Not exactly a pie (you could just as easily make it in a rectangular 9 x 11 baking dish), but I'm calling it a pie here. This nectarine crumble is a delicious dessert, and it can very easily be made into a vegan recipe (just substitute Earth Balance for the butter).
I love crumbles and crisps, and you could easily substitute the nectarines for any wintry fruit. Apples, in particular, can make this a great December or January after-dinner treat.
Here's Gram Parsons singing "I Can't Dance," the third track from our wedding mix and a hit from his album Grievous Angel.
Ingredients:
--6 ripe nectarines, washed and sliced
--1 c. granulated sugar
--juice from one lemon
--1 tbsp. cornstarch
--1 1/2 c. old-fashioned oats
--1 c. all-purpose flour
--1 c. dark brown sugar
--1/2 tsp. cinnamon
--1 tsp. vanilla extract
--6 tbsp. chilled unsalted butter, sliced
--pinch of salt
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In a large bowl, mix nectarine slices with granulated sugar, lemon juice, and cornstarch. Pour into a buttered pie dish.
In a separate bowl, combine oats, flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, vanilla, butter, and salt. Mix with your hands until you've got a crumbly, sweet crumble topping. Crumble over the top of the nectarines. (This recipe makes quite a lot of crumble topping. If you like a little less, you may end up with some extra.)
Bake for about 30 minutes, or just until the crumble topping begins to turn a very light golden color. Remove from oven and allow to cool. Like all crumbles and crisps, this dessert is fantastic a la mode.
Next up from the wedding pies? Peach melba pie! This pie is a delicious summery mix of peaches, raspberries, and vanilla. Want it in the wintertime? Freeze some peaches ahead of time in anticipation of warm weather cravings during the snowy months.
With this pie here's the Ramones' "Do You Wanna Dance?" It was initially recorded in the late 1950s, covered by the Beach Boys in the 1960s to much acclaim, and covered again by the Ramones on their 1977 album (and my favorite album), Rocket to Russia.
By the way, underneath the pie is a fabulous textile I brought home from Guatemala this past January.
Ingredients:
--pie crust recipe x2 (available here)
--6 large, ripe peaches, sliced
--juice from one lemon
--zest from one lemon
--1 vanilla bean
--1 c. raspberries
--3 tbsp. cornstarch
--1/4 c. apricot jam
--pinch of salt
--3/4 c. light brown sugar
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In a bowl, combine lemon juice, lemon zest, vanilla bean contents, apricot jam, salt, and brown sugar. Fold in sliced peaces. Mash raspberries and fold in. Pour into pie shell.
I used a pastry cutter to design the pie crust top. You could do the same (see photo), or simply add a rolled pie crust on top and cut in a few venting slices.
Cover the crust for the first 30 minutes of baking. Remove crust cover
and continue to bake for another 25-30 minutes, or just until crust
becomes golden in color. Remove from oven and allow to cool. This pie is
great with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
In the weeks leading up to my trip to Hong Kong, I did a lot of baking but didn't leave much time for blogging. As a result, I'm writing up a few of those blogs now while the rain pours down in Kowloon. (By the way, I was hoping to make some Cantonese food in my Kowloon kitchen during my month-long stay here, but the kitchen is even smaller and more ill-equipped than I had imagined, so any new dishes are going to have to wait until I'm back in the U.S.).
Most people don't think of plums as a likely pie filling, but like any stone fruit, they're delicious when baked into a flaky crust. It's best to use plums that are just getting ripe--not too soft. And one of the great things about a stone fruit pie is that it's really simple. You'll be able to get this dessert in the oven with about 15 minutes of prep time.
What song? For such a delicious stone fruit pie, here's Van Morrison's "And It Stoned Me" (and the lyrics to this song fit the weather in Hong Kong, too).
