pumpkin streusel coffee cake
February 5th, 2012 · 4 Comments
Two weeks since my last post. 
It’s not for lack of trying new recipes. I have tried several, and all have been major flops. There were “store bought cookies” that tasted nothing like the classics we grew up with. There were stews and muffins and biscuits and… well, the list is long and the results were depressing. I finally decided to go with a recipe that could not possibly fail: coffee cake, and a William Sonoma recipe to boot. And now look at me! I know it may seem absurd, but it’s February and here I am pulling out pumpkin show stoppers. I was so nauseous all of November that I missed my pumpkin fix. After 17 looooong weeks into being pregnant, I am finally getting my appetite back. And so it’s time to pull out some of those recipes that I would have made back in autumn if I had not been so sick.
I love coffee cake. I love pumpkin. I love a good glaze. This cake has all that and more. It’s sweet, cinnamon-y and moist. My dad suggested replacing the oatmeal in the topping with flaked coconut and I agree – that would be amazing! I would add chopped pecans to the topping as well because I like my coffee cake to have some crunch. The recipe calls for a minuscule amount of glaze. I’m suggesting you quadruple the glaze recipe, drizzle the top of your cake to make it pretty, and then serve more glaze with each slice as your guests desire.
pumpkin streusel coffee cake
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour
Yield: 10-12 servings
source: Tracey's Culinary Adventures
Ingredients
streusel 1/3 cup all-purpose flour 1/2 cup old-fashioned oats (or use flaked coconut if you're a coconut fan!) 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon pinch kosher salt 1/2 cup chopped pecans, optional
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
cake
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 cup sour cream, at room temperature
glaze*
2 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
2 tbsp whole milk, plus more if needed
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
*I quadrupled the original recipe so you'd have plenty of glaze to pass at the table!
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 F. Spray a 9-inch springform pan with nonstick cooking spray with flour. (A 9-inch cake pan works too as long as it has about 3-inch sides.)
- To make the streusel: Stir the flour, oats (or coconut), brown sugar, cinnamon, salt and pecans (if using) together in a medium bowl. Add the butter, and use a fork to work it into the dry ingredients until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Set aside while you make the batter.
- To make the batter: Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and salt together in a medium bowl. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and brown sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition, and scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Add the pumpkin puree and sour cream and beat until incorporated. With the mixer on low speed, add the dry ingredients, beating just until combined - the batter will be very thick.
- Spread half of the batter in an even layer in the bottom of the prepared pan. Sprinkle half of the streusel mixture over the batter. Dollop the remaining batter over the streusel and spread it as best you can. Top with the remaining streusel.
- Bake the cake for about 45-50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let cool for 15 minutes then remove the sides of the pan and let the cake cool completely.
- To make the glaze: Whisk the confectioners' sugar, milk and vanilla in a small bowl until the consistency is thick, but pourable. You might need to add a little more milk to achieve the right consistency (I did). Drizzle over the top of the cake. Serve additional glaze with individual slices as guests desire.
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→ 4 CommentsTags: 60 min or less · dessert · vegetarian
mini apple pies with super cute crusts (plus an announcement!)
January 23rd, 2012 · 13 Comments
The reason I have been delinquent in posting forthe last 4 months is that I am 4 months pregnant! :)After two miscarriages last year, we are so thrilled to share this news. We cannot wait to meet our little guy (or girl!?!) and have our lives forever changed. In the meantime, all those pregnancy hormones have messed with my love for food. All I seem to eat these days is cereal. Life cereal. Raisin Bran. Cheerios. Frosted mini-wheats. I have a whole arsenal of cereals to eat because so far cereal has been the one thing guaranteed to taste good any time of day or night. Everything else has been hit or miss, and new recipes are *never* exciting these days. It’s challenging to blog about the new foods that I’m eating when those new foods are simply a new brand of cereal!
My appetite still isn’t what it was, but I did manage to eat some fish today, so that’s promising! While things are on the up-and-up, I’m back with a tweak on one of my favorite recipes: apple pie.I love making apple pie, but I love even more the idea of a personalized apple pie. Here I take my favorite apple pie recipe and cook it in small pots for individual servings. The best part? Layer the tops with cute cookie cutter shapes to match the seasons!
mini apple pies with cute cookie cutter crusts
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour
Yield: 6-8 individual apple pies, depending on the size of your pots or ramekins
Yum, yum, yum! And personalized, too! :)
Ingredients
filling: pastry for 9.5" double crust pie, refrigerated 12 cups peeled, cored, and sliced apples (I used a mixture of Granny Smiths and Golden Delicious) 1/2 - 3/4 cup sugar (based on how sweet your apples are) 2 tbsp all purpose flour 1/2 tsp grated lemon peel 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg pinch of salt glaze: milk sugar
Instructions
- If you haven't already done so, prepare the pastry and refrigerate until firm enough to roll, about 1 hour.
