dessert – Page 10 – Bead Yarn & Spatula

Keep The Bunnies Away Carrot Cake

I was never a big fan of Carrot cake. While I pretty much like any vegetable – including Brussels sprouts – the idea of a vegetable in a cake didn’t sound all that appealing when I was growing up. But then, at my first job after college whenever a coworkers birthday rolled around we would usually get a carrot cake from a place a few blocks away and my love of a vegetable in a cake was born. I soon found out though that not all carrot cake is the same. I have had my share of bad ones which usually entailed them being too dry or instead of being frosted with cream cheese frosting they are frosted with buttercream frosting. In my opinion, cream cheese frosting is the only way to go… The same goes for Red Velvet Cake. I’ve been making this Carrot Cake for a while now after finding the recipe on the Food Network website, it’s called Gigi’s Carrot Cake from Emeril Lagasse and I love it. It’s been a while since I’ve made one and being that it is Easter weekend I decided it was time to whip up another one.

To start I peeled and grated my carrots. The very first time I made this cake I didn’t have a food processor so I grated the carrots by hand and while it was a nice arm workout I am definitely spoiled now and won’t be going back to using a box grater anytime soon.

I only needed 3 cups of grated carrots for the recipe, which is approximately 1 pound of carrots, but I mistakenly bought a 2 pound bag instead. I ended up grating all of carrots since I had a yummy recipe for grated carrots in my recipe binder.

I started working on the batter by first combining the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt) and then set it aside.

I creamed 3 sticks of butter and then added in 2 cups of granulated sugar.

Once the butter and sugar were combined I added in the dry ingredients by alternating between the 4 eggs the recipe calls for.

I then added in some vanilla extract.

And it wouldn’t be carrot cake without the carrots.

Finally, I added in the nuts. While the recipe calls for pecans I have always used walnuts. And I actually didn’t mix in the walnuts with the mixer but instead folded them in by hand with a spatula.

And here’s what my batter ultimately looked like.

I then divided the batter between my three prepared 9-inch pans.

After baking for 25 minutes and cooling in the pans for 10 minutes I removed the cakes from the pans so they could cool completely.

Once the cake was completely cooled it was time to frost it. To make the cream cheese frosting I creamed the cream cheese and butter together first and then mixed in the confectioners’ sugar and vanilla extract. I actually made two batches of the frosting. With the first batch I frosted between each of the layers and did a crumb coating and with the second batch I fully frosted the outside of the cake.

After decorating it with a few fondant/gum paste flowers I had made and writing on it this was the final product. I can’t wait to cut into it!

Oh, and those left-over grated carrots I had I used them to make a Carrot Raisin Salad.

Gigi’s Carrot Cake

Recipe courtesy Emeril Lagasse, 2002

Ingredients
3 sticks, plus 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 cups granulated sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3 cups grated carrots
1 cup chopped toasted pecans

Pecan Cream Cheese Icing:
8 ounces cream cheese
1 stick unsalted butter
1 (1-pound) box confectioners’ sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup chopped toasted pecans

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Butter 3 (9-inch) cake pans with 1 tablespoon of the butter and set aside. In a large bowl, cream the butter with an electric mixer. Add the sugar, and beat. In a medium bowl or on a piece of parchment, combine the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt, and mix well.

Add the dry ingredients, alternating with the eggs, beating well after the addition of each. Add the vanilla extract and mix. Add the carrots and beat on medium speed until well incorporated, about 2 minutes. Fold in the nuts. Divide between the 3 cake pans and bake until set and a cake tester inserted into the middle comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and let rest in the cake pans for 10 minutes. Invert onto wire racks, remove from the pans, and let cool.

For the Frosting: In a large bowl, cream together the cream cheese and butter until light and fluffy. Add the sugar gradually, beating constantly. Add the vanilla and pecans.

When the cake is cool, place 1 cake layer on a cake plate or stand. Spread the top with cream cheese frosting and top with a second and third cake layer, spreading the icing between each layer. Spread the icing around the sides of the cake and let harden slightly before serving. To serve, cut into wedges.

