Turn, turn, turn

It's been a weird day.  The time changing aways seems to do that.  I had lots of stuff that I wanted to accomplish this weekend, and having an extra hour should have helped with that.  Unfortunately, it's been a rather disjointed couple of days, with just enough stuff to do away from the house to really throw things out of whack, thanks to the timing of everything.  

I actually slept later than I expected to--7am by the new time on the clock.  Gillian was up before me, and looking for breakfast pretty much as soon as I walked down the stairs.  She's still making up for not eating much for a couple of days, and quickly polished off some yogurt while we figured out what I should bake for breakfast.  We settled on pumpkin muffins, though I admit I was a little worried about making something pumpkin for breakfast after Gillian's experience with the scones on Friday.  But she was enthusiastic about the idea, since I pretty much always put chocolate chips in them.  And they stayed down, so it was a better day. =)

I'm trying to get better about using the ingredients in my pantry, rather than just squirreling things away.  I've started to accumulate a pretty good collection of cupcake papers, for instance.  I love the high quality grease-proof ones, because you can peel them off without losing a bunch of the cake in the process.  And I've found that they come in lots of pretty colors and patterns.  I get some from my local baking supply shop, and quite a few from King Arthur.  Since I don't make that many cupcakes right now, they're starting to pile up, so I've been reminding myself to use them for muffins, too.  The ones pictured above seemed perfect for some autumn muffins.  You can find the muffin recipe here ( showing off some more of my collection of cupcake papers).  It's bedtime here, since I have to get an early start tomorrow, but hopefully it'll feel easier thanks to the change back to standard time.

It's a great pumpkin scone, Charlie Brown!

I'm so glad that it's Friday and that I don't have to work tomorrow.  It's been a long week.  I wasn't moving that well this morning, so instead of making my tea at home and taking it in my travel mug, I stopped at Starbucks.  Anticipating that it would be a crazy day, I went for the big cup. =)  The holiday cups are out, and those always seem so cheery.

Figuring everyone at work would also need a pick-me-up to get through the day, I made them some breakfast.  I don't think I've brought this group scones before.  King Arthur is one of my main sources for scone recipes, and they were featuring pumpkin scones this morning.  I had canned pumpkin and cinnamon chips in the pantry, so I was all set.  I'm definitely becoming a fan of freezing the scones before baking.  The scones end up having a great texture--there were lots of raves at work.  (Plus it works out--I can mix and shape the scones, throw them in the freezer, and shower while they chill and the oven preheats.)  I had one person comment that she wanted to know what my pantry looks like, that I can whip up something like this on a moment's notice. =)

The only downside to the scones is that the nurse at Gillian's school was rather disturbed this morning.  It seems that G picked up a stomach bug, and the nurse isn't used to the results from a student eating something orange for breakfast...  So wish me luck for the weekend.  I really hope no one else comes down with it and that our plans aren't derailed any more than they already have been.  G is already on the mend and asking to eat something besides saltines because she's starving.  Keeping my fingers crossed.

Wordless Wednesday - Happy Halloween!

'Tis the season...almost

I blame it on Starbucks.  I stopped in there one morning last week because I didn't have anything at home to make a quick breakfast.  So I got some iced tea (it's August in Texas, so I seldom drink hot tea between 7am and 10pm) and stared at the pastry case, looking for something to eat.  The pumpkin scones caught my eye, so I got one.  It was tasty, and it got me started thinking about making my own pumpkin baked goods.  Yes, it's still August, and frequently over 100ºF, but I couldn't get the idea out of my head.  Maybe doing some fall baking will encourage the fall weather to come sooner.  Probably wishful thinking, I know, but we did at least have some serious rain yesterday that kept the temps in the 80s.  The girls and I went to the movies yesterday morning (we finally saw Brave), and came out to find a torrential downpour going on.  We tried to wait it out, but finally gave up and made a run for the car, getting rather soaked in the process.  So we came home and put on dry clothes (actually pjs for the girls) and had hot chocolate.  We can certainly pretend that fall isn't far off. =)

I made the first batch of pumpkin muffins Thursday evening, intending to take them to work Friday morning.  I kept a couple for the girls to eat for breakfast, but Gillian informed me that "you know I don't like things with pumpkin!"  I didn't know that; I figured the addition of chocolate chips would make pretty much any baked good acceptable to my daughters.  So I gave a muffin to Brianna and took the rest to work.  Then Friday evening Gillian informed me that she had a taste of Brianna's muffin and decided that she did like them.  She was rather put out to discover that we didn't have any more at home.  I promised her that we could make more for breakfast on Sunday, so that's what we did.

