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Pumpkin Cheesecake Tart with Cranberry Gelee

12/20/2018

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For once, I was actively hunting for something new to make when I stumbled across this recipe. The inspiration was the very first Thanksgiving feast I would be making on my lonesome, and I wanted to top it off with a dessert that was traditionally-themed without being completely traditional. This was, arguably, the biggest hit not only of the night's feasting (and not just because it was sweet) but nearly out of all the things I have ever baked for my family. Even my father, the most famous scrooge of the family, prompted me no less than three times as to when I was going to make it again!
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Pastry:
  • 6 tablespoons blanched almonds
  • 1 1/2 cups plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 sticks (6 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • 3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • Pinch of salt
Filling:
  • 12 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
  • 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
  • 1/8 teaspoon ground cardamom
  • 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
  • Pinch of freshly ground white pepper
  • Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
  • Pinch of salt
  • 1 1/4 cups canned pumpkin puree (10 ounces)
  • 1/4 cup heavy cream
  • 3 tablespoons pure maple syrup
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  • 2 large eggs, at room temperature
Gelee:
  • 2 cups fresh cranberries (1/2 pound)
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/4 cup orange juice
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons unflavored gelatin
  1. In food processor, pulse almonds until coarsely ground. Add 1/2 cup of the flour and process to a fine powder; transfer to a bowl. In food processor, pulse the butter and confectioners' sugar until creamy. Pulse in egg and vanilla. Pulse in remaining 1 cup plus 1 tablespoon of flour, almond flour, and salt until a soft dough forms. Pat pastry into a disk, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour.
  2. Preheat oven to 325° F. On lightly floured surface, roll out pastry to 14-inch round about 1/8 inch thick. Roll pastry into 11 1/2-inch fluted tart pan with removable bottom. Gently press pastry into the rim. Fold in overhanging dough and press to reinforce the sides; sides should be twice as thick as the bottom. Trim off excess pastry and refrigerate until firm.
  3. Line pastry with parchment paper or foil and fill with pie weights or dried beans/rice. Bake pastry for about 25 minutes, or until set. Remove parchment/foil and weights and bake for 10 minutes longer, until crust is golden and cooked through. Let cool slightly.
  4. In a large bowl, combine cream cheese, brown sugar, ground spices, nutmeg and salt. Using electric mixer, beat at medium speed until smooth. Beat in pumpkin puree until smooth. Beat in cream, maple syrup, vanilla and eggs at low speed until blended.
  5. Put crust on large, sturdy baking sheet and set in oven. Pour pumpkin custard into crust (make sure to leave a little space at the top for the gelee). Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until custard is just set but still slightly jiggly in center. Cover edge with foil if crust starts to brown too much. Transfer to a rack and let cool completely.
  6. In medium saucepan, combine cranberries with 1/2 cup of water and cook over moderate heat until they begin to pop, about 5 minutes. Let cool. Transfer to blender and puree until smooth. Strain puree through a fine sieve. Rinse out saucepan.
  7. Add sugar and 1/4 cup of water to saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring, until dissolved. Let cool. Stir in orange juice and cranberry puree.
  8. In small bowl, sprinkle gelatin over 2 tablespoons of water and let stand until softened, 5 minutes. Microwave for 10 seconds, or until completely melted. Whisk gelatin into cranberry mixture and pour gelée over the pumpkin custard; shake gently to even it out. Refrigerate tart until set, at least 1 hour and up to 2 days. Remove the tart ring and serve.
Note: Remember to leave a little space at the top of the custard for the gelee. While you can get away with not doing so because the gelee should be a super-thin layer anyway, it was also very easy for the gelee to spill over the edges when I didn't account for it. While the custard will initially come out of the oven all puffed-up, it will settle in once it cools down, and should still have enough space for the gelee after being baked.

I discovered that I had an excess of filling and gelee after filling the tart to the brim. So have some ramekins ready and you can toss the extra in to be baked at the same time. Then you can "taste-test" guilt-free before the tart ever gets served!
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Cardamom-Walnut Crescents

12/4/2018

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Taken from this recipe, in terms of ingredients and method, this was not so different from the perennial favorite Mexican Wedding cookies. But the texture was quite different once baked, because the fat (butter, in this case) wasn't creamed evenly throughout the batter. I had joked to my mother that it looked like I was making a batch of mini-croissants; it turns out I wasn't too far off, because even though the dough came together, the food processor maintained little granules of the cold butter so that they baked into very lightweight cookies that crumbled in your mouth.
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For the dough:
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 3/4 cup walnuts halves
  • 1/4 pound unsalted butter, chilled and cut in to 1/2-inch pieces
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
  • 1/2 teaspoon grated orange zest
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
For the vanilla sugar:
  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 1/4 vanilla bean
  1. Heat oven to 325 degrees. Combine all dough ingredients in a food processor. Pulse until the dough resembles coarse meal. Then process continuously until it begins to gather together.
  2. Roll 2 teaspoons (or a little over half a tablespoon) dough at a time into half moon shapes. Arrange on an ungreased baking sheet, 1 inch apart. Bake until firm to touch, about 18 to 20 minutes.
  3. Meanwhile, combine the vanilla sugar ingredients in a food processor until the vanilla bean is pulverized.
  4. When cookies are done, let them cool in the pan for 5 minutes before transferring to a rack. Sift the vanilla sugar over them immediately. Continue cooling for 15 minutes. The cookies may be stored in an airtight container up to 5 days.

If you are lazy like me, you can just substitute powdered sugar for the vanilla sugar. Be aware, though, that this cuts down on the sweetness. This was perfectly fine for me, though. If you want to be even more super-lazy, forget about the crescent shapes and just form little half-domes like the mexican wedding cookies.

I also liked to up the cardamom and orange zest amounts, but you can certainly adjust to your taste. To help with the spreading, you can chill the cookies after they're formed on the baking sheet in the fridge for a half hour before putting in the oven.
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Crumbly Pumpkin Bread

10/10/2018

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I'm usually not a fan of pumpkin bread because I've tried enough of them to start forming this idea in my head that the pumpkin bread doesn't really taste like pumpkin or even bread, it just tastes like a really sweet bread-like cake. But this Fall season I made the mistake of forgetting to unpack a bunch of pie pumpkins from their grocery bags and within 2 days they were starting to get fuzzy around the stems, so I was forced to give them a bath and then bake them all at once. With bags and bags of pureed pumpkin now in the fridge, I had to go on a pumpkin-themed baking spree to try and free up some space.

Thank goodness for that, because after my family all got tired of the usual pies and cupcakes (I even tried a pumpkin-based drink) I finally broke down and tried this after it landed in my inbox ... and it has literally been the hit of everything pumpkin I've made so far. As usual, I cut the sugar (this time by quite a bit due to my usual experiences with pumpkin bread) and it turned out absolutely perfect with the sweet crumble top balancing it out.
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For the bread:
  • Cooking spray
  • 2 c ups all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp kosher salt
  • 1/2 cups (1 stick) butter, melted
  • 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
  • 1 cups pumpkin purée
  • 1/3 cups sour cream
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
For the topping:
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup butter, softened
  • 1/2 cup lightly packed brown sugar
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp kosher salt
  1. Preheat oven to 350°. Line an 8“-x-4” loaf pan with parchment paper then grease with cooking spray (or softened butter). In a large bowl, whisk together flour, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. 
  2. In a separate large bowl using a hand mixer, beat melted butter, sugar, pumpkin puree, sour cream, eggs, and vanilla. Gradually add dry ingredients to wet ingredients until just combined. 
  3. Make topping: In a medium bowl, stir together all ingredients until large clumps form. 
  4. Transfer batter to prepared pan then scatter topping on top (you might not use all of it - use as much as to your taste). Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean, about 1 hour to 1 hour 10 minutes.
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Paleo Banana Nut Muffins

8/22/2018

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Adapted from this recipe, don't let the "paleo" part fool you - this was a super-moist fluffy muffin that had none of the meal-like texture that I usually associate with nut or coconut-based flours. Granted, there's very little "flour" associated with it at all - just enough to hold everything together, which is why I love it since I'm highly sensitive to refined carbs. Even with all the bananas, it didn't taste over-sweet - in fact, some might find it not sweet enough, though I found it perfectly to my taste, especially with the walnuts to help add texture and the addition of some dark chocolate chips. I think this is a fabulous breakfast muffin, where you don't feel like you just ate a cup of sugar, can spread a little bit of butter and salt atop it if you'd rather have some savory than sweet, and feel like you ate something reasonably healthy with all the fruit and nut bases in it (not to mention a nice shot of chocolate)!
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  • 3 - 4 large ripe bananas (1_2/3 cups mashed or 380 grams)
  • 3 eggs room temperature
  • 3 tablespoons coconut oil melted
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/3 cup almond butter
  • 1/3 cup (50g) coconut flour
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup toasted walnuts chopped
  • 1/2 - 3/4 cup chocolate chips (optional)
  1. Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Line a 12 pan muffin tin with paper liners or grease with coconut oil.
  2. In a large bowl or mixer, combine the mashed bananas, eggs, coconut oil, vanilla extract and almond butter until fully combined.
  3. Sift the coconut flour, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, and salt and add to the wet ingredients and mix well. Fold in the walnuts and chocolate chips.
  4. Divide the batter between the prepared muffin tins.
  5. Bake in the preheated oven for about 17-19 minutes. A toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin should come out clean.
  6. Remove from oven and allow to cool on a wire rack for about 10 minutes. Flip out onto a cooling rack to finish cooling.
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Peanut Butter Cookies

8/21/2018

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I have my tried and true big fat chewy chocolate chip cookies recipe when I need to whip up a batch for friends, but as good as it is, I was getting a little bored of making it all the time. So, what's a natural complement to chocolate? Peanut butter.

So when the time came to make a batch for someone as a favor, I decided to do some research on peanut butter cookie recipes. The below is an adaptation from this recipe - as the recipe described, the original was indeed quite soft. But, I felt, it needed just a little more chewiness and oomph to it ... in short, it needed to be just like the big fat chewy chocolate chip cookie, except peanut-butter flavored. This was only further supported when I left some of the PB cookies out for a week and my brother said they were getting better as they hardened a bit on the outside. Thus, I threw in a little bit of this and that and came up with the below recipe.
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  • 1 cup peanut butter
  • 3/4 cup butter softened
  • 1/2 cup white sugar
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1 egg + 1 egg yolk
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 1 1/2 cups flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  1. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line 2 baking pans with parchment paper, if desired.
  2. In a large mixing bowl, cream together the peanut butter, butter, sugar and brown sugar. Beat together until smooth & creamy best if using a stand mixer or hand mixer.
  3. Add the egg and vanilla extract and continue to mix until well combined.
  4. In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt. Stir in the flour mixture to the butter and sugar mixture and mix until well combined.
  5. Using a cookie dough scooper or making the dough into 1 inch balls. Roll in white granulated sugar if you desire and place on to baking sheet. 
  6. Using a fork, press down on each ball of dough to slightly flatten and creating a criss-cross pattern.
  7. Bake for 8-9 minutes. Let cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes and then transfer to a wire rack.
  8. These keep well for a couple of days in an airtight container.
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Salted Brown Butter Rice Crispy Treats

8/21/2018

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This recipe landed in my inbox via a newsletter, and boy am I glad it did. It delivered on everything the original click-bait description had mentioned. The "secret ingredient game-changer", brown butter, gave the entire kitchen an irresistible nutty aroma and was still detectable under the cocoa of the puffed rice I had left over from making the Decadent Yogi chocolate cake's crunchy decorations. The crispy treats did indeed stay crispy - in fact, even a week later, they remain quite the treat. And bonus - they were soooooooo easy and quick to make - clean-up actually took longer, I think!
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  • 1/4 cup unsalted butter
  • 10-oz bag of marshmallows
  • heaping 1/4 tsp coarse sea salt
  • 6 cups crispy rice cereal (about half 12-oz box)
  1. In a large pot, melt butter over medium-low heat. It will melt, then foam, then turn clear golden and finally start to turn brown and smell nutty. Stir frequently, scraping up any bits from the bottom as you do. Don’t take your eyes off the pot as while you may be impatient for it to start browning, the period between the time the butter begins to take on color and the point where it burns is often less than a minute.
  2. As soon as the butter takes on a nutty color, turn the heat off and stir in the marshmallows. The residual heat from the melted butter should be enough to melt them, but if it is not, turn it back on low until the marshmallows are smooth.
  3. Remove the pot from the stove and stir in the salt and cereal together. Quickly spread into prepared pan. I liked to use a piece of waxed or parchment paper that I’ve sprayed with oil to press it firmly and evenly into the edges and corners, though a silicon spatula works almost as well.
  4. Let cool, cut into squares and get ready to make new friends.
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Ricotta Almond Peach Crumble Cake

8/21/2018

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I first found this recipe in my inbox via the Tasting Table's newsletter. It seemed like a quick and easy experiment that would give me an excuse to play with the fruit of the season, and so I eked out a two hour period one night to throw this together.

This cake is proof that you can know a person for your whole life and still learn something new about them. I had no idea that my father didn't like peaches until I made this cake, and he asked me what it was and baldly stated when I told him, "Oh. I don't like peaches." Shock and horror on my part ensued.

But this cake was also the first part of a 2-part proof that my father could learn something new too - as in, he actually does like peaches. If they're included in the right way. He pretty much single-handedly finished off the entire thing. On top of that, he claimed that it actually became even better when it was stored in the fridge overnight - I suspect because the chill and the moisture helped to counter the natural mealy-texture of the almond flour. Not to mention that it was super-easy to make.

So, a win-win-win all around!
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For the cake:
  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) soft, unsalted butter
  • 1_1/3 cups sugar
  • Zest from 1 lemon
  • 3 eggs
  • 1_1/2 cups ricotta
  • 1_3/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup almond flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2 to 3 fresh peaches, diced
For the crumb:
  • 1_1/2 cups cake flour
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup raw almonds, coarsely chopped
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled

The cake:
  1. Preheat oven to 350º. Line a 9-inch springform pan with parchment paper and butter it or spray it with nonstick spray.
  2. In a stand mixer or with a handheld beater, cream butter, sugar and lemon zest for 1 to 2 minutes. Add eggs, scrape down the bowl and mix until thoroughly combined. Mix in ricotta.
  3. In separate bowl, combine the flours, baking powder, and salt. In 2 to 3 batches, gently mix into butter mixture without overbeating. When fully combined, fold in peaches with a spatula.
  4. Pour batter into prepared pan and set aside while making the crumb.
The crumb:
  1. Combine cake flour, sugar and almonds in a bowl. Use your hands to mix together.
  2. Pour in melted butter and gently toss until soft clumps form. Continue until no more flour is visible, and a crumble has formed with small and large crumbs.
  3. Distribute crumble evenly over cake batter and bake for 60 to 70 minutes, rotating halfway. The cake is done when a cake tester comes out clean.
  4. Let cake fully cool before removing from the pan and serving.

Note: The original crumb recipe called for 2 cups of flour, but I felt that 1) the crumb became an overwhelming layer and 2) the crumb really needed a long time to toast correctly. As it was, I was making the cake late at night, and it was already pushing 1:30 am and I decided to pull it out before the crumb layer was really done, even if the cake was already just right. So hopefully reducing the flour content helps with these two points.
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Roasted Rhubarb

4/26/2017

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This is really a fantastic go-to for when you want that tart rhubarb taste but have no time to make a whole rhubarb pie. Of course, then the challenge becomes what to pair the roasted rhubarb with - I tried to use a plainer recipe such as the magic custard cake, but the rhubarb taste is so strong that it frankly overpowered the cake. So, just be aware that while delicious, the roasted rhubarb needs a strong partner!
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1/2 lb rhubarb
1/3 to 1/2 cup sugar
1 tbsp lemon juice or juice of 1/2 a lemon
​1 tsp vanilla
  1. Set oven to 375 F.
  2. Slice the rhubarb into about 1" pieces. Toss with everything.
  3. Spread on a baking sheet and roast for about 10-15 minutes, until it is soft but not mushy.
Note: I personally preferred a little less sugar, maybe around the 1/4 to 1/3 cup range, but some might be put off by how tart the rhubarb becomes once you cut the sugar down that low.
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Hummus

4/23/2017

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Hummus, I'm beginning to think in my vast inexperience, seems to be rather like stone soup - you pretty much put whatever you want into a chickpea paste base "to taste" (there's probably hordes waiting in the wings to burn me for that comment). But after visiting half a dozen pages on the merits of texture vs silkiness, Greek tahini vs Arabic tahini, whether olive oil belongs in the hummus before or after, etc I'm pretty much just tossing whatever is nearby in until I'm willing to lick the spoon (or my finger) clean.
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  • 1 can chickpeas
  • 1/3 cup tahini
  • 2-4 cloves garlic (to taste)
  • juice of 1-2 lemons or 2-4 tbsp of lemon juice (to taste)
  • 1 tbsp of cumin or paprika
  • 1 tbsp turmeric
  • 1 tsp of salt (to taste)
  • olive oil (to drizzle or to taste)
  1. Drain the chickpeas and reserve the liquid in a bowl. Put the chickpeas and garlic into a food processor and blend until coarsely ground. Scrape down the sides/redistribute as needed.
  2. While the food processor is running, pour in the lemon juice and 2 tbsp of the chickpea liquid. Scrape down the sides/redistribute as needed.
  3. While the food processor is running, add the tahini. Scrape down the sides/redistribute as needed.
  4. While the food processor is running, add the spices and salt. Continue to add the chickpea liquid one tablespoon at a time until you achieve the consistency you want.
​Note: There were some arguments over whether olive oil should be added during the making of the hummus or just drizzled atop it afterward. I made it without the olive oil, and it turned out fine, but some may find it irresistible to at least throw in a tablespoon or two during the making of it.
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Ricotta Cheese

7/9/2016

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I don't even remember what had me first looking up how to make ricotta cheese from scratch out of nothing more than morbid curiosity, but boy am I glad I did. It's stunningly simple, but all the same, there were enough experiments and subtleties (not to mention just plain laziness) that I'm going to write up a whole entry on the process so that I don't forget. I tried the vinegar and lemon juice routes, but I never achieved the consistent results with full separation that I always got with buttermilk, and without any of the funny aftertastes that most people complain about when using vinegar.
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  • 4 cups whole milk
  • 1 cup reduced fat 2% buttermilk
This ratio can be multiplied as needed depending on how big your cooking pot is - makes approximately 1/2 cup of cheese
  1. Pour both the milk and buttermilk into a pot on the stove and turn the heat up to medium-high.
  2. As the milk heats up, stir it once in a while. (Avoid over-stirring. As the milk starts to separate, you don't want to break up the curds too much.)
  3. While the milk is heating, dampen two sheets of paper towels with a little water and line a colander with them.
  4. The milk should be fully separated just before it hits the simmering stage. The milk should never actually reach a simmer or boil - you can shut off the heat as soon as you are satisfied that it has separated completely.
  5. Using a slotted spoon, fish out the curds and dump them in the colander.
  6. (optional) Depending on how wet or dry you want your ricotta, you can take the additional step of gathering up the paper towels with the curds inside and giving them a light squeeze (be careful, the whey that comes out will be really hot!). Otherwise, you can just leave the curds to drain for 10-20 minutes.
  7. The ricotta can be used immediately, or it can be left in the refrigerator to chill.
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    Sweet Enough

    Part of the reason I started baking was because I like my goodies to be less obviously sweet - I want to taste the flavor, not just the sugar. So most of these recipes will have the sugar dialed down.

    This site also acts as my mobile recipe box, so instructions are often pared down to a minimum - very few frills but for some hints and suggestions!

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