Tonight's Dessert Creation

Tonight we made a beautiful dinner (which we forgot to photograph). We made balsamic-marinated chicken breasts, pumpkin dumplings (which turned out a little more like pumpkin gnocchi but which were still delicious), roasted asparagus and Brussels sprouts, and saffron rice.

For dessert I made Spiced Applesauce Cupcakes. They are quite good, but the Cinnamon-Nutmeg Cream-Cheese Frosting was the event.

Here is the recipe I used:

For cake
2 cups (8 3/4 ounces or 250 grams) all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons (10 grams) baking powder
1/2 teaspoon (3 grams) baking soda
1/2 teaspoon (3 grams) salt
3/4 teaspoon (2 grams) cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon (2 grams) nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon (1 gram) ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1 stick (4 ounces or 113 grams) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup (7 3/4 ounces or 218 grams) packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon (5 ml) pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups (about 13 ounces or 365 grams) unsweetened applesauce
1/2 cup (about 1 3/4 ounces or 50 grams) walnuts (optional), toasted, cooled, and chopped

For frosting
5 ounces (142 grams) cream cheese, softened
3 tablespoons (1 1/2 ounces or 42 grams) unsalted butter, softened
1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup (4 ounces or 120 grams) confectioners sugar
1 teaspoon teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

Preheat oven to 350°F with rack in middle. Butter an 8- or 9-inch square cake pan. I had no trouble getting my cake out of a nonstick pan by just buttering it, but if you don’t have a nonstick cake pan or are a little nervous, line the bottom with parchment paper and butter that too.

Make cake: Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices. Beat butter, brown sugar, and vanilla with an electric mixer at high speed until pale and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition, then beat in applesauce. At low speed, mix in flour mixture until just combined, then stir in walnuts (if using). The batter will look a little curdly and uneven but don’t worry, it will all bake up perfectly in the end.

Spread batter evenly in pan and bake until golden-brown and a wooden pick inserted into center comes out clean, about 35 to 40 minutes. Cool in pan 15 minutes. Run a knife around edge of cake to loosen, then invert onto a plate. Reinvert cake onto a rack to cool completely. You can speed this up, as I always do, in the fridge. OR recipe makes about 16-18 cupcakes. Cooking time approximately 20 minutes.

Make frosting: Beat cream cheese, butter, and vanilla with an electric mixer at high speed until fluffy. Sift confectioners sugar and cinnamon over cream cheese mixture, then beat at medium speed until incorporated. Spread frosting over top of cooled cake.

Pumpkin Pie

Let me begin this post by saying that I do not like pumpkin pie. Except apparently pumpkin pie made by my friend Charlotte. THIS WAS THE BEST PIE I'VE EVER TASTED!

The filling recipe went something like this:

• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 (15 ounce) can Pure Pumpkin
• 1 (12 fluid ounce) can Sweetened Condenced Milk
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• Some cinnamon,  nutmeg, vanilla, and garam masala.

The crust recipe:

• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup butter, chilled and diced
• 1/4 cup ice water

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
2. Combine sugar, salt, and spices in a small bowl. Beat eggs in a large bowl. Stir in pumpkin and sugar-spice mix. Gradually add evaporated milk. Pour into pie shell.
3. Cut up pecan pieces into very small chunks and sprinkle them on top of the filling.
4. Bake for 15 minutes and reduce temperature to 350 degrees F and bake for 45-50 minutes.
5. Cool for 15 minutes. 
6. Enjoy heartily. 

I might gain 20 pounds this quarter but I will enjoy it heartily.

Vegan Banana Bread Recipe

Today I made incredibly successful vegan banana bread for my friend Aleah.

The recipe went like this:

Ingredients
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cups white sugar
1/2 cup vegan margarine, at room temp
3 very ripe bananas, mashed well
2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup vanilla almond milk, mixed with 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup pecan pieces
1/2 cup vegan chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Cream margarine and sugars together. Add mashed banana, almond milk/vinegar mixture, and vanilla.

In another bowl sift flour, baking soda, cinnamon, allspice, and salt together.

Slowly add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients, mixing thoroughly. Then add the pecans and chocolate chips.

Pour mixture into a greased 8x4 inch loaf pan. Top with brown sugar.

Bake for 1hr.