Chocolate Pecan Pie

We had a two-part Thanksgiving celebration this year.  The first part was the traditional family run and dinner with my parents in Palmer Lake with delicious food and spectacular weather.  One thing I love about holidays at my parent's house is that my mom has decorations and dinnerware for, literally, every holiday.  It is astounding.  I aspire to decorate like my mom someday!  After dinner, we headed north to Golden for dessert and football at E&S's house - the "kids" celebration if you will.  I was planning to bring this Apple Cider Cream Pie that I recently made (it was delicious - definitely try it as a variation on traditional apple pie), but remembered that Doug was going to be there and I was long overdue to fulfill my promise to him of a homemade pecan.

You see, back in September Doug generously let me raid his plum tree for my Plum Crumble and I promised him a pecan pie in return.  It was time to repay my debt.

This pecan pie recipe comes from my dear friend K who went to law school in the south and is the person to whom I turned for a "classic" pecan pie recipe.  Who knew this pie was so simple?  And delicious?  And looks so beautiful with its concentric circles of pecans?  Doug ate this and said he enjoyed it on Thanksgiving... and then we hosted a trivia night on Friday and he ate the leftover pie so I assume he approved - phew! 

Chocolate Pecan Pie
Recipe from K's friend Lyndsey

Ingredients
1 pie crust (I always use Foolproof Pie Crust from Cook's Illustrated.  If you don't want to take my word for it, Smitten Kitchen has also blogged about how great this crust is.  Otherwise, just use your favorite crust!)
3 large eggs, beaten
1 cup dark brown sugar 
1 cup dark Karo syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons melted, unsalted butter
1 tablespoon bourbon 
1 cup chopped pecans, plus whole pecan halves for decorating
1/4 cup mini dark chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Whisk together all of the ingredients except the pecans and the chocolate chips.  Stir in 1 cup of generous pecans (a generous cup, even).  Line a pie dish with your crust.  The crust does not need to be blind-baked before you add the filling.  Spread the chocolate chips on the bottom of the pie shell.  Pour the pecan mixture on top of the chocolate chips.  Decorate the top of the pecan mixture in with pecan halves.

Bake the pie at 350 degrees for 45-60 minutes until top no longer jiggles in the center.  Allow the pie to cool on a cooling rack.  Serve the pie slightly warm or at room temperature.

A First Birthday & Vanilla Cupcakes

Last weekend we celebrated the first birthday of one of my favorite people, WJP.  He's made an appearance on the blog before and is a regular guest at our gatherings and the only person who trusts me and Rob to babysit for him (well, his parents trust us... he doesn't have much say in the matter).  I adore WJP.  He is all smiles and big blue eyes.

While WJP may tolerate my babysitting, he made it clear at the party that he does not likes my baking.  He was most upset by the "smash cake" and not only did he not smash it, but he wanted nothing to do with it.  One taste of frosting was enough to cause a minor meltdown.  Alas, the other guests didn't seem to mind my baking and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised by the vanilla cupcakes.  The recipe couldn't be easier (one bowl!) and the end result is a simple, moist cake.  It is a great vehicle for any type of frosting - I made vanilla frosting but chocolate or cream cheese frosting would be tasty, too.  