My husband has been away on a business trip since Sunday night and is back tonight. Since he’s been gone, I’ve been focusing on cooking dinner for my girls only and have been eating cereal and salads for dinner. This is because he is one of the reasons I love cooking. And I don’t want to bother with all the fuss for a meal for myself.
I have turned into my mother.
Which I love. I’m Korean and growing up, I always saw my mom cater to my father. She was his cook, maid. . this used to get me fuming mad because I always thought my dad should get up off of his rear end and help her. I didn’t realize until I was much older that this is just the Korean way. And it was because he is her husband and she loves him. This is what we do when we love people.
After the birth of my second daughter, my mom came to stay with us for a couple months to help me out while I was on maternity leave. This is when I really started cooking and spending time in the kitchen. I would make dinner and sometimes, Paul, my husband, would not make it home in time to sit down with us so my mom would tell me to heat up his dinner and have it ready at the table for him by the time he got home. This seemed ludicrous to me. He could heat up his own food.
But now I get it.
I love cooking for my husband and girls and if Paul is running late or can’t make it home in time for dinner- What do I do now? – I heat up his plate. Wait for him and sit with him (or try to most of the time) while he is eating. He’s my husband and I love him and this is one of my acts of love. My 
One should not go through life without a little sugar.
I made white chocolate ganache for the first time here. It’s sweet. So watch out. I hope you enjoy! (This post is for my mother. . who still teaches me everyday what it means to put others before yourself.)
Mini Pineapple Bundt Cakes with White Chocolate Ganache for #BundtaMonth
Ingredients
For the bundt cakes:
- 3 cups grated carrots
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup golden raisins
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 to 1 cup crushed or finely chopped pineapple drained (canned or fresh)
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts for garnish
- confectioners sugar optional; if you don't want the ganache
For the ganache:
- 6 ounces white chocolate finely chopped (use best-quality)
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
Instructions
For the bundt cakes:
- In a medium bowl, combine the grated carrots and brown sugar. Let sit for about 10-20 minutes, then stir in the raisins.
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Prep mini bundt cake pan with cooking spray and light flour if desired (knock out excess).
- In a large bowl, beat eggs until light. Gradually beat in the sugar, oil and vanilla. Stir in the crushed pineapple. Combine the flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon, then stir into the wet mixture until absorbed. Finally stir in the carrot mixture. Pour evenly into the bundt cake pan.
- Bake for about 22-25 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes before inverting and removing from pan.
For the ganache:
- Place finely chopped white chocolate in heatproof bowl.
- In a heavy saucepan, boil the heavy cream over medium-low heat. Turn off the heat when you start to see small bubbles forming around the edge.
- Immediately pour the hot cream over the chopped white chocolate. Using a rubber spatula, slowly stir in a circular motion, starting from the center of the bowl, and working out to the sides. Be careful not to add too much air to the ganache. Stir until all of the white chocolate is melted, for about 2 minutes. It may look done after 1 minute of stirring, but keep going to be sure it's emulsified. Let cool slightly.
- To assemble: Drizzle on the white chocolate ganache and garnish with the chopped walnuts. Alternatively, you can simply omit the ganache and dust on some confectioners sugar.
Adapted from my go-to 
Bundt-a-Month for March!
It’s Tropical March so we were asked to incorporate a tropical fruit! Check out what everyone else baked. . I seriously love this group of women/bakers. I am learning so much from them!
- Bananas Foster Bundt by Anita from Hungry Couple
- Blue Hawaiian Bundt Cake by Tara from Noshing With The Nolands
- Chocolate Bundt With Coconut Cream Cheese Filling by Karen from In The Kitchen With KP
- Caramelized Mango Tropical Bundt Cake by Paula from Vintage Kitchen
- Chocolate Coconut Bundt Cake by Kim from Cravings Of A Lunatic
- Coconut and Rum Tea Cake by Anuradha from Baker Street
- Coconut Banana Bundt Cake with Rum Glaze by Lora from Cake Duchess
- Coconut Bundt Cake by Holly from A Baker’s House
- Coconut Lime Bundt Cake by Kate from Food Babbles
- Hummingbird Bundt Cake by Heather from Hezzi D’s Books and Cooks
- Hummingbird Bundt Cake by Jennie from The Messy Baker Blog
- Lime Glazed Bundt Cake by Carrie from Poet In The Pantry
- Mini Pineapple Bundt Cakes with White Chocolate Ganache by Alice from Hip Foodie Mom
- Pina Colada Bundt Cake by Renee from Magnolia Days
- Pineapple Bundt with Kuih Tat Filling by Stacy from Food Lust People Love
- Strawberry and Banana Bundt Cake by Veronica from My Catholic Kitchen
- Vanilla Orange Bundt Cake with a Hint of Coconut by Laura from The Spiced Life
- White Chocolate Guava Cake by Kim from Ninja Baking
Here’s how you can be a part of Bundt-a-Month:
– Simple rule: Use any tropical fruit – and bake us a Bundt for March
– Post it before March 31, 2013.
– Use the #BundtAMonth hashtag in your title. (For ex: title should read #BundtAMonth: Chocolate Cinnamon Bundt)
– Add your entry to the Linky tool below
– Link back to Lora and Anuradha’s announcement posts.
Follow Bundt-a-Month on Facebook where we feature all our gorgeous bundt cakes. Or head over to our Pinterest board for inspiration and choose from over 350 Bundt cake recipes.