A lot of the time, I just gather ingredients as I go, but when I'm baking with the girls or prepping things the night before so I can bake in the morning, I actually do a fairly complete mise en place.  First we took out the butter and cut it into smaller pieces so it would soften more quickly.  I also took out the eggs so they could warm up a bit--Gillian cracked them into a small bowl to make them easier to add to the mixer later.  I measured the pumpkin and yogurt into another small bowl.  Gillian measured the sugars into a bowl of their own.  Then we measured the dry ingredients (flours, spices, leaveners) into a larger bowl and Gillian whisked them together.  (We did all of the measuring using our scale.)  From there it was pretty easy to mix things up.  First the sugars got creamed with the butter and the vanilla was added.  Next the eggs were mixed in, followed by the pumpkin and yogurt.  Then the dry ingredients were gradually added while the mixer was running.  Finally, we added a cup of chocolate chips, folding them in with a spatula (which also helped make sure all the ingredients in the bottom of the bowl were completely mixed).

I used a scoop (a #16 disher) to put the batter into the muffin pan.  The muffins baked at 400ºF, and for us they took 20 minutes.  We let them cool in the pan for about 5 minutes, then put them on a rack and let them cool just a bit longer before digging in.

The verdict?  As I said, Gillian has now decided that she likes these muffins.  Brianna does too; she commented that they taste best when still a little warm.  Judging by how quickly the first batch disappeared at work, these were definitely a huge hit there as well.  I got several requests for the recipe.  While I've blogged about these muffins before, for Tuesdays with Dorie, I'm going to share the recipe here, since I've made several changes.  

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Muffins
(adapted from Dorie Greenspan's Baking From My Home to Yours)

1 cup (135 grams) all-purpose flour
1 cup (135 grams) white whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon table salt
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
pinch allspice
8 tablespoons (1 stick/115 grams) unsalted butter
1/2 cup (100 grams) granulated sugar
1/4 cup (50 grams) light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs, at room temperature
3/4 cup (170 grams) canned pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling!)
1/3 cup (75 grams) plain yogurt
1 cup (170 grams) chocolate chips (or nuts or dried fruit--any mix you like)

Make sure your rack is in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 400ºF.  Line a standard 12-cup muffin pan with paper muffin cups (I use grease-proof ones like these) or spray the molds with baking spray.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices.  Set aside.

Using a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter until soft.  Add the sugars and beat until light and smooth, then mix in the vanilla.  Next, beat in the eggs one at a time.  Continue to beat the mixture for about a minute after the eggs are in, then mix in the pumpkin and yogurt.  Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl.  Then, with the mixer on low, gradually add the dry ingredients, mixing only until they disappear.  Remove the bowl from the mixer, and fold in the chocolate chips with a spatula, making sure that all the ingredients are completely blended. (I find that some of the butter/sugar mixture sits in the bottom of the bowl and doesn't get thoroughly mixed in with the paddle.)

Divide the batter between the prepared muffin cups.  Bake the muffins for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean and the tops of the muffins are lightly browned.  Allow the muffins to cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then remove them from the pan and put them on a rack to finish cooling.

Wordless Wednesday - Star bright

(cupcake recipe here, glitter here)

'Tis the season

RAIN!!  It rained today, a lot!  I think we've had more rain in the past 24 hours that we've had in the past several months combined.  This is the first day that it's really felt like fall--I think we barely hit 70º today.  So awesome. =)  Not that the lack of cooler weather has kept me from baking--once the calendar says October, I don't care what the temperature is, I'm baking with fall ingredients.  Heck, I was so sick of summer, I started in September, when it was still getting over 100º on occasion.  My favorite fall ingredient is definitely apples.  While I do like to use local ingredients when I can, I think that the best apples are from New York.  We are starting to get some of them down here, but it takes a little while to get the full variety.  So I'm also baking with my second favorite fall ingredient, pumpkin.

For my blogging friend Phyl, pumpkin is definitely a favorite ingredient.  So much so that he invited a bunch of us to join him in making and posting pumpkin recipes today.  We're aiming to have a full dinner's worth--with a whole lot of courses, I think.  I usually go for dessert, but I figured there would be several others more than willing to cover that course.  So I decided to make a recipe that I've been wanting to for a long time--the Pumpkin Brioche from Sherry Yard's The Secrets of Baking.

The Secrets of Baking is one of the cookbooks that started off my very large (and still growing) collection of baking books.  My husband got it for me for a birthday or another occasion--I can't remember exactly anymore.  It was published in 2003 and he got it not long after publication, so I've had it a long time.  It's a really nice book for someone who likes to bake but is looking to expand their repertoire of pastry skills.  Each chapter starts with a basic recipe that shows a technique, like caramel or pound cake, and then uses that as a jumping off point for more complex recipes.  I have quite a few technique books now, but this is still one of my favorites.  

