pumpkin dulce de leche pie

I made this for a friend's Pie Party last week, and remembered how much love I this particular combination of ingredients. It adds and extra-special twist and uniqueness to this classic holiday confection.This recipe is adapted from my mom's Pumpkin Pie recipe (my all-time favorite) and Recipe Girl's Dulce De Leche Pumpkin Toffee Pie. Combining the two makes for an incredible dessert. Just in time for Thanksgiving!

1 unbaked pie crust that fits in a deep pie dish
3/4 can of dulce de leche (microwaved for about 20 seconds to soften)
1 1/4 cup pumpkin
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ginger
1 tablespoon flour
2 eggs
1 cup evaporated milk
2 tablespoon water
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 400° and move the rack to the second-to-bottom position (this is important—it will bubble over too much if you don't move the rack down). Scoop the softened dulce de leche in unbaked pie shell and set aside. Combine pumpkin, sugar, salt, spices and flour in a mixing bowl. Add eggs; mix well. Add evaporated milk, water and vanilla. Mix well. Pour mixture into shell, on top of dulce de leche. Bake for 45-50 minutes, until center jiggles only slightly. 

candy bar cookies

This cookie is one of my family favorites. I mean, "Candy Bar" is in the title. We typically only had them around the holidays, because they are a bit of work, and therefore saved for special occasions. Well this week, I decided that a special occasion was going to be Saturday, and I needed to make and eat these dudes. Really good decision, I tell you. Maybe you should do the same?

Candy Bar Cookies

Shortbread:
3/4 cup butter
3/4 cup sifted powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons canned milk
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups flour

Caramel Filling:
30 caramels
1/4 cup canned milk
1/4 butter
1 cup sifted powdered sugar
1 cup chopped pecans

Chocolate Topping:
6 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/3 canned milk
2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup sifted powdered sugar

Cream butter until light and fluffy. Add sugar and blend well. Mix in vanilla, canned milk and salt. Blend in flour. Chill dough for at least 30 minutes. Cover with plastic and roll out into a rectangle about 1/8" thick. Cut dough into squares or rectangles (trim off uneven edges and roll out and cut again until you run out of dough. Bake at 325° for 12-16 minute until lightly brown. Cool.

In the meantime, melt chocolate chips in the canned milk. Remove from heat and stir in remaining ingredients. Set aside to cool.

Melt caramels with canned milk in double boiler. Remove from heat and stir in remaining ingredients.

Spread 1 caramel filling on each piece of shortbread. Top with 1/2 teaspoon chocolate, then top with a pecan. (I found that it was easier to top with all the caramel first, then all the chocolate, then the pecans—rather than fully assembling each cookie, one at a time.)

chocolate chocolate cookies with caramel bits

I could probably think of a more fancy sounding name for these cookies, but why not call a spade a spade? Or a chocolate chocolate cookie with ooey-gooey bits of caramel just what it is? I wanted to make a cookie and I was feeling really uninspired at the time, so I called me oldest sis for some guidance. We both are recent Cuisinart food-processor owners (her even more recently), so she pointed me to a double chocolate cookie recipe from the cookbook that comes with the food processor. We clearly come from the same gene pool, because we both thought the dough would be chocolatey, with chocolate chips to boot. Don't tell anyone but, I often break the cardinal rule of baking—which is—READ THE RECIPE before you start baking. But, since I take after my mom and have a very well stocked kitchen, I almost always have what I need on-hand, or can substitute something better, I sometimes just dive in without reading. This time was no exception; most of the way into the recipe, I realized that "double chocolate" meant white chocolate chips and milk chocolate chips. Whoopsie! I don't really like milk chocolate chips anyway, or white for that matter, so I made some swaps and added my favorite ingredient: CARAMEL. Yums Magee! I tried these out on my family and they approved. You could ask my niece, who swiped the cookie from her mother and shoved it in her mouth, but her favorite word is bubble, so she may not be able to wax too poetic -- so, you'll just have to take my word for it. Here is my altered recipe:

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup pecans

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 to 1/3 cups cocoa powder (depending on how rich you want these)

2 large eggs

3/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

3/4 cup granulated sugar

8 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

3/4 cup caramel bits (I cut up Kraft caramels into little bits - I also tried a recipe using the pre-made bits, but I liked the chopped up version better. See how dedicated I am to making the perfect recipe??)