Ingredients:
--2 pie crusts, rolled and ready to go (recipe here)
--6 plums, cored and sliced thinly (leave the skins on)
--1/4 c. cornstarch
--1/4 c. granulated sugar
--juice and zest of 1 lemon
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
In a large bowl, combine plum slices, cornstarch, sugar, lemon juice, and lemon zest. Pour into a prepared pie shell. Add the top pie crust and pinch crust however you'd like. I did a lattice weave and then sprinkled some turbinado sugar on top before baking.
Cover the crust with foil and bake for 25 minutes. Remove foil and continue to bake for another 25 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool.
Who doesn't love a good sandwich cookie? Truth be told, ice cream sandwich cookies from The Coolhaus are my favorite variety (hmm, maybe I should make some). But when I can't have ice cream "sammies," a Linzer cookie (or two) makes for an excellent treat.
How do you make pomegranate and orange cookies, you ask? You could do it a lot of ways, but my recipe involves pomegranate jelly-filled orange shortbread. I've modified my vanilla rum shortbread recipe to add some sweet citrus flavor.
Since Linzer cookies require more steps than your typical cookie recipe, I'll keep this post short and sweet. Here's R.E.M.'s "Orange Crush."
Ingredients:
--2 sticks + 6 tbsp. chilled and chopped unsalted butter
--zest of one orange (approximately 1 tbsp.)
--2 tbsp. freshly squeezed orange juice
--1 c. turbinado sugar
--1 c. cornstarch
--2 c. all-purpose flour, + extra for rolling
--1 tsp. salt
--pomegranate jelly (I used one from Kozlowski Farms in Sonoma, CA)
--about 1/2 c. confectioners' sugar for dusting
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
In a large bowl, sift the flour, cornstarch, and salt. In a food processor, combine flour mixture, butter, orange zest, and sugar. Pulse for about 1-2 minutes. Slowly drizzle in the freshly squeezed orange juice and continue to pulse until a dough forms.
On a floured surface, separate your dough into quarters. Roll each piece of dough until it's about 1/4" thick (you can make thicker cookies if you'd like, but since these are going to be sandwich cookies, I like them on the thinner side). Use a floured Linzer cookie cutter and cut enough cookies for both the bottom layer and the top layer (the one with the decorative cutout). Repeat with remaining dough, incorporating the scraps until you've used all the dough.
Place cookies on a parchment-lined sheet and bake for 8-9 minutes (no more!). If the cookies become golden on top, they're a bit overdone. Remember, they'll be *really* soft when you take them out of the oven--it'll seem like they're not done, but they are. Place on a cooling rack using a thin spatula and allow cookies to cool completely.
Once they've cooled, place about 1 tsp. pomegranate jelly on a "bottom layer" cookie and put a "top layer" cookie on top, making a cookie sandwich. The jelly should poke through the decorative cutout. Repeat until all the cookies have become delicious little sandwiches.
Using a sifter, dust all the cookies with confectioners' sugar before serving.
The weather is hot, hot, hot here, and I was in the mood to make a summertime pie. Looking for something new, I began perusing the archives of Saveur, hoping to find a unique idea. I came across a recipe for a Concord grape pie and decided to adapt it for this delicious grape pie a la mode (no grape pie is complete, in my opinion, without a scoop of vanilla ice cream). It's so simple yet oh-so-good.
While this pie is delicious warm, you've gotta let this one cool once you take it out of the oven. The filling really needs to set. If you want to have your pie warm with some ice cream or whipped cream on top, first let it set and heat it up just a tad later on. (By the way, you'll notice my new Le Creuset red "pie bird" in my pics. Super cool. Thanks, Happy Cook!)
I'll let you in on a little secret: my new thing for fruit pies is adding some jelly or preserves. It helps the filling to firm up a bit, and it adds a great jammy flavor.
And another not-so-secret tip: grape juice really does stain! After making this pie, my fingertips were purple, and my white melamine bowls were flecked with purple. My kitchen was in, well, a bit of a purple haze. Naturally, here's the Cure covering Jimi Hendrix's "Purple Haze."
