Sweet Potato Pecan Pudding Cake

They're lying.  All the people who posted photos of this cake are lying.  You can't dump 2 cups of sweet potato into a regular cake recipe and have it turn out light and fluffy like their photos show.  What you get is what's in that photo above:  a cross between cake and bread pudding.  Kitchen Nostalgia even acknowledged, "The cake was very moist, actually more like pudding than regular cake. I happen to like that, but I know some of my readers would certainly comment on this."  Yet her picture is of a turmeric-colored cake with a little topping.  Not the same recipe.

It's not a bad recipe, necessarily, but it's not "cake" as we're used to having, and as all those people presented.  Especially when they're touting it as "cinnamon roll" cake, further indicating it should be airy.

This turned out fine--- people snarfed it down--- but it certainly didn't come out as desired.  And after comparing the original recipe for plain cinnamon roll cake and this one, I feel confident it wasn't because of my changes.  I had wanted to use half whole wheat flour but didn't have any, so I substituted some coffee flour and some wheat bran, and I changed up the directions a little to be more conventional.  I also halved the recipe, but baked it in a pan that was appropriately sized.

My additions are in strikeout and italics.  Here's what I used:

1 ½ ¼ cups flour 

2 tablespoons coffee flour

2 tablespoons wheat bran

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg 

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 cup cooked sweet potatoes

1/2 cup sugar

1 egg, beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup butter, melted

3/4 cup milk

Topping:

1/2 cup butter, softened (see note)

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 tablespoon flour

1½ teaspoons cinnamon 

Glaze

1 cup powdered sugar

2½ tablespoons milk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a 10x7.5-inch baking pan.  Sift together the flours, bran, baking powder, nutmeg, and salt.  In a medium mixing bowl, beat sweet potatoes with the sugar. Add the egg and vanilla and mix until combined, then add the melted butter and mix until thoroughly blended and smooth. Add the flour mixture in thirds, alternating with the milk and mixing between additions. Pour batter into prepared pan. Mix all the topping ingredients together until well combined.  Drop evenly over the batter and swirl with a knife. Sprinkle with pecans. Bake cake for 30 - 40 minutes.

I checked it at 25 minutes-- still raw.  At 32 minutes, it had started to swell in the middle.  Removed at 38 minutes.  Skewer came out clean and it had puffed fairly evenly and had started to pull away from the sides, but there was a lot of melted butter and syrup running around the pan.  The syrup firmed up and the butter was absorbed as the cake cooled.

Note:  I'd be inclined to halve the amount of butter in the topping.  It seemed excessive, literally being more like a seasoned butter than a topping.

Conclusion:  The taste was good on this, despite everything.  I had been inclined to reduce the sugar, but my batter had a slight bitter taste (probably my additions) so I used the full amount and it was fine.  I skipped the glaze, though.  If I were to make this again, which I doubt, I would be inclined to cut it up into two-bite pieces and serve them in a bowl with whipped cream.

Recipes:  Sweet Potato Cinnamon Roll Cake via Bunny's Warm Oven (with reference to Kitchen Nostalgia's version and their original Cinnamon Roll Breakfast Cake.)

Coconut flour banana bread

The grain-free banana bread I've been making uses mostly almond flour.  This one uses strictly coconut flour.  I modified it to suit my taste and cut the recipe way down.  (I have to question any recipe that uses huge quantities of expensive items--- 8 eggs, 8 bananas, 1 cup coconut oil--- only to find it's for TWO loaves.  This recipe in particular is very easy to reduce.  And don't even get me started on the random capitalization.)  I made one quarter of the recipe as a test, but what I've posted here is for one full loaf.

Here's what I used:

4 very ripe bananas, mashed
1/2 cup coconut oil
4 organic eggs
1 tablespoon molasses
1 teaspoon butter flavoring
1 tsp vanilla
3 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup coconut flour
2 teaspoons ginger
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 F.  Mix together the bananas, oil, eggs, molasses, and flavoring.  Sift together the flour, ginger, baking soda, and salt, then stir into the wet mixture along with the chocolate chips.  Pour into a greased pan* (9x5") and bake for 45-50 minutes until golden brown.

Okay, I've already realized I made a huge mistake in that I used the full cup of coconut flour called for in the original recipe, which, remember, was for TWO loaves, and I made half a loaf.  So I've got four times the amount of coconut flour in there baking at the moment.  (I wondered why the mixture was so pliable, but these "alternative" recipes are usually strangely textured anyway.)  Well, I'll certainly be getting my fiber, anyway.

