pumpkin cake with apple crisp topping

i've been thinking for a while now that apples and pumpkin should make friends. they use the same spices and they are both fall friendly. so i decided i needed this. pumpkin cake, caramelized apples, and a crispy topping. so that's what i did.

here is the cake recipe:
2 cups flour
2 tsps ground cinnamon
2 tsps baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground allspice
1/4 tsp ground giner
1 2/3 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
4 large eggs, room temperature
1 15 oz. can pumpkin

grease a 13 by 9 inch baking pan. whisk the flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, salt, allspice, and ginger together in a medium bowl.

in a large bowl, beat the sugar, oil, and eggs together with an electric mixer on medium high speed until thick & fluffy, about 5 minutes. reduce the mixer speed to low and beat in the pumpkin puree until combined, about 1 minute. slowly beat in the flour mixture until just incorporated, about 30 seconds.

give the batter a final stir with a rubber spatula to make sure it is thoroughly combined. scrape the batter into the prepared pan, smooth the top, and gently tap the pan on the work surface to settle the batter. bake the cake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a few moist crumbs attached, 30-35 minutes. (bake at 350°)

but i baked it for about 20 minutes, then added caramelized apples. for this, i sliced up two golden delicious apples, and sauteed them in about a tablespoon of butter and added cinnamon and cloves and dark brown sugar to taste.

and to top it off, i made the crisp topping from this recipe (but halved it, as shown below).
1 c. sugar
1 c. flour
1/2 c. butter
2 t. cinnamon

then i baked it another 15 minutes. until a knife inserted in the center came out clean. and voila! you have yourself a fall dessert with two of my favorite ingredients.

chocolate chip gingerbread cookies

i've made these before but i had to post again because i love them sooooo much. this is absolutely one of my favorite cookies of all time. and it's a martha stewart favorite as well. so, you really can't go wrong. again, my changes were just using regular semi-sweet chocolate chips and only cooking them for 10 minutes, so they have a more truffle-like consistency. so do yourself a favor and make these for yourself!

7 ounces best-quality semisweet chocolate (i just used chocolate chips)
1 1/2 cups plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter
1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
1/2 cup dark-brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup unsulfured molasses
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup granulated sugar

in a medium bowl, sift together flour, ground ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and cocoa. in another bowl, beat butter and grated ginger until whitened, about 4 minutes. add brown sugar; beat until combined. add molasses; beat until combined.

in a small bowl, dissolve baking soda in 1 1/2 teaspoons boiling water. beat half of flour mixture into butter mixture. beat in baking-soda mixture, then remaining half of flour mixture. mix in chocolate; turn out onto a piece of plastic wrap. pat dough out to about 1 inch thick; seal with wrap; refrigerate until firm, 2 hours or more.

heat oven to 325 degrees. roll dough into 1 1/2- inch balls; place 2 inches apart on baking sheets. refrigerate 20 minutes. roll in granulated sugar. bake until the surfaces crack slightly, 10 to 12 minutes (i do 8 to 10). let cool 5 minutes; transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

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.

guest posting

another one of my posts from nigella's book on yourheartout.com.

here's a hint: it's VERY chocolatey

peach-ginger-blueberry cobbler

i want to hug peaches. they are so delightful that i buy a bunch at the end of the season and cut them up and freeze them. i admit that i HATE peeling and chopping them (although that little trick where you boil the peaches at a hard boil for 1 to 2 minutes really makes it so much easier.) even so, peaches are a dream. i was craving them last night so, when i was looking for good cobbler recipes, i found my cousin's that she sent me a while back. i added some blueberries and halved the original recipe so it fit in an 8x8 square pan. plus a few spices that i was in the mood for. which seemed to work well because my friend said it tasted like christmas in a bowl (i'd say that's a pretty awesome compliment.) here is the original recipe:

PEACH COBBLER
7 cups peaches (peeled, sliced and chunked)
1/2 cup sugar
2 tbsp. flour
1 tbsp. lemon juice
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp. almond extract
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt

(i added about 1/2 tsp. of nutmeg and cloves. and about 1 tsp. fresh ginger.)

Mix together and put in a 9x13 pan.

topping:
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
2 tbsp. butter, softened
1 egg

mix topping ingredients together and spoon over peach filling.

bake 375 degrees for 35-40 minutes or until the topping is browned and thoroughly cooked. you could top with ice cream, or english custard like i did.

granola with coconut and dried apricots

i'm always looking for nutritious snacks and with no preservatives that don't taste like stale cardboard. luckily, i found this granola recipe on smittenkitchen.com but made a few adjustments to make it less of a granola bar and more loose granola i could eat as cereal or just munch on.


2 cups old-fashioned oatmeal
1 cup sliced almonds
1 cup shredded unsweetened coconut
1/2 cup toasted wheat germ
1/4 cup flax seed
3/4 cup honey
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon coconut extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 1/2 cup dried apricots

preheat your oven to 350°F. butter a 9×13-inch pan.

toss the oatmeal, almonds, and coconut together on a sheet pan and bake for 10 to 12 minutes, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned. transfer the mixture to a large mixing bowl and stir in the wheat germ and flax seed. reduce the oven temperature to 300°F.

while the mixture is still warm, stir in the honey, vanilla, coconut and almond extracts and salt until the mixture is well coated, then the dried fruit. pour the mixture into your prepared baking dish and press, press, press it in (wet fingers and/or a silicon spatula work great for this) until the mixture is packed as tightly as possible.

bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until light golden brown.

store these in an airtight container at room temperature for a week or two.