Ingredients:
--2 pie crusts (my truly never-fail pie crust recipe here)
--1 pound black grapes (you could definitely use Concord grapes, but our Virginia grocery stores don't seem to stock them)
--1/4 cup grape jelly
--1/4 c. granulated sugar
--juice from one lemon (freshly squeezed is always better!)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Line a 9" pie dish with your first pie crust. Now, I hope you have some patience. Fill a large bowl about halfway with ice water and set aside. Bring a medium saucepan of water to a boil and drop your grapes in. Let them sit for just 20-30 seconds, then remove and place in the ice water. This is all to make "skinning" your grapes a little bit easier. (The skins will peel off relatively easily, but this is still a labor of love.)
Put grape skins in a large bowl and set aside.
Add skinned grapes to a medium saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring regularly for about 12-15 minutes, or until the grapes are quit soft.
Using a potato masher or a fork, mash them just a little bit (you want them mashed but retaining a bit of shape). Transfer them into the bowl with the skins. Add grape jelly, sugar, and lemon juice. Mix and pour into unbaked pie shell. (If you have a "pie bird" like mine, place him in the center of your pie crust before pouring in the grape mixture.)
Cover the pie with the second crust. You can do a lattice pie if you'd like, or simply cover with a full pie crust and cut a small hole in the center. Pinch the edges and cover them in foil.
Bake for 35 minutes with crusts covered. After 35 minutes, remove the foil and bake for about another 20 minutes, or until crusts are just golden brown and the top of the pie crust is firm. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely.
I really recommend serving warmed, a la mode. The pie leftovers will keep for quite a few days and are also delicious straight out of the fridge.
This dessert is my own version of a deconstructed (or reconstructed, as it were) gingersnap cookie dipped in bittersweet lemon curd. It's a ginger cookie crust, filled with homemade lemon curd, and topped with a molasses whipped cream.
It's been awhile since I've made a tart, but every time I do, I think about "Queen of Tarts"--a gorgeous little food and pastry shop in Cape Town, SA that's more than worth a visit (or two).
The Felice Brothers have a new album coming out, "Favorite Waitress," and it features a pretty excellent song I heard about a year ago on a recording from Asheville's Orange Peel. Here's that acoustic version of "Cherry Licorice."
...All she wants to drink is lemon spritzer/ she don't care if the image fits her/ Who wants to spend their time/ choking on lemon rind
Ingredients:
*Adapted from Ina Garten's "Lemon Curd Tart"
Ginger Cookie Crust:
--12 tbsp. unsalted butter, chilled and chopped
--1/2 c. dark brown sugar
--1 3/4 c. flour
--1/2 tsp. salt
--1 tsp. ground ginger
Lemon Curd Filling:
--5 lemons
--1 1/2 c. granulated sugar
--8 tbsp. butter, softened at room temperature
--6 eggs
--pinch of salt
Molasses Whipped Cream:
--1 pint heavy whipping cream
--1/2 c. granulated sugar
--2 tbsp. molasses (you could add more or less depending on taste)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
First make the crust. In a food processor, combine butter, dark brown sugar, flour, salt, and ginger. Pulse until the mixture begins to form a crumbly dough. Form into a ball and press into a 10" tart pan. Press dough from the center outward until the interior of the tart pan--bottom and sides--are covered. Cover the crust with aluminum foil and bake for 18 minutes. Remove tart crust from the oven and remove the foil. Poke fork holes throughout the dough and continue to bake uncovered for another 20 minutes, or just until the crust begins to turn a light golden color. Remove from oven and allow to cool.
While your crust is cooling, it's time to make your lemon curd filling. Zest all five lemons.
Then cut the lemons in half and juice them. You should have just about one cup of lemon juice. Pour through a sieve and set aside.
Combine the zest and the 1 1/2 c. sugar in a food processor, and pulse for about 2 minutes. You'll want the zest to be extremely finely ground and completely incorporated into the sugar. In a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, cream the zest and sugar mixture with the butter until smooth. Add your eggs one at a time and mix at a low speed. Drop in a pinch of salt. Slowly add the fresh lemon juice, continuing to mix at a low speed until all ingredients are combined.
