Poppyseed Coffeecake and Pistachio Bundt Cake

I made a few more recipes this past week as part of my 52 Weeks of Baking challenge.  I've now completed the challenge by baking one or more recipes each week for the past 52 weeks.  It's been a great way to try new recipes - main dishes, side dishes, and desserts. 

This past week, I made a coffeecake for breakfast and a cake for dessert.  Both recipes were well received, so I thought I'd share the recipes for both.

Poppyseed Coffeecake

This is the recipe for poppyseed coffeecake.  It's a family recipe that's been around for awhile now.

Ingredients

1/4 cup poppyseed

1 cup buttermilk (I used dairy-free rice milk)

1/4 cup sugar

2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 cup shortening

1/2 cup butter, soft (I used dairy-free butter)

1 1/2 cup sugar

4 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 1/2 cups flour

1 teaspoon soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions

Mix poppyseed and milk.  Let stand two hours.  Combine 1/4 cup sugar and cinnamon.  Set aside.  Grease and flour bundt pan (I used a 9"x 13" pan instead).  Cream shortening, butter, and 1 1/2 cup sugar.  Add eggs.  Mix poppyseed mixture and vanilla.  Combine flour, soda, and salt.  Add and mix well. 

Pour 1/3 of batter into pan; sprinkle 1/3 of reserved cinnamon-sugar mixture over batter without touching sides of pan.  Repeat layers twice.  Bake 45-50 minutes or until toothpick is clean. Cool 15 minutes and remove from pan.  Cool completely.

Pistachio Bundt

This is a recipe from the book Bundt Cake Bliss.  I've had it for some time now, and thought I'd give it a try.  It's a very moist cake, and has a slight green tint to it.  It's a good cake to serve for St. Patrick's Day or for a spring dessert.

Ingredients

1 box (18 ounces) yellow cake mix

1 small box instant pistachio pudding mix

4 eggs

3/4 cup orange juice

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 cup drained crushed pineapple

1/2 cup coconut

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Prepare a 12-cup Bundt pan using dairy-free butter and flour.  Set aside.

Combine the cake and pudding mixes in a large bowl.  Add eggs, orange juice, and oil.  Beat at medium speed for 4 minutes.  Add the pineapple and coconut and stir until blended.  Pour into the prepared pan.

Bake for 55-60 minutes or until toothpick comes out of the cake clean.   Allow the cake to cool in the pan for 10 minutes and invert to a rack or serving plate to finish cooling. (Optional:  Dust with powdered sugar.)

This is a great cake for St. Patrick's Day since it is very pale green in color.