Posts filed under 'Sweet Treats'
Pumpkin Bread…
I’m having a perfectly lazy weekend, one about which I’m determined to not feel guilty. Too often these days I find myself driven nearly to the point of distraction by my “to do” lists and a need to reach some continually elusive goal. As such, I’m a manic list keeper. I’d type one out here for you, but I fear it’d be a bit too embarrassing.
It is a blessing and a curse, as you well know if you too are a compulsive list complier. On one hand, I am very organized and, in theory, more efficient as I rarely find myself scratching my head and wondering what to do next. On the other hand, I am by times paralyzed by the magnitude of my self-assigned tasks. Since I feel a tremendous sense of satisfaction when crossing off completed items on the list, I think I tend to add more and more to my lists to keep the good times rolling. But then I realize that my list for just one day fills an entire notebook page and I experience instant exhaustion. Does this happen to anyone else? Is there a twelve step program for my kind?
Long list, err, story short, I’ve decided I need to reign in my urge to constantly be “on task” and focus more on savoring the things I love simply because I want to, not because they fulfill some item on my to-do list. So, at least for the remainder of the winter, weekends are finally going to be the way they were meant to be: time with D, watching movies, taking walks, sleeping late, knitting, reading, eating a hot breakfast instead of a granola bar, snuggling with my cats… all those good things.
One of those things that I love is making bread. I really find my stride in the kitchen when working with both quick and yeast breads. I particularly enjoy kneading yeast doughs; so therapeutic. But this time, I decided to make a quick bread as I still haven’t completely satisfied my craving for all things pumpkin. And to add to the indulgence, both in flavor and in just enjoying myself on a lazy weekend, I actually then turned this delicious loaf into a breakfast/brunch favorite that you’ll just have to wait to discover in my next post. Trust me, it is a wonderful way to spend some relaxing time in the kitchen and making a delicious dish for those you love and want to indulge!
Meanwhile, this bread is super moist with a perfect crumb and hints of the warm spices that compliment pumpkin so very well. It’s a lovely little loaf for breakfast just the way it is, served warm and heavily buttered. But like I said, I have an extra special way to put it to good use that I’ll tell you about in the next post… stay tuned (and relaxed).
19 comments January 16, 2010
Multigrain Pumpkin Pancakes
Here we are on the eve of one of the biggest holidays of the year and I thought I’d give you a little recipe that you can use to feed all those guests popping their rumpled heads into your kitchen each morning (or, if you’re a guest and you want to do something nice for your host). Who doesn’t love a big hot stack of made-from-scratch pancakes? You’ll be an instant hero to everyone at the table.
Several years ago I was inspired to throw a combo New Year’s Eve party and a New Year’s Day brunch…the idea was that guests would come, drink, be merry, crash on the floor, sleep, wake up to the smell of amazing food and dark coffee, and come gather in the kitchen to nurse their hangovers in style. Well, I have to say, the plan worked beautifully and everyone had a blast starting the new year right. While planning that brunch (with a huge menu that I might have been wise to par down had I contemplated my own hangover that morning), I developed a recipe for multigrain pancakes that would really soak up the rest of the alcohol in everyone’s stomaches. The pancakes that New Year’s morning did their job beautifully and I’ve made them my go-to ever since.
Last weekend, while snowed in (yah for “real” winters!), I got a hankering for pancakes and had a bit of thawed-out pumpkin puree left over from another batch of those delicious Pumpkin Pie Truffles. I thought I’d throw the pumpkin in the pancake batter and add some warm spices to accentuate the flavors and make these filling flap jacks even more delicious. The result was a tall stack of beautifully hued, thick, dense discs that are not terribly sweet…perfect winter comfort food for a lazy day.