Transfer your curd mixture to a medium saucepan and heat over low for approximately 10 minutes, stirring constantly, until the curd has thickened. Remove it from the heat, allow to cool just slightly, then pour into the cooled crust. Allow the mixture to set for 30 minutes at room temperature and then transfer to the refrigerator.
When you're ready to serve, make the molasses whipped cream. In a stand mixer with a whisk attachment, combine heavy whipping cream, sugar, and molasses until you have your desired thickness. I like to whisk mine until medium-stiff peaks form. Top your ginger lemon tart with the molasses whipped cream and serve.
Rumor has it that this recipe was named the "hummingbird cake" because those who had a delicious slice spent the rest of their days happily humming. It's a banana, pineapple, and walnut cake with layers of cream cheese buttercream icing. What's not to love?
I actually made this cake for my birthday last month, but I'm just now getting around to posting it. I adapted my recipe from the one that appears in Saveur. The magazine indicates that this cake has its origins with Edna Lewis, an African American southern cooking extraordinaire from Virginia who lived most of her adult life in New York City.
My first piece of hummingbird cake was a magnificent experience at Maxie B's, a bakery in Greensboro, NC. In honor of that fantastic Carolina cake shop, here's Ryan Adams singing "Oh My Sweet Carolina."
Ingredients:
*Adapted from Saveur
Cake Batter:
--3 c. flour, + extra for flouring your cake pans
--1 tbsp. cinnamon
--1 tsp. baking soda
--pinch of salt
--3 tbsp. unsalted butter, + extra for buttering pans
--4 large eggs, beaten
--1 tbsp. vanilla extract
--1 c. crushed pineapple
--4 ripe bananas, mashed
--1 c. brown sugar
--1 1/2 c. granulated sugar
--1 c. finely chopped pecans
--1 c. canola oil
Icing:
--3/4 c. unsalted butter, chilled
--3 8-oz packages of cream cheese
--1 tbsp. vanilla extract
--1 vanilla bean, seeded
--2 3/4 c. confectioner's sugar
--1 c. chopped pecans (for sprinkling on top of the icing)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter Line two 9" or 10" round cake pans and dust with flour so that the flour covers all of the butter. Gently tap out any excess flour. Line the bottoms of the pans with parchment paper and set aside.
In a standing mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the eggs, brown sugar, granulated sugar, and vanilla until light and smooth. Add the crushed pineapple, bananas, and canola oil. Continue to beat until combined. Sift in the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt. Mix on low until combined. At the end, add in the chopped pecans.
Divide your batter evenly between your two prepared cake pans. Bake until a cake tester comes out clean, or about 55 minutes. Allow the cakes to cool for 10 minutes, then remove them from the cake pans. Set aside to continue cooling. While the cakes are cooling, make your icing.
Clean your standing mixer. With the paddle attachment, beat the butter for about 3 minutes, or until it's very smooth. Add the cream cheese, vanilla, and vanilla bean seeds and beat for another 1-2 minutes. Slowly add the confectioner's sugar on low speed until it's incorporated. Then increase the speed to medium-high until the icing is firm but fluffy.
On a cake stand, place a small dollop of the icing and set the first cake on top (the icing will hold it in place). Spread about 1/3 of the icing over the first cake layer, then generously sprinkle chopped pecans onto the icing. Add the second cake layer on top. Add another 1/3 of the icing and cover the cake completely, tops and sides. With the remaining 1/3 of the icing, decorate the cake however you'd like. I used an icing bag with a star tip. Sprinkle remaining pecans all over the cake.
Serve! And can I just say that this cake also makes for a delicious breakfast and coffee-time treat.
It's sort of a misnomer, but this "ice cream" is just as creamy and delicious as any made with dairy products. And it's shockingly simple. Do you have a large food processor? Do you have a freezer? With some day-old bananas, you can create a healthy dessert. At the risk of sounding scientifically naive, the transformation is like magic!