The original recipe doesn't state what size pans to use.  Frequently, wheatless recipes don't rise very much because they don't have the structure.  This recipe has all those eggs, plus baking soda, so it probably would rise some.

Conclusion:  Well, this is going to have to wait until I make the bread again, properly.  I won't mark it as a "fail" yet.  The flavor was good, but the texture sort of powdery, no doubt from the excess of coconut flour.  It was very filling too.

Recipe:  Paleo Banana Bread via Healthy Holistic Living

Red wine and cherry fudge brownies

What do you do with red wine you don't like?  This new California wine style that's taking off right now--- really heavy on the dark fruits, dark red to nearly black in color (stains your lips and teeth), and generally tastes like wine concentrate--- is a little too rich for my taste.  It seems like it should be made into a syrup and poured over ice cream.  (Hey, that's not a bad idea.)  So after about two glasses of this 2017 Pessimist Red Blend (Daou Vineyards, Paso Robles), I was looking for ideas.  I really like this Blood and Chocolate beverage (vegan, but I make mine vegetarian), but was less than overwhelmed with this red wine chocolate cake.  The brownies seemed like a promising cross between the two.

I omitted the chocolate chips from the original recipe and substituted sweet cherries macerated in the wine, since the wine already had a strong cherry influence.  I also added a little espresso powder to enhance the chocolate flavor.  (Because there just wasn't enough in there already.)  My changes are in italics and strikeout.  Here's what I used:

For the brownies
1/2 cup chocolate chips dried dark sweet cherries (optional)
3 tablespoons of red wine, plus 1/4 cup
4 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup butter, cut into pieces
1/4 teaspoon espresso powder
1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon salt (see Conclusion edit)
2 eggs
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

For the glaze:
2 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoons red wine
pinch of salt

Preheat the oven to 350. Butter an 8×8 pan and line with parchment paper, then butter the parchment. Set aside.

Macerate the cherries in about 3 tablespoons of wine by heating slightly in the microwave; set aside.  Melt the chocolate and the butter together in a double boiler over barely simmering water, stirring occasionally until melted and smooth; stir in the espresso powder.  Sift together the flour, cocoa powder and salt; set aside.  In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugars, and vanilla. Whisk in the chocolate mixture and then the wine.  Add the flour mixture and stir until the batter is smooth and has thickened slightly.  Drain the cherries, reserving the liquid. Cut each cherry in half, then fold in the cherries into the batter.  Pour into the prepared pan and bake for 15-25 minutes, or until a tester comes out mostly clean with just a few crumbs attached. You may need to bake the brownies for a few minutes more, but set your timer for 15 minutes and then hang out in your kitchen for the last few minutes of baking time just to make sure they don’t over bake. (At 15 minutes mine were still raw in the middle.  At 20 minutes the middle had just started to dull on top.  I removed them after another 6 minutes, when the middle had risen and was dull on top, but there was remnant damp mix on the knife.)  Allow to cool somewhat.

While the brownies are baking, make the glaze. Melt the chocolate and butter in the double boiler until melted.  Measure out the reserved cherry liquid and add enough wine to make 2 tablespoons.  Add to the chocolate along with the salt and whisk until smooth. Pour the glaze over the warm brownies (warm enough to melt the glaze but cool enough that the glaze remains a little thick) and spread it to the corners so the top is evenly coated.  Cool completely, preferably overnight in a cool area.  (They are very delicate until they've been allowed to sit for a while.)  Lift from pan using the parchment paper and cut into squares, wiping knife after each slice.

 

Conclusion:  These are crazy rich.  I'm undecided about the cherries, mostly from a texture perspective.  They don't really add flavor, so it's just this sort of squishy/chewy thing in an otherwise silky, melt-in-your-mouth crumb.  (I had expected them to taste wine-soaked.)  However, the wine imparts a mildly tart flavor (interesting, since the wine wasn't tart at all), so perhaps tart cherries would have been a better combination.  Or perhaps not macerating them, so they were chewier.  In the end, these are good, but I'd prefer a brownie less rich, so I can eat a bigger piece. (Later edit:  I discovered the missing flavor profile was salt.  The flavor of these improved immensely after sprinkling with a little salt.)