Carrot Raisin Salad

Ingredients
1 lb. carrots, peeled & grated
1/2 cup raisins
1/3 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons honey
Juice from 1 lemon

Directions
Pour boiling water over raisins for five minutes and then drain to plump them up. Combine all ingredients in a bowl, mix together and then chill for a few hours before serving.

Ricotta Cheesecake With Almonds

Cheesecakes are the one thing that I never seem to get right. Granted, I have never attempted to make a basic cheesecake I usually go with flavorful ones like pumpkin cheesecake, tiramisu cheesecake, and so forth. When I come to think of it though the pumpkin cheesecake I made wasn’t that bad it was just really dense. I decided to give it another go when I came across a cheesecake recipe in the March 2013 issue of Food Network Magazine – appropriately coined The Cheese Issue – called Ricotta Cheesecake with Almonds. I usually love anything made with almonds so I knew this would be a hit for me.

To begin, I toasted sliced almonds – 1/4 cup for the crust and another 1/3 cup for the topping – in a 350 degrees preheated oven for 5 minutes. I used to skip over toasting nuts whenever I saw it in a recipe but have to come to realize that toasting them definitely enhances their flavor.

Once the almonds were cool I made the crust for the cheesecake. I combined the almonds, almond biscotti and granulated sugar in my food processor and pulsed the mixture until it was finely ground.

I then added melted butter and pulsed for a few more seconds so the mixture could come together. Once it did I pressed it into the bottom of an 8-inch springform pan and baked it in the oven for a little over 10 minutes so it could set.

While the crust was in the oven I did some prep work for the filing. I separated three eggs and used a Microplane to zest an orange. After I removed the crust from the oven I let it cool on a wire rack and lowered the oven temperature to 300 degrees in preparation for baking the cheesecake.

To make the filling I started by beating the eggs yolks and sugar on high speed for about two minutes until the mixture was a pale yellow.

I then added in ricotta cheese and beat this for another two minutes until it was smooth.

And finally I added in almond & vanilla extract, amaretto liqueur and the orange zest.

I put that part of the filling aside and beat the egg whites with sugar until soft peaks formed.

To combine the two mixtures I began by folding in 1/3 of the egg white mixture into the ricotta mixture. I then folded in the rest until the two were just combined.

After all the pulsing, mixing and baking I finally had my crust and filling ready.

I poured the filling into the crust and baked it for 1 hour 10 minutes. I opted to reduce the baking time by 10 minutes from the directions since the cheesecake looked done according to them – slightly puffed and lightly golden on top.

I let the cheesecake cool for 20 minutes on a wire rack and then removed the springform ring after running a knife around the edge of the cake to loosen it. Once the cheesecake was completely cooled I added the topping. I sprinkled cinnamon and confectioners’ sugar over the cheesecake, then spread out the 1/3 cup of almonds on top of it and then sprinkled more cinnamon and confectioners’ sugar over the almonds.

This was a cheesecake success! I will say though that while the recipe name made it seem like almonds would be the dominant flavor that was only the case with the crust, the cheesecake itself really took on the flavor of the orange zest even though there was amaretto and almond extract in it. Either was it was delicious!

Ricotta Cheesecake with Almonds

Courtesy Food Network Magazine

Prep Time: 40 Minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour 40 minutes

Servings: 8

Ingredients

For the crust:

1/4 cup sliced almonds

5 ounces almond biscotti*

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

For the filling and topping:

3 large eggs, at room temperature, separated

1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar

1 pound fresh ricotta (about 2 cups)

1 tablespoon amaretto liqueur

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

Grated zest of 1 orange

1 tablespoon confectioners’ sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/3 cup sliced almonds, for topping

Directions

Make the crust: Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Spread the almonds for both the crust and topping (1/4 cup plus 1/3 cup) on a rimmed baking sheet and bake until golden, about 5 minutes. Let cool.

Crumble the biscotti into a food processor; add 1/4 cup toasted almonds and the granulated sugar and pulse until finely ground. Add the butter and pulse to combine. Press the mixture into the bottom of an 8-inch springform pan. Bake until set, about 12 minutes, then transfer to a rack and let cool completely. Reduce the oven temperature to 300 degrees F.