Preheat oven to 375°

Put flour, pecans, soda and salt in bowl of food processor; process to combine and finely chop pecans (pecans should not be chunky—they should mix in will with the consistency of the flour). Reserve.

Process eggs and sugars for 1 minute. Scrape work bowl. Add butter, vanilla and cocoa; process for 1 minute. Scrape work bow. Add reserved chocolate, caramel bits and flour mixture. Pulse until combined.

Drop by rounded tablespoons, about 1 inch apart, onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake until golden brown, for 10 minutes (the tops should crack). Allow to cool on baking sheet for 10 minutes, then transfer to wire rack.

UPDATE: pumpkin bread pudding

Ok, seriously dudes, you need to make this. It will blow people's minds and you will get marriage proposals (sort of a true story there, folks). I made this again recently, but I changed a few things from the last time, and it's even better than before. It was gone within minutes at the party I brought it to. So, I'm re-posting the recipe with the changes. There was always a lot of custard left over and I felt like that was wasteful so I cut that part of the recipe down by 1/4 [(fraction math is so hard.) I had to ask my Dad for help because my brain doesn't work that way.)] I also added a water bath, which I think added a lot to the texture. This is a thing of beauty. Take my word for it... or just make it and see for yourself.

Pumpkin bread pudding recipe:
6 Large eggs
2 2/3rd(-) cups milk
1 1/2 cups sugar
1(+) cups whipping cream
3/4 t. vanilla
1 1-lb loaf pumpkin bread (Use this recipe, as it's the best ever. Also, the recipe makes two loaves, so I made the whole recipe and just did one plain for the bread pudding and added a pecan/brown sugar streusel for the other and it was ridiculously good, especially paired with my ginger pear butter I just made)

** (Because of the divisions by even numbers with the odd number amounts of milk and cream, I put in a plus or minus to indicate that it is a bit more or less than the listed amount.)

Butter a 3 quart baking dish. Whisk eggs in large bowl to blend. Add milk, sugar, cream, and vanilla. Whisk to blend well. stir in bread. Let sit covered, in the refrigerator, for 30 minutes. Preheat the oven
to 350°. Scoop coated bread chunks into prepared baking dish, push down the bread crumbs, compacting the mixture. Add a little extra custard on top, and press down some more. Toss any extra custard. Fill a 9x13 pan filled halfway with water and place on the bottom rack, place the bread pudding on the middle rack. Cook for 1 hour, 45 minutes, or until it is set. Before serving, dribble some cinnamon caramel sauce over the top. Freak out.

Cinnamon Caramel Sauce Recipe:
1 cup (packed ) golden brown sugar
1 cube butter
½ cup whipping cream
¾ t. cinnamon

Stir brown sugar and butter in heavy medium saucepan over medium heat until melted and smooth, about 2 minutes. Add cream and cinnamon and bring to simmer. simmer until sauce thickens and is reduced to 1 ½ cups, about 5 minutes. Serve warm.

caramelized baked pears

(This photo is from my phone so it's not bad, but it could be way better. Apologies)

As it turns out, the majority of what I eat is based on a completely out of the blue hankering I get. Sounds like I'm pregnant, I know, but this blessing/affliction has been with me since childhood. It's just how I do. If I don't get the thing I'm craving, I'll think about it for weeks until the particular thirst is satiated. This is pretty much the reason why I learned to bake and cook. I would be away at college and call up my Mom and have her coach me on how to re-create whatever childhood concoction I needed to eat at the time. Thanks, Mom! (She's a very patient woman, and the apple fell very far from the tree in that regard.) Anyway, that's how this particular dessert came about. I knew I'd be staying in SF over the weekend, so I emailed my Mom and asked her if she remembered how she used to make these yummy caramelized baked pears back in the day and if we could maybe perhaps make them this weekend? She's always a good sport so she agreed. Problem was, she couldn't remember where the recipe was. We had an idea about what the measurements were, that the oven temp. was hot and the type and amount of pears needed. We just weren't positive on the timing and the exact oven temperature. We called my Aunt who had the recipe and it was very close to what we remembered (what's up memory skills?!) so here it is. Soooo good. The perfect cozy winter night dessert.

