Doughnut Time!

Today I ventured into as yet uncharted territory: the making of doughnuts.

As I mentioned in this post, I went to Top Pot in Seattle this month and picked a copy of their cookbook. When my roommate, T, went through the book, she spied a recipe that tickled her fancy right away: the Pumpkin Old-Fashioned Doughnuts. T, like me, loves pumpkiny baking, and since I had some of the stuff stashed in the freezer after making the pull-apart loaf, I was in.

Here is the recipe, which I lazily cut and pasted from this site (thank you, Nicky).

Pumpkin Old-Fashioned Doughnuts

For the Doughnuts

• 3 cups cake flour, plus more for rolling and cutting
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. iodized salt
• 3/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
• 2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 Tbsp. shortening/vegetable lard
• 2 large egg yolks
• 2/3 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup canned pumpkin
• Canola oil, for frying

For the Pumpkin Glaze

• 4 1/2 cups confectioners sugar
• 2 tsp. light corn syrup
• 1/4 iodized salt
• 1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
• 1/4 cup canned pumpkin
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup hot water

1. To make the doughnut dough: Sift the flour, baking powder, salt, nutmeg, pumpkin pie spice together into a medium bowl, and set aside.
2. In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, mix the sugar and shortening for 1 minute on low speed, until sandy. Add the egg yolks, then mix for 1 minute on medium speed, scraping the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula if necessary, until the mixture is light colored and thick.
3. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients in three separate additions, alternating with the sour cream and pumpkin, mixing until just combined on low speed and scraping the sides of the bowl each time. The dough will be sticky, like wet cookie/biscuit dough.
4. Transfer the dough to a clean bowl and refrigerate, covered with plastic wrap/cling film, for 45 minutes (or up to 24 hours).
5. Meanwhile, make the pumpkin glaze: Place the confectioners sugar, corn syrup, salt, pumpkin pie spice, pumpkin and vanilla in the work bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. With the machine on medium speed, add the water in a slow, steady stream, and blend until all the sugar has been incorporated, scraping the bowl a few times if necessary. Set aside.
6. Using a candy thermometer to measure the temperature, heat oil (at least 2 inches deep) in a deep fryer, large pot, or high-sided frying pan to 325 degrees F. Roll out the chilled dough on a generously floured counter or cutting board to 1/2 inch thick, or about 8 inch in diameter, flouring the top of the dough and the rolling pin as necessary to prevent sticking. Cut into as many doughnuts and holes as possible, dipping the cutter into the flour between each cut. Fold and gently re-roll the dough to make extra holes (working with floured hands makes the dough less sticky), and cut again.
7. Shake any excess flour off the doughnuts before carefully adding them to hot oil a few at a time, taking care not to crowd them. Once the doughnuts float, fry for 15 seconds, then gently flip them. Fry for 75 to 90 seconds, until golden brown and cracked, then flip and fry the first side again for 60 to 75 seconds, until golden. Transfer to a rack set over paper towels/absorbent paper.
8. While the doughnuts are still quite hot, dip the side with the deepest cracks on each into the warm Pumpkin glaze. Let dry on cooling racks, glazed side up for about 15 minutes.

Needless to say, these came out just amazingly. I especially loved all the little "Timbits"! Of course, now we have a bunch of doughnuts kicking around the house, but I've had worse problems.

One issue I had was that there was too much glaze for the number of doughnuts I had, so I have put the remaining glaze aside for another use. I'm not sure what that use would be at this point, but it's there should inspiration strike.


As you can see from the photo, I deep fried in my wok. This is my preferred deep frying vessel and it always works great.

This was definitely a worthwhile experience and I'm sure I'll be making more recipes from the book, but next time a yeast doughnut, perhaps. I have my eyes on the Raspberry Bullseyes!

Pull-apart Cinnamon Sugar Pumpkin Bread with Rum Butter Glaze

Oh, Pinterest, how do I love thee? Sometimes, way too much. But as I've said before, the food on it is unbelievable, and when I saw the recipe for this treat I knew I had to make it, and last week, I did. I even went and purchased a mini of rum for the glaze!