Meanwhile, make the filling: Beat the egg yolks and 1/2 cup granulated sugar in a large bowl with a mixer on high speed until pale, about 2 minutes. Add the ricotta and beat until smooth, about 2 more minutes. Beat in the amaretto, vanilla and almond extracts, and orange zest.

Put the egg whites and the remaining 2 tablespoons granulated sugar in a separate bowl and beat with a mixer on medium-high speed until soft peaks form (do not overbeat). Using a rubber spatula, fold about one-third of the beaten egg whites into the ricotta mixture, then gently fold in the rest until just combined. Scrape the batter into the prepared crust. Bake until slightly puffed and lightly golden on top, about 1 hour, 20 minutes. Transfer to a rack and let cool, 20 minutes. Run a knife around the edge of the cake to loosen, then remove the springform ring and let cool completely.

Combine the confectioners’ sugar and cinnamon in a fine-mesh sieve and dust over the cheesecake. Scatter the remaining 1/3 cup toasted almonds on top and dust again. Serve at room temperature.

*5 ounces of biscotti is equivalent to about 8 pieces. I actually used Stella D’oro Almond Biscotti which conveniently came in a 5.5 ounce package.

Sour Cream – Chocolate Chip Pound Cake

This past week I went to dinner at a friend’s house and offered to bring dessert. I decided to bring a pound cake of some sort and remembered that I had a cookbook with different variations of the traditional pound cake. I tend to get cookbooks, mark off a few recipes that I like but then seem to never make them. Cookbooks are not my first go-to when I want to make something new and different. I got this recipe from Elizabeth Alston’s Best Baking cookbook which offers numerous recipes for pound cakes, angel food cakes, chiffon cakes, coffee cakes and tea breads.

To start off here are the ingredients: sugar, cinnamon, unsalted butter, vanilla extract, eggs, sour cream, baking powder, baking soda, salt, flour and semi-sweet chocolate-chips.

I began by preheating my oven to 325 degrees and prepping my loaf pan by spraying it with baking spray, lining it with aluminum foil so that it would hang over the sides for easy removal of the cake and then spraying the foil with more baking spray. I also made the topping of the cake by mixing 2 tbsp. of the sugar with 1/4 tsp. of the cinnamon. I set these two things aside then and got to making the cake.

I started making the batter by mixing together the butter, which should be at room temperature but I took a short-cut on this and warmed it up in the microwave for about 15 – 20 seconds, and the sugar. Unfortunately I wasn’t at home while making this cake so I didn’t have the advantage of using my stand mixer but my hand mixer works just as well with double, or maybe triple, the time. I mixed the butter and sugar until the mixture was pale and fluffy, per the directions.

Next I beat in the four eggs one at a time.

Following that I added in the sour cream, baking powder, baking soda, salt and the remaining cinnamon.

And then I added in the flour. Up to this point the batter was pretty smooth and thinned out but once I added in the flour it became quite thick and heavy.

Once the flour was incorporated I stirred in the chocolate chips.

I then spread the batter out evenly in my prepared pan and sprinkled the cinnamon sugar mixture on top and put in the oven.

My baking time was off in comparison to the directions. According to the directions it should take about 70 minutes, but, after 70 minutes my cake was still not fully cooked in the middle so I lowered the temperature to 300 and baked it for an additional 15 fifteen minutes which did the trick. After letting it cool in the pan for thirty minutes I removed it from the pan and let it cool for another hour or two on the wire rack. I was thinking that the cinnamon-sugar mixture was actually going to be bake into the cake but it just seemed to sit on top which I wasn’t too happy about. After it was fully cooled I wrapped it airtight and let it sit at room temperature for optimal flavor, per the directions. This actually helped the cinnamon sugar topping sink into the cake a little which was good.

I would make this again but I would lower the oven temperature so that it could bake longer without sacrificing the moisture of the cake. While the cake was good I found it to be a bit dry and I am sure that had to do with the extra baking time.