Caramelized Baked Pears

6 medium sized Bosc pears
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cube butter
1 cup heavy cream

Preheat oven to 450°. Peel, core, and quarter pears, then place in a 9x13" baking pan. Sprinkle sugar over pears and cut butter into chunks and place over pears. Bake for 45 minutes; spooning the syrup over the pears every 10 minutes (once the sugar melts and forms the syrup). When sauce thickens, and turns golden, pour in the cream. Continue to bake and baste pears until syrup and pears turn golden brown. Serve hot over vanilla (or other appropriate flavored ice cream—I'm looking at you, butter pecan).

pumpkin bread pudding with cinnamon caramel sauce

i love fall. i love boots and scarves and cardigans and changing leaves. i love thinking about apple cider, molasses infused treats and most of all—PUMPKIN. i keep thinking of new recipes to try which involve pumpkin. in fact, during the spring and summer i have to restrain myself from busting out my pumpkin and whipping up a pie or cookies using this marvelous ingredient. but, i have to stand by my principles, using/wearing/eating/listening to things that are seasonally appropriate. so, finally i've been able to experiment and i'm quite pleased with my first endeavor. i'm pretty sure i've mentioned how much i love bread pudding a few times on this blog and combining these two loves is a match made in fall heaven. i made my mom's recipe for pumpkin bread and combined it with an altered version of the recipe she sent me for a bread pudding from this bed and breakfast in mendocino, ca. dreamy. dream-fest. dream come true. so yeah, i like pumpkin and stuff...

8 large eggs

3 ½ cups milk

2 cups sugar

1 ½ cups whipping cream

1 t. vanilla extract

1 1-lb loaf pumpkin bread

butter a 3 quart baking dish. whisk eggs in large bowl to blend. add milk, sugar, cream, and vanilla. whisk to blend well. stir in bread. pour mixture into prepared baking dish, push down the bread crumbs, making sure they have all been coated by mixture. cover and refrigerate for 1 1/2 hours. cook for 1 hour, 45 minutes, or until it is set – 350 degrees (i had to up the tempurature to 375 degrees for the last 40 minutes). before serving, dribble some cinnamon caramel sauce over the top and serve with freshly whipped cream.

cinnamon caramel sauce

1 cup (packed ) golden brown sugar

1 cube butter

½ cup whipping cream

¾ t. cinnamon

stir brown sugar and butter in heavy medium saucepan over medium heat until melted and smooth, about 2 minutes. add cream and cinnamon and bring to simmer. simmer until sauce thickens and is reduced to 1 ½ cups, about 5 minutes. serve warm.

microwave caramel popcorn

another childhood favorite of mine, caramel corn! i love this recipe, it has perfect flavor, great texture, and the proportions are just right. this is definitely a must for movie nights, and super easy to make!

1 c. brown sugar
1 stick butter
1/4 c. corn syrup
1/2 t. salt

1/2 t. baking soda

3 quarts plain popped corn
grocery store sized paper bag

put popped corn in paper bag. in a 2 quart dish, combine all ingredients but baking soda and popped corn. place dish in microwave then bring to a boil then cook for 2 minutes. remove from microwave and stir in baking soda. pour syrup over popped corn in the grocery bag. close the bag well and shake vigorously. put bag in microwave and cook for 1 1/2 minutes. pour cooked caramel corn onto lined cookie sheet and allow to cool.

(this is for fairly gooey caramel, if you want a crispier texture, cook the caramel longer before you add the soda and pour it onto the popped corn.)

caramel cake

i wanted to make a caramel cake after i saw it after one of my food blogs i follow. i found this recipe in a book one of my sisters gave me for christmas last year. i love the idea of making anything summer and anything with caramel, so it seemed like the perfect choice! my parents were in town and i made it for a family dinner at my sister's and my dad isn't a big fan of cake. we are definitely a pie family but especially him. so when i was like "i know it's cake, but what do you think?" he said, "it's good for cake!" i think that's probably the highest compliment a cake could receive from my father.

the frosting was really tricky and maybe i didn't do it right or something but i had to mess with it. and since it's more of a brown sugar frosting than a caramel sauce it retains some graininess from the brown sugar. the cake part is very moist (ew - that word is so gross but what else do you use when you are talking about baked goods??) because it's not very healthy. this is supposed to be an old southern recipe so what do you really expect? but oh my is it good.