Now, I realize there has been quite a parade of pumpkin recipes on SFTF as of late. If you’re not the passionate pumpkin promoter that I am, you could easily adapt this recipe to include other delicious flavors…toss in a cup of frozen blueberries you picked last summer to remind you of warmer days; pop in a generous handful or two of fresh cranberries if you can still find them to fit this red-bedecked season; use up that bunch of overripe bananas that have been sitting unloved thanks to all the holiday sweets on hand (mash them up like you would to make banana bread and mix it into the batter); or make a plain batch and slather them with some local pear or apple butter and a drizzle of honey.
A great time-saver for me, since this recipe calls for a good number of ingredients, is to mix up all the dry ingredients in ziplock bags (labeled and dated of course) and stash several of these away so in the mornings when I want to make them, there’s a lot less measuring to do. This is especially important when you’re also trying to drink that first cup of coffee to get your engines running so you can do a decent job of flipping these babies.
Dare I be predictable and say MERRY CHRISTMAS to you all? May you all have flavorful feasts with family and friends!!
16 comments December 24, 2009
Grandma’s Pumpkin Pie
I write a lot about my grandmother on this blog and for good reason. She’s an amazing cook who, next to my mother, influenced my culinary sensibilities the most. This is a woman who, for better or for worse*, defines herself almost entirely by her ability to make and serve delicious food for her family and community. My grandfather was the best fed man from the moment he met my grandmother until the day he died. When my grandmother lost her eyesight several years ago, she initially was dejected by her worries that she wouldn’t be able to cook and bake anymore. Wouldn’t you know, her desire to be in the kitchen was so great that she somehow taught herself how to cook by touch alone. She hasn’t used a recipe or a precise measuring device since but you wouldn’t know it because everything she makes is still perfect.
*I mention worse because she recently nearly put herself in the hospital because she, at 90 years of age, was bending over and peeling bushels upon bushels of granny smith apples to make jars of her famous apple pie filling that she puts up every autumn to use for pies at the church’s fundraiser turkey supper and pie stand at the town’s 4th of July celebration. Her poor old back just couldn’t handle it, and she was in a great deal of pain and experiencing a lot of nasty problems from all the bending and had to be forced to give up her paring knife.
I grew up with my grandmother’s delicious pumpkin pie and was doomed to despise all other pumpkin pies in the world once I left home. You see, my grandmother’s pumpkin pie does not have a crust. It is simply the most moist and delicious custard you can possibly imagine, baked to perfection directly in the pie plate. No, it’s not fair to judge all other pumpkin pies by this one, but it can’t be helped once you’ve tasted the unadulterated pumpkin-y-ness of this version.
Every visit home, since the day I left for college, has been an opportunity for my grandmother to bake me a batch (nearly always at least two and sometimes three!) of pumpkin pies to take back with me. I can’t say I’ve ever protested (at least not with any real sincerity), though really I probably should have when asked to eat three pies all by myself! Hmmm, yes, well…
Nowadays I have D to help me eat them, and he loves them just as much as me. This led to a serious depletion in my annual pumpkin pie consumption, one that could not be tolerated any longer. So, I asked for my grandmother’s coveted pumpkin pie recipe and, just like my mother’s mac and cheese, I undertook making it my own with equal parts uncertainty and determination. Wouldn’t you know, this has turned out to be probably the easiest recipe on this entire blog and I didn’t bother to do a thing with it as it actually tastes just like my grandmother’s when I make it myself.
This pie is absolutely best when served with a dollop of freshly whipped cream. But don’t be ashamed if you find yourself grabbing a fork and the entire pie to sit in front of the TV and eat it straight from the pan. Yes, I have done that. Don’t laugh or raise your collective eyebrows at me until you’ve made this pie. Then you’ll understand.
14 comments December 19, 2009
Pear Caramel Ice Cream
I know it’s not exactly ice cream season any more, at least not here in Philadelphia. Unfortunately this is yet another recipe that slipped to the bottom of the drafts pool and just now is resurfacing since the weather is cold enough to keep me inside and at my computer with greater frequency. To make up for the untimely fashion in which I’m getting around to posting this decadent Pear Caramel Ice Cream, I’ll throw in another cookbook review with today’s recipe.