- Prepare the apples. In a small bowl, combine the sugar, flour, zest, and spices. Stir into the apples and set aside for 20-30 minutes, stirring occasionally to distribute the juices.
- On a sheet of lightly floured waxed paper, roll the pastry with a floured rolling pin to 1/4" thickness. Cut out circles slightly larger than the size of the bottom of your pots or ramekins. Tuck pastry into the bottom of the pots. Use cookie cutters to cut shapes out of the remaining pastry. Re-roll any remaining pastry and cut into more shapes.
- Preheat the oven to 375.
- Divide the apple mixture evenly among your pots. Arrange your cookie cutter pastry cut outs on top of the apples. Using a pastry brush, brush the cutouts lightly with milk, then sprinkle with sugar.
- Place the bowls on a baking sheet and place on the center oven rack. Bake for 15 minutes. Rotate the pies front to back and bake for 10-20 more minutes, or until the apples are easily pierced with a knife. Note: If the top crust starts to get too dark, cover with loosely tented aluminum foil for the last 10 minutes.
- Transfer to a wire rack and let cool for at least 1 hour before serving.
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→ 13 CommentsTags: dessert · fruit
death by chocolate mousse
January 15th, 2012 · 8 Comments
This recipe was originally posted in December 2009. I thought it needed an image makeover and the recipe is so amazing that I am re-posting it so that those of you who are new to the blog are aware of how important it is to make this. Immediately.
This aptly named dark chocolate mousse may be the death of you, but it’s oh, so worth it. I gave a dish to my mom yesterday to take home. She wrote me an email today asking me never to do that again. She takes one bite and then completely loses self control around this amazing dessert. And it’s no wonder. This recipe is from Cooks Illustrated – and boy do they know how to make a mean chocolate mousse.
Before we begin, there is an important note for people who are not familiar with the recipe term to “fold one ingredient into another.” By this, they are saying DO NOT MIX and especially don’t use a whisk. You’ve worked to get lots of air into your egg whites or whipping cream because those trapped air bubbles are what make mousse so light and fluffy. You don’t want lose those air bubbles, so when it comes time to add something that has been aerated to the chocolate, use a rubber spatula and literally pretend you are folding one part of the chocolate over to another. At first you’ll feel that all you’re doing is making a big mess (because honestly, you are making a big mess!), but as you keep gently folding one corner of your chocolate over to the opposite side, you’ll notice the chocolate mixture becoming more silky. End result – a mousse that feels light and fluffy!
dark chocolate mousse
8 oz bittersweet chocolate
2 tbsp cocoa powder (preferably Dutch-processed)
1 tsp instant espresso powder (I don’t like the taste of espresso… if you’re in the same boat, DO NOT omit this! Just use 3/4 tsp instead)
5 tbsp water
1 tbsp brandy
2 large eggs, separated
1 tbsp sugar, divided
1/8 tsp table salt
1 cup heavy cream, chilled (plus extra to make homemade whipped cream to dollop on top!)
Melt chocolate, cocoa powder, espresso powder, water, and brandy in microwave, stopping after each minute to stir the contents. Once the chocolate is melted, set aside.
Whisk egg yolks, 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar, and salt in medium bowl until mixture lightens in color and thickens slightly, about 30 seconds.
Pour melted chocolate into egg mixture and whisk until combined. Let cool until just warmer than room temperature, 3 to 5 minutes.
In clean bowl of standing mixer fitted with whisk attachment, beat egg whites at medium-low speed until frothy, 1 to 2 minutes. Add remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar, increase mixer speed to medium-high, and beat until soft peaks form when whisk is lifted, about 1 minute. Detach whisk and bowl from mixer and whisk last few strokes by hand, making sure to scrape any unbeaten whites from bottom of bowl.
Using whisk, stir about one-quarter of beaten egg whites into chocolate mixture to lighten it; gently fold in remaining egg whites with rubber spatula until a few white streaks remain.
In now-empty bowl, whip heavy cream at medium speed until it begins to thicken, about 30 seconds. Increase speed to high and whip until soft peaks form when whisk is lifted, about 15 seconds more.
Using rubber spatula, fold whipped cream into mousse until no white streaks remain.
Spoon into 6 to 8 individual serving dishes or goblets. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until set and firm, at least 2 hours. (The mousse may be covered and refrigerated for up to 24 hours.) Dollop with freshly sweetened whipped cream before serving.
→ 8 CommentsTags: dessert
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