(with milk and bananas - dreamy!)

how to be a domestic goddess recipes: chocolate peanut butter bars

like most foodies, i saw the "julie and julia" movie and loved it. my friend and i were inspired to go through a cookbook as well. so we decided on nigella lawson's book, "how to be a domestic goddess". the tagline of the book is: "baking and the art of comfort cooking" - which is totally up my alley. whenever people ask me what i like to bake and what my style is, i always say that it's baked comfort food, stuff your (my) mom would make. so it's the perfect book to go through. this was my first recipe to try cause i had the ingredients mostly on hand, it included chocolate and it took almost no time to make. awesome. the taste of these is very similar to peanut butter bon bons so that's pretty dreamy, but a simple approach to the same concept. anyway, enough chatter... get to making these!


ingredients for the base:
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
1 1/3 cups confectioners' sugar
1/4 cup unsalted butter
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons creamy peanut butter

ingredients for the topping:
7 ounces milk chocolate (i didn't have milk chocolate, so i just used 11 oz. of semi-sweet instead of the milk and bittersweet)
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate
1 tablespoon unsalted butter

stir all the ingredients for the base together until smooth. press the sandy mixture into a 9-inch square brownie pan and make the surface as even as possible.

to make the topping, melt the chocolates and butter together (in a microwave for ease, for a minute or two on medium) and spread the base. put the pan in the refrigerator to set. when the chocolate has hardened, cut into squares (after you let it sit out for a bit for the chocolate to soften just a touch, otherwise it will crack when you cut it)

plum jam

my new obsession is plum jam. why did i not know about this earlier? so easy to make, really inexpensive and the recipe i found (at thechefinyou.com) is so made in a couple of simple steps and with only a few ingredients. plum jam + brie + french bread and fresh pear = heaven.

approx. 5 cups of plums, chopped and pitted
2 T. of freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 packet powdered fruit pectin (i had the liquid kind and just boiled it all longer)
1 cup honey (increase or decrease as per taste) -- i love that this calls for honey instead of straight sugar
1/2 cup water

mix the plums, pectin and lemon juice in a heavy bottomed pan (i used my dutch oven pot) and cook in medium heat. the plums will start liquifying slowly. while slightly mushy, add 1/2 cup water, stir well and cook until it comes to a boil. remove the foam that forms on the top (or to make the foam go away easily you could just add a little butter.) add the honey or sugar, mix and cook for another 10-15 minutes until it all starts coming together as one thick syrup consistancy.

instructions for the canning process:
alternatively with soapy water, clean the jam can well, along with the lid. lightly dry it and then drop them in a big pot of water. bring them to a boil. lift them carefully (don’t burn your hands) and lightly dry them with paper towels. they should feel hot since it will make sure that the bottle does not break when your pour the jam inside. slowly pour the jam into the jar up to about 1/2-1/8 inch on top. close the lid tightly and invert the bottle to help the jam set well for about 5 minutes.

now slowly place it, straightup, inside the hot boiling water and leave it for another 5-8 minutes. this is done to help make the jam keep longer. if you live in higher altitudes, then leave them for about 10min. too much boiling can make the jam runny, as well.

remove and refrigerate the jars once completely cooled.

dreamy.

rhubarb-raspberry jam

it's official, your grandma and i should be best friends. i spent all day yesterday making jam, knitting, and watching old movies. all i need now is a hip replacement for it to be even more legit. i made two kinds of jam. a plum jam (which i'll post later this week) and this rhubarb-raspberry jam. i've only made freezer jam before, so i was excited to try making the cooked kind. i can't remember how i found this recipe, but i did, and i'm thankful for it. i found it here and it's so much simpler than i thought it would be.

Rhubarb-Raspberry Jam - from The Rhubarb Compendium - makes about enough to fill up four 8-oz jars

4 cups 1-inch pieces fresh rhubarb (about 1 1/2 pounds)
2 cups sugar
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 1/2-pint basket raspberries
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom

combine rhubarb pieces, sugar and fresh lemon juice in heavy large dutch oven. cover and refrigerate until juices form, stirring
occasionally, at least 8 hours or overnight.

bring rhubarb mixture to simmer over medium heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. increase heat to high and boil until rhubarb mixture thickens slightly, about 5 minutes. add raspberries and boil until mixture is thick, stirring occasionally, about 6 minutes longer. remove jam from heat. stir in ground cardamom. cool jam completely.

(i boiled my jars in hot water and filled them up with the hot jam, then turned them over for 5 minutes, then boiled them for ten more minutes—right side up—to get a better seal so that my jam will last longer)

i want: pop savor from prepara

i need these in my life. how cute are they? i found these on thekitchn.com (one of my favorite food sites/blogs). i'm always sprinkling salt or red pepper flakes or sugar on something and this is such a great design. and would be darling gifts. i think i'll have to get some for myself and some of my foodie friends.