Pumpkin Swirl Brownies

Prep time: 20 mins

Cook time: 45 mins

Makes: 16

INGREDIENTS:

8 tbsp (1 stick) unsalted butter, plus more for pan

6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1/2 tsp salt

1 3/4 cups sugar

4 large eggs

1 tbsp pure vanilla extract

1 1/4 cups solid-pack pumpkin

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

1/2 cup chopped hazelnuts or other nuts

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-inch square baking pan or dish. Line bottom of pan with parchment paper and butter lining.

Melt chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water, stirring occasionally until smooth. Whisk together flour, baking powder, cayenne, and salt in a large bowl; set aside. Put sugar, eggs, and vanilla in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment; beat until fluffy and well combined, 3 to 5 minutes. Beat in flour mixture.

Divide batter between two medium bowls (about 2 cups per bowl). Stir chocolate mixture into one bowl. In other bowl, stir in pumpkin, oil, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Transfer half of chocolate batter to prepared pan smoothing top with a rubber spatula. Top with half of pumpkin batter. Repeat to make one more chocolate layer and one more pumpkin layer. Work quickly so batters don't set.

With a small spatula or a table knife, gently swirl the two batters to create a marbled effect. Sprinkle with nuts. Bake until set, 40 to 45 minutes. Let cool in pan on a wire rack. Cut into 16 squares.

Spooky Spiderweb Brownies

I came to an important realization while making this recipe: I cannot follow directions.  I have been excited about making these brownies for months ever since I decided to host the Halloween potluck at work.  Normally I opt for box-made brownies because I think they are just as good (Sacrilegious, I know).  

I found this recipe on King Arthur Flour and they seemed simple enough and so perfect for a Halloween party.  The picture shows one large spiderweb, seemingly thick so I assumed that one 8'' pan would suffice.  I'm pretty sure I even read that in the footnotes. Wrong!  I ended up having to cook these brownies so long since the batter was so thick in one pan that the spiderweb turned brown. Horror or horrors!  I decided to post it anyhow since it's such a cute idea and the brown web doesn't look too horrible.  Let's just hope it isn't rock hard! 

Prep time: 20 mins

Cook time: 30 mins

Serves: 2 dozen

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter

2 1/4 cups sugar

4 large eggs

1 1/4 cups Double-Dutch Dark Cocoa or Dutch-process cocoa

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp espresso powder

1 tbsp vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups All-Purpose Flour

2 cups chocolate chips

Spider web mixture:

4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature

2 tbsp sugar

1 tbsp All-Purpose Flour

1 large egg yolk

1/2 tsp mint flavoring (optional)

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a 9" x 13" pan or two 8’’ round pans.  In a medium-sized microwave-safe bowl, or in a saucepan set over low heat, melt the butter, then add the sugar and stir to combine. Or simply combine the butter and sugar, and heat, stirring, until the butter is melted. 

Continue to heat (or microwave) briefly, just until the mixture is hot (about 110°F to 120°F), but not bubbling; it'll become shiny looking as you stir it. Heating the mixture to this point will dissolve more of the sugar, which will yield a shiny top crust on your brownies.

While the sugar heats a second time, crack the 4 eggs into a bowl, and beat them with the cocoa, salt, baking powder, espresso powder, and vanilla till smooth. Add the hot butter/sugar mixture, stirring until smooth.

Add the flour and chips, again stirring until smooth. Note: If you want the chips to remain intact in the baked brownies, rather than melting in, let the batter cool in the bowl for about 20 minutes before stirring in the chips. Spoon the batter into the lightly greased 8" pans.

To make the spider web:

Combine the cream cheese, sugar and flour in a small bowl, and mix until smooth. Add the egg yolk and flavoring (if using), mixing until smooth once again. Transfer the mixture to a disposable pastry bag, and cut just the very tip off the end.

Place a small pool of the mixture in the center of the brownie batter. Draw circles around this pool, about 1 inch apart, moving out from the center each time. Once the circles are drawn, take a table knife, wet the tip, and draw it back and forth through the circles. Once you've gone all the way around the circles, take up your pastry bag again. Use the remaining filling to trace the path where the knife traveled, to create the spokes of the web.

Bake the brownies for 30 minutes, until the brownies just barely pull away from the edge of the pan. The center will rise while baking, but will sink back level once the brownies are cool. Remove them from the oven and cool before cutting.

Pumpkin Muffins

I have been desperate for Fall to appear here in the bay area, and despite my best efforts it still hasn't shown up. I reasoned that if I dress like it's fall and bake like it's fall, then fall will finally show up. Right? Well, apparently not because the temperatures are still in the high 70s, but this has not deterred me from turning on the oven and transforming our house to a sauna like state. 