Sour Cream – Chocolate Chip Pound Cake

From Best Baking by Elizabeth Alston

1 cup plus 4 Tbsp. granulated sugar

1 1/2 Tsps. ground cinnamon

14 Tbsps. (1 3/4 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature

2 Tsps. vanilla extract

4 large eggs, at room temperature

1/3 cup sour cream

1 Tsp. baking powder

1/4 Tsp. baking soda

1/4 Tsp. salt

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

9 x 5 x 3 – Inch Loaf Pan

Heat the oven to 325F. Grease the pan and line with foil; letting it hang over the sides. Grease the foil.

Mix 2 tablespoons of the sugar with 1/4 teaspoon of the cinnamon, and set aside to use for the topping.

Beat the butter, the remaining 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar, and the vanilla with an electric mixer on high speed, until pale and fluffy.

Reduce the speed to medium. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating after each.

Beat in the sour cream, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and the remaining 1 1/4 teaspoons cinnamon. Scrape the sides of the bowl often.

With the mixer on low, stir in the flour until nearly incorporated. Add the chocolate chips and stir until the batter is well mixed.

Spread the batter (6 1/2 cups) in the pan (the pan will be very full). Sprinkle the reserved cinnamon sugar over the top. (It will look like too much topping, but it isn’t.)

Bake until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, about 1 hour and 30 minutes.

Cool the cake in the pan on a wire rack for about 30 minutes. Life the cake from the pan by the foil. Let cool completely on the wire rack. Remove the foil. For best flavor, wrap airtight, being careful not to disturb the sugar topping more than necessary, and store 1 day at room temperature before serving or freezing.

Snowed-In Fudgy Walnut Brownies

So this past weekend I was held-up indoors after Nemo dropped 20 plus inches of snow in my area. While I was able to shovel the walkway & driveway and clean off my car – which was a painstaking task as I drive an SUV and cleaning the snow off the top of it is no fun (it’s one of the few times I wish I was an inch or two taller) – I couldn’t leave my block as the plows did clean the main roads in my area but didn’t get to the side streets. One of which I live on. So, what is a girl to do, well, this one decided to bake some brownies. I figured I deserved something sweet after all the hard work I did.

I remembered that I had a mini-recipe pullout from a Food Network Magazine with fifty different brownie recipes. I decided to keep it simple since I was sure I would have the ingredients for traditional brownies but not for anything too “wild.” There is a recipe for Cherry Almond Brownies that I am sure would be delicious, but, those will have to wait for another day. Hence, my Snowed-In Fudgy Walnut Brownies.

The ingredients were quite basic: Semi-sweet chocolate chips, butter, light brown sugar, granulated sugar, eggs, vanilla extract, flour and salt. And since I like some texture to my brownies I added in walnuts. The last time I made brownies I actually used cocoa powder so I was taken aback by using chocolate chips instead. Luckily I buy them whenever they’re on sale and store them in my refrigerator because you never know what may come up… like a snowstorm!

I started off by melting the chocolate chips and butter in a saucepan over low heat.

Once the chocolate chips and butter were melted I removed it from the heat and whisked in both of the sugars. As you can see the mixture got quite thick.

After letting it cool for a few minutes I whisked in four eggs one at a time and then the vanilla extract. I was actually going to do this by hand but immediately changed my mind and whipped out my hand mixer instead. My arm already had a good workout from clearing the snow.

I did swap out the mixer for a rubber spatula though when I added in the flour and salt. I didn’t want to make too much of a mess since I wasn’t working with a deep bowl.

And finally I folded in the walnuts.

In prepping my baking dish I decided to go with the easy removal method and sprayed my dish with baking spray, lined it with aluminum foil ensuring that it was a large enough piece to overhang at the ends and then sprayed the aluminum foil with the baking spray. Once the batter was ready I spread into the prepared dish.

After baking for 45 minutes in a 325 degree oven my brownies were done.

I let them cool for about two hours before I sliced them into twelve almost perfect squares.

They were quite yummy and surprisingly not as sweet as I thought they would be considering they were made with chocolate chips and a cup and a half of sugar. They were also the perfect complement to my chai tea as I watched the Grammy’s on Sunday night!

Fudgy Walnut Brownies

Ingredients

2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 stick unsalted butter

3/4 cup light-brown sugar

3/4 cup granulated sugar

4 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup chopped walnuts

Directions

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

Coat a 9×13 pan with cooking spray. For easy removal, line the pan with foil leaving an overhang, then coat with more cooking spray.

