Pumpkin Goes On

My life can go on: I found pumpkin. Correction: my mom found pumpkin. The not-that-long story is, I went in search of canned pumpkin to replenish my supply for the fall after making the pumpkin brownies. The first grocery store had an empty shelf where it SHOULD have been. I thought it was weird but whatever; I’d just go to another store. A week or so later, I hit another and WHAT- another empty shelf!? I mention the strange phenom to my mom who then discovers there’s word (on the web) that there’s a pumpkin shortage this year. I freak out a little and proceed to spread the word to family and friends to fall on a can of pumpkin like it’s the end of times and it’s the last food on the planet. Hit two more stores on separate sides of town and BOTH are empty shelves. Hope fades.

Then Mom calls Sunday afternoon from Wal-Mart of all places with the news. There’s tons! Fall/Halloween has been saved! I immediately turned on my oven to preheat, ready to use the only can I had in my cupboard RIGHT AWAY.


I had a pumpkin Costco muffin a few weeks ago and it was bliss. But Costco muffins are kind of amazing, aren’t they. I’ve been wanting pumpkin muffins ever since. This recipe popped up on a few other blogs and with their ringing endorsement, I was eager to try too. The original recipe didn’t have a crumb topping like Costco’s muffin and to be honest, that’s one of my favorite parts. So I found a separate crumb topping recipe (for blueberry muffins), added a little cinnamon to it and voila! Pumpkin muffins with crumb topping.

Oh and one other thing: the blog I found the recipe on accidentally put a whole can of pumpkin in the batter when it calls for only 8 ounces (the can is 15 ounces, so, almost double). She raved that it was still good and moist so I thought, what the Hell, man; I’m craving the pumpkin and more can only make it better! They came out really delicious and moist! I did have to add some baking time (around 35-38 minutes) but still.

This made 6 large muffin cups then had a little left over that perfectly I filled a mini muffin pan. I love having little two-bite pieces of muffin around. This is definitely something I’d make again!


PUMPKIN MUFFINS WITH CRUMB TOPPING
Adapted from Gourmet/The American Club

Makes 6 large muffins / 1 dozen small muffins

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 can solid-pack pumpkin (15 ounces)
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 1/4 cups plus 1 Tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon

CRUMB TOPPING

1 cup all-purpose flour
3 Tbsp light brown sugar
2 Tbsp granulated sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
Pinch of salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted


Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350F. Put liners in muffin cups.

Whisk together flour and baking powder in a small bowl.

Whisk together pumpkin, oil, eggs, pumpkin pie spice, 1 1/4 cups sugar, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl until smooth, then whisk in flour mixture until just combined.

For crumb topping, in a medium bowl, combine the flour with the brown sugar, granulated sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Stir in the melted butter, then pinch the mixture until it forms pea-size clumps.

Divide batter among muffin cups (each should be about 3/4 full), then sprinkle tops with crumb topping mixture. Bake until puffed and golden brown and a wooden pick or skewer inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes.

Cool in pan on a rack 5 minutes, then transfer muffins from pan to rack and cool to warm or room temperature.

German Chocolate Cake Ice Cream... Almost

You know what's hard to photograph? Ice cream. Even after you prep and do everything in your power short of shooting it IN the freezer, it just gives up on you and starts to melt in mere minutes. With this particular ice cream, it was SECONDS. I even froze the stuff in the shape of scoops so there was no lag between the freezer and my shots but still. It started breaking down about twenty seconds in. Prissy friggin' food.

Other than the prima donna act it gave me in front of the camera, this flavor really delivered. I got the chocolate base from Williams-Sonoma and had to modify it only superficially: I had no half-and-half so I substituted half milk and half cream (theoretically, half and half from scratch). They weren't kidding about it being rich. And after cooking the custard over the heat so there was no raw egg situation, I felt extremely comfortable licking the bowl of chocolate custard and dipping brownie in the creamy stuff as well. Mmmm. Chocolate 'splosion.

When I envisioned this flavor, I was aiming for German Chocolate cake. Then after I got home from the store, I remembered there are pecans in the caramel coconut part. Oh well. It came out just fine. The only complaint I'd have against the stuff is that the caramel is very sweet and the ice cream is very rich. It makes for an intense flavor. But some people like very sweet/very rich a lot so it's just up to personal tastes, really.

I was rather pleased with making the brownies and caramel sauce myself. It felt good to look at the final product and know I made every bit from scratch. This, from a novice cook, that is. I mean, watching the caramel come to a boil? Terrifying. I just knew it was going to burn the second I looked away. (So I never looked away.)

I've encountered a few issues with ice cream, though.

#1. It doesn't give you immediate results. I'm used to baking something and having it ready to eat right then. This, you go through all the work and then? Put it away (to freeze completely). It's somewhat unsatisfying.

#2. It's not portable. If the stuff melts only minutes out of the freezer, imagine a ten, fifteen or twenty minute car ride to someone's house! So people have to come to IT (again, with the prissy nature). It makes it difficult to get to family and friends.

However, my love of creating personal flavors outweighs any faults the cooking process may have. I see pistachio and then banana on the horizon...


MMMMM... BROWNIES
Source: cicada77 at AllRecipes.com


1/2 cup white sugar
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons water
1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt


Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease an 8x8 inch square pan.

