Pumpkin Cheesecake: The New Pumpkin Pie

Now that the madness of Thanksgiving is over and I don't have 500+ pies to make, I can share with you some pictures and recipes of what I made for the day, like this one for pumpkin cheesecake. My day was filled surrounded by the love of good friends and food here in Salt Lake. I, of course, offered to do the desserts.

Because I didn't have the time to make all of my desserts gluten-free, my dessert of choice to eat was the pumpkin cheesecake, which is a fun take on the traditional pumpkin pie. After talking to a few people, it seems that they opted to make a pumpkin cheesecake instead of pumpkin pie this year. Perhaps it is because it's much easier to make a cheesecake crust deliciously gluten-free. Or perhaps it's the (amazingly) creamy texture as opposed to the grainy-er one of pumpkin pie. Whatever the reason, it's a darn good choice. As soon as you bite into this dessert, you get all of the spices and flavor of the perfect fall pumpkin pie, but with a light and creamy texture, and an added crunch and sweetness from the snickerdoodle-almond crust.

Pumpkin Cheesecake:

1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 package Eat Well snickerdoodle cookies (or other cookie of your choice)
4 oz butter, melted
1/3 cup slivered almonds

Preheat oven to 345 degrees F and grease a 9" springform pan

Crush cookies and combine with the rest of ingredients, by hand, until well-combined. Push mixture into bottom of prepared pan. Bake for 10 minutes. Cool.

3 8-oz packages cream cheese, at room temperature
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup granulated sugar
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1 15-oz can pumpkin
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/3 cup heavy cream

Combine cream cheese and sugars in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed several minutes, until well-combined. Scrape down bowl. Add eggs one at a time and mix just until incorporated. Add pumpkin, cinnamon, vanilla, ginger, and nutmeg. Mix on low speed until incorporated. Scrape down bowl. Add cream in a steady stream and mix just until it's no longer streaky.

Pour mixture into cooled crust. Wrap crust in double layer of aluminum foil. Place cheesecake in a roasting pan and place in oven. Fill roasting pan with hot water until the water reaches about halfway up the sides of the pan.

Bake for 55-60 minutes. When done, the outside will be puffy while the inside is still jiggly. At this point, turn off the oven and prop the door open for 1 hour. Remove the cheesecake from the oven and the roasting pan and allow to cool, at room temperature, for 2 hours. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving.

If desired, top with whipped cream and a sprinkling of cinnamon.

Edible Gifts: Caramel Popcorn

With the Christmas season fast approaching, I thought doing a few posts on homemade (and delicious!) gifts would be a good idea. I'll also give a few ideas for cute ways to package these homemade treats.

This will be the second Christmas for my church, Missio Dei Community, and our second Christmas participating in Advent Conspiracy. In short, instead of spending a lot on gifts that don't mean much, we're urged to spend less and give more to people who need it. So if you're going to give gifts at Christmas, what could be a better way than making super thoughtful gifts for the people that mean most to you?

This caramel popcorn recipe can be made in large batches fairly quickly and then divided into different packages to be given to a lot of people.

Caramel Popcorn:

6 quarts plain popped popcorn (about 2 bags, or you can air-pop it like I did)
Salt, for sprinkling2 cups roasted almonds
2 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1 cup butter
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla extract


Spread popped popcorn on a large baking sheet (2 if necessary) and sprinkle with the almonds and salt.


Preheat the oven to 200 degrees F


Place a saucepan on the stove over medium-high heat. Add brown sugar, corn syrup and butter. Stir until melted. When it starts boiling, stir slowly and boil about 3 minutes. Remove from heat and add the vanilla and baking soda.


Pour caramel over the popcorn mixture in pans and stir quickly to coat as many pieces as possible. Place pan(s) in the oven and bake about 40 minutes, stirring a couple of times during the process.


Allow popcorn to cool and break into pieces.


If you'd like, you can portion the popcorn into jars like I did (which I recommend because my roommates and I keep munching on the popcorn that are in pans on the stove). I got my jars for a dollar a piece here. You can also get festive ribbon and gift labels from places like Michael's, Jo-Ann Fabric's, or any other craft store.

Happy gifting :)

Best Ever Chocolate Cake!

I am a fan of chocolate-a BIG fan. So when I tell you this cake is awesome, you should take my word for it. This cake is one of the foods I miss most since becoming gluten-free, but for those of you who don't have this restriction, enjoy!

As the weather gets colder, I implore you to make this very rich cake with even richer frosting, pour yourself a big glass of milk, and eat a nice big slice next to the fire.

Chocolate Cake with Double Chocolate Frosting

Makes 1 two-layer 9" cake

Cake:

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

12 tablespoons salted butter

1 cup dark cocoa powder

1 1/2 cups brown sugar, tightly packed

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

1 1/2 cups brewed black coffee, at room temperature

1 1/2 cups buttermilk

3 eggs, at room temperature

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 325. Grease and flour two 9" cake pans

Whisk together the first 4 ingredients in a medium bowl.

Heat the butter in a medium sauce pan on medium heat until melted. Whisk in the cocoa powder. Turn the heat to low and add the sugars. Whisk until dissolved. Remove from the heat. Add remaining ingredients one at a time and whisk until combined. Add the dry ingredient mixture and whisk just until combined.

Pour bater into prepared pans and bake 40-45 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 20 minutes before removing from the pans. Then, let cool completely (or freeze, for best results) before frosting.

Frosting:

1/4 cup cocoa powder (dutch-process is best)

1/4 cup boiling water

1 1/2 cups salted butter, slightly softened

1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

10 oz semi-sweet chocolate, melted and cooled

Dissolve cocoa powder in boiling water in a mixing bowl. Cut butter into pieces and add to cocoa powder mixture a piece at a time, and beat with electric mixer on medium-high speed. Add confectioners' sugar, salt, and chocolate, beating until combined and scraping the sides as you go. 

Get a long metal spatula and frost the cake, making small "C"s as you turn the cake, if desired.

As I Cling to Fall . . .

We pastry chefs get up early . . . very early. So it's no surprise that I don't have much of an appetite before work. I tend to grab something that I can quickly eat at work after I get the first batch of breakfast pastries out for the day. My favorite go-to for this is the muffin.

Here in Salt Lake, the mountains are already covered in snow and the leaves in the valley are quickly falling away. We only have a few more days of being able to step out the door without a winter coat. So, as I cling to fall, I went with a seasonal (for the time being) flavor for this muffin: apple cinnamon.

Apple Cinnamon Muffins (gluten-free)
Makes 12 regular or 6 extra-large muffins

2 cups tart apples, peeled, cored, and cut into 1/2 inch chunks
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons lemon juice

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Toss apples in cinnamon, brown sugar, and lemon juice and bake in the oven for 10 minutes

1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon bakig powder
1 teaspoon xanthan gum
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 cup all-purpose gluten-free flour
1/2 cup white rice flour
1/2 cup buckwheat flour
2 tablespoons vanilla
1/2 cup canola oil
2/3 cup almond milk
1 cup sugar
1 egg*
brown sugar, for sprinkling

Mix together dry ingredients. Combine sugar, oil, milk, and oil. Add to the dry ingredients and stir until smooth. Stir in cooled apples.

Fill greased muffin tins 2/3 full. Sprinkle tops with brown sugar. Bake at 325 for 20 minutes. Rotate pan 180 degrees in the oven. Bake 15 minutes more for regular muffin tins or 20 minutes more for large muffin tins. Muffins are done when a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

I hope you enjoy these muffins as you hang onto the last days of fall!


*These muffins can easily be made vegan. Just omit the egg and add an extra 2 tablespoons of oil and an extra teaspoon of baking powder.