caramel cake:

cake:
2 1/1 c. all purpose flour
2 c. sugar
2 T. cornstarch
1 T. baking powder
1/8 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
1 c. unsalted butter, cut into chunks
3 large eggs
1 egg yolk
2 1/2 t. vanilla extract
1 t. butter extract, optional
1 1/3 c. warm buttermilk

brown sugar frosting:
1 c. unsalted butter
2 c. firmly packed light brown sugar
2 t. corn syrup
pinch of salt
1 t. vanilla extract

preheat oven to 350°. Generously spray two 9" round cakepans with cooking spray and place pans on a large, parchment paper-lined baking sheet. (i just used a 9x13 since i was traveling with a warm cake out of the oven to my sisters. that, and it's just easier.)

in a mixer bowl, place flour, sugar, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and blend ingredients. add butter and blend to break up butter into dry ingredients to get a grainy mixture. blend in eggs, egg yolk, vanilla, butter extract, and buttermilk to make a batter, scraping sides and bottom of bowl occasionally to ensure batter is evenly blended.

spoon batter into prepared pan(s). bake until cake springs back when gently pressed with fingertips, 30-35 minutes. (i had to bake longer cause of my pan choice.) cool in pan(s) 15 minutesbefore unmolding onto a wired rack to cool.

for brown sugar frosting, place butter, brown sugar, baking soda, corn syrup, salt, and vanilla in a 3-quart saucepan. cook over low heat until mixture thickens and reaches a soft ball stage (234°). if you don't have a thermometer, cook mixture 20 to 30 minutes until a bit of mixture seems to hold together like soft taffy when dropped on a clold plate. you can increase heat to make it cook faster, but slow and steady makes for better results.

remove frosting from heat and let it cool and thicken. you cand whip half the frosting with a mixer on medium speed 2 minutes and then on high 1 minute to lighten. use this to frost cake together; it will spread like frosting. pour remaining slightly warm frosting over top layer of cake and let it drip down. this cake freezes well. **(so, after i made the frosting, i had to transport it immediately into tupperware and take it with me. when i got to the house, it was sorta hard and weird looking. after dinner i had my mom help me and we decided to whip it and add a bit of milk, then warms it up again. then it cooled off a touch and we inverted the cake and poured it all over the top. it stood up pretty well and everyone seemed to like it. so i wonder what was supposed to happen vs. what did. if anyone tries this with different results, please let me know what you did!

banana bread pudding with caramel sauce

to celebrate the new year, i had a breakfast pot luck at my house. i know it's not really breakfast and more of a dessert but i decided to make banana bread pudding for my contribution. it's got bananas and that's fruit so i say it falls in the breakfast category. i sort of ad libbed this recipe but based it on this one:

For the pudding:
2 tbsp. butter
4 ripe bananas, peeled, halved crosswise and then lengthwise
2 tbsp. dark brown sugar
2 cups whipping cream
4 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
8 oz. firm white bread sliced, crusts trimmed, each slice cut into 3 strips (i used cinnamon swirl bread)
1/2 cup chopped toasted pecans

For the sauce:
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup whipping cream
1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
pinch of salt

Melt 2 tablespoons butter in heavy large skillet over medium heat. Add bananas and 2 tablespoons sugar and cook until bananas are tender, about 2 minutes per side. Remove from heat. Combine whipping cream, eggs, vanilla extract in a medium bowl and whisk to blend.

Preheat oven to 350F. Butter 9x13-inch loaf pan. Arrange 1/3 of bread strips crosswise in bottom of prepared pan. Arrange 6 banana pieces atop bread. Arrange 1/3 of bread strips crosswise atop bananas. Pour half of egg mixture over. Arrange remaining banana pieces atop bread. Arrange remaining bread strips crosswise atop bananas. Pour remaining egg mixture over. Press gently on top layer to compact. Let stand 15 minutes.

Bake bread pudding until puffed and golden and knife inserted into center comes out clean, about 45 minutes. Transfer to rack and cool slightly.

Meanwhile, make caramel sauce. Melt butter in heavy medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add cream, sugar and salt. Bring to boil, stirring until sugar dissolves. Remove from heat.

Drizzle with warm sauce and serve.