Now, I added some extra ingredients to mine for a take on "bananas foster," including rum, cinnamon, brown sugar, and toasted pecans. You can get creative and mix your banana "ice cream" with any number of add-ons. Some ideas include: Nutella, peanut butter, honey, dark chocolate chips . . .
I always think about the song I'm about to give you in connection to Billy Wilder's 1954 film Sabrina. In that gem of postwar cinema, Audrey Hepburn sings a quirky version of Spike Jones's already playful "Yes, We Have No Bananas!"
Ingredients:
--4 very ripe bananas, chopped and frozen (overnight)
--2 tsp. ground cinnamon
--1/4 c. dark brown sugar
--2 tbsp. dark rum
--1/2 c. toasted chopped pecans
In a large food processor, combine all ingredients except the pecans (you're going to use those as a topping). You'll need to pulse for quite awhile--don't worry if the bananas aren't blending immediately. Depending on how frozen your bananas are, you'll need to pulse on high for about 5-7 minutes. At first, you'll begin to see the bananas turning into tiny little chunks, and slowly they'll cream together until you have a very smooth dessert.
Serve and top with toasted pecans.
This recipe makes about 4 c. of of vegan banana ice cream. If you can't finish it all at once, you can refreeze it for later.
Everyone thinks they have a great recipe for butternut squash soup, and various versions adorn winter menus everywhere. The recipe I'm about to give you is the best one. I tried this butternut squash soup for the first time almost ten years ago now, when my best friend's stepfather made it for Thanksgiving dinner in upstate New York. I've been told it was an adaptation from a New York Times cookbook, but I've never found this precise recipe there.
It's something delicious and special, and it's actually pretty easy to make. You'll never try another recipe.
I mentioned that this soup often makes me think of a wintry Thanksgiving I spent many years back. While the holiday food season is over, its music doesn't need to be. Here's Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong singing "Autumn in New York."
Ingredients:
--1 large butternut squash
--1 small yellow onion, coarsely chopped
--2 carrots, peeled and chopped
--1 clove garlic
--2-3 tsp. extra virgin olive oil
--1 tbsp. salt + a little extra to taste
--1-2 tsp. pepper
--2 tsp. ground nutmeg
--about 48 oz. chicken stock, or 1 1/2 cartons (you can substitute veggie stock if you're making this a vegetarian recipe)
--2 c. half and half, or heavy cream
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Slice butternut squash in half and scoop out seeds and filling. Using a pastry brush or your hands, coat the flesh with extra virgin olive oil. Fill the seed "holes" in the squash with the chopped carrots, onions, and lone garlic clove. It's okay if they overflow a little bit. Lightly salt the flesh of the squash, and place in the oven on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Roast for about one hour, or until the squash and the veggies inside are quite soft.
Scoop the veggies into a large stock pot and add the chicken stock. Simmer on low. Now scoop out the squash--the skin should peel back very easily, and you should be able to remove almost all of the "meat." Place it in the stockpot.
Sprinkle salt, pepper, and nutmeg into the pot. Using an immersion blender, emulsify those ingredients. Add the half and half or cream, and blend just a bit more. Serve warm with a sprig or two of fresh thyme.
When we'd travel to my grandmother's house for the holidays, she'd always have snickerdoodles waiting for us (along with extras to take on the drive home). So, while these aren't holiday cookies per se, they'll always be Christmas cookies to me.
Snickerdoodles are fluffy and sweet. I love soft cookies, so not much can beat a cinnamon-and-sugar snickerdoodle hot out of the oven. I've adapted the recipe from Smitten Kitchen, but there are a lot of great recipes out there for these cookies.
I have to admit, in addition to sweets, I love Christmas music. Here is John Fahey's "Auld Lang Syne," from his 1968 Christmas album, The New Possibility.
