TWD: All-in-One Holiday Bundt Cake

Dear Inventor of the Bundt Cake Mold,

What is the deal with all of the ridges? Why would you purposely create more nooks and crannies for my poor cake to stick to? If I wanted to spend an hour scraping cake from the inside of a pan and then painstakingly cleaning it with a toothbrush, I would do all of my baking in thimbles. But I don't do that, because I am not a crazy person, despite your pan's best efforts to make me so.

Yes, when it came time to unmold this All-In-One Holiday Bundt, the cake was...how the French say...le hot mess. Half of the top totally stuck to the pan, and of course being an impatient monkey, I kept reaching in and trying to peel it off the hot pan in one piece, but it was still warm so it practically disintegrated on contact and peeled off in dust mite-sized chunks, to be precariously placed back on the cake with a safecracker's precision. Fun this was not.

However, through the miracle of glazing, no one will ever be the wiser...

...until they read this post. Shut up, me!


Bundt cakes aren't really my cuppa--I prefer my cake three layers tall and frosted, thank you--but if I were a bundt fan, I would love this. Pumpkin, cranberries, pecans, ginger, and cinnamon, in a moist cake topped with a maple glaze? Yum!

Great flavor, great texture, now all we have to work on is great release-from-the-panage, and we'll be set.

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TWD Brownie-Cherry Torte and DB's Macarons, oh my

It has finally happened...the perfect storm of blog posting. Two of the baking groups I belong to, Tuesdays with Dorie and The Daring Bakers, have challenges that have to be posted today. As George Costanza would say, "worlds are colliding!" So rather than make 2 separate posts, today's blog will be a super-duper-mega-big post about two delicious things I've made recently: a brownie-cherry torte and (pumpkin spice and nutella) macarons.

It's kind of a shame these guys have to share the limelight, because I thought they were both worthy of their own entry. First up, TWD's brownie-cherry torte.

As you can imagine, my husband, being married to a pastry chef and candy writer/recipe developer, eats a lot of sweets. A LOT. I wouldn't say his enthusiasm for sugar has waned, but it takes more to really impress him these days. And friends, he was blown away by this torte. We're talking head rolled back, tongue sticking out of the mouth, making guttural moaning sounds. I think it's true love.

For the most part, I loved it too. I made a half batch in a 6" pan and it was still super deep-dish and dense. The brownie part was rich and fudgy, and the mascarpone mousse was a surprisingly nice topping. I wasn't sure about the combo as I was making it, but the mousse was so light and creamy, it was the perfect foil to the dark, fudgy brownie. I also loved the cherry flavor, but I wasn't sold on the texture of chewy dried fruit in my brownie. Next time I'd either use fresh cherries or morello cherries instead of dried.But there will be a next time, because this? Was amazing!


Now on to the DB's macarons. I know this is blasphemy, but I don't really like macarons. Shhhh, don't say it so loudly! I've had some that I've thought are pretty good, but for the most part, I think they're just not my ideal cookie. They're often too sweet, and I don't usually love the texture. I guess I'll always be a warm chocolate chip cookie girl at heart. And also, I think they're annoying to make, but that may just be because we have to make jumbo 3" ones at work and let me tell you, the good lord did not intend for macarons to be made so large. They're constantly causing problems and I think I have developed a big macaron-shaped chip on my shoulder because of it.

Aaaaanyways, I sucked it up and made two variations of macarons this time around: pumpkin spice, with a spiced cookie and pumpkin-flavored buttercream, and nutella, with a cocoa-hazelnut cookie and homemade nutella in the middle.

Did y'all know it's possible to make homemade Nutella? And if you did, why didn't you send me any?? This stuff is awesome! It's just ground hazelnuts, with some cocoa, sugar, and a bit of hazelnut oil and vanilla. The texture is closer to natural peanut butter than Nutella, but the hazelnut taste is much more intense, plus it doesn't have any nasty trans fats. Yes please! Subbing hazelnuts for the almonds in the cookie also worked like a dream and gave them a nice subtle hazelnut flavor.

The nutella cookies might have been my favorite because they were less sweet, but the pumpkin spice were a surprising dark horse contender! I added big pinches of cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves to the cookie batter, and then used some pumpkin flavoring oil (used to make candies, like Lor-Ann brand) to make a pumpkin buttercream. It was like a delicious mouthful of autumn. I would also consider using pumpkin butter as a filling, to give it a pumpkin flavor and maybe cut down on the sweetness.