Anyone who knows me can tell you that I have an unnatural obsession with pumpkin. Which is why it surprised me when I was looking over my blog archive and it dawned on me that I have not published many of my pumpkin recipes.  Well this must be fixed at once!  This recipe is a keeper and all credits go to Smitten Kitchen.  These small muffins are light and fluffy, yet they pack a wonderful punch of fall flavor and pumpkin spice.  A perfect accompaniment to your morning coffee.  Dare I say Pumpkin Spice Latte?

 

Prep time: 15 min

Cook time: 25 mins

Makes: 1 dozen

INGREDIENTS:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 cup canned solid-pack pumpkin (from a 15-oz can)
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs
1 tsp pumpkin-pie spice (a combo of cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger, and allspice)
1 1/4 cups plus 1 Tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon

Equipment: 12 foil or paper muffin liners; a muffin pan with 12 (1/2-cup) muffin cups

DIRECTIONS:
Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350F. Put liners in muffin cups. Whisk together flour and baking powder in a small bowl. Whisk together pumpkin, oil, eggs, pumpkin-pie spice, 1 1/2 cups sugar, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl until smooth, then whisk in flour mixture until just combined. Stir together cinnamon and remaining 1 tablespoon sugar in another bowl.

Divide batter among muffin cups (each should be about 3/4 full), then sprinkle tops with cinnamon-sugar mixture. Bake until puffed and golden brown and a wooden pick or skewer inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes.

Cool in pan on a rack 5 minutes, then transfer muffins from pan to rack and cool to warm or room temperature.

Acorn Squash Lasagna

Not your typical lasagna! Ricotta cheese and pureed squash make a rich, creamy filling that is both salty and sweet.  This lasagna is a great use of leftover winter squash from your garden.

Prep time: 1 hour

Cook time: 1 hour 30 mins

Serves: 4

INGREDIENTS:

Olive oil, for baking dish

4 cups of Acorn Squash Puree (2-3 squash)

2 tbsp butter

½ tsp dried rubbed sage

Coarse salt and ground pepper

1 container (15 ounces) ricotta cheese

1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

8 no-boil lasagna noodles, half of an 8 ounce package

DIRECTIONS:

To prepare the Acorn Squash Puree:  Slice acorn squash into quarters and scoop out and discard the seeds.  Place squash slices face down in ¼ cup water and bake at 375 for 30 – 45 minutes or until tender.  Remove from oven and allow to cool completely.

When cool enough to handle, scrape out flesh from squash quarters and transfer to a food processor (discard skin).  Process until smooth.  In a medium saucepan, combine squash puree with 2 tablespoons of butter and 1 teaspoon of salt.  Cook over medium heat until hot, 3 to 4 minutes. 

Heat oven to 400 degrees.  Brush an 8-inch square baking dish with oil; set aside.  In a medium bowl, mix squash puree with sage, 1 ½ teaspoons salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper.  In another bowl, mix ricotta with ½ cup parmesan, 1 teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper.  Set aside.

Lay 2 lasagna noodles in the bottom of a prepared dish; spread with half the squash mixture.  Repeat layering with remaining noodles and mixtures.  Sprinkle top (ricotta mixture) with remaining ½ cup Parmesan.

Cover baking dish with foil; place on a rimmed baking sheet.  Bake until lasagna is heated through, about 45 minutes; remove foil, and continue baking until golden on top, 20 to 25 minutes more.

Hint: If you don’t have time to make the squash puree, you can use two frozen packages that have been thawed.  I don’t think it is nearly as tasty, but it would work in a pinch. 

Persimmon Cake

On a recent trip to the Farmer's Market, I brought home a bounty of persimmons and I wanted to make something different than the typical cookies or bread that people usually make with persimmons.  Similar to pumpkin bread, this recipe is thick and moist and it would be delicious even without the cream cheese frosting - but the frosting is quite luxurious! 

Prep time: 20 mins

Cook time: 1 hour 15 mins

Serves: 12

INGREDIENTS:

2 ½ cups all-purpose flour

½ tsp baking powder

2 tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

2 cups sugar

1 cup milk

2 cups persimmon pulp

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.  Grease and flour a 9x13 inch loaf pan or Bundt cake pan.  Peel and chop persimmons into small chunks and place into a food processor. Pulse the persimmons until they form a smooth pulp.

Whisk together the flour baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar in a bowl, set aside.  Whisk together the eggs, persimmon pulp, milk and vanilla extract in a separate bowl until smooth.  Fold the persimmon mixture into the flour mixture until no dry lumps remain.  Pour into the prepared pan.

Bake in preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 1 hour 15 mins.  Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then remove from the pan and allow to cool completely on a wire rack before icing.

Cream Cheese Icing

8 oz cream cheese

5 tbsp butter, room temperature

2 tsp vanilla

1-2 cups powdered sugar

Water as needed

Place cream cheese, butter and vanilla into a medium bowl and blend together using a hand mixer.  Slowly add in powdered sugar until the mixture forms a sweetness and consistency that you like.  If the mixture is too stiff, add small amounts of water as needed. Add more water for a runny glaze-like icing and less for a thick creamy icing.