserted into the center comes out clear.  Mine took about 50 minutes.

Glaze: 

1 cup powdered sugar

1 tablespoon milk *I used fat free half and half

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

2 tablespoons pumpkin

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon *I added an additional 1/8 tsp. 

dash of nutmeg and ground cloves

2 tablespoons butter - melted and cooled *omitted

Whisk all the ingredients together and spoon over cooled cake.

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I almost omitted the pumpkin glaze altogether, because I found a Cinnamon flavored Cool Whip (one of their seasonal flavors) and I was just going to use that.  However, the cake looked a little plain, so I added the glaze, and I'm so glad I did!  I think it adds a lot, and the cinnamon Cool Whip complimented it nicely.  And as a side note, I added this Cool Whip to my 'cafe mocha' (which my quick and easy version is brewed coffee mixed with a half packet - or more - of reduced sugar hot chocolate.  Can't afford have Starbucks all the time!) and it was the BOMB.  It rivaled anything I've had at a coffee house.  So, I'm really hoping the Wal-Mart doesn't run out of this cool whip anytime soon.  (I'd bet money they will be out when I go back and it will not get stocked again.  But that's a whole different rant post.)

So, anyways, the verdict?  Pumpkin awesomeness.  Fall on a fork. (hmmm, that sounds weird.  Fall as in Autumn, not fall as in crazy women with raging PMS wishing you bodily harm. That's later in the month.)  Sorry, TMI.  Anyway, Granny said it was the bomb.com.  Okay, she didn't really say that, but isn't that a pretty funny mental picture?  She did like it however, as did everyone else who tried it.  Unless they were just being nice, but in my family, we're known for being pretty brutally honest.  Gotta have a thick skin to hang with us.  My poor little I'm-allergic-to-everything-boy couldn't have any b/c of the eggs, so I brought him some egg free cupcakes that I keep in the freezer, just for situations like this.  I recommend you go make this, and then sit back with a cafe mocha, a nice thick slab of cake, and a best bud, and talk about how hard y'all just worked out and how much you don't need to eat this cake ;)  (Is it just me that eats cake after a workout? I need to refuel ya know!)  Of course, I eat cake when I don't work out too.  To help ease the guilt.  It's a vicious cycle.

Thanks to the Momma for allowing me to high-jack her post today, and y'all feel free to stop by!  Who are the Friends You Love?  Give them a shout out!