I've made brioche before, so this recipe wasn't as scary as I thought it would be when I first got the book.  It's a medium-rich dough, so it's buttery without being a huge pain to work with.  I used canned pumpkin puree, but you could certainly use fresh if you have it.  I made a few small adjustments to the recipe.  Since this is a rich dough, I used my SAF Gold yeast.  I had extra large eggs in my fridge, so I only used 5 instead of 6.  This is a pretty forgiving dough, since I totally didn't follow the mixing instructions.  I forgot that you're supposed to develop the gluten with about 5 minutes of kneading before  you add the butter.  I added it not long after I added the eggs.  So I just kneaded longer after the butter went in--about 8 minutes, I think.  Everything still worked out okay.

The recipe says that it makes 3 pounds of dough, but by my measurements, it's actually about 4 pounds (about 1.8 kilos).  I used about a kilo of the dough to make sandwich rolls--a dozen rolls of 85 grams (3 ounces) each.  I'm still deciding what to do with the remaining dough--maybe cinnamon rolls.  After shaping the rolls, I let them proof at room temperature for about 2 hours, then baked them at 350ºF for 25 minutes.  As usual, I skipped the egg wash, though you could certainly use it if you prefer shiny brioche. 

The verdict?  Fantastic!  The rolls don't really taste like pumpkin, but as Brianna said, there's something different about them.  The color is gorgeous.  And I think this is my favorite style of brioche--you can taste the butter, but it's not out of control.  I used one roll to make a ham sandwich for lunch, and it was delicious.  I think they would also be tasty with jam.  Brianna was enthusiastic about having them in her lunch, so I'm sure we'll be making these again.  

Phyl should have the full round-up of pumpkin dishes on his blog sometime this week, so head over to check it out.  Updated: You can find the round-up here. And for more delicious breads and rolls, be sure to check out Yeastspotting.  

Pumpkin Brioche

(adapted from Sherry Yard's The Secret of Baking)

170 grams (3/4 cup) whole milk, at room temperature

5 grams SAF gold instant yeast (or regular instant yeast)

225 grams (1 cup) pumpkin puree

65 grams (1/3 cup) granulated sugar

140 grams (1 cup) bread flour

700 grams (5 cups) bread flour

14 grams (2 teaspoons) table salt

5 extra large eggs (267 grams out of the shells) or 6 large eggs, room temperature

225 grams (1 cup, or 2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

This brioche starts with a sponge.  Put the milk and yeast in the bowl of a stand mixer and whisk to combine.  Let stand for about 5 minutes, until the yeast is dissolved and starts to bubble a bit.  (This step isn't absolutely necessary with instant yeast, but I figure in a rich dough like this, the head start for the yeast is still a good idea.)  Mix in the pumpkin, sugar and the cup of flour.  I like to use my dough whisk for this, but you could also use your mixer with the paddle attachment.  Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the sponge stand at room temperature until bubbly, 30 to 45 minutes.

For the dough, first add the flour and the salt to the sponge.  Next mix in the eggs until they are absorbed.  Then add the butter, 2 tablespoons at a time.  Once all the butter is in, switch to the dough hook.  (You can do so sooner if you need to, but I found it easier to mix the butter in with the paddle.)  Scrape down the sides of the bowl, then knead with the dough hook for about 8 minutes, until the dough is smooth and shiny.  Transfer the dough to a well-oiled 4-quart container and turn the dough so it is coated with oil on all sides.  Cover the container (mine has its own lid) and let the dough rise until it is doubled in volume, about 2 hours.

Deflate the dough by folding the dough over on itself. Refrigerate the dough for at least 4 hours or overnight.  It will rise to fill the container again.  Once chilled, the dough can be made into loaves or rolls or used for other recipes.  For the rolls I made, remove about half the dough from the container.  Divide the dough into 12 pieces of about 85 grams (3 ounces) each.  You could also do 60 gram (2 ounce) pieces for dinner rolls.  Roll the dough pieces into smooth, tight rounds and place on a parchment lined baking sheet.  Spray lightly with oil (I use Pam) and cover with plastic wrap.  Let rise at room temperature for about 2 hours, or until doubled in size.  During the last 30 minutes of the rise time, preheat the oven to 350ºF.  Bake the rolls for 20 to 25 minutes, depending on the size.  The rolls will be nicely browned and register about 195ºF internal temperature when done.  Transfer the rolls to a rack and let them cool before serving. 

Wordless Wednesday - Signs of fall

(Recipe here; used 2/3 cup choc chips in place of other mix-ins)

Thankful

It's been a while since Brianna lost another tooth.  But that changed when I picked her up from daycare (because she didn't have school) on Wednesday.  She had a tooth that was just barely hanging on.  As has often been the case, I ended up having to pull it the rest of the way out for her, because it was bothering her so much.  It didn't take much.  As we were driving home, B mentioned that she wanted to write a note to the tooth fairy to put under her pillow along with the tooth.  Once we got home, she got to work on it.  She drew pictures of turkeys (see below), and wrote "Gobble! Gobble! Gobble! What are you thankful for? Write bellow (sic) two things."  Hey, nobody told me that this tooth fairy thing was going to involve essay questions...

Thank goodness Brianna has always been a sound sleeper.  It definitely makes the whole tooth fairy thing a lot easier.  Teeth are one thing--they're small, and B puts hers in a little pouch that's pretty easy to find, even under a pillow in the dark.  Turns out it's a lot more nerve-wracking to try to remove an 8½x11 sheet of paper from under the pillow of a sleeping child.  The tooth fairy folded it up after writing her answers, making the return a lot less harrowing. =)

After some consultation with others online, I came up with some answers for the tooth fairy. (You can see them here.)  As for me, I'm thankful for creative kids with active imaginations.  And I'm thankful that I'm not the turkey in the picture above. (In case you can't quite tell, that's a turkey on a table, and a turkey on a spit, and a live turkey in between, looking scared.)  Oh, and I'm very thankful for pie.

I'm running a bit late for this week's Tuesdays with Dorie, but that was kind of on purpose.  This week is a rewind week, meaning that we are free to pick whatever past recipe we'd like to make this week.  Things were a bit crazy last month when Janell of Mortensen Family Memoirs picked the Caramel Pumpkin Pie, and I didn't have time to make it.  So I figured Thanksgiving would be the perfect time to try it out.  Jamie loves pumpkin pie, but I don't make it very often since I don't like it.  (It's the custardy texture that turns me off; I love most other pumpkin baked goods.)  

I had some of Dorie's pie dough stashed in the freezer (from when I made apple pie last month), so I pulled it out last night and put it in the fridge to thaw.  This morning, I rolled it out, put it in a pie pan, and blind-baked it.  (I have a bunch of black beans that I reserve for use as pie weights.)  The edges of the crust started to get rather browned when I was doing the initial bake, so I made sure to shield them with foil when I baked the filling.  The filling starts with making caramel using the dry method, meaning that you just put sugar in a pan and start heating it.  It quickly starts to melt and caramelize.  I didn't want the filling to be bitter, so I was careful not to let the caramel get too dark.  Cream, butter and rum are added to make a caramel sauce.  

I changed the mixing order for the rest of the filling, first mixing the spices (cinnamon, ginger & a bit of allspice) with the sugar to make sure they were evenly dispersed.  I whisked the eggs in separate bowl, added the sugar mixture, then added the pumpkin and vanilla.  Finally the caramel sauce went in.  I baked my pie for a total of 48 minutes, at which point the edges were starting to puff up and the center was just set.  As the pie cooked, the filling settled to an even layer.  It had plenty of time to cool to room temperature before we sampled it.

The verdict?  I'm pretty sure I'll never be a big fan of pumpkin pie.  That being said, I did have a small taste of this one, and the flavor was very nice.  The rum and caramel flavors were lovely with the pumpkin, and I liked the combination of spices as well.  Jamie really liked the pie, and so did Brianna.  Gillian did try some, but decided she'd rather eat apple pie.  I'm with her. =)

If you'd like to try this recipe for yourself, you can find the recipe on Janell's blog.  To see what everyone else made for this rewind week, check out the Links!

Thanksgiving treats

So the Thanksgiving meal that I cooked today was actually the second one that I had this year.  I've certainly has more than one Thanksgiving in the past.  One of the most memorable was the first year I was living in Seattle, when my first husband Nate and I had three Thanksgiving dinners in 3 days.  I didn't even want to look at turkey for quite some time after that. =)  All the meals were quite good, just too much.

This year's was a bit different.  Brianna has the days before and after Thanksgiving off from school, so on Tuesday they offer traditional Thanksgiving fare in the cafeteria for lunch.  Parents are always welcome to eat lunch with their children, but are specially invited for that day.  And while Brianna almost always takes lunch to school with her, that's one of the few days when she actually buys lunch.  Last year it was easy, since I was on vacation the whole week of Thanksgiving.  This year, I had to work the whole day (8:30am til almost 8:00pm), so it was a bit more challenging.  But I was able to make it work by taking a slightly longer than usual lunch.  The food actually was okay--turkey in gravy, stuffing, mashed potatoes, green beans, cranberry sauce, a roll and apple crisp for dessert.  But I swear, I probably consumed well over my recommended intake of sodium for the week in that one meal.  I think the salty gravy must be intended to cover up the rather bland potatoes. =)  But it was worth it because Brianna was so happy that I came to eat lunch with her.  And that's what Thanksgiving is all about, right?

The other nice thing that the school does each year is prepare Thanksgiving treats for all the teachers and staff.  Members of the PTA collect baked goods from everyone in the car line in the morning (repeated requests for donations, either homemade or store-bought, go out to all the parents for several days before that).  Then they wrap them up and distribute the items randomly to the teachers.  Last year, I was able to help with the whole process.  This year, I couldn't be there to help, but I figured I could at least contribute some good stuff. =)

One thing I learned last year was that it would be better to bring several small things than one big cake.  There's always that worry that not enough items will be collected to give something to everyone.  I decided to make this week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe, the All-in-One Holiday Bundt Cake, but in smaller versions.  The recipe was selected by Britin of The Nitty Britty.  I thought it would be a good choice because it has a little something for everyone--pumpkin, apples, cranberries and pecans.

I ended up making the recipe twice.  For the first batch, I used all the ingredients listed in the recipe.  I did make a change with the apple, though.  Instead of dicing it, I shredded it on the large holes of my box grater.  Then I squeezed a bit of the juice out of it before adding the apple to the batter, since I didn't want the cake to be soggy.  I put the batter in two 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 inch loaf pans, and baked them for 55 minutes.  We cut into one loaf, and I saved the second for the teachers.  It turned out good, but as I expected, Brianna and Gillian weren't excited about the nuts.

So for round two, I left out the pecans.  At Brianna's request, I added chocolate chips in their place. =)  I also increased the amount of cranberries, since it seemed like there weren't enough in the first batch.  In between the two baking sessions, I had the chance to visit Sur la Table and get a couple of mini bundt pans.  They're three cups each in volume, so I used both of them plus a couple of my mini loaf pans.  I baked them all for 35 minutes.  Once the bundts had cooled, I drizzled them with a simple powdered sugar/milk glaze.

The verdict?  I liked both of the versions, but preferred the one without nuts.  The chocolate chips were actually a nice addition.  The apple didn't stand out at all, but it did add a little something.  I was quite happy with the texture and moisture level of the cakes.  I took the rest of the loaf that we sampled work with me.  It disappeared quickly, so I guess my employees it was good. =)  Hopefully the teachers who received my goodies will enjoy them.  I would definitely make this one again, maybe playing around a bit more.  And I can't wait to try some more recipes in my new pans!

If you'd like to try this one, head over to Britin's blog for the recipe.  And check out the TWD blogroll to see what everyone else made this week.

Friday with Dorie

This has been an odd week.  Usually I'm sitting here on Monday night trying to finish up my TWD post so I can get to bed.  But this week, because of the holiday, our fearless leader, Laurie, allowed us to post late, which I appreciate, since I didn't even make the recipe until yesterday.  Nothing like leaving your holiday baking to the last minute... =)

I don't really like pumpkin pie.  I like lots of other pumpkin things, but don't really like the custardy texture of the pie.  (Yes, texture again, just like with the rice pudding.)  And pecan pie doesn't appeal much either--too sweet.  But my husband Jamie likes both, so I figured that he would help me eat this week's TWD recipe--Thanksgiving Twofer Pie.  Basically, the idea is that you put pecan pie filling on top of pumpkin pie filling, and hopefully make everyone happy.  =)

One nice feature of baking later in the week is that I was able to check out some of the cool things that other people did.  One that particularly caught my eye was Pink Stripes.  I really liked the idea of making mini pies, since I love crust, and that way if I didn't like the filling there wouldn't be as much of it. =)  For the crust, I used a favorite recipe of mine from Cooks Illustrated.  For those who subscribe to the website, it can be found here.  It's an all-butter crust that uses the technique of fraisage (smearing the dough against the counter) to make a strong, flaky crust.  After the dough chilled, I rolled it out and used my biggest round cutter (about 3 3/4 inches in diameter) to cut out circles of dough.  I carefully pressed them into the cups of a muffin tin that I had sprayed with baking spray (Pam for Baking, Cathy!)  I then put the muffin tin in the freezer while I prepared the fillings.  

I pretty much followed the recipe for the fillings.  The pumpkin one came together quickly in the food processor.  I did make one change to the pecan mixture, which was to use Lyle's Golden Syrup instead of corn syrup.  I spooned the pumpkin mixture into each of the muffins cups.  For most of them, I made sure to leave room for the pecan mixture, but I did make two just pumpkin, for my children who don't really like nuts.  =)  Then I placed several pecan halves on top of the pumpkin and spooned the syrupy brown sugar mixture on top, making sure not to fill the cups too much.  Since my ratio of filling to crust was different than in a regular pie, I had some of the filling mixtures left over, so I filled a couple of 4-ounce ramekins with the excess.  

I deliberately didn't pre-bake the crusts, since I didn't want the top edges to brown too much.  So to make sure that the bottoms browned well and didn't get soggy, I placed the muffin tin directly on my preheated baking stone.  I baked my mini pies for 10 minutes at 45o degrees F, and then turned the temperature down to 300 degrees F and baked them for another 20 minutes.  They turned out great.  I let the pies cool for a few minutes in the pan, but then carefully loosened them and transferred them to a rack to cool completely.  I was afraid that if I left them in the pan, they'd get stuck.  

The verdict?  I was surprised to find that I really liked the combination!  This was definitely a case of the result being more than the sum of the parts.  And I liked the mini pie variation a lot.  As expected, Jamie liked them a lot, too.  We had Thanksgiving dinner with some friends of ours, and they seemed to enjoy them as well.  At least, they didn't complain when I offered to leave some of the extra pies there! =)

Thanks to Vibi of La Casserole Carrée for choosing this week's recipe.  Even though she's not American, she was kind enough to select something that the American members of Tuesdays with Dorie could make for the Thanksgiving holiday.  You can find the recipe here, on Vibi's blog, or of course in Baking From My Home to Yours.  

Worth its salt

For all the baking I do, I don't have a taste for really sweet stuff. I love chocolate, and all things bread.  But things that are just sweet don't hold much appeal for me.  Case in point, caramel.  I admit, it's pretty tasty, but I could generally take it or leave it.  No more.  And all because of a little salt.

I've seen a variety of references to salted butter caramel on different food blogs.  So last month when I was making Dorie's Caramel Peanut (Pecan) Topped Brownie Cake, I added a bit of kosher salt to the cream when I was making the caramel.  The cake was okay, but the leftover caramel was outstanding.  I had no idea adding salt to something could make it so addictive.  I more or less ate the leftover caramel with a spoon (over a period of days, at least, not all in one sitting!).  My husband will undoubtedly be amused when he reads this, since he's long been a fan of the sweet/salty combination. =)

Where am I going with this?  We had a get-together for work this weekend.  As is often the case, I volunteered to make dessert.  When I asked my boss what she would like, she thought for a bit.  And then she had a brainstorm--"I've got it!  Can you make pumpkin cheesecake?  But  sort of a turtle cheesecake, with chocolate and caramel?"  Of course I can!

My favorite cheesecake recipe is from Rose Levy Beranbaum.  The recipe is in The Cake Bible, but I usually make the version she offered in Fine Cooking back in 1999, which is basically the same except that it uses 6 yolks in place of 3 whole eggs.  In that same Fine Cooking article, she gave a pumpkin cheesecake recipe as well, but I'd never tried it.  I wanted to make a chocolate crust, but instead of using a crumb crust, I decided to go with a chocolate pâte sucrée, since I find that crumb crusts on cheesecake tend to get soggy.  I blind baked it and then spread a layer of caramel on top of the crust before pouring in the batter.  

The verdict?  Everyone seemed to really enjoy it.  The cheesecake was creamy and delicious.  The pumpkin wasn't overpowering, and it was nice to have it on its own, with no distracting spices.  The caramel layer got a bit too liquidy, so it started to leak out once I'd cut the first piece of cheesecake.  It was definitely tasty, though.  The crust worked well in that it was definitely not soggy.  I think I'll add a bit more salt to both the crust and filling next time.  I had leftover caramel, so I drizzled some on each piece as it was cut.  And there are still a few spoonfuls left for me. =)  

The recipe for the cheesecake filling can be found here.  For the crust, I used the chocolate pâte sucrée recipe from The Pie and Pastry Bible, but any similar recipe should work just fine.  For the caramel that was layered under the cheesecake filling and drizzled over the top, I used the caramel from Dorie Greenspan's Caramel Peanut Topped Brownie Cake as a starting point and changed it around a bit.  Here's my version of it.

Salted Caramel Sauce

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons (3 ounces) water

1 1/2 cups (10 1/2 ounces) granulated sugar

1 tablespoon light corn syrup

2/3 cup heavy cream

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

2 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into four pieces

Place the water in a heavy saucepan.  Pour the sugar into the center of the water, slowly enough that it all gets wet as you add it.  Stir in the corn syrup.  Put a lid on the pan and heat the mixture over medium high heat until it boils.  Meanwhile, put the cream in a measuring cup with a spout and stir in the kosher salt.  Once the sugar syrup is boiling (you'll be able to tell because you can see steam escaping from under the lid), you can remove the lid.  As the water boils off, the syrup will get thicker and the bubbles will get bigger.  Continue heating until the syrup starts to turn amber.  Once it reaches the color you want (too pale and it won't taste as good, but too dark and it'll be bitter), remove the pan from the heat.  Very carefully and somewhat slowly, add the cream to the pan.  The mixture will bubble extremely vigorously--stay back so you don't get scalded by the steam.  Once the bubbles subside a bit, stir the mixture until smooth.  Add the butter pieces and stir until they have melted and blended into the caramel.  Pour the caramel into a heatproof container.  Allow it to cool until just warm before refrigerating.   

Equal time

I figured it was time to give Brianna some airtime.  With her birthday being only a few weeks past, Gillian's been getting a lot of attention, both on my blog and in general.  Brianna's pretty put out because Gillian keeps getting packages in the mail that turn out to be new toys.  Never mind the fact that they're toys aimed at 2-year-olds; Brianna wants to play with them because they're new and they're Gillian's.  Which of course has led to lots of squabbling around here.

With the time change this morning, I was afraid that they'd both be up at the crack of dawn, but it wasn't as bad as I feared.  Brianna made it to almost 7 o'clock (new time).  Since Gillian was still asleep, we headed downstairs so Brianna could watch cartoons and I could contemplate what to make for breakfast.  Muffins are something I often turn to on Sunday mornings, since they're pretty quick to mix together and make enough so I have breakfast during the week.  I asked Brianna what kind she would like.  She immediately said that she wanted me to make the pumpkin ones again, with the chocolate chips.  I was kind of hoping to try something new, but she was really insistent.  I couldn't really complain--she was volunteering to eat something fairly healthy.  =)  

I did change things up a little bit.  As with the last time I made them, I used half all-purpose flour and half white whole wheat.  Unlike last time, I didn't increase the salt (though I should have).  I didn't have any buttermilk (well, there's some in my fridge, but it's way past the sell-by date and really needs to go away), so I substituted sour cream.  I did the whole batch as chocolate chip, mixing in 1/4 cup of mini chips.  When I was checking out everyone else's TWD pumpkin muffins, I ran across several with streusel on top.  That sounded like a good idea to me.  So I looked through my copy of Great Coffeecakes, Sticky Buns, Muffins & More for some ideas.  I found a recipe for a Brown Sugar Whole Wheat Streusel that looked like it would be a good match for these muffins.  I cut it back a bit, since the original recipe made enough for 16 muffins and I was only making a dozen.

Brianna was going to help me with the whole thing, but she threw a major tantrum (an all too frequent occurrence of late) over which one of us was going to spray the muffin tin with baking spray.  She was temporarily banished to her room, but was allowed out in time to add the chocolate chips and put the streusel on top of the muffin batter.  We baked the muffins for 20 minutes, let them cool in the pan for about 5 minutes, and then held out for another 10 minutes or so.

The verdict?  The streusel was definitely a good addition.  The muffins did need more salt, but they were still good.  Brianna really enjoyed hers.  I don't know if they've replaced the coffeecake muffins as her favorite, but they're up there.  If you want to give them a try, you can find the original pumpkin muffin recipe here.  The streusel is available here on Carole Walter's website.  Here are the ingredients I used:

Muffins:

1 cup (4 1/2 ounces) all-purpose flour

1 cup (4 1/2 ounces) white whole wheat flour

2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temp.
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup (packed) light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup canned unsweetened pumpkin puree
1/4 cup sour cream

1/4 cup mini chocolate chips

Streusel:

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter

1/3 cup rolled oats

1/4 cup light brown sugar

1/4 cup white whole wheat flour

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

It's a great pumpkin muffin, Charlie Brown

I'm really glad that this week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe was an easy one.  Last week at work was very long (my boss was on vacation, leaving me as the only manager).  And then this weekend I managed to catch the cold that Jamie had that Gillian had that now I have...  I'm sure I'll live, but right now I'm quite miserable.  I walked around work on Monday with a box of tissues in one hand and a bottle of hand-sanitizer in the other.  My nose hurts.  And I still can't breathe.  

Thanks to Kelly of Sounding My Barbaric Gulp! for this week's Pumpkin Muffins.  This one fit right in with my craving of all things fall.  I made them for breakfast Sunday morning, making a couple of changes to the recipe.  I've been trying to make our meals a bit healthier by adding some whole grains in ways that my kids won't complain about.  So I substituted a cup of white whole wheat flour for one of the cups of all-purpose flour.  I also increased the salt to half a teaspoon.  I divided the batter in half so I could make a couple variations.  To one half, I added a couple tablespoons of mini chocolate chips.  To the other, I added a handful of raisins (maybe a third of a cup?).  After scooping the batter into my muffin pan (with my handy-dandy #16 disher), I sprinkled some pepitas over the tops of the raisin ones.  Apparently I can't read recipes correctly, because I could have sworn that it called for pepitas.  But after reading a comment on the P&Q, I went back to the recipe and realized that it actually called for sunflower seeds.  Oops. =)  I baked the muffins at 400 degrees F, but only for 20 minutes, which was just right for my oven.  (I really need to get an oven thermometer one of these days...)

The verdict?  As I expected, Brianna loved the chocolate chip version.  I think Gillian preferred the raisin one, but she mostly just picked the raisins out and ate them, leaving the rest of the muffin on her plate.  I thought both versions were great.  I really liked the addition of the pepitas on top--a bit of salty crunch to complement the moist texture of the muffin.  Jamie liked them, too.  I'll definitely be making these again.  

Want to try some pumpkin muffins for yourself?  Then get yourself a copy of the book, or head on over to Kelly's blog for the recipe.  

End of summer

Where has this year gone? I can hardly believe that it's already the last day of summer. I'm ready for fall, though. It seems like this has been one of the hottest summers we've had in the ten years I've lived in central Texas. It was really nice being in Pennsylvania for a week--much cooler weather, for the most part.

I was still on vacation for a couple of days after we got back from PA. Thursday, I didn't do much of anything, since I wasn't feeling all that great. I seem to have caught whatever Gillian had for the first couple days of our trip (just a cold, I think). On Friday I did get out, because I really needed to take my car in for some routine maintenance. While that was being taken care of, I had a chance to go do some window-shopping. Borders, Sur la Table, Williams-Sonoma--all fun places. =) I actually got out of all three without buying anything (though I did some pricing of kitchen torches in anticipation of the upcoming TWD crème brulée).

Our Williams-Sonoma store used to be a lot smaller.  In fact, when I first moved to Austin, I was surprised that a city this size didn't really have a good kitchenwares store.  Not too long ago they expanded it to about three times its previous size.  Coincidentally, that was about the same time that Sur la Table opened up. =)  I shop both, but one thing I like about Williams-Sonoma is that they often have samples out in their store.  You can tell they're into fall already, since the stuff I tasted on Friday had an autumn theme.  But while Friday started off pretty nice and cool (well, relatively), it still got up to almost 90.  So even though I'm more than ready for some fall desserts, the weather really isn't cooperating yet.  What to do?

Make pumpkin ice cream!  I love pumpkin desserts.  Well, not pumpkin pie (it's a texture thing for me), but pretty much anything else.  I checked online and found a recipe (from Williams-Sonoma, as it turned out) that I used to make changes to my usual vanilla ice cream base.  The end result is smooth and creamy and tastes very much like frozen pumpkin pie.  

Pumpkin Ice Cream

(inspired by this Williams-Sonoma recipe)

1 cup + 1/2 cup heavy cream

1 cup 1% milk (what I usually have on hand--other milk would be fine)

3/4 cup light brown sugar

4 egg yolks

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspooon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon table salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

8 oz pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)

1 teaspoon vanilla

Whisk together one cup of the cream, the milk and the brown sugar in a large heatproof bowl. Set the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water and heat until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture is hot. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, whisk the yolks until smooth. Whisk in the remaining 1/2 cup cream along with the cinnamon, ginger, salt and nutmeg. Still whisking, drizzle in about a third of the hot liquid to temper the yolks. Then whisk the the yolk mixture back into the remaining liquid in the double boiler. Heat, stirring frequently, until the custard thickens slightly and coats the back of a spoon. The temperature should be between 170 and 180 degrees F. Remove the bowl from the heat and whisk in the pumpkin and vanilla. Pour the mixture through a fine-mesh strainer into another bowl (to remove any stringy bits of pumpkin or eggy bits--it's kind of a pain, but worth it for the final texture).

Refrigerate the custard until well chilled, at least 3 to 4 hours. Churn the mixture into ice cream following the instructions for your ice cream maker. Makes about 3 1/2 cups (slightly less than 1 quart).