Making the decorations on top is the simplest thing in the world. Just mix a little liquid orange food coloring with water, and use a (clean) paintbrush or pastry brush to lightly stroke it across the top. You might need to experiment with several brushes to get the effect you want. Allow it to dry for about 10 minutes, and you're all set.

The 2009 October Daring Bakers’ challenge was brought to us by Ami S. She chose macarons from Claudia Fleming’s The Last Course: The Desserts of Gramercy Tavern as the challenge recipe. It can be found on just about any blog by googling, so I'll skip that for now, but I have put the homemade nutella recipe after the cut...



Homemade Nutella
from the Los Angeles Times


Servings: Makes about 1 1/2 cups
Note: Use good-quality cocoa powder, such as Scharffen Berger.

2 cups raw hazelnuts
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/8 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons hazelnut oil, more as needed

1. Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Spread the hazelnuts evenly over a cookie sheet and roast until they darken and become aromatic, about 10 minutes. Transfer the hazelnuts to a damp towel and rub to remove the skins.

2. In a food processor, grind the hazelnuts to a smooth butter, scraping the sides as needed so they process evenly, about 5 minutes.

It was awesome to watch the hazelnuts go from this...

...to this!

3. Add the cocoa, sugar, vanilla, salt and oil to the food processor and continue to process until well blended, about 1 minute. The finished spread should have the consistency of creamy peanut butter; if it is too dry, process in a little extra hazelnut oil until the desired consistency is achieved. Remove to a container, cover and refrigerate until needed. Allow the spread to come to room temperature before using, as it thickens considerably when refrigerated. It will keep for at least a week.

Each tablespoon: 109 calories; 2 grams protein; 8 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams fiber; 9 grams fat; 1 gram saturated fat; 0 cholesterol; 13 mg. sodium.

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Pumpkin-Swirl BrownieCakeThingamajig

Sorry, TWD'ers. I can't think of many things that sound less tasty than sweet potato biscuits. Biscuits should be of the buttermilk variety, and sweet potatoes should be of the not-in-my-house variety, so it's a pass for me this week.

However, I have been baking up a storm lately, and one of my recent favorites were these Pumpkin-Swirl "Brownies." The recipe calls them brownies, but as you can see, the slices are approximately as tall as your average toddler, so I would place them firmly in the "cake" category. And what a lovely slice of cake they yield!
I had my doubts about these browniecakes (brakes? brokes? crownies?). Of course, the 9x9 pan filled to the brim with batter was a bit suspicious, but there wasn't a graceful way to remove the artfully swirled batter to a large pan without catastrophe, so I let it be. And then they seemed to take ages to bake--waaaaay longer than the recommended 40-45 minutes--and I was sure I was going to end up with burnt toast ends on the outside and gooey pumpkin baby food on the inside after all was said and done. It also didn't help that the top turned kind of a uniform muddy brown color. (Alas, beautiful swirling, I hardly knew ye).

However, my utter lack of faith was rewarded with deeeelicious pumpkin-chocolate brownie-cake extravaganza! The pumpkin kept it nice and moist, and the spices (the usual fall suspects, plus cayenne) made it interesting and flavorful. The chocolate flavor wasn't too pronounced, which is another reason I think this falls closer to a pumpkin-chocolate cake than an actual brownie.

My only regret was that I didn't have any ice cream to serve with it. Because this cake, plus vanilla ice cream? Sounds obscenely good. If you've been looking for a recipe to jump-start your fall baking, and if you don't mind that said recipe is tragically misnamed, give these browkes (cawnies?) a go. Recipe after the jump...



Pumpkin-Swirl Brownies
From the Queen of Baking herself

* 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, plus more for pan
* 6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
* 2 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 teaspoon baking powder
* 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1 3/4 cups sugar
* 4 large eggs
* 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
* 1 1/4 cups solid-pack pumpkin
* 1/4 cup vegetable oil
* 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
* 1/2 cup chopped hazelnuts or other nuts