The original blog post & recipe is here.

So, let's get down to business. After making the dough (I used instant yeast so I didn't have to go through the extra step of activating it) and letting it rise, I went about shaping it. The instructions say to roll the dough out into a 20x12" rectangle, spread with the cinnamon sugar mixture, and cut that into six strips. Then you take those strips and lay them on top of each other, and then cut them into six squares. After that, you stack the squares on their edges in a loaf pan. I greased my loaf pan pretty well.


Then the loaf goes for another rise. This is where I had some issues. The squares were quite tightly packed in the pan, but as the loaf rose, the end ones rose up and out of the pan.


Upon baking, I got quite an odd-looking and lopsided loaf:


The other issue I had was that the bottom of the loaf caramelized to the loaf pan and I couldn't get the loaf out of the pan until it was rather cool and I could get my hands in and kind of tear it out by the roots. I just removed it straight to a platter for serving.


So, it wasn't over attractive. But so what? This was absolutely delicious! The rum & butter glaze was absolutely to die for, and that little recipe is going up my sleeve for some other ideas I have for it, like as a cinnamon roll glaze, for instance.

The only criticism I had was that the pumpkin flavour was quite lost with all the other flavours going on in here. It added a nice colour to the dough, though. But if I do this again, I might use more pumpkin or alter the recipe so that it's more of a brioche dough and just do a more plain pull apart loaf. But look at it! It's gorgeous!


My roommates and I tore into it and dipped the pieces in more glaze until we nearly devoured it. We left just enough for a small snack the next day.

Here it is again, from another angle:


Definitely a keeper of an idea. Go Pinterest! My roommate and I are working on another Pinterest recipe now, but it takes a while so I won't get a post up about it quite yet, but it should be worth the wait, especially if you love Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and vodka. :D

Pumpkin Chiffon Pie

I had the opportunity to do some catering last month during a trip back home, and one of the jobs was to prepare a banquet lunch for a seniors curling bonspiel. The food was copious and excellent, and it was very well-received. The menu included a stuffed chicken, a rich potato casserole, and a selection of pies, including this pumpkin chiffon pie recipe. This has been a favourite of my SIL's mom, C's, family for holiday gatherings, and this time we made it in bulk. It was delicious. The chiffon filling is like a pumpkin mousse; I might use the mousse for a cake filling one of these days as I can see it being very versatile. The recipe comes via C's sister, B.

Pumpkin Chiffon Pie

1 9" pie shell, blind baked and cooled

1 envelope gelatin
3/4 cup sugar, divided
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp nutmeg
2/3 cup evaporated milk
3 eggs, separated, yolks lightly beaten
1 1/4 cup pumpkin puree

Combine gelatin and 1/2 cup sugar, salt, and spices. Stir in the milk and beaten egg yolks. Cook, stirring constantly, over low heat, until thickened to custardy consistency. Whisk in pumpkin and chill.

Beat egg whites to stiff peaks, gradually adding the remaining 1/4 cup of sugar. Fold into cooled pumpkin. Pour into shell and chill. Serve with whipped cream.

We also made lemon meringue pies. Here's a peak at those, too.

Enjoy!

Shindig Rundown

Yesterday I had a small gathering at my place as a kind of going-away party, with the ulterior motive of using up as many of my leftover baking ingredients as possible before I move - all part of OPC (Operation Pantry Clear-out). It was lovely to just bake and bake for a couple of days. I realize I've been missing that in my life. However, the weather here was so hot, and continues to be, so it was a tad uncomfy to be in my kitchen for the amount of time I was. But it's OK.

Here is a shot of my spread:


So, on the white platter, top left, we have these rum & chocolate chip blondies, only without pecans because I'd already used them all up. Also on that plate are sour cherry & chocolate chip brownies. That recipe is basically my usual blondie recipe, only I replaced 1/2 cup of the flour with 1/2 cup of sifted cocoa powder. They are amazing!

In the pottery bowl next to that platter (the pottery was made by my super-talented potter friend, S) are these cookies. They were great.