Ingredients:
--2 3/4 c. all-purpose flour
--2 tsp. cream of tartar
--1 tsp. baking soda
--2 sticks salted butter, softened
--3 eggs
--1 1/2 c. granulated sugar, + 1/2 c. granulated sugar for rolling
--2 tbsp. ground cinnamon
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
In a large bowl, combine butter, 1 1/2 c. sugar, and eggs on medium speed until fluffy (about 3 minutes). In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, cream of tartar, and baking soda. Slowly add to the wet mixture until combined. Scrape dough into wax paper and chill for about an hour.
In a small bowl, combine remaining sugar and cinnamon. Once dough has chilled, shape into 1" balls and roll thoroughly in the mixture of cinnamon and sugar. Place at least 2" apart on a parchment-lined baking sheet (these will seriously expand in the oven). Bake for about 8-10 minutes, or just until the cookies are cracking. If they're golden-colored on top, they're overcooked.
It's December, and it's time for holiday desserts! Inspired by Giada's recipe, this bread pudding is oh-so-rich and sweet. Every winter, I end up experimenting with different bread puddings, and this year won't disappoint. The only catch to this specific bread pudding is that you'll likely find that the main ingredient, the panettone, is typically available solely during the holiday season. (*Not sure what panettone looks like or where to find it? It's a sweet Christmas bread filled with candied fruits that, I believe, originated in Italy but is a holiday staple across many parts of the world. You can find it in almost any speciality food store once November rolls around, or you can make your own.)
I made this eggnog bread pudding during one of the first real snowfalls of 2013, and it was a delightful dessert (and later on, as a breakfast food). I topped it with a cinnamon and molasses whipped cream, recipe to follow.
During the snowy winter months, I have to admit that I've collected snowflakes on contrasting dark-colored paper to marvel at their singularity. For the sentiments that snowflake collecting brings, and for winter treats, here's Mark Mothersbaugh's "Snowflake Music" from the fabulous Rushmore soundtrack.
Ingredients:
The Bread Pudding:
--1 large (1 lb.) panettone loaf
--10 large eggs
--6 c. eggnog (you could make your own, of course, but a tasty half gallon from your local grocer will do just fine)
--1/2 c. turbinado sugar
--1/2 c. dark brown sugar
--2 tsp. vanilla extract
*Note: it's best to make this the night before you plan to serve it so the pudding can have time to "marinate" in the refrigerator!
The Cinnamon Molasses Whipped Cream:
--1 pint heavy whipping cream
--1 tbsp. cinnamon
--2 tsp. molasses
--1/4 c. dark brown sugar
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Butter a 13 x 9 baking dish and set aside. Remove your panettone loaf from its wrappers and cut into roughly 1" cubes. Arrange the cubes in the baking dish and set aside.
In a large bowl, beat the eggs, eggnog, sugars, and vanilla until well blended. Pour over the panettone cubes, cover with plastic, and place in the fridge overnight. (In a pinch, you don't need to let the bread pudding sit--you can put it in the oven right away.)
Bake uncovered for 45-50 min, or until the center puffs and the pudding is set (believe me, you'll know when this happens, and if you check too soon, the pudding will look like it's never going to set). Remove and allow to cool.
You can also make the whipped cream a day in advance, or immediately before you're ready to serve your bread pudding. Either way, it's quick and easy. In a large bowl, beat the ingredients on medium speed for approximately 5-7 minutes, or until the whipped cream forms stiff peaks.
Cut and serve your eggnog bread pudding with a (very large) dollop of cinnamon molasses whipped cream.
I have been horribly neglectful of my blog over the last month or so, which, in my mind, is a particularly heinous crime given the salient spices and aromas of the holiday season. As it turns out, applying for academic jobs and postdocs takes more time than I initially anticipated. (I haven't stopped baking, though, I promise!) What better way to counter the anxieties of assistant professorship applications than a pan of hot pumpkin pecan cinnamon rolls? It's nearly the end of November, and it's a perfect time for sweet pumpkin spice.