Melt the chocolate chips and butter in a saucepan over low heat, stirring. Off the heat, whisk in each of the sugars; cool slightly. Whisk in the eggs one at a time and the vanilla extract. Stir in the flour and the salt. Fold in the walnuts. Spread the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 45 minutes.

Cool on a rack, then cut into squares.

Minnie Mouse Cake

I started my blog about a year ago with an Elmo Cake for a friend’s daughter’s birthday, well, here we are a year later and it’s time for another character cake. After mentioning a castle cake, a Cinderella cake, a Minnie Mouse cake and then back to Cinderella the birthday girl finally settled on a Minnie Mouse cake. Luckily I was able to find a place near me that actually rents out the cake pans so I won’t be collecting them. Needless to say, Elmo has been a one-time use pan thus far.

After testing out a vanilla cake recipe last week that didn’t come out that great I opted to just use a yellow cake box mix for the cake. I actually had to bake the cake two times. The first time I used one box of mix and the cake was on the flat side and it was really difficult to distinguish the mold pattern on it. The second time I used a box and a half of mix and the results were much better. The cake was much taller and while I wish the mold pattern was more distinguishable on Minnie Mouse’s face, it was 100% better than my first attempt.

I also cheated when it came to making the frosting. I am usually one who loves making things from scratch, but, since I knew I was going to need quite a bit of frosting for this cake I opted to just go with store bought vanilla frosting to ensure that it would all be the same consistency and taste. I prepped all of my decorating bags with couplers and decorating tips the night before so I could save time while decorating. While the cake cooled I got to mixing all of the colors I would need. I kept the colors I wasn’t working with in the refrigerator so they wouldn’t soften up. Working with frosting that’s too soft can become a mess very quickly. It won’t hold shape or anything and it’s very frustrating… I speak from experience. While the frosting may seem to stiff when you take it out of the refrigerator once you give it a few stirs with a spatula and start working with it in the decorating bag it becomes the perfect consistency.

After transferring the cake to a decorative cake board it was time to get to work. I started by frosting the background and sides of the cake with yellow. Admittedly, I was concerned immediately that the cake wasn’t going to look good, but, I forged ahead.

Next up, I outlined Minnie Mouse with black frosting using a size 3 decorating tip. Once she started to look like herself I felt more at ease. If you look closely at the picture you can see that I actually messed up once or twice with the outlining, but, since I was filling in the cake with individual stars as opposed to spreading the frosting all of those mishaps would be covered up and no one would be the wiser.

Now it was time for Minnie’s face to come to life. To create the stars I used a size 16 decorating tip and to smooth out the frosting in her eyes, nose and mouth I used a decorator brush dampened with water.

Bringing more of her face to life I next filled in her ears with black stars as well as her legs. At this point I was very happy with how it was coming together.

Some pink stars on Minnie’s bow and dress really added some much needed color.

I then added white stars on Minnie’s gloves and trim on her dress and violet stars on her dress sash and shoes.

And finally, I cleaned up the cake board and added yellow rosettes using a size 21 decorator tip along the border to complete the cake. I was really happy with the final outcome, so was the birthday girl, that’s what really matters.

I also made some cupcakes to go along with the cake. Unfortunately you can’t see it in the picture, but, the cupcake liners were Minnie Mouse themed.

The cake was a hit at the party, which also happened to be a Superbowl party as well. So, we all got an extra fill of cake during that thirty-four minute delay!

Holiday Baking… Six Hits and A Miss

What would the holidays be without some yummy homemade treats? Every year a day or two before Christmas Eve I bake about four or five different types of cookies. This year was no different, although this year baking didn’t seem as stressful as year’s past- probably because I was able to bake on the weekend as opposed to a weekday. Every year I get the idea to bake up actual Christmas cookies with frosting and decorations, but, it never happens. Instead my holiday cookies look more like this…

An assortment that includes Rugelach, Peanut Butter, Malted Chocolate Chip, Lemon and Fudgy Chocolate Cookies.

I also decided to bake a cake for a friend’s Christmas Eve dinner. I wanted to try something new so I went with a recipe that I saw in the December 2012 issue of Food Network Magazine, an Almond Layer Cake with White Chocolate Frosting.