Bottom row, left, we have a rhubarb tart. I made the pâte brisée recipe from Earth to Table, which you can see here. Incidentally, that's the same pumpkin pie recipe I used for the pumpkin pie you see in the bottom row, right, in the photo. It's sooooooooo gooooooood! I love that pumpkin pie recipe! It was a big hit at the shindig yesterday. For the rhubarb tart, I used frozen rhubarb, that, as it thawed, shrunk into probably just less than 4 cups of rhubarb; very annoying. But it was perfect for a tart, and I decided to do a lattice top. The rhubarb tart was a hit, too. The filling also contained 1/2 cup sugar, 1/2 tsp ginger, 1 tsp cinnamon, and about 1 tbsp of cornstarch.

Finally, between the two fruit pies/tarts, we have a basic banana bread. Very basic. I got this recipe from my friend Anita, who made this regularly when we were in university together. It's been my go-to recipe ever since because it's super simple and super moist.

Anita's Banana Bread

2 ripe bananas, mashed
2 eggs
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 cup brown sugar
1 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
dash of salt
1/2 cup walnut pieces, optional

Beat the eggs with a whisk and add butter, brown sugar, and bananas until well-combined. Sift in the flour, soda, and salt until the batter comes together. Add nuts, if using. Pour into a greased or lined loaf pan and bake at 350F for about an hour.

Everyone went home with a baking doggy bag. I'm leaving soon after all - I didn't want to keep any of it.

Up next, my trip to the Maritimes, Wolfville, Nova Scotia and Charlottetown, PEI, to visit family, I just know there is going to be absolutely TONS to food blog about! I can't wait!

Magazine Monday #82: Pumpkin Coconut Pound Cake

In addition to having a lot of frozen rhubarb on hand to use up before I move at the end of September when I move to the coast, I also have a ton of pumpkin in the freezer I really don't want to go to waste, either. I have a lot of pumkin recipes kicking around, and this one I have had in my binder for a few years; it's from Cooking Pleasures Magazine, which I used to get with my membership in the Cooking Club of America. I let my membership to this lapse a few years ago because it was getting too expensive with all my other various subscriptions (which have also gone by the wayside by now, too) but I still have quite a few recipes I've saved I want to try.

I made this last week and gave it to some family members to eat; I certainly didn't need an entire cake hanging around my house, especially as it was my birthday and I knew I was going to have lots of leftovers from my celebration (more about that later). I did take one slice, however, just to taste. I'll give you my critique after the recipe! Originally, this recipe is accompanied by a creamy vanilla sauce, but I didn't do that. I also didn't add the pecans as I had just used mine up in another project.

Pumpkin-Coconut-Pecan Pound Cake, from Cooking Pleasures Magazine

1 cup butter
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 can (15oz) pumpkin puree (I used 2 cups of my own pumpkin puree)
2 tsp vanilla extract
3 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup sweetened flaked coconut (I used unsweetened)
1/2 cup chopped pecans

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Grease & flour a 12-cup bundt pan. In a large bowl, beat the butter until light & fluffy. Beat in the sugar until light & fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in pumpkin & vanilla until well combined. Mixture will look curdled.

2. In another bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients. At low speed, slowly add them to the wet ingredients. Fold in coconut & pecans.

3. Spoon into prepared pan & bake...about an hour or so, or until done.

4. Cool & serve!

Now I really liked the combination of pumpkin & coconut. I love both flavours and they work well together. But this cake wasn't super pumpkin-y, which was disappointing. The colour was a bit pale. I also over-baked this slightly, so it was a bit dry. My bad for sure. The taste was good and I would try this again, just perhaps with a bit more pumpkin in it and I'd be a little more careful with the baking time.

If you make it, let me know how it goes!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

Sometimes I crave stuff, and since I've been icing my shoulder because I have some tendonitis in my right deltoid, I have been craving pumpkin. This might have to do with the fact that I am using frozen blocks of pumpkin I stashed away over a year ago to ice my shoulder with. I have also been craving chocolate, and I do love pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, which I have made before. It's a great combination. But, I wanted muffins! So I searched around the net and found this recipe on In Erika's Kitchen. I made the recipe this afternoon.