Recipe:  Red wine chocolate fudge brownies via butter me up, Brooklyn!

Granola

I love all the things that go into making granola, but I really don't care much for granola.  I remember when Quaker's 100% Natural granola first hit the shelves; it was a massive hit in our house and I ate loads of it. I can only think that I OD'ed on it and that's why I no longer care for it.

Fast forward to present day, when I found this "it will change your life" cult-following granola recipe and decided to give it a try.  I don't hate granola, and it's nice to have a crunchy, healthy snack in the house.

There are loads of variations suggested, but I went for the straight recipe to start.  The only change was that I had forgotten to add the brown sugar before spreading it out on the baking sheet.  I wasn't sure I wanted more sugar, and I really didn't feel like piling the mix back into the bowl, already in the sink.  But I also didn't want to miss out on the deep, toasty richness that brown sugar (aka molasses) could add.  So I just drizzled some molasses (maybe two tablespoons?) across the top and mixed it in.

Here's what I used:

3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1 cup hulled raw pumpkin seeds
1 cup hulled raw sunflower seeds
1 cup unsweetened coconut chips
1¼ cups raw pecans, left whole or coarsely chopped
3/4 cup pure maple syrup
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar (see introduction)
1½ teaspoon coarse salt, to taste

In a large bowl, mix all the ingredients together. Spread mixture in an even layer on a rimmed baking sheet. Transfer to oven and bake, stirring every 10 to 15 minutes, until granola is toasted and dry, about 45 minutes.  Remove granola from oven and season with more salt to taste, if desired.  Let cool completely before serving or storing in an airtight container for up to 1 month.

I had more liquid in the bowl as I dumped it out than she does in the video, and the mix seemed fairly damp.  It might have something to do with the maple syrup and how liquidy or thick that is.  My maple syrup did not have a strong maple flavor, so it probably could have been reduced a bit more in processing, thus rendering it more flavorful and thicker.  I also baked it about an extra 10 minutes, as it still seemed damp prior to that.  Perhaps only a 1/2 cup of syrup next time would reduce the liquid and the sweetness.

Conclusion:  One of the nicest things about making your own granola is that you can toast it to the degree you like, which for me is more than what I get in store bought granola.  And whether it was the oil or the molasses, this recipe has a really nice crispness to it, rather than being crunchy.  I especially like the little bursts of coarse salt that sparkle on the tongue.  However, I'm glad I didn't add the brown sugar as it was plenty sweet as it was.  Perhaps could even be a little less so.  And I'm wondering what the maple syrup added...  Could I use a plain sugar syrup and add a little maple flavoring?  This is a fairly expensive recipe, so anything that would cut costs would help.

Recipe:  Nekisia Davis' Olive Oil & Maple Granola via Food 52

Czech Cherry and Spice Squares

 

I've been eyeing this recipe for a long time, but all the egg yolks and sourcing cherry jam put me off.  I wasn't sure they'd be worth the trouble and expense, but the recipe intrigued me, so I finally decided to make them.

I followed the recipe exactly to make 24 squares.  Here's what I used:

1 cup walnut pieces
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2½ cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground clove
pinch fine salt
1½ sticks salted butter, diced and slightly chilled
5 large egg yolks

2 tablespoons brandy

Filling
1 cup cherry jam
1/2 lemon, zest finely grated
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 egg white, for brushing

Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F.  Spread the nuts out on a baking sheet and bake until lightly toasted, about 8 minutes. Cool completely.  Butter a 9 x 12½ -inch baking sheet pan, then cover bottom with parchment paper. Pulse the walnuts with the sugar, in a food processor until fine and powdery, about 2 minutes. Add the flour, spices, and salt, pulsing until evenly combined. Add the butter, yolks, and brandy and pulse until mixture starts to come together. Stop mixing and pull the dough together by hand, press and roll into a thick log about 8 inches long.  Cut the log crosswise into 12 equal pieces. (If the dough is very sticky, refrigerate it until easier to work with, about 30 minutes.) Lay 8 pieces of the dough on the bottom of the pan. Press and spread the pieces together with your fingertips to cover the pan evenly.  