First things first, I got together all of my ingredients together.

To start off I essentially created a variation of pure almond flour by pulsing together cake flour, baking powder, salt and almonds until the almonds were finely ground down.

Next up I whisked together egg whites, milk, vanilla and almond extract. While there are almonds in the flour component of the batter, the almond extract is what truly gives this cake its almond taste and scent.

And finally, what cake would be complete without creaming together butter and sugar.

I then incorporated all three of these components to create the batter for the cake.

And then divided the batter among my two prepared pans and popped them into the oven.

After about twenty-five minutes my cakes were ready to come out of the oven and cool down.

While I had no doubt that the cake would taste good I was a bit doubtful that the frosting would be as good. I have never been partial to white chocolate so I wasn’t sure how I would like white chocolate frosting. Also, I couldn’t imagine the almond flavor actually tasting good with it. But, I was wrong. The frosting actually leaned more towards a cream cheese flavor than a white chocolate flavor which was a good match for the almond flavor.

The frosting was super simple to make. Basically I made a cream cheese frosting and then incorporated melted white chocolate into it. For the white chocolate I opted to use two Ghirardelli white chocolate baking bars.

To start frosting I used about a cup of frosting in between the two layers and then covered the cake in a crumb coat and placed it in the refrigerator for 15 minutes.

I then used the remaining frosting to finish covering the cake. Once that was done I covered the cake in some red sparkles I had bought to give it a festive feel.

This cake was a HIT! One of my friends said it was like eating a Good Humor Toasted Almond ice cream bar!

Unfortunately everything can’t always be a success. I tried making Rainbow Cookies a few years and I wasn’t too happy with the end result. While they tasted good I wasn’t pleased with the way they looked. I decided to try this year after coming across a recipe in a recent issue of Food Network magazine that seemed flawless enough. Once again though, there wasn’t a pot of gold at the end of my rainbow. I’m not sure if I waited too long to slice them or something went wrong while mixing and baking but they weren’t too appetizing looking. While I could overlook that, I couldn’t overlook the fact that they didn’t have much of a taste. All I could taste was the chocolate and not much of anything else. After failing twice to get these cookies to somewhat near perfection I doubt I will try again. Sometimes you don’t need three strikes to be out!

They looked great prior to and after being covered with chocolate, but, as you can see that was short-lived once I started slicing them. Oh well!

Pumpkin Bread Pudding

After buying one too many cans of Libby’s 100% Pure Pumpkin I decided it was time to try out some different recipes other than the tried and true pumpkin pie – I’m saving that for Thanksgiving. While flipping through the newspaper recently I came across a recipe for Pumpkin Bread Pudding. It’s funny, as a child I couldn’t stand bread pudding but as I got older I acquired a taste for it. It could be because those that I do like aren’t made with traditional white bread but with Panettone, Croissants and so forth.

First things first, I got all of my ingredients together.

I then started cutting the bread into cubes – while the recipe did call for white bread I decided to switch it up a little and use cinnamon bread instead. After cutting up a little more than 4 cups of bread I toasted it in the oven for about 15 minutes. One immediate perk of using cinnamon bread was the aroma it filled my house with while it was toasting.

Following that I placed the cubes into my prepared baking dish.

While the bread was in the oven I whisked together all of my remaining ingredients that would compose the custard for the pudding.

Once all of the ingredients were mixed together well I poured it over the bread cubes.

After letting the mixture sit for ten minutes to allow the pudding to soak into the bread I cut pieces of cold butter and dropped them on top.

After baking for about 45 minutes my bread pudding was ready!

While it did taste good I was hoping for more of a pumpkin taste. Maybe I should have used the entire can of pumpkin instead of the 3/4 cup the recipe called for, then I wouldn’t have the dilemma of now finding a recipe that will only use this 1 cup of pumpkin I have sitting in my fridge.

Pumpkin Bread Pudding

Courtesy Domino Sugar

4 Cups White Bread, Cut Into Cubes

4 Eggs

3 Egg Yolks

1 1/2 Cups Milk

1 1/2 Cups Heavy Cream

3/4 Cup Canned Pumpkin Puree

1 Cup Domino Granulated Sugar

1/4 Tsp Salt

1 Tbsp Rum or Brandy

1/4 Tsp Nutmeg

1 Tsp Cinnamon

1/4 Tsp Cloves, ground

2 Tbsp Butter, cold, cut into pieces

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a 13x9x2-inch baking pan. Dry bread cubes on cookie sheet in oven 10 to 15 minutes. Place bread cubes in pan. In large mixing bowl, whisk together all pudding ingredients except butter. Pour mixture over bread cubes. Let sit 10 minutes until bread is fully soaked. Dab butter over top. Bake 40 to 50 minutes. (Pudding should set in center, but not dry).

Malted Milk Chocolate Chip Cookies

Every year around Christmas time I do what I like to call “marathon baking.” Basically for about two days straight my oven gets a good workout with me baking up different types of cookies and other treats. My staples are Rugelach, Linzer Tart and Peanut Butter cookies, but, every year I like to try one or two new cookie recipes. Last year my newest addition was Malted Milk Chocolate Chip Cookies after a friend of mine saw them being whipped up on a cooking show on the Food Network. When I checked out the recipe it sounded easiest enough – not so easy was finding Malted Milk Powder. I went to three different supermarkets before I finally found it and then randomly saw it one day at my neighborhood Target. This past weekend was said friend’s birthday so I decided to bake up a batch of the cookies once again since she liked them so much the first time.

Here’s my batter all whipped up and ready to go. You can’t really see it in the picture, but, I was testing out a new spatula that I bought at Sur La Table – it’s curved on one side and flat on the other so it’s supposed to be better at scraping the sides of bowls and I will say it worked pretty well. On a side note, at the mall I normally shop at the Williams & Sonoma closed and a Sur La Table opened. I finally ventured in a few weeks ago and signed up for email updates and in turn received a $10 coupon which I put to good use this weekend by purchasing this Spatula, a Better Batter Whisk and an Icing Spatula. All of which were on clearance so I ended up only paying about $2.

My batter is laid out and ready for baking – this is actually were I messed up last time when I made these cookies. The directions specifically say that you need to leave ample space between each cookie since they spread out considerably during baking, but, I overlooked that part and ended up having to separate all of my cookies.

When my first batch came out of the oven I still had the problem of them being stuck together and I also noticed that they were a bit too brown so I opted to bake my remaining batches at 9 minutes as opposed to 10 minutes.

My remaining batches were much better, but, although the directions say to place the cookies on an ungreased baking sheet I think the next time I make them I will either lightly grease the sheets or use parchment paper. It was a bit of a struggle to get the cookies off the sheets once they cooled for a few minutes.

Here all of the cookies cooling before I placed them in a tin.

They were super yummy…. I’m sure I’ll be making them again!

Malted Milk Chocolate Chip Cookies

Prep Time: 15 min

Inactive Prep Time: —

Cook Time: 10 min

Level: Easy

Serves: 36 cookies

Ingredients

2 sticks unsalted butter, softened

3/4 cup golden brown sugar

3/4 cup granulated sugar

2 whole eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/2 cup (rounded) malted milk powder

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/4 teaspoon salt

One 12-ounce bag milk chocolate chips

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Cream the butter, then add both sugars and cream until fluffy. Add the eggs and beat slightly, then add the vanilla and beat until combined. Add the malted milk powder and beat until combined.

In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda and salt. Add to the butter mixture, beating gently until just combined. Add the chocolate chips and stir in gently.

Drop by teaspoonfuls (or use a cookie scoop) on an ungreased baking sheet, leaving plenty of space between the cookies (they spread out quite a bit). Bake for 9 to 11 minutes. The cookies will be very flat and very chewy. Allow to cool slightly before removing from pan with a spatula.

Optional: Allow to cool completely, then use 2 cookies to make an ice cream sandwich. Add sprinkles to the sides of the ice cream, then wrap individually in plastic wrap.

Colorful Cake Pops

Earlier this year a few friends and I bought vouchers to take a Cake Pop class. After some scheduling mishaps we finally took the class this past weekend. While the place was less than desirable we still had a fun time nonetheless and all learned how to make a new treat. Although, I think I’ll be tweaking the directions the instructor gave us when I attempt them on my own.