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Some of the sweetest & most sultry cakes I’ve seen in a while. Love that you cook for the ones you love. It’s a privilege to be about to give to those in our lives, bonus if we enjoy it too 🙂
Thank you so much, Alice! your comments are always so sweet and they make my day, thank you!
What a beautiful post, Alice. I can relate so much. In Japan women cater to their husbands and I always felt a little sorry for them. Until I met and married my husband. Ah, the circle of life =)
Speaking of all things beautiful, your mini pineapple bundt cakes look tantalizing and tasty! Wish I’d had some white chocolate ganache for my white chocolate guava Bundt minis contributions. Well, there’s always tomorrow, right?
Yes! The circle of life! Thank you so much for the lovely comment! It warms my heart when people actually read my posts and can relate to them!
This is such a sweet post, Alice. I get it. Life for me is about family and pausing. Dinner is an important part of our day. Even more so when hubs is off to be with us and I spoil him w/great food those nights;)Love your delicious little bundts. Can’t wait to try them b/c I adore any dessert w/carrot. xo
Thank you, Lora!
I love how sensitive you are Alice. This is a sweet post and your family is lucky to have you take care of them, and enjoy it! It´s all in the details, I agree. And I love how you turned a carrot cake into a pineapple white chocolate one! jaja! The white chocolate is perfect with the other flavors, I really like it, and that ganache looks impecable.
Thank you so much, Paula!
Your mini bundts are so beautiful and I LOVE the idea of white chocolate ganache. I think I could eat that with a spoon… 😉
Alice, you’re the best. You’re a strong, smart, feisty, 21st-century woman who loves her family. Like you, I used to get pissed off at how much my mom catered to my dad. I used to think it’s a generational thing, or an old-school Chinese thing. My sisters and I were taught that, as daughters, we had to serve our father so one thing we used to do was get up during dinner to go scoop him extra rice. I declared that as a modern, feminist woman I’d never do these things. Lo and behold, now I’m married and I do all kinds of things for Tony because of how much I love him. But it’s completely reciprocated – when I’m dead tired or home late from work, he has dinner waiting for me or he’ll do all the cleaning. It’s not a sign of weakness to cater to somebody, not when you’re choosing to do so for the right reasons. As for these bundt cakes – damn, lady! These look heavenly. I wish I had some right now to take me away somewhere tropical with that pineapple flavour. I love everything about this post!
Awh Nancy! Thank you! I’m so glad our mothers were patient with us while we were learning everything and finally see why they are the way that they are. . and yes, I would do this for Paul either way, but it is reciprocated and that makes me love/appreciate him even more.
What a lovely and heartfelt post. Cooking for and taking care of family is so important. It is the little things too. Sometimes it is hard to admit that you are turning into your mother. It’s not bad at all when your mother is such a good role model.
Renee,
thank you! Oh, I only hope to be half the mother that my mom is. She is truly wonderful. . with each year I get older and especially now that I have my own family, I am realizing and learning so much.
Great post, your story rings so true to me also!! I love your cakes and your pictures are gorgeous!!
Thank you, Tara!
Alice, this is such a lovely post. I’m always catering to Squirrel, and, if he’s not here, I usually never cook for myself. I love these chocolate covered mini bundts. If only I could pluck one from the screen.
Haha, Jennie! Thank you! It’s so cool to hear that many of us are the same. . the men in our lives are very lucky! 😛
Love these mini bundts! The carrot and pineapple combination sounds awesome too.
thank you so much!!!
I love your post and how you shared that food brings your family together. Beautiful cake and gorgeous photos– as always!
Thank you so much, Holly!
I find I do the same thing when my husband is away on business travel: without him here, I just don’t feel like cooking. Which makes it really hard because he works 2 jobs all winter, so he’s away more than half the week all day–no heating dinner plates for him when he gets home at 11PM. Food is love, though, and I get that. It’s very sweet.
Glad to see your white chocolate ganache worked out! Such cute little bundt cakes!
Thank you so much, Carrie! I’m glad I tried the white chocolate ganache!
Your cakes look absolutely gorgeous, the white chocolate ganache sounds insanely delicious too!
Alice, I love this tribute to your mother! Serving (and I would go so far as to say catering to) is what we do when we love people and yet, I completely understand your feelings as a girl. My grandmother always fixed my grandfather’s plate for him, when he was totally capable of serving himself and I didn’t really understand that until I became a wife and mother. It’s not a chore when you do it with a willing heart. Your little Bundts are beautiful!
Thank you!! Love that, Stacy! Serving others or showing love for them and doing it with a willing heart! Our attitude/outlook means everything!
I absolutely loved this post. I can totally relate to your little acts of love and enjoyed reading about your love for your husband. It was so heartwarming. As for these little bundts, they sound so lovely. I adore the pineapple, raisins and carrots. There are so many good things going on in there. I’m also happy to see that the white chocolate ganache worked out. When you’d asked about it on Facebook, it only then occurred to me that I’ve never attempted it either. Lovely!
Awh, thank you Kate! It means so much to me when people read my posts and they can relate! 🙂
Hi Alice, I just wrote on your post for the IFBC 2013 and wanted to check out your blog! I’m really happy to meet you and browse your lovely site! These cakes look amazing!
Beautiful cakes! The white chocolate ganache is really gorgeous.