Stir the cherry jam, lemon zest and juice together in a bowl.  Spread mixture evenly over the surface of the dough with the back of a spoon.  Roll the remaining 4 pieces of dough out on a well-floured surface about 1/8-inch thick. Use a small decorative cutter to cut the dough into 24 pieces. Evenly place the pieces on top of the filling in 6 rows of 4. Alternatively cut the dough into long strips with a pizza wheel or knife, and place them on the filling in a lattice pattern; or cut the dough into ovals and lay them on the filling in a decorative pattern. Brush decorative layer of dough with egg white.  Bake the squares until golden brown, about 40 to 45 minutes. Cool completely in the pan on a rack. Cut with a serrated knife into 2-inch squares.

If I were to make these again, I'd use a mixer rather than the food processor once I'd pulverized the nuts.  Dry mixes never mix up well in a food processor and it completely blended the butter into the dough.  It would mean another pan to clean, but the food processor container would be easy to wash from just the nuts.  I suspect the whole thing is done in the processor for supposed ease, but I find it a hassle. 

I was hesitant to dump all the egg yolks and butter in at the same time, so it did the butter first, then the yolks one by one.  My dough ended up fully homogeneous, which I'm guessing was not the goal.  It probably should have been more like pastry dough, with bits of butter showing. I also forgot to brush the tops with egg white, so they're dull instead of shiny.  I used less than half the dough reserved for the cutouts, so I could have started with less and used larger cutters.  I made 1/4 thick cookies with the remainder, which baked up in about 10-15 minutes and burned quickly.

Tips:  Cut parchment paper large enough to come completely up the sides of the pan so the preserves don't touch the pan.  (Once baked, the preserves stick hard to the edge of the pan and pull away from the crust.)  Leave two ends of

the parchment paper to overhang the ends of the pan, then use these as handles to lift the cookies out of the pan after they've cooled and prior to cutting.  Use dry spaghetti to lay out cutting lines in order to get the decorative cutouts properly centered.  Cut on a board using a gentle sawing motion, especially on the hard edges.

Conclusion: Good, but not 5 egg yolks good.  I think these would be just as tasty with nuts and spices mixed into a shortcrust pastry dough, like what I use for lemon squares.  And they'd hold together better.  (VERY crumbly.)

Recipe:  Czech Squares via Food Network

A Santa Fe Christmas! Orange Cornmeal Cutout Cookies

Every time  I go to Santa Fe, I come back wanting to make some sort of New Mexico-inspired cookies involving corn meal and perhaps piñon seeds.  I decided to revise this recipe for Mexican Orange-Cornmeal Sandies for this occasion.  Based on my comments on the original recipe, I reduced the sugar slightly, as well as the orange extract.  I debated about the nuts, and finally decided to throw in piñon seeds.

Here's what I used:

2 cups flour, plus extra for rolling dough
1/2 cup finely ground yellow cornmeal
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
2 egg yolks
1 tablespoon freshly grated orange zest
1/2 teaspoon orange extract
1/4-1/2 cup piñon seeds (about 1-2 oz.) toasted and coarsely chopped

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cornmeal, salt, and baking soda; set aside. In a bowl of an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat butter until creamy, about 1 minute. Add sugar and beat until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add egg yolks, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add orange zest and orange extract and beat until thoroughly combined.  Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture, mixing until just incorporated. Stir in piñon seeds. Divide dough in half, shape into disks, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 30 minutes.

When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees.  On a lightly floured surface with a lightly floured rolling pin, roll dough to 1/4-inch thickness. Using a cookie cutter, cut out dough and place cookies 1 inch apart on lightly greased baking sheets.  Repeat with remaining dough, gathering up scraps, re-rolling and cutting until all dough is used. Bake until lightly golden brown, about 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from oven and cool 2 minutes before transferring cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.

Conclusion:  I liked my changes except...  I forgot to add the piñon seeds!  I stuck them in the surface of one cookie, but it looked sort of weird and I was afraid they'd burn so didn't do the rest.  But they added a nice flavor.  Still, this recipe simply spreads too much to be good for cutout cookies.  Maybe I can modify a different recipe for this combination.

Baked pumpkin two ways

 

Two different pumpkin recipes, one savory, one sweet.

Spicy Pumpkin and Greens

2 2- to 3-pound sugar pumpkins

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 small onion, diced

1 plum tomato, diced

1 Scotch bonnet chile pepper, seeded and finely chopped

1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme (or about 1/2 teaspoon dried)

1 clove garlic, chopped

4 scallions, chopped

1 pound frozen, chopped, sturdy greens, thawed (or about 3 bunches fresh; I used kale)

1¼ teaspoons coarse kosher salt

1 cup evaporated milk

Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg

4 tablespoons breadcrumbs (preferably panko)

1½ cups shredded sharp white cheddar cheese

2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Slice off the top 1½ inches of the pumpkins and discard. Scoop out the seeds and stringy pulp. Have onion, tomato, chile, thyme, and collards ready to go.

Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion, tomato, chile pepper, thyme and garlic and cook, stirring, until the onion is slightly tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in the scallions and collard greens, add salt and cook, stirring, until the greens are slightly tender, about 15 minutes. Stir in the evaporated milk and nutmeg and bring to a gentle boil. Stir in 2 tablespoons breadcrumbs, the cheddar cheese and the remaining 2 tablespoons butter and cook, stirring, until the cheese melts and the mixture thickens slightly, about 2 minutes. Put the pumpkins in a 9-by-13-inch baking dish and fill evenly with the collard greens mixture.

Toss the remaining 2 tablespoons breadcrumbs with the Parmesan. Sprinkle over the filling. Add 1 inch of boiling water to the baking dish. Cover loosely with foil and bake until the pumpkins are tender, about 1 hour, 15 minutes. Remove the foil and continue baking until browned and bubbly on top, about 30 more minutes. Let cool 5 minutes, then scrape the pumpkin flesh and serve with the collards.

I made only one pumpkin and the large skillet was too large, drying out my ingredients. If making only one pumpkin, use a medium skillet. I used a large bunch of fresh, curly kale and the filling didn't even fill a small pumpkin. (I don't know the weight.)  I was going to use a roasted Poblano chile, but it was bitter and not hot at all, so I used two red jalapeños. Careful with the salt if using fine salt.

Apple-Pumpkin Brown Betty

1 2-to-3-pound sugar pumpkin

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 cup cubed bread (preferably from a baguette)

2 Gala apples, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces

1/4 cup packed light brown sugar

1/4 cup golden raisins

1 tablespoon rum (optional)

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

kosher salt

maple syrup, for drizzling

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Slice off and reserve the top 1½ inches of the pumpkin. Scoop out the seeds and stringy pulp.

Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the bread and cook, stirring occasionally, until golden, about 4 minutes; transfer to a bowl. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon butter, apples, brown sugar and raisins to the skillet and cook until the apples are crisp-tender, about 4 minutes. Stir in the rum, vanilla, cinnamon and a pinch of salt. Return the bread to the skillet.

Put the pumpkin in a small baking dish and fill the pumpkin with the apple mixture. Cover with the pumpkin top and add 1 inch of boiling water to the baking dish. Cover loosely with foil and bake until the pumpkin is tender, 2-2½ hours. Remove the foil and pumpkin top and return the stuffed pumpkin to the oven. Bake until the filling is lightly browned, about 10 more minutes. Transfer to a serving plate and drizzle with maple syrup. To serve, scrape the pumpkin flesh and stir into the apple mixture.

The Gala apple I bought was tasteless.  (I planned on baking only one pumpkin and therefore thought I was halving the recipe, so I bought only one apple.)  Fortunately, I also had an Envy, which was crisp and delicious, so I added that.  I used a sourdough loaf, quite stale and not very dense, and threw in some dried, natural cranberries.  I'm intrigued by the substitution of half an onion for half an apple, as one commenter did.  Cheddar cheese might be a really good addition, though.

I messed up the baking a bit because I put the pumpkin top back on the savory pumpkin and left it off the sweet one.  It was supposed to be the other way around.  So the apples dried out a bit, and the cheese and bread crumbs didn't get toasty.  (It was a little challenging following both these recipes at once.) 

Note:  the sweet pumpkin wasn't super sweet and could be served as a side dish or a light dessert as is.  For a standard dessert, it needs ice cream or whipped cream at minimum.

Conclusion:  These recipes were good, but it comes down to baking inside a pumpkin is a PITA.  Trying to scoop out proportionate amounts of filling and pumpkin flesh is pretty much impossible, and very messy.  You can't help but get more filling at first, and meanwhile the pumpkin skin is falling apart, and the whole thing is steaming hot while you're trying to handle it.  This is a cute idea in theory, but the reality is ridiculous.  Both of these were worth making again, but I'll have to find another method. 

Recipes:  Spicy Pumpkin and Collards and Apple-Pumpkin Brown Betty, both via Food Network