Cheesecake-Filled Gingerbread Bundt Cake.

It's two thousand and twelve and I have just discovered the bundt pan. 

I've also discovered a few other things. Like... gingerbread is a situation I like finding myself in.

Adding cheesecake is bold. Do it.

Sometimes cake for breakfast is totally a necessary thing. Is it cake if there's no buttercream though? One could argue that it's just a round, cake-y quick bread.

One could argue that every morning for a week.

I've learned that baking gingerbread will make it all about Christmas, all of it, for 40-50 minutes. It's basically baking Christmas spirit.

And on that note: let's discuss how deeply I wish I still believed in Santa.

Maybe it's being an indepedent young lady, living life with a career and a pretty permanent boyfriend and her first ever apartment. Is decorating your own Christmas tree and baking your own Christmas cookies being an adult? I think it might be.

Is reminding yourself to slow down, get off Amazon (you've ordered enough already!), keep calm, eat some gingerbread, and maybe do some laundry what being an adult is all about?

It totally is. And if it's not, don't tell me.

Maybe it's recently finding out I have to change my Christmas plans, from being with family to driving 300 miles back in the opposite direction on Christmas Eve so I can spend Christmas day working. Maybe it's that. That sudden realization definitely ended with an angry white peach margarita Saturday night.

I wish Christmas magic was still as effortless as believing in Santa. I wish that kind of wonder was something I woke up with. But I've learned that, as an adult, Christmas magic is kind of a thing you have to make for yourself. It's a real thing, don't get me wrong, but it's kind of like fitting into your jeans at the end of December. It's not going to happen unless you believe it will... and then get out there in the world and make it happen.

So I make peppermint bark at midnight. I let my boyfriend whisk me away for night of Christmas shopping, eating respectable amounts of deep-dish pizza, and seeing Rise of the Guardians... even though there's at least a hundred five other things I should be doing. I very stealthily fill out Christmas cards at work. I call home. Often. Most importantly... I try and put that magic into somebody else's life.

Sometimes that magic comes in the form of spicy gingerbread cake stuffed with a creamy, sugary cheesecake center. Sometimes that happens. Sometimes it happens for breakfast.

Bundt cakes are way too easy. It's a mix-and-pour situation. And cheesecake centers? Stop it. I can totally make this happen. I'm not always patient and I'm not always as kind as I should be... but I can definitely can bake you a cake and tell you you look nice today.

And you do, really. You totally deserve cake.

This is real Christmas magic. Make it happen! 

Cheesecake-Filled Gingerbread Bundt Cake

Printable Recipe 

Filling
8-ounce package cream cheese, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 egg

Cake
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
2 large eggs
3/4 cup milk
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup molasses
Powdered sugar, for dusting over finished cake

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter (or spray with a nonstick baking spray) and flour a bundt pan. 

To make the filling, beat together the softened cream cheese, sugar, flour, and egg, until well combined. Set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and ginger.

In a medium bowl, beat together the eggs, milk, oil, and molasses until well combined. Whisk into larger bowl with flour mixture until just combined and no clumps of flour remain.

Pour 1/3 of the cake mixture into the bundt pan, using the a rubber spatula to evenly spray to edges. 

Using an ice cream scoop, scoop cheesecake mixture on top of the gingerbead mixture, being careful to keep it in the center and not spread it to the edges. You want it to be a surprise baked inside your cake!

Pour the rest of the gingerbread mixture over the cheesecake, again using a spatula to gently and evenly spread it. 

Bake for 40-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.

Remove from oven and let cool for 15 minutes. Place wire rack on top of bundt pan and inverse to remove cake. Allow to cool completely. 

Dust with powdered sugar before serving.

Source: Group Recipes, originally from Taste of Home.