Falling Cloudberries, written by globetrotting Tessa Kiros, stopped me in my tracks when I saw its beautiful tapestry cover and the striking photos of both the food and places of Tessa’s travels inside its pages. I was thrilled to have a such a lovely book to have tucked on my bedside table to read a little bit each night. Tessa has written the book in a style that melds memoir with making delicious dishes out of local ingredients. Perfect, right?
Well, while the book is a real stunner and the stories within its pages heartfelt and poetic, I always judge a cookbook not by its cover, but by the recipes in its collection that I test. I have to be blunt: the recipes in Falling Cloudberries are not really worthy of the price on the dust jacket. While I love the cultural context in which Tessa chose her recipes, the reality is that the ingredients in many of them are quite hard to find and I couldn’t really think of any substitutes to try for the ones that did get me itching to make them. In the end, I tried the recipe for her potato salad and for this ice cream. The potato salad was such a disappointment I’m not even going to post that one. The original recipe from the book’s pages for this Pear Caramel Ice Cream was also a huge disappointment with the first batch I made, mostly because the caramel process Tessa presents is, in my humble opinion, misguided and resulted in a grainy consistency and not very sweet flavor.
I decided to make a second batch using my own caramel technique and, lo and behold, the flavor of this ice cream proved to be outstanding! The pear is soft and smoky from being steeped in the hot caramel and the caramel itself adds an unmistakable yet subtle golden richness to the cream while also adding a little chewy texture and a punch of flavor when drizzled in at the end of the churning to create little veins of gold in each scoop.
So with the right tweaking, I’m sure there are several recipes worth a look between the gorgeous covers of Falling Cloudberries. But you must be an adventurous cook willing to make the effort in order to use this book for its recipes. That being said, if you enjoy food more in spirit than in process, as many a foodie does, this is a book well worth having for its graceful storytelling and poignant photography. It would make a wonderful gift here at the holidays for the foodie traveler on your list or as a luxury purchase for yourself. Falling Cloudberries may not be a workhorse in the kitchen, but it certainly is a worthy piece of eye candy in the world of culinary reads.
14 comments December 14, 2009
From the Archives: Pumpkin Pie Truffles
I recently made another batch of these Pumpkn Pie Truffles for a holiday event and was reminded by all the “ohmygosh” comments that this is a recipe worth revisiting, especially around the holidays when homemade edible gifts are very handy to have for those sometimes tough-to-buy-for coworkers, neighbors, and hostesses. Below is the recipe, but if you’d like to read more about how it was developed, stop on over at the original post in the archives.
PUMPKIN PIE TRUFFLES
A Straight from the Farm Original
5 c. white chocolate
1/3 c. fresh pumpkin puree
14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk
1 T. brandy or cognac
1 vanilla bean
3 t. cinnamon
1 t. freshly ground nutmeg
1/2 t. ground cloves
1/2 c. graham cracker crumbs
1/2 c. gingersnap crumbs
4 oz. dark chocolate
In a double boiler or large heavy saucepan, warm the condensed milk over low heat. Add the vanilla bean and allow to steep for a minute or two. Add the white chocolate and stir until it is melted and smooth. Add pumpkin and brandy/cognac and stir to combine. Stir in the remaining spices and remove from heat.
Chill mixture uncovered for an hour or until it sets up and rolls easily into 1 inch balls using your hands, placing truffles on a cookie sheet lined with wax paper. Place half of the truffles in the freezer while you coat the other half. Combine the graham cracker and gingersnap crumbs together and roll half the truffles in the crumbs (the crumbs should adhere to the sticky surface you created when you rolled the truffles in your hands).
Melt the dark chocolate in a double boiler or in the microwave using 30 second intervals until smooth. Pull the uncoated truffles out of the freezer and use a fork to roll them in the dark chocolate until evenly coated. Place back on the wax paper/tray to harden.
Store all truffles in an air tight container in the fridge. Package in a nice box and present as a gift to your holiday party hosts or coworkers.
(makes 50-60 truffles)
14 comments December 9, 2009