In a medium saucepan, combine the sugar, butter and water. Cook over medium heat until boiling. Remove from heat and stir in chocolate chips until melted and smooth. Mix in the eggs and vanilla. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt; stir into the chocolate mixture. Spread evenly into the prepared pan.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes in the preheated oven, until brownies set up. Do not overbake! Cool in pan.

After completely cool, cut out 1/4 of pan and freeze. When hard, cut into 1 inch cubes (roughly 1 cup of chunks) and refreeze until ready to use.

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CARAMEL COCONUT SWIRL
Adapted from Gourmet, Nov 1998

1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup light corn syrup
1/4 cup water
7 tablespoons heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 - 1 cup shredded coconut


In a 3-quart heavy saucepan boil sugar, corn syrup, water, and a pinch salt over moderate heat, stirring, until sugar is dissolved. Boil mixture, without stirring, gently swirling pan, until a deep golden caramel. Remove pan from heat and carefully pour cream and vanilla down side of pan (mixture will vigorously steam and caramel will harden). Simmer mixture, stirring, until caramel is dissolved. Remove pan from heat, add coconut and cool caramel. Caramel swirl may be made 1 week ahead and chilled, covered. Bring caramel swirl to room temperature before using. (If caramel swirl is too stiff to pour, heat slightly.)

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CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM
Adapted from Williams Sonoma


1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1 1/2 cups whole milk
6 oz. bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
(about 1 1/3 cups)
5 egg yolks
1 cup sugar
Pinch of salt
1 tsp. vanilla extract


In a saucepan over medium heat, warm the heavy cream and milk until bubbles form around the edges of the pan. Remove from the heat, add the chocolate and stir until smooth and blended.

In a large bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, sugar and salt until blended. Slowly add the chocolate cream, whisking constantly until fully incorporated.

Pour the mixture into a bowl on top of a double boiler. Set the pan over but not touching simmering water in the bottom pan. Cook, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until a finger drawn across the back of the spoon leaves a path, 10 to 12 minutes; do not allow the custard to boil. Pour the custard through a fine-mesh sieve set over a clean bowl and stir in the vanilla. Nestle the bowl in a larger one filled halfway with ice and water. Cool the custard, stirring occasionally, about 30 minutes.

Transfer the custard to an ice cream maker and freeze according to the manufacturer's instructions. Just before ice cream is finished churning, add brownie chunks and stir in completely. Transfer one third ice cream to an airtight container and drizzle one third caramel swirl over it. Repeat layering with remaining ice cream and caramel swirl. Cover and freeze until firm, 3 to 4 hours, before serving. Makes about 1 quart.

Double Double Valentine's Love

It's kind of impossible to think of Valentine's Day and not think of chocolate. Even The Food Network gets in on the action and makes a week of it. So I wanted some chocolatey goodness and boy did I find it.

I got the recipe for this Double Chocolate Cake from Epicurious and was immediately intrigued by the loads of positive feedback and comments. It is, in fact, very rich and moist and worthy of the praise. I used different pans for the holiday, of course, so the only thing I would say if you diverge from the 10-inch pans the recipe recommends is, the batter expands. It's a wet batter so do not overfill the pan (1/2 to 3/4 if you're feeling lucky). TRUST ME.

But it came out very good and oohh so in need of a big, cold glass of milk right along with it, it's so chocolatey! Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!



DOUBLE CHOCOLATE LAYER CAKE
Source: Gourmet Magazine, March 1999


For cake layers

• 3 ounces fine-quality semisweet chocolate such as Callebaut
• 1 1/2 cups hot brewed coffee
• 3 cups sugar
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch process)
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 1/4 teaspoons salt
• 3 large eggs
• 3/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 cups well-shaken buttermilk
• 3/4 teaspoon vanilla

For ganache frosting

• 1 pound fine-quality semisweet chocolate such as Callebaut
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 tablespoons light corn syrup
• 1/2 stick (1/4 cup) unsalted butter

Special equipment
two 10- by 2-inch round cake pans


Make cake layers:
Preheat oven to 300°F. and grease pans. Line bottoms with rounds of wax paper and grease paper.

Finely chop chocolate and in a bowl combine with hot coffee. Let mixture stand, stirring occasionally, until chocolate is completely melted and mixture is smooth.

Into a large bowl sift together sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. In another large bowl with an electric mixer beat eggs until thickened slightly and lemon colored (about 3 minutes with a standing mixer or 5 minutes with a hand-held mixer). Slowly add oil, buttermilk, vanilla, and melted chocolate mixture to eggs, beating until combined well. Add sugar mixture and beat on medium speed until just combined well. Divide batter between pans and bake in middle of oven until a tester inserted in center comes out clean, 1 hour to 1 hour and 10 minutes.

Cool layers completely in pans on racks. Run a thin knife around edges of pans and invert layers onto racks. Carefully remove wax paper and cool layers completely. Cake layers may be made 1 day ahead and kept, wrapped well in plastic wrap, at room temperature.


Make frosting:
Finely chop chocolate. In a 1 1/2- to 2-quart saucepan bring cream, sugar, and corn syrup to a boil over moderately low heat, whisking until sugar is dissolved. Remove pan from heat and add chocolate, whisking until chocolate is melted. Cut butter into pieces and add to frosting, whisking until smooth.

Transfer frosting to a bowl and cool, stirring occasionally, until spreadable (depending on chocolate used, it may be necessary to chill frosting to spreadable consistency).

Spread frosting between cake layers and over top and sides. Cake keeps, covered and chilled, 3 days. Bring cake to room temperature before serving.