I ended up making a total of nine colorful cake pops. I stuck with the simple technique of dipping them in thinned-down dyed frosting and putting sprinkles on them as opposed to some of the fun creations my friends made. I’m sad to say that I actually didn’t try them after my friends tried some of their “casualty” pops – they fell off the stick before or after being dipped into the frosting – and they said that they were really sweet. While I do love my sweets anything overly sweet is just not my cup of tea. And considering the amount of frosting we used to bind the cake together in order to make the balls for the pops and then dipping them in frosting I was sure that they were a super sugar rush.

Apple-Walnut Bundt Cake

I’m a little off-season in making this cake, but, a few weeks ago while organizing my baking supplies – I guess I have too much time on my hands – I came across a Bundt pan and remembered that I specifically bought it to make this cake after finding the recipe in a Martha Stewart magazine last fall. Every October I go apple picking and I always like to try a new recipe or two with the apples, but, before I got a chance to make this cake I had used up my apples baking a few Apple-Raspberry Crumb pies and enjoying an apple a day.

I started off by toasting the walnuts and caramelizing the apples. I’ll be honest, when a recipe calls for toasting walnuts, or any nut for that matter, I usually by-pass that step. I did like the flavor of the toasted walnuts, but, I am not sure if it will sway me one way or another to toast them in future recipes. My apples came out a little mushier than I would have liked, but, they tasted great.

While my apples and walnuts were cooling I got to work on making the batter for the cake. I started off by sifting the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and salt together. The recipe called for freshly grated nutmeg which I didn’t have on hand so I used regular ground nutmeg. Once that was done I got to mixing the brown sugar, butter and eggs in my stand mixer. Once they were blended together well I added the flour mixture, alternating with milk, per the recipe directions.

I folded in the caramelized apples and walnuts by hand so the apples wouldn’t be further broken down by mixing them. I must say, cake batter doesn’t look very appetizing sometimes. I poured the batter into my prepared pan and baked it for about 50 minutes in a 350 degrees oven.

And voila, a not-so-appetizing looking cake batter turned into a delicious spice cake that filled my house with a nice aroma while baking. And while the recipe did call for an apple-cider glaze on top of the cake I opted not to do it because I am not a big fan of how sweet icings can be.

Apple-Walnut Bundt Cake (From Martha Stewart Living Magazine, October 2011)

Prep Time: 40 Minutes

Total Time: 2 hours 30 Minutes

Serves: 10

Ingredients

For the Caramelized Apples:

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1 tablespoon water

3 tart green apples, such as Granny Smith, cored, peeled, and cut into 1-inch chunks

For the Cake:

2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pan

3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pan

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

3/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

3/4 teaspoon ground ginger

Coarse salt

1 3/4 cups packed light-brown sugar

3 large eggs

1/2 cup whole milk

3/4 cup chopped toasted walnuts

For the Glaze:

1 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted

3 tablespoons apple cider

Directions

Make the caramelized apples: Cook granulated sugar and water in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, without stirring, until sugar caramelizes, about 4 minutes. Reduce heat to low. Stir in apples. Cook, covered, until softened, about 6 minutes. Slightly mash apples with a fork until broken down but still chunky. Continue to cook, uncovered, stirring, until liquid evaporates, about 5 minutes. Let cool completely.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Make the cake: Butter a 10-inch Bundt pan. Dust with flour, tapping out excess. Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and 1 teaspoon salt into a medium bowl.

Beat butter and brown sugar with a mixer on high speed until pale and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Add eggs, 1 at a time. Reduce speed to low, and add flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with milk, beginning and ending with flour. Mix in caramelized apples and the walnuts.

Transfer batter to pan. Bake until cake is deep golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 50 minutes. Let cake cool in pan set on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Turn out cake onto rack, and let cool completely.

Once cake is cool, make the glaze: Whisk together confectioners’ sugar and cider. Drizzle over top of cake, letting it drip down the sides.

Cook’s Note

Storage: Glazed cake can be stored at room temperature for up to 3 days.

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: