Spicy Fall Pavlova

Waiting for the other (pointe) shoe to drop? 
 I promised to post this a few weeks ago on Instagram, But, due to technical difficulties, the plan managed to pirouette out of control. My apologies.

    Fall  Pavlova 

    3/4 cup granulated sugar
    1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
    1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
    1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
    1  teaspoon pure vanilla paste
    1 teaspoon white wine vinegar
    3/4 cup egg whites (from 5 to 6 large eggs) at room temperature
    Pinch of salt
    7-8 Fresh Figs, halved*
    1/4 cup Pomegranate seeds, optional 
    Whipped Cream

Preheat oven to 250°F with rack in middle. Draw a 9-inch circle on parchment paper as a guide. Then, turn the paper over and place into baking sheet pan

Pulse granulated sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon and cornstarch in a food processor until well combined.  Combine vanilla paste and white wine vinegar in a small bowl, set aside

Beat egg whites with pinch of salt using an electric mixer at medium speed until they hold soft peaks. Increase speed to medium-high and add sugar mixture 1 tablespoon at a time, and beat for about 1 minute after each addition. After all sugar has been added, beat 1 minute more. Add vinegar mixture, then beat at high speed until meringue holds stiff peaks, about 5 minutes.

With a spatula, place meringue (using drawn circle as a guide) onto prepared pan. Or experiment, as I did.  Set aside 1-1/2 cups of meringue to create a "basket."  With an offset spatula, or bench scraper, smooth the sides of the meringue (a turntable is a Godsend here). Then, fill pastry bag with remaining meringue. Using a basket weave icing tip, a star tip, or even a round tip, pipe a basket weave design all around.  Work quickly, as meringue tends to lose volume the longer it sits.

Immediately place meringue in the oven, and bake until it feels dry to the touch, about 1 hour.  Turn oven off and prop door open with the handle of a wooden spoon. Cool meringue in the oven 1 hour. 
Meringue will sink slightly while cooling. Also, keep in mind that  meringue will spread a bit while baking, so expect to lose some of the crisp, basket weave pattern in the process.

Carefully run a long offset spatula under the meringue to release from parchment paper, then gently transfer meringue onto serving plate.

 Halve fresh figs  and toss with sugar. Allow to stand at room temperature until ready to use..
 Top meringue with whipped cream, figs and pomegranate seeds  just before serving.
Please note: This dessert could also be assembled several hours in advance. Once assembled, however,  keep refrigerated.

*Caramelized pears, in lieu of fresh figs, would also be delicious.

Here are just a few Pavlovas I've made over the years...

The meringue in this flower-shaped  Pavlova was flavored with finely-grated lemon zest (recipe below),  and filled with Lemon Curd. The 'flower' was topped with fresh berries.  Flower petals were piped with a large #125 rose petal tip.

If you can pipe an upside down U (see photo below) you can recreate this pretty dessert.

Basic Meringue for Flower Pavlova

4 large egg whites, room temperature
¼  teaspoon cream of tartar
1 cup superfine  sugar
½  cup confectioner’s sugar
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest, optional
½  teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 200°F. Beat egg whites with cream of tartar until mixture gets frothy. Gradually start adding the sugar. Beat for a couple of minutes after each addition. Once it forms soft peaks, add the confectioner’s sugar, lemon zest (if using) and vanilla and beat another 2-3 minutes, until stiff peaks form.

Immediately put meringue in a large pastry bag, and  pipe  the base. Then, two layers of petals.  Bake  2 hours in a preheated 200°F oven. Turn off the oven and leave meringue to dry out 1 hour longer. Store  in an airtight container in a cool, dry place for about 6 months.

If you were a member of the Gardenweb's  Cooking forum, about 10 years ago,  then you'll probably remember this pink Pavlova. I. tinted the meringue a pale pink and piped it with a large star tip in a petal shape.  My idea was to create a four-layer 'tutu,' if you will.
Full on frou frou, am I right?

And finally,  I made this little watercolor in  honor of Anna Pavlova and all my ballerina friends who chassé their way into my heart, and made it look so damn easy.

Pumpkin Cheesecake with Bourbon Praline

Right now, Wednesday seems so far from Thursday. And I just don't think this cheesecake will be safe until then.

I've been in  pumpkin paradise  since one local farmer filled his stand with myriad of  orange, cream and  bluish-green pumpkins. The latter I'm completely enamored with.

There's something about fall that puts me in nesting mode.  I bake. I sew. Then I'll sit by a crackling fire and read about  nesting,  baking and sewing.  Ready for  more non sequiturs?
How about the bluish pumpkin-shaped cake, with sugar leaves and berries I made for Mr. Man Pants' birthday? 

 Another reason to love pumpkins is the following recipe for  pumpkin cheesecake. It comes from the sister I never had, Susan Branch. It features  the colors and tastes of fall, with my adaptation of her Bourbon/Praline playing a supporting role; it is loaded with pecans, maple syrup, cream, and I repeat, bourbon.

I dare say this is better than a shirtless Hugh Jackman.  In fact, this is  better than a shirtless Hugh Jackman covered in Bourbon /Praline.  
And I think I speak for everyone when I say, 'Let us give thanks.'


Please Note:   For this cheesecake, I ask that you first combine the cream cheese, sugar and vanilla together, then set aside a small amount of the batter  before combining the rest of the filling ingredients.

The reason is, you'll need a batter with a firmer consistency and enough body that will hold up well for piping your designs.
If you were to combine all the ingredients at once, you would end up with a very runny batter, which would be impossible to control. 

If you'd rather not decorate this cake at all, simply combine all filling  ingredients and beat until smooth. Pour into your prepared crust and bake as directed.

Pumpkin Cheesecake

Crust:

3 cups broken gingersnaps
½ cup chopped pecans
¼ cup sugar
2/3 cup melted butter

Preheat oven to 350°F.
Cover bottom of springform pan with two layers of aluminum foil. In a food processor, finely grind gingersnaps, pecans and sugar. Add butter and process until just combined. Press mixture onto bottom and sides of a 10-inch springform pan. Bake 10 minutes. Set aside to cool and prepare the filling.


Filling:

4 - 8 oz. packages cream cheese, at room temperature
1 2/3 cups sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 15 oz. can pumpkin purée*
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon allspice
½ teaspoon mace
½ teaspoon ground ginger
¼ teaspoon cloves
4 large eggs, room temperature

Have a pastry bag fitted with a #7 round pastry tip at the ready. If you do not own a pastry bag, use a parchment paper cone. I can't recommend a plastic sandwich  baggie, because I can't internalize its 'practicality.' To me, a filled baggie handles much like a wet cat.  And let's face it,  humans and  soapy cats do not  mix.  Them frisky felines will always have the upperhand, or paw, as it were.
However, if a plastic baggie is all you have, go with that. Just keep in mind, a pastry bag is inexpensive, and will give you far better results.

To bake cheesecake:

Place a 9-inch x 13-inch pan, filled halfway with water, on lowest shelf in oven.
In mixer bowl, beat together the softened cream cheese, sugar and vanilla extract until smooth.( If you're decorating the cake, now is the time to remove 1/3 cup of  the cream cheese mixture and set aside). 

Add the pumpkin purée and  spices, beating just until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time, and beat until  combined. Pour cheesecake mixture into cooled crust.

If you'll be decorating the cheesecake, read below for how-tos. Then,  bake cake for 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until slightly golden around the edges.
 Remove cake from the oven, and run a thin metal spatula around the edges  to loosen cake and prevent it from cracking.  Leave cake in the pan and allow to cool, then refrigerate overnight. 
 When ready to serve, gently warm the Bourbon Praline (below), and drizzle over cheesecake. Serves 10-12.

*I used a roasted pumpkin instead of canned. To roast a pumpkin, poke a 3-4 pound sugar (or other pie) pumpkin all over with a knife. Place whole  pumpkin on a cookie sheet with sides, and bake in a 375°F oven for about 1 hour, or until a knife effortlessly goes through pumpkin.

Set the pumpkin aside until cool enough to handle. Then, slice in half, remove seeds and process pumpkin flesh in a food processor until smooth. Measure what you'll need (I used two cups), and if there's any left, freeze it.

To decorate cheesecake:

Fill prepared pastry bag with the reserved cream cheese mixture. You'll be piping a sequence of 'half-moons' that roughly resemble Christmas trees.

At this point, drag the tip of the pastry tube (or a wooden skewer), through the center of each 'tree' (starting at the narrow end), draw your skewer through each one. This step transforms them into simple, pretty leaves. You could pipe a series of leaves around the edge of the cake (as pictured), or scatter them all over the cake, if you like. You could also tint the batter with paste food colors.

You hold the artistic reins here.

Bourbon Praline 

¾ cup pecans, chopped
2 Tablespoons butter
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 teaspoons bourbon

Melt butter in a skillet. Place chopped pecans in melted butter and toast until fragrant. Add remaining ingredients, except for bourbon. and stir until sugar is completely dissolved. Do not let it boil. Stir in bourbon and pecans. Makes 2 cups.

A few days ago, we woke up to a light dusting of snow. A sight to behold. But I will miss the autumn sky.

May your cornucopia runneth over with thankful hearts, amid joyful noise  from your favorite people and many lasting memories. Oh, and lump-free gravy.

 Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Flowers for Mom

Did I ever tell you I once had my own personal chef?

My chef would often create dishes with the veritable ease and skill of an Iron Chef, but with few ingredients, and even fewer, fancy gadgets.

I shall refer to her as "Chef Mom," because that is who she was, and still is today.

Sadly though, once mom retired to the state of Florida (as required by law), the pampering stopped. But this is not where the story ends. In the next chapter, you'll see how mom's culinary influence gave me the confidence to return the favor.

So this Mother's Day, I'll be indulging her sweet tooth with a classic dessert, her favorite, Carrot Cake.

No roses on mom's cake — she prefers daisies.

Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

2 ½ cups AP flour
1 ¼ teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon allspice
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
½ teaspoon salt
1 pound carrots, peeled and finely shredded
1 ½ cups granulated sugar
½ cup packed light brown sugar
4 large eggs, room temperature
1 cup vegetable oil
1 cup chopped walnuts, or pecans

Preheat oven to 350° F. Line 2, 9-inch pans with parchment paper, and grease lightly. Grease and flour a small (3 to 4-inch) ovenproof bowl.

Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, allspice, ground cloves and salt. Set aside.

Place eggs and both sugars in a mixer bowl with a wire whisk, and whip them on high, until light and airy, 2 to 3 minutes. Reduce speed to low, and slowly add the oil in a thin stream, until mixture is light in color and emulsified.

Stir in the carrots, walnuts and flour mixture, until incorporated. Pour batter into prepared pans and bake about 40 minutes for the 9-inch pans, and about 20 for the small bowl cake. Cool cakes in their pans 15 minutes, then remove from pans and place on wire racks to cool completely, before frosting.


Cream Cheese Frosting

8 ounces cream cheese, softened
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups confectioner’s sugar
Heavy cream

Using the paddle attachment on your mixer, whip the cream cheese, butter and vanilla until light. Stop mixer to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add all the confectioner’s sugar and mix on low, until incorporated.
Add just enough heavy cream to create a medium consistency frosting.

You could replicate this simple cake for any Spring or Summer event. If you decide to, you're also going to need 1½ pounds of rolled fondant. I like Satin Ice, but homemade fondant will be just fine.

To decorate: Cover cakes with a thin layer of frosting. Allow frosting to set up. Tint a little of the fondant a mossy green, for the leaves.
Roll out fondant very thin, and cut out as many leaves as you like, to go around the bottom edge of the cake.

Roll out white fondant, and cut the daisy petals with a 3½-inch tear drop or oval-shaped cutter (Keep the fondant covered with plastic wrap while you work, to keep it from drying out).

To vein the petals, place each one onto a dry corn husk, cover with a piece of thin foam, or plastic wrap, and roll over it with an artist's brayer.
Add three thin layers of petals onto the cake, starting just above the leaves, and working your way up. Pinch the petals at the top edge before placing them on the cake.

Tint a small amount of fondant yellow. Roll it out, and cover the small round cake, neatly tucking the ends under. Place it on the flower, as shown. After the fondant has dried, you could brush it with gold petal dust.


So what're you still doing up at this ungodly hour!?

(I suppose you could say my bossy tendencies are yet another trait I inherited from dear ol' mom).

But seriously, go to bed. And don't forget to brush.

I'll be joining Foodie Friday.


Happy Mother's Day to my Foodie Brigade!

Valentine's Day is nearly upon us...

...and life has been frantically looking for me, trying to keep me busy, trying to keep me from blogging, and trying to keep me from hanging out with you guys.
Quick, hide me!
Why not go after the likes of Gary Busey? Now, there's a character who should never be left unsupervised.

Speaking of being left unsupervised, I've been happily tasting some of the chocolate treats I've made for the upcoming, romantic event. It's okay. I eat chocolate strictly for the antioxidants. Doesn't everybody?




Uh-oh. I'm having a romantic interlude with Valentino and some tango theme music. Please hold.


Oh, how I would've loved to've shown him something in a size ME.
Let it be known, I'm happily married. But, it's Rudolph Valentino who comes to mind on V-day. He was so incredibly gorgeous, with his masculine, chiseled good looks that, given the opportunity, I would've boiled his boxers and headdress to make tea.

Okay, fantasy trip is coming in for a landing. Crash.

Anyway, so far, I’ve baked a cake, I’ve molded chocolates, and I've also made a batch of my favorite brownies.



And, I figured, if a little chocolate is good for me, then a lot of chocolate must be better, right? Okay. So I glazed these fudgy little bites with more chocolate.


Overkill? Nonsense! As Moliere once said, “We die only once, and for such a looooong time.”




Btw, fondant wings were attached to the back of the hearts with a dot of royal icing. Melted chocolate would also work, but it will take longer to set up.

For the topiary cake, I made the flower pot using my sour cream pound cake recipe, which were baked in 3 8-inch square pans, instead of a Bundt pan. The topiary heart was made by tinting half a recipe of Rice Krispies treats dark green, and shaping it into a heart while mixture was still warm. You can do this by hand, or you can pack the mixture into a small heart-shaped pan and pop it out the pan onto parchment paper, but, leave the heart uncovered while it cools.



I wanted the topiary to have the look of ivy, so instead of rice krispies, I used corn flakes.

But, for a mossy look, rice krispies would be ideal. And, while still warm, I pushed two wooden skewers through the bottom of the heart, to insert into the cake later.
This is also important, I used a bit less than half of the rice krispies treats mixture. This kept the heart from being too top heavy. So keep that in mind, if you try this.

The cake was covered in vanilla buttercream. The roses, leaves, butterfly and ribbons were all made of gum paste.

If you’re short on time, but still want to make something that will impress your sweet Valentine, get yourself a pretty candy mold and mold your own chocolates. This is quick, and if you can melt chocolate, infallible.
Gild the lily by dusting your molded chocolates with edible gold luster dust.



Don't you love that pink glass heart? It's a vintage little box by Fenton. So dainty and feminine, unlike me. Maybe that's why I love it.

Here are the recipes used for the cake, as well as the brownies.


Sour Cream Pound Cake

1 cup unsalted butter
3 cups granulated sugar
6 large eggs
3 cups cake flour
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon baking soda
8 ounces sour cream
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 325°F. Cream butter and sugar until light, 5-7 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Sift flour, baking soda and salt. Add flour mixture and sour cream, alternately to creamed mixture (beginning and ending with flour mixture) Beat after each addition, Add vanilla extract. Pour in prepared Bundt pan*, and bake for 1 hour and 20 minutes.

*I used 3 8-inch square pans, which were parchment paper lined.



Supernatural Brownies.

16 tablespoons (2 sticks) unsalted butter
8 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, cut into 1/4-inch pieces
4 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon instant espresso (I used Medaglia D’oro)
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans, optional

One 13 x 9 x 2-inch pan, buttered and lined with buttered parchment.

1. Set a rack at the middle level of the oven and preheat to 350°F.

2. Bring a saucepan of water to a boil and turn off heat. Combine butter and chocolate in a heatproof bowl and set over pan of water. Stir occasionally until melted.

3. Whisk eggs together in a large bowl, then whisk in salt, sugars, instant espresso and vanilla. Stir in chocolate and butter mixture, then fold in flour. Add the chopped nuts last, if using.

4. Pour batter into prepared pan and spread evenly. Bake for about 30-35 minutes, until top has formed a shiny crust and batter is moderately firm. Cool in pan on a rack. Wrap pan in plastic wrap and keep at room temperature overnight.

5. To cut brownies, unmold onto a cutting board, remove paper, and replace with another cutting board. Turn cake right side up. Cut brownies into 2-inch squares. Makes twenty-four brownies. Adapted from Nick Malgieri's Chocolate.

The brownie hearts were glazed with, what else, more chocolate. Oh, like you weren't thinking it.
It's a well-known fact that I can't function without chocolate. I'd rather share a needle with Amy Winehouse and bid adieu to this cruel world than live without chocolate. So, yeah, you could say I like the stuff.


As for the paper roses, well, most of you know, I was not blessed with a green thumb, so I've compensated over the years, by making my own roses from mediums such as gumpaste, marzipan, buttercream and even chocolate clay.

But, check this out! I made Paper Roses (cue Marie Osmond's song).



I had a stack of sheet music I just couldn't part with, but I didn't know what to do with it either. Then, I remembered my mom showing me how to make crepe paper roses when I was a kid. And a new use for sheet music was born!
I'm so tickled with this new project. I also made roses using coffee filters (see white rose above). I could've tinted the petals, but, I sort of liked it plain.

These roses I give to you, my dear friends...



And may you all get poked by Cupid's arrow this Valentine's Day!
"I know I'm looking forward to getting poked." that's what she said.