holiday wish list

my parents are incredible gift givers. they shop year round and are very thoughtful in their purchases. i wish i was as good at gift giving as they were, but alas, i don't have the same patience for shopping. i'm totally wracking my brain to think of what to get them and my other friends and family this christmas. i did however think of a bunch of things i would like. so if you know anyone who is into kitchen gadgets and things of the like, these are pretty great gifts.

the pastry queen by, rebecca rather

progressive measuring flour sifter. found via thekitchn

 

and this really nice set of serving utensils from nigella lawson

what's on your wishlist?

guest posting: pumpkin dulce de leche pie

my november post on yourheartout. check it out! you won't be sorry.

refrigerator bran muffins

these muffins were a family staple growing up. they are so much lighter than most bran muffins i've had. and how convenient that you can just make a few each morning so they are always fresh. such a great and hearty morning treat. 

2 1/2 cups flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

3/4 teaspoons salt

3 cups whole bran cereal (i use all bran original cereal)

1 cup boiling water

2 beaten eggs

2 cups buttermilk

1 1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup canola oil

1 cup raisins

in a medium mixing bowl, stir together flour, baking soda and salt. set flour mixture aside. in a small mixing bowl combine the boiling water and 1 cup of the whole bran cereal and set aside. in a large mixing bowl, combine the eggs, buttermilk, sugar, cooking oil, and the remaining bran cereal. add flour mixture to the egg mixture; stir until just moistened. then add the soaked bran and stir till well combined. fold in the raisins. transfer the batter to a covered container and refrigerate it overnight or for up to a week. to bake, put in greased muffin tins. bake at 400° for 15-20 minutes or till the tops spring back when lightly touched. makes about 24 muffins.

pecan pie bars

i made food for an event last night for mondo fine art. i was dumb and didn't bring my camera, but i took a couple of shots with my phone. i made pumpkin bread pudding with cinnamon caramel sauce, gingerbread chocolate cookies and pecan bars.

i've been wanting to make pecan pie bars for ages now, but whenever i've tried one of these bars at a bakery or restaurant, they seem to be really dry and not have the consistency anywhere near pecan pie, so i was put off. and as i've noted before, i looooooove pecan pie. love. (love). but i couldn't be daunted for too long, so i did some research and created a fusion between a few recipes. and someone in this room (me) is happy with the result.

i got the crust recipe from the lemon bars on brown butter shortbread recipe from tartine that i posted before. and i got the filling recipe from my mom who found it in but i doubled it and made a couple of tiny tweaks. use an egg wash on the crust to keep the filling from seeping into it too much. you just put an egg white on the crust and swish it around till it's covered the entire surface of the crust, then you pour off the excess then bake.

crust:
1/2 cup confectioners sugar
1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temp.

filling:
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup maple syrup
3/4 cup corn syrup
4 eggs, room temp.
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
pinch salt
6 tablespoons melted butter
2 1/2 cups pecans

pour the filling on top and bake for 50 minutes at 350°. after the bars cool for 15 minutes, run a knife around the edges to make them easier to get out later. i think these taste best when they are made the day before and served cold. 

 

halloween 2009: doughnuts and wassail

it seems as if i've become a bit of a party pooper in my old age. the last thing on the planet i want to do is don a costume and party hop on halloween. i want to make the traditional doughnuts and wassail and watch cheesy movies with friends. i really wanted to re-learn the thriller dance but that was as festive as i was feeling. the thing is, it was a ridiculously enjoyable day and night. which goes to show, it's not where you are but who you are with, and what you are eating. that's sort of a saying, right? i didn't get a chance to take images of these recipes last year so here is some photographic evidence of doughnuts and wassail.

the doughnuts actually turned out better than they ever have before, which was a nice treat for me.


here is the recipe:

beat till frothy:
3 eggs

add, beating well:
1 1/4 c. sugar

add, stirring well:
2 T. melted butter
1 c. milk

stir in:
1 t. baking soda
2 t. baking powder
1/4 t. salt
1 t. nutmeg
2 t. cinnamon (i like to add a little more)
4 c. flour (probably added more like 5 1/2 cups when all was said and done)

mix well—can chill for easier handling. Fry at 375° (i tried that first but it seemed too hot so i dropped it about 100°) until done.


here is the wassail recipe:

1 quart water
2 1/4 c. sugar
10 cloves
8 allspice berries
2 sticks cinnamon
1 piece of candied ginger
2 quarts apple cider or juice
1 quart orange juice (i like the extra pulp kind)
2 c. lemon juice

mix water and sugar; boil for 5 minutes. remove from heat. stir in cloves, allspice berries, cinnamon and ginger. let stand 1 hour or more. strain. stir in apple cider, orange juice, and lemon juice. serve warm.

flourless fudge cookies

i saw a post about cookies like these on thekitchn last week and not even a few hours later my friend julia sent me the same link. we discussed it and decided they needed to be made, so i found this recipe from the king arthur flour site that someone had recommended. this is one of the most unique recipes i've made and it seems sort of unnatural considering how little ingredients it has, and with no egg yolks or flour, it's practically good for you (yes, i think you should forget about the 2+ cups of powdered sugar it has in it and concentrate on no flour, butter or egg yolks! egg whites have protien people! and cocoa has flavonoids, right?)

anywho, my friends said they are divine (very rich so i can only eat a bite here and there, but for dark chocolate lovers, this is your scene.)

2 1/4 cups confectioners' sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon espresso powder, optional but good
1 cup cocoa powder, dutch-process (european-style) preferred
3 large egg whites (i had to add an extra because my batter was too thick)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

preheat the oven to 350°F. lightly grease two baking sheets. or line with parchment, and grease the parchment (or use a silpat but if you do, make sure to cool the cookies completely before trying to remove them). stir together all of the ingredients till smooth. scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl, and stir again till smooth. drop the dough onto the prepared baking sheets in balls about the size of ping pong balls, about 1 1/2"; a tablespoon cookie scoop works well here. bake the cookies for 8 minutes; they should spread, become somewhat shiny, and develop faintly crackly tops (they get more crackly when you remove them from the oven, so don't wait for them to be perfectly crackly while in the oven). remove the cookies from the oven, and allow them to cool right on the pan.

guest posting: pumpkin pancakes

check out my latest post on yourheartout.com. pumpkin pancakes and cinnamon syrup. the love affair with pumpkin continues...

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.