I halved the spices (1 tsp each) because I didn't want such strong spices overwhelming the chocolate, and I used plain white sugar. These turned out really well and made quite cakey muffins. But the recipe was so large I got a bonus pumpkin chocolate chip loaf out of it as well. I baked this in my largest loaf pan, but I think because the batter was so delicate, it didn't have enough structure to support itself as it rose during baking and therefore it never rose in the middle. I topped it with some sugar crystals.

Still the flavour is there! A really great treat and it hit the spot. I'm going to freeze the loaf to take to a family member's place on the weekend.

Magazine Monday (on Tuesday, not to mention a record!) #68: Pumpkin Pecan Bundt Cake

Of course, just as I start getting back into the swing of things, I go away for a few days, but there will be lots to post here when I get back.

Anyway, I managed another magazine recipe for the week, which is a record: two in seven days is not the norm, as we all know. In fact, it's two in four days to be precise. Well, it was Canadian Thanksgiving here on the weekend so I made a nice dessert to take to a friend's for dinner on Sunday night, and since I have a ton of pumpkin in my freezer, and there was a special pumpkin section in the Oct. 2010 issue of Canadian Living, I just had to take advantage of all these planets aligning for me.

The recipe for the Pumpkin Pecan Bundt Cake I made is here.

OMG - this was so fantastic I barely have words. It was a huge hit, and I even had enough left over from Sunday night's dinner to serve my dad for dessert at our own little Thanksgiving celebration last night. He doesn't like pumpkin that much and even he loved it! This cake was really moist and flavourful, and the crunch of the pecans was wonderful. It was perfectly spiced. I didn't make the rum glaze, but instead served this with some sweetened whipped cream and some caramel sauce I've had hanging out in my fridge for ages. It was perfect!

Definitely a keeper!

Magazine Monday #59: Pumpkin Gingerbread Trifle (Solstice Dessert!)

Finally, a week after the fact, I present to you the dessert I made for this year's Solstice meal, and let me tell you, this is a doozy! I knew the moment I saw it in the November (and final) issue of Gourmet Magazine, that I had to make this. It was just too good to pass up.

And boy was I right! This was an incredible concoction. And pretty simple to make. You can find the original recipe here.

The only change I made to the recipe was that, for the gingerbread cake, I used about 1/4 cup of chopped ginger in syrup that came in Jodi's parcel, and I reduced the ground ginger to about 1 tsp. It was a good call; the chopped ginger really added a lot of flavour to the cake. In the end, however, it wasn't the greatest gingerbread I've ever had, but since it was going in a trifle, it didn't matter as much.

The pumpkin mousse was fabulous and easy to make. In fact, in general, this was a very easy dessert to put together, and very light. I would definitely make this again!

As it happened, it didn't all get eaten on Solstice, so guess what I had for breakfast the following three mornings? Yep. And it makes an awesome breaky, too, I must say!

Pumpkin Time!

Good old LOGS (local overpriced grocery store) actually had a decent deal of for once in a blue freakin' moon: pumpkins for 19 cents/lb. For $2.53 I got these beauties:I spent yesterday roasting them up, pureeing the meat, and freezing the pumpkin in one and two cup portions. I got exactly 14 cups of pumpkin puree from these two pumpkins! Woo-hoo!I also saved all the seeds and roasted them, in addition to the seeds my roommate gave me when she emptied out the pumpkin she bought for Halloween. I decided to have some fun with the spices Palidor sent me in her care package recently. I made three different kinds of roasted pumpkin seeds (always a favourite snack of mine at this time of year!): curry flavour, using the curry powder Palidor's dad uses; Chinese Five Spice; and just plain salted.The curry ones smelled absolutely out of this world! They needed some help in the flavour department, however. I think these would be good on a salad or as a garnish. I can tell you, though, that I am so looking forward to making a real curry with this powder because the aroma blew me away. The Five Spice were OK...They also needed a bit of help. I think, in retrospect, I should have added some sugar to them. The salted ones were great!

Thanks again, Palidor!!!

Have a great Halloween everyone!

Pumpkin Pie!

This is the first recipe I've made from my recently reviewed copy of Earth to Table, by Jeff Crump and Bettina Schormann. I knew this was something I had to make as soon as I laid eyes on the recipe - adore pumpkin pie, and sometimes you need to branch out from the same old recipe you've been using for a decade, right? Right! The fact that this is no-bake is a bonus.

First of all, let me tell you about the pastry. You all know I'm always on the lookout for great pastry recipes, right, because I've had pastry-making issues in the past? I was actually not going to bother making the pastry recipe from Earth to Table because I like this one so much, but I decided to give it a whirl after I read through the instructions. In them, the author advises to use a grater to grate the cold butter into the dry ingredients. This means you don't need to touch the pastry as much with your hands - making a flakier pastry and much less of a mess. This was such a brilliant idea! And it worked fantastically. I can honestly say that this is the nicest pastry I've ever made: it was perfectly flaky, light and airy, and tasted excellent. It was a bit on the salty side, however, but that is easily remedied. I added a bit more sugar to it since it was going with a sweet pie.

Pâte Brisée for 9" single crust pie, page 306 of Earth to Table, very slightly adapted by me

1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp salt
2 tsp sugar
1/2 cup cold unsalted butter
2 tbsp - 1/4 (approx.) cold water

Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl. Grate butter directly into dry ingredients. Stir. Add water, a tbsp at a time, kneading dough slightly until it comes together. Turn onto floured work surface. Shape into a disk and chill until needed.

In this case, you need a blind baked pie crust, so I rolled out the pastry dough immediately and lined my pie plate with it and stuck it in the freezer until it was cold. Then I pressed foil onto the surface of the shell and added my pie weights (I use rice), and blind baked the crust at 350F for 15 minutes the pie weights in it, removed the pie weights, then baked the crust an additional 20 minutes until it was light golden. I set it aside to cool.

The pumpkin pie recipe in the book is called "Mile High Pumpkin Pie." It uses a meringue made with maple syrup on the top, which is then broiled to get a nice toasted effect. I didn't do this because it required a cup of maple syrup, and because that particular ingredient is expensive for me and I didn't want to part with a cup of it for one dessert, I topped the pie with whipped cream instead. This was just dandy. The filling recipe is amazing, though! For it, I used pumpkin that I roasted last year and froze. That pumpkin was a little pale, so this filling doesn't have the dark orange colour that a typical pumpkin pie might have.

Pumpkin Filling (page 212, Earth to Table)

1/4 cup cold water
1 packet powdered unflavoured gelatin
1 cup cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup whipping cream
2 cups roasted pumpkin
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

Combine cold water with gelatin and let it sit (bloom) for at least 10 minutes.

Cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Add whipping cream until incorporated, occasionally scraping down the sides of the bowl. Add pumpkin, salt, and spices; beat until smooth. Set aside.

In a small saucepan, cook gelatin mixture over low heat, stirring until gelatin dissolves completely - about 1 minute. Add to pumpkin mixture and mix until well combined.

Pour filling into prepared shell. Chill at least an hour before serving.

This was a huge hit! The filling was so light it was almost mousse-like, and it wasn't too sweet. The spices were perfect. This will definitely be made again in my kitchen - it was excellent!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Loaf

Ah, the continuing saga of my wonky appetite! Why I wanted this flavour combination of all things right now is beyond me, but want it I did. I knew I wanted something with chocolate in it, but not too much chocolate. And I was craving pumpkin...Yes, I am aware it isn't pumpkin season, but luckily I had some in the freezer. I loved the Pumpkin, Chocolate Chip, & Cranberry Cookies I made previously, but wasn't in the mood to make cookies. I could have sworn that in one of my recent food magazines I'd seen a recipe for chocolate chop loaf, but I searched and searched & couldn't find it. So, I resorted to Google and found this recipe from an old issue of Gourmet. It looked perfect for what I was desiring.

And it turned out excellently! My oven was a bit off, so the crust got a little dark & chewy in places, but this loaf/cake had a lovely texture and the subtle spicing was very nice. I didn't use pumpkin pie spice because I don't have any, so I used my own combination of cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, ginger, and all spice. Worked great. My house filled up with the most amazing smell as it baked...

I can't wait for pumpkin season!

Magazine Monday #44: Reprise

I've been a bit lax with Magazine Mondays for the last few weeks, mainly because it's been too hot to bake or cook and I've had some trouble motivating myself to participate in MM. But, things are about to change, as I will be hosting Magazine Monday from August 17 - September 14 inclusive because our regular host, Ivonne of Cream Puffs in Venice, will be on holiday. For those of you not familiar with the concept of Magazine Monday, Ivonne started it off just over a year ago as a self-help tool to aid those of us who clip and save magazine recipes but have problems actually getting around to making the recipes. Thus, we accumulate tons of recipes, never knowning whether they are worth the space they are taking up.

For the four weeks I'm hosting, if you have made a magazine recipe of any kind, send me an email (wandering_coyoteATyahooDOTca) with a link to your post and I'll post the link in my own MM post.

For this week, I offer you all a reprise of a recipe I posted way back in May of 2006, before the creation of MM: Pumpkin Orange, and Raisin Muffins, courtesy Canadian Living.

Pumpkin, Orange & Raisin Muffins

2 cups flour
1 cup raisins
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg
1 egg
1 3/4 cups pumpkin puree (not pie filling!) - this equals 1 can (398mL) pumpkin
2 tbsp orange zest
1/2 cup orange juice (I zested two large naval oranges and juiced them both, and this worked fine)
1/3 cup vegetable oil

1. Sift together the dry ingredients in a large bowl.
2. Combine the wet ingredients in a bowl, and add to the dry. Add raisins. Mix until it just comes together. Don't overmix.
3. Bake at 375F for 20 - 25 minutes, or until done.

This should yeild 12 muffins.

So, I hope to hear from you next week with your MM recipes, and I will be back in full form with new MM posts of my own then!

Enjoy!

Pumpkin Bran Muffins

Here is another installment of products made by yours truly at her little baking gig. This time, Pumpkin Bran Muffins, commercial style! These are a fantastic muffin, actually, and the texture is beautiful. Pumpkin tends to do that, and the flavour of pumpkin works well with the bran and, unsurprisingly, the molasses. Again, this makes about 36-42 large, bakery-sized muffins, but the recipe can be divided by four for the home baker.

Pumpkin Bran Muffins

Mix together well:
4 cups oil
4 cups sugar
12 eggs
1 1/2 cups molasses
2 tbsp cinnamon
8 cups bran
1 tin (28oz) pumpkin (NOT pumpkin pie filling)

Add:
7 cups water
4 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
8 cups flour

Scoop & bake @ 350F. The batter will be both sloppy and a bit lumpy, but don't worry - it all works out in the end.

These muffins fill the kitchen with such a wonderful aroma!

Enjoy!

P-p-p-Pumpkin!

Last week I snagged a pumpkin at Save-On, where they were on sale for $4 each. I could buy canned, but fresh and home-processed is way better, and much cheaper.

I began by cutting up the pumpkin and removing the seeds, which I rinsed well, salted and roasted. I put the pumpkin, skin up, on a baking sheet lined with one of my trusty silicone baking mats. I put the oven at 375F and just under an hour later, I had a whole bunch of pumpkiny goodness.

After letting the pumpkin cool slightly, I scraped the flesh from the skin and put the flesh in a sieve over a bowl, because you need to get as much of the water out of the pumpkin as possible. Every so often, as the pumpkin cooled, I mashed it against the side of the sieve to press out more water. When it was completely cool and didn't look like there was much water left in it, I packaged it up into 1 cup bundles and froze them. I got nearly 5 cups, which is great! I also got a great couple of snacks from the roasted pumpkin seeds.

Today I made some cookies with the pumpkin, and they were fantastic. I've really been fancying some pumpkin baking and I had a taste for pumpkin combined with chocolate.

Pumpkin, Chocolate Chip, and Cranberry Cookies

2 1/4 cups flour
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp each allspice and cloves
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp each salt and baking soda
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 can/15oz/1 3/4 cups pumpkin
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups chocolate chips
1 cup dried cranberries

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Beat together butter & sugar until light & fluffy. Add eggs one at a time. Add vanilla and pumpkin. Combine well. Sift together dry ingredients and combine with the butter mixture. Fold in chocolate chips & cranberries.
3. Bake for 12 - 15 m or until golden brown and edges are slightly browned. Remove to wire racks and cool completely.

Enjoy!

Pumpkin Pudding: Breakfast of Champions!

I mentioned in yesterday's Thanksgiving post that I was inspired by my Pumpkin Bread Pudding to make pumpkin French toast, since the two dishes are very similar. So this morning I thought, why not have the Pumpkin Bread Pudding for breakfast?

So I did.

Man, this is dangerous stuff! It tasted better today than it did yesterday - the spices were brighter and the pumpkin flavour was more pronounced. It was amazing.

I have one breakfast-sized serving left!

Magazine Monday #11: Pumpkin Walnut Bread

This recipe came from the October 2008 issue of Gourmet magazine, in a segment about a new cookbook called The Art and Soul of Baking. The book came highly recommended, though I need another baking book like a hole in the head! This recipe was simple to put together and used the regular pantry items I always have on hand. I didn't have any walnuts, though, so I used some pecan pieces instead.

Pumpkin Walnut Bread, from The Art and Soul of Baking by Cindy Mushet (adapted slightly by me)

2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp salt
2 large eggs
1/3 cup water
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup canned pumpkin puree
1/2 cup neutral-flavoured vegetable oil (I used safflower)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup chopped toasted walnuts (I used pecans, as mentioned; I could have used my hazelnuts, but I'm hoarding them)

1. Preheat oven to 350F and position rack in the centre. Prepare a 9x5" loaf pan.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, soda, salt, and spices until thoroughly blended.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs and water. Add sugar and blend well. Add the pumpkin, oil, and vanilla and blend well.
4. Add the pumpkin mixture to the dry ingredients and blend until smooth. Add the walnuts and stir to evenly distribute them. Scrape batter into prepared pan and level the top.
5. Bake for 55 - 65 minutes, or until the bread is firm to the touch and a tester inserted into the centre comes out clean. Transfer to a rack to cool completely. Wrap leftovers well.

And voila! As easy as sin, and man did the batter ever taste yummy and was it ever silky on the tongue! The aroma of the baking loaf spoke of fall and autumnal baking and all that good stuff. The end product itself...It looked gorgeous. The texture couldn't be beaten - moist and delicious. The bread had too much sugar in it, I think, and the sweetness overpowered the spices and the pumpkin flavour. So, if I make this again (which I might!), I'll tweak the sugar amount back to 1 cup. Nothing insurmountable there.

Enjoy!

Solo Thanksgiving

Life with a mood disorder is always quick to change. I was going to go to the family dinner tonight at my SIL's parents' place, but at the last minute bailed because I wasn't feeling up to it. I am also in hormone hell right now, so I opted for a feast for one. I went to my local overpriced grocery store and bought a roasting chicken, some nugget potatoes, and some snacky things. I also bought the ingredients for a dessert I've been wanting to make for a long time.

My dinner was very simple as you can see, but I did enjoy the chips & dip I munched on this afternoon as I watched a movie, and though my fare was plain and easy to make, I am stuffed and satisfied.

As for the dessert, it was also simple and easy to prepare, but man was it good! About a year ago, I came across this recipe for Pumpkin Bread Pudding in the Oct. 2007 issue of Bon Appetit, and I cut it out and saved it in my recipe binder. I made a loaf of pumpkin bread earlier this week (post and recipe upcoming - stay tuned) and had 3/4 cup leftover canned pumpkin. The pudding recipe called for exactly that amount of pumpkin, and the rest of the ingredients I either had on hand or were cheap and easy to find - this is bread pudding after all.

It certainly smelled wonderful as it baked, and it looked beautiful when I took it out of the oven. After letting it cool for a while as I did my dishes, I finally dug in. And...It was totally awesome! Rich, very rich, but to die for! Definitely a keeper recipe - and I can't believe I waited all this time to make it. Unfortunately, I don't come from a bread pudding-loving family, so I'm not sure how it would go over with the crowd, but I was impressed. It also gave me another idea: pumpkin French toast! I can just see - and taste - it now!

To all my Canadian friends and readers, have a happy Thanksgiving!

Pumpkin White Chocolate Chip Muffins

Pumpkin White Chocolate Chip Muffins
Originally uploaded by wanderingcoyote.

I got this recipe from Peabody. It's absolutely fabulous! Pumpkin is one of my favourite things to bake with because it's so versatile and you can combine it with a lot of flavours. Careful with your oven temperature here; white chocolate burns at a lower temperature than milk or dark chocolate.

The recipe can be found here.

Pumpkin, Orange & Raisin Muffins

I'm a huge fan of all things pumpkin (well, except soup). I am very grateful for good quality tinned pumpkin that is available year round. This is a great recipe I originally got from Canadian Living Magazine. These are fantastic with cheddar cheese, or all by themselves. The batter is thick, but don't worry; they bake up really nicely.

Pumpkin, Orange & Raisin Muffins

2 cups flour
1 cup raisins
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg
1 egg
1 3/4 cups pumpkin puree (not pie filling!) - this equals 1 can (398mL) pumpkin
2 tbsp orange zest
1/2 cup orange juice (I zested two large naval oranges and juiced them both, and this worked fine)
1/3 cup vegetable oil

1. Sift together the dry ingredients in a large bowl.
2. Combine the wet ingredients in a bowl, and add to the dry. Add raisins. Mix until it just comes together. Don't overmix.
3. Bake at 375F for 20 - 25 minutes, or until done.

This should yeild 12 muffins.

Enjoy!

Pumpkin Harvest Cheesecake

For my American readers, heading into Thanksgiving, I present to you a fabulous change from the usual pumpkin pie (not that there's anything wrong with it). I made this a while back and it was great.

Pumpkin Harvest Cheesecake

Crust:
3/4 cup chocolate wafer crumbs
1/3 cup finely chopped pecans
3 tbsp butter, melted

- Heat oven to 350F. Combine ingredients and press onto bottom of 9" springform pan. Bake 10 minutes. Let cool.

Filling:
1 1/2 cups pumpkin puree (NOT the pie filling!)
3 eggs
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger and nutmeg
3 packages (250g each) cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 tbsp cornstarch

- Whisk together pumpkin, eggs, brown sugar, and spices. In a separate bowl, using an electric mixer, beat cream cheese, sugar and cornstarch; blend into pumpkin mixture. Pour over crust. Bake 50 - 55 minutes, or until centre is just set.
- Remove from oven and run knife around edge of cake. Cool completely. Refrigerate overnight.

As you can see, cheesecake isn't a complicated feat to take on. Here are a couple of tips, though, to help you not get a huge crack down the centre of your finished product.

1. Do run a knife around the edge of the cheesecake gently as soon as you take it out of the oven. The cake will sink as it cools (expansion and contraction of heated materials, etc.) and if you loosen the edges, they won't tug at the cake as it sinks.
2. Don't overbeat your filling. If you add too much air to it, it'll puff up too much and then sink even more as it cools.
3. Some recipes call for baking the cheesecake in a waterbath. I generally don't do this unless the recipe specifically states it. I have found that the extra moisture in the oven increases the baking time and inhibits the setting of the cake. But the waterbath does insulate the cake and this can help prevent cracking. Like I say, follow the recipe.
4. If you do get a crack, you can cover it by making a simple glaze using sour cream, a bit of sugar, and a bit of whipping cream to loosen it. I would only do that on cheesecakes that are predominantly white, though. In this case, just plate it and add a dollop of whipped cream, sift some cinnamon over top and voila! Enjoy!