These pumpkin pecan cinnamon rolls are just the right amount of everything: they're not super sweet on their own (if that's what you like), but if you want something sweeter, that's where the delicious vanilla-rum cream cheese icing comes in. Drizzle as much or as little as you'd like for a warm breakfast or an after-dinner treat.
We've been listening to a lot of Neil Young as the leaves have been falling, and our recent vinyl acquisition of Rust Never Sleeps has left our autumn kitchen with the sounds of "Thrasher."
Ingredients:
*Recipe adapted from Smitten Kitchen's pumpkin cinnamon rolls
*Note also: you'll need a dough hook for your mixer to complete this recipe!
The Dough:
--8 tbsp. unsalted butter, + extra for buttering your pans
--1/2 c. water, warmed (but not boiling)
--1 package of active dry yeast
--3 1/2 c. all-purpose flour, + additional for rolling and buttering your pans
--1/3 c. dark brown sugar
--1/3 c. turbinado sugar
--2 tsp. ground cinnamon
--1/2 tsp. ground cloves
--1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
--1/2 tsp. ground allspice
--1/2 tsp. ground ginger
--1/2 tsp. salt
--3/4 c. pumpkin puree
--1 tbsp. canola oil (for coating your bowl)
--2 eggs
The Filling:
--3/4 c. dark brown sugar
--1/2 c. turbinado sugar
--pinch of salt
--1 tsp. cinnamon
--1 c. chopped pecans (you can make these without nuts, too)
The Icing:
--4 oz. cream cheese (or neufchatel)
--2 tbsp. half and half
--2 tsp. vanilla extract
--1 tbsp. dark rum (obviously, leave this out if you're making these for kids)
--1 1/2 to 2 c. confectioner's sugar (depending on whether you want your icing thin like a glaze or thick like an icing)
First thing, heat your water and dissolve your yeast. Keep in mind that your water cannot be boiling or near it--just warm enough to dissolve the yeast. If the mixture doesn't begin to froth in 5-7 minutes, the yeast is bad and you'll need to start anew (it's always good to check this first).
Next, melt your butter and set aside. In a large bowl, combine all the dry ingredients--flour, sugars, spices and salt. Beat on low speed, and slowly add about half the melted butter to your mixture. Continue to beat on low to combine. Now, add the yeast mixture, pumpkin puree, and the eggs. Using a dough hook on your mixer, combine the ingredients on low for 5-7 minutes until you have a combined dough.
In a separate large bowl oiled with canola oil, transfer your ball of dough. Cover it with plastic wrap and let it sit for about in hour in a warm place. While you're waiting, butter and flour two 9" springform pans (or whatever cake pan you're using).
You can also use this time to make your filling and your icing. These are both pretty straightforward. For the filling, just use a fork to gently combine all ingredients. Set aside. Now, for the icing: in a large bowl, combine the cream cheese, half and half, vanilla, rum, and confectioner's sugar. Beat on medium speed until it's silky and smooth.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Now to complete your cinnamon rolls! After an hour or so (the dough should have just about doubled in size). On a heavily floured surface, roll the dough into a rough rectangular shape that's about 1/4" thick. With a pastry brush, gently brush the surface with the remaining melted butter (you should have about half of the melted butter left). Drench that dough! Then sprinkle the filling evenly across it. Now, you're going to roll this piece of dough length-wise (or the long way). Try to keep it as tight as possible until you've got a pumpkin dough log on your hands. Using a serrated-edge knife, very (very!) gently slice the log into 1/2" discs. When you're finished, you should have enough to fill your two cake dishes.
Place the cinnamon rolls so that they're touching one another in a circular pattern in each of the cake dishes and bake, uncovered, for 30-35 minutes, or until the rolls have puffed up and are ever-so-slightly a golden color. Remove from the oven, allow to cool, and drizzle (or coat heavily) with your vanilla-rum cream cheese icing. Enjoy!
I'm heading to the other side of the equator soon, where I'll be leaving the dog days of summer behind me. It'll be winter in Argentina, so here's a summer swan song: delicious and creamy peanut butter frozen yogurt.
I bought an ice cream maker awhile back, and I don't use it enough. However, I'm in love enough with frozen yogurt that I buy it on a very regular basis. In other words, I should use my ice cream maker more often. When you make your own desserts, the flavor combinations are nearly endless. I love peanut butter, and I knew it would make for a delicious chilled treat. And what's great about this recipe is that it doesn't even contain any sugar--all of the sweetness comes from the earthy agave syrup. Making your own ice cream or frozen yogurt is incredibly easy, and it's always worth it.
Do you know the Doors' beautiful and sad "Indian Summer"? It's stunning. It was an outtake, more stripped down than most other songs from the band, and appeared on Morrison Hotel in 1970.
Ingredients:
--3/4 c. creamy peanut butter
--3 c. plain Greek yogurt (you can substitute for a non-Greek variety if you like your fro-yo less tangy)
--1/2 c. sweetened vanilla almond milk (again, you can substitute whatever milk you'd like)
--1/4 c. agave syrup (if you like your fro-yo super sweet, add more)
--1 tbsp. vanilla extract
--chopped peanuts for topping
Melt the peanut butter down until it's easier to whisk (I just placed mine in the microwave for about 35 seconds). In a large bowl, whisk all of the ingredients together, except the peanuts, until creamy.
Pour the mixture into a prepared ice cream maker and turn it on. Allow the ice cream maker to churn for 20-25 minutes, or until the fro-yo reaches the desired consistency.
*To use an ice cream maker, you have to plan waaaay in advance. For most of them, you've gotta chill the churning bowl for 6-8 hours ahead of time. But if you don't have an ice cream maker, you can still make this dessert. Pour the whisked ingredients into a freezer-safe container and chill for about 1-2 hours, stirring occasionally.
Serve with a dusting of chopped peanuts (or, if you have it, some delicious chocolate syrup).
Driving to Pittsburgh earlier this year, a GPS mishap led to the discovery of Delallo, one of the most glorious indoor markets I've ever encountered in America. In addition to a seemingly mile-long olive bar and to-die-for desserts, they also make fresh pasta. With all of the farmer's market veggies I've been buying, I decided to use Delallo fusilli to make a summer squash pasta with applewood-smoked bacon and sweet heirloom tomatoes. And what could make those ingredients better? Some fresh chèvre, of course!
This pasta is so delightfully summer. To accompany it, here's Durutti Column's "Sketch for Summer," live in Madrid (1983).
Ingredients:
--1 lb. fresh fusilli (or any other pasta you like!)
--8 strips extra crispy applewood-smoked bacon (Evan smoked ours on the grill, but any crispy bacon will do)
--2 yellow squashes, chopped
--2 ripe heirloom tomatoes, chopped
--2 tsp. fresh lemon thyme (I grow this in my garden, but you should be able to find it almost anywhere)
--1/2 cup crumbled chèvre (a.k.a. goat cheese)
--3 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
--1/2 tsp. salt, + extra for cooking pasta
First thing's first: smoke the bacon. There's an art to smoking, and we're coming close to mastering it! Soak your wood chips (we used applewood), and light your charcoal. When the grill it hot, pour the wood chips over the charcoal. Lay your bacon across the cast iron grates and close your smoker. The bacon should smoke for approximately 15 minutes, but monitor it--when it's crispy, it's done. Crumble the bacon and set aside.
In a large saucepan, saute the yellow squash in extra virgin olive oil. Add the lemon thyme and salt. The lemon thyme adds a really nice, crisp citrus flavor. Saute for approximately 10 minutes, or until soft. Remove from heat and add heirloom tomatoes.
Boil water for pasta and add salt. Cook fusilli for 2-3 minutes (if fresh). Otherwise, follow pasta instructions (you know the drill-usually 7-9 minutes, depending on the pasta if you like it al dente). Strain the pasta once cooked and add to the veggies. Mix in the bacon, then add the chèvre and mix well. The chèvre will coat the pasta like a delicious, creamy sauce. Serve warm or chilled.