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-inch square baking pan or dish. Line bottom of pan with parchment paper; butter lining. [I recommend a 9x13 pan if you want more of a "brownie" sized bar.]
2. Melt chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water, stirring occasionally until smooth. [...or not. This is why microwaves were invented!]
3. Whisk together flour, baking powder, cayenne, and salt in a large bowl; set aside. Put sugar, eggs, and vanilla in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment; beat until fluffy and well combined, 3 to 5 minutes. Beat in flour mixture.
4. Divide batter between two medium bowls (about 2 cups per bowl). [Or just stir half into the chocolate bowl, and add the pumpkin to the remaining half in the mixing bowl. Save yourself some washing up.] Stir chocolate mixture into one bowl. In other bowl, stir in pumpkin, oil, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Transfer half of chocolate batter to prepared pan smoothing top with a rubber spatula. Top with half of pumpkin batter. Repeat to make one more chocolate layer and one more pumpkin layer. Work quickly so batters don't set.
5. With a small spatula or a table knife, gently swirl the two batters to create a marbled effect. Sprinkle with nuts.
6. Bake until set, 40 to 45 minutes. [If using a 9x9 pan it might take longer, mine was closer to 55 minutes. Use a toothpick in the center to test for doneness.] Let cool in pan on a wire rack. Cut into 16 squares.

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Thankful for Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Pumpkin chocolate chip cookies were a holiday tradition around my house, so imagine my surprise when, in my adulthood, I encountered those unfortunate souls who had never had a pumpkin chocolate chip cookie. (Some even went so far as to gag at the thought of pumpkin and chocolate combined, and to them I say: fools!) I may be a pumpkin pie hater, but I am a devoted pumpkin chocolate chip cookie lover, and will vociferously defend this flavor combination.


The pumpkin puree in these cookies makes them quite moist and cakey, so these will obviously not bite your banana if you're a fan of thin, crispy cookies. This was a new recipe I tried, courtesy of Bakerella. The cookies by themselves weren't bad, but they weren't extraordinary--the texture was nice, and of course the toasted pecans and chocolate chips were great additions, but the pumpkin flavor wasn't very strong. [Sidenote: do all of you know the neat cookie shortcut where you can make these cookies with a spice cake mix, a small can of pumpkin puree, and chocolate chips? Just mix 'em all together and you have instant cookie dough!]

However. I decided to frost the cookies, which I have, unbelievably, never done before. I know! I have always sent my pumpkin cookies out into the world, naked and shivering. But no longer, because seriously? Frosted pumpkin chocolate chip cookies are AMAZING. Like, a million times better than the naked version. And while we're talking about frosting, allow me to diagram proper frosting ratios:


Trust me, you will want to slather the frosting on these cookies nice and thick, because the frosting is fabulous. It's a light cream cheese-based frosting, flavored with maple and cinnamon. But it also has a lot of butter (and a little marshmallow cream, that's the secret ingredient!) so it's a buttercream-cream cheese hybrid that's light and fluffy, with just the right balance between tangy cream cheese and buttercream sweetness. Between the cakey cookies and the frosting, each cookie was like a mini slice of heaven pumpkin cake.



Happy Thanksgiving, folks! I hope you all have wonderful days full of good food and good people. If you want to invite pumpkin chocolate chip cookies to your T-day celebration, follow me for the recipe...


Pumpkin Pecan Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 1/4 cup AP flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
3 tsp pumpkin pie spice [I just dumped in a bunch of spices]
3/4 cup butter, room temperature
1 1/4 cup light brown sugar
1 cup sugar
2 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
1 cup canned pumpkin
1 cup chopped pecans
1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, and pumpkin pie spice. Set aside. In a large mixing bowl, cream butter. Add both sugars and the vanilla and beat until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time and beat until combined.

Add flour/spice mixture to sugar mixture in three additions. Alternate with pumpkin in two additions, ending with flour mixture. Stir in chopped pecans and chocolate chips.
Drop on cookie tray lined with parchment paper. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12


Maple Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

1 stick (4 oz) butter, softened to room temperature
4 oz cream cheese, softened to room temperature
1/4 cup marshmallow cream or fluff
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp maple extract, or to taste
1 tsp cinnamon, or to taste
1 pound (4 cups) powdered sugar
1.5 tbsp cream

Cream the butter, cream cheese, and marshmallow fluff together in the bowl of a large stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Mix until very light and creamy. Scrape down the bowl. Add the vanilla, maple extract, and cinnamon, and beat until combined.
On low speed, beat in half of the powdered sugar. Scrape the bowl and beat in the remaining sugar, added the cream (or more as needed) until the frosting is nice and fluffy. Add more maple extract or cinnamon to taste, if desired.
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

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TWD: Of Pumpkins and Pies

My experience with the Twofer Pie this week can most accurately be summed up with this image:
[For best results while viewing, imagine hearing that wah-waaaaah horn sound effect, or Nelson from The Simpsons laughing, "HA-ha!"]

Yes, sportsfans, this week was not a success. I'll take some of the blame: I made several mini pies instead of one large pie, and consequently I didn't follow the baking times in the book. Now obviously, I thought the pies were cooked when I took them out of the oven. They were puffed, they were cracked on top, they passed the clean-knife test. But I am here to tell you that these were not, in fact, cooked pies.

I am also here to tell you that underbaked Twofer Pie is not tasty. I can hear you arguing with me--"But surely raw pumpkin batter and gooey unbaked corn syrup make a delectable dessert!" Friends, it is not so.

You may well be asking yourself, "Self, how did Elizabeth get the Twofer Pie out of the infernally tiny mini tins, if it was so sticky and underbaked?" Good question! I used a little elbow grease, a lot of perseverance, and had some help from my friends the kitchen shears.

THIS is why you should always bake in disposable cookware!

So yes, that's one more demerit on my chart. But truthfully, I don't like pumpkin or pecan pie by themselves (I know, I'm like the Grinch Who Hates Thanksgiving) so I didn't have high hopes for liking this pie, and the outcome wasn't a big loss.

However, to redeem myself and make it up to you, I come bearing another pie, a successful, fully-baked pie, no less. And not just any pie: Pumpkin Butterscotch Pie.

This is a new recipe I tried this year to break the monotony of the same old pumpkin pie recipe. Butterscotch chips are added to the base, and although the flavor is not overwhelming, it gives the pie a deep, rich butterscotch undertone that goes nicely with the pumpkin flavor.


Although it didn't make me a pumpkin pie convert, it was a huge step up from traditional pumpkin pie, and I will definitely keep this in holiday rotation. Because of my dislike of pumpkin pie, I would probably make this as shallow tarts next time, and top it with some spiced whipped cream.

Check out the recipe after the jump...



Pumpkin Butterscotch Pie

Pie dough for 1 crust
3/4 cup butterscotch chips
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 can (15oz) solid-pack pumpkin puree
1 egg plus 1 egg yolk
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
pinch ground nutmeg
whipped cream, optional

Heat oven to 410. Line pie plate with bottom crust and refrigerate until ready to fill. [Note: the original recipe doesn't specify, but I always partially bake my crusts when making pumpkin pie, so they don't turn out soggy. I also think they're nice when made with a tart dough instead of pie dough.]

In a small saucepan, combine butterscotch chips and heavy cream. Heat over medium
heat about 5 minutes, whisking occasionally, until smooth. Let cool slightly.
Meanwhile, whisk pumpkin puree, egg and egg yolk, sugar, pumpkin pie spice, salt,
ginger and nutmeg. Whisk in butterscotch mixture until incorporated. Spoon into
crust and spread smooth.

Bake at 410 for 25 minutes, then reduce oven temperature to 350 and bake an
additional 35 minutes, until the pie puffs slightly. Cover edge
of pie with foil if browning too quickly. Cool at room temperature on a wire rack.
Serve with whipped cream alongside, if desired.

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Tuesdays with Dorie: Pumpkin Muffins

It is a strange fact of life that I love the flavor of pumpkin, but am conflicted about actual pumpkin foods. Pumpkin bread? Yes please! Pumpkin pie? Blech! Pumpkin cookies? Yum. Pumpkin ravioli? Noooo. Fortunately, pumpkin muffins fall firmly into the "EAT ME" category, so I was excited about this week's recipe. (I was also excited about using these adorable plates I found at the 99-cent store. Admire, please!)

Now, maybe I was just suffering from a lack of pumpkin in my life when I made these, but I thought they were fantastic. Is this true? Were they really delectable specimens of pumpkin muffintude, or was I just starved for pumpkin? Because I really thought they were awesome. They had crunchy tops and moist, fluffy interiors, with a perfect balance of sweet pumpkin and spices.

I sprayed the muffin cups with cooking spray, then coated them with cinnamon sugar, and before baking the muffins, dusted the tops with the same cinnamon-sugar. I love the caramelized sugar shell that results from this method.

Probably the only thing I didn't like about this recipe was the raisins. WHAT is her DEAL with putting RAISINS in every RECIPE?! Sorry to shout. Everything about those chewy little withered grape corpses gets me upset. However, it was an easy fix: I just tossed a handful of mini chocolate chips in instead, and presto! Delicious pumpkin-chocolate chip muffins that are perfect for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and all the meals in between.

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