Pumpkin Apple Crumb Cake
December 22, 2009 § 2 Comments
I’ve said it once, I’ll say it again: in my book, dessert for breakfast is ideal, not a no-no. This cake is perfectly suited for the wee hours and it makes a lip-smacking after-dinner treat, too. Inspired by Everybody Likes Sandwiches and Gourmet magazine, this sweet is bookmarked into my breakfast recipe bank with zeal!
Ingredients:
For the apples
2 cups crisp apples, chopped (peeled & cored, approximately 3 medium-sized apples)
2 tablespoons evaporated cane sugar
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 teaspoon cinnamon
For the cake
1 stick unsalted butter
3/4 cup pumpkin puree
1/3 cup plain yogurt, whole-milk preferred
2 eggs, room temperature
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoons evaporated cane sugar
1 cup white flour
1/2 cup white whole-wheat flour
1 cup brown sugar, lightly packed
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon all spice
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
Apple Prep:
In a brimmed skillet, melt 2 tablespoons butter on stove over medium-high heat. Add chopped apples and saute until they start to caramelize and turn a golden-brown color (approximately 4-6 minutes). Add cinnamon and sugar. Saute another minute. Remove from heat and set aside.
Cake Prep:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9″ cake pan.
2. Mix flour, brown sugar and salt. Break-in butter until the mixture becomes crumbly (about the size of pebbles). Set aside 2/3 cup for crumb topping at the end.
3. Beat pumpkin, yogurt, spices, baking soda and evaporated cane sugar until smooth. Add room-temperature eggs.
4. Fold in apples (and all the butter-sugar juice from the pan) into the batter.
5. Sprinkle reserved crumb mixture on top. Bake approximately 1 hour or until golden-brown around edges and a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool cake in pan for at least a half hour. Using a dull knife, run around the sides of the pan to loosen the cake. Serve warm with homemade whipped cream or enjoy at room temperature. This cake freezes and thaws well, too.
Diet Notes: Nut-free
Uber Healthy, Moist and Savory Pumpkin Bread
November 22, 2009 § 5 Comments
Last week my grandma was perusing the “Food” section of our local newspaper and found a bread recipe chock full of flax seed meal and pumpkin puree for fall flavor and moisture. While the recipe doesn’t explictly say this, I noticed an oil/fat substitution involving a couple of bananas—there is virtually no fat in the entire recipe, save a couple of eggs.
There was a time about three years ago when I was very enthusiastic about fat substitutions. My cookies had no oil, just apple sauce; my blondies had no butter, just bananas. Suffice it to say, I ate a lot of cardboard desserts. It didn’t take long for me to embrace the fatty stuff.
So, it was with a bit of skepticism that I glanced over this “healthy” recipe. My grandma encouraged me to try it anyway, so I swallowed my pride and bought a new bag of flax meal.
This recipe made two loaves, both of which were devoured in 3 days by my entire family (I single-handedly demolished one of them). Even after three days, the bread retained its moisture, chewy texture and warm taste of fall spices. I made a couple of tweaks to the original recipe (my version below), but I didn’t alter the shockingly high amount of flax seed meal (3/4 of a cup). I imagine, though, if you don’t have that much on hand in your fridge, you could substitute oat bran for some of the flax seed meal. That’s my hunch.
I loved eating a thick slice of this loaf, slightly toasted, smeared with a generous dollop of raw, toasted almond butter. And for the record: if you shy away from banana breads, the fall spices/pumpkin supersede the banana-taste.
Ingredients:
2 cups pumpkin puree
2 very ripe bananas
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup white whole-wheat flour
1 cup quick oats
3/4 cup ground flax meal
1/2 cup evaporated cane sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar, loosely packed
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 + 1/2 teaspoon aluminum-free baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon all spice
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
Methods:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease two 22 x 11 x 6cm loaf pans.
2. In a medium-sized bowl, whisk liquids.
3. In a separate bowl, stir dry ingredients. Add liquids to dry, stirring lightly, just until incorporated.
4. Bake 60-70 minutes, until top of each loaf is golden-brown and a knife/toothpick comes out clean. The bread will give away from the sides.
5. Remove from oven and let cool for a few hours until cool or barely warm. The breads will slide right out of each pan. Cool completely before sealing in an airtight bag or container. These breads also freeze well; wrap in plastic wrap and seal in an airtight bag to freeze. On occasion, I’ve found that plastic-wrap can lock in moisture and leave gooey spots on breads when left thawing; I recommend letting it thaw without any plastic around it.
Diet Notes: Nut-free
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Loaf
December 8, 2008 § 3 Comments
Call this a bread if it eases your caloric conscience, but this “bread” is the most cake-like bread on the planet.
My Mom and I have made this recipe for eons (originally from “Purple Sage and Other Pleasures: a Savory Collection by the Tucson Junior League”), but today I did a little experiment and I like the new results. I took out 1/2 cup of sugar and I made one of the loaves without chocolate to see how it would turn out. Both were terrific.
Ingredients:
2 cups white flour
1 cup whole-wheat-white flour
2 + 1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon cloves
1 teaspoon allspice
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
2/3 cup water
2 cups pumpkin puree
3/4 – 1+1/2 cups chocolate chips*
*If you use large chips, chop them up a bit into smaller chunks before adding to this bread. Large pieces will sink to the bottom and you’ll have a layer of chocolate goo that sticks to the pan. It’s pretty delicious, but it makes for a lousy-looking bread.
Method:
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour two 9 x 5 x 3” loaf pans.
2. Mix together all wet ingredients + sugar.
3. In a separate bowl, mix the dry ingredients. Measure chocolate chips and set aside. Dust chocolate with a small handfull of the dry ingredients (to prevent sinking) and set aside.
4. Combine wet and dry ingredients, folding and stirring until just combined. Fold in chocolate.
5. Bake for 1 hour and 10-15 minutes, until a knife comes out clean. IMPORTANT NOTE: Leave the loaves in their warm pan on a cooling rack for at least 30 minutes to set. Before removing, take a knife and cut around the edges; use a spatula to help ease the bread out of the pan (particularly for the chocolate loaf). I’ve had many half-bottom disasters by tossing the pan over too quickly.
(Photo above: Pumpkin Loaf (without chocolate) and some Fluffy Pumpkin Muffins!)
Diet Notes: Nut-free
Fluffy Pumpkin Muffins (sans dairy! attention vegans!)
November 22, 2008 § 2 Comments
This recipe is an old standby from my years at Whitman. I’d make these muffins in the Writing House and it would fill up the chilly kitchen with fall smells and rumbling stomachs! This recipe is adapted from one of my favorite vegan cookbooks called “Vegan with a Vengeance” by Isa Chandra Moskowitz.
Ingredients:
1 + 1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup whole-wheat-white flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1 cup pureed pumpkin
1/2 cup rice milk (or milk alternative)
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 tablespoons molasses
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl, mix flour, baking powder, salt, and spices.
2. In a separate bowl mix sugar, pumpkin, milk, oil, and molasses. Combine wet and dry.
3. Bake 18-23 minutes, until a knife comes out clean. Let cool for 15 minutes before removing. They freeze and thaw wonderfully.
Diet Notes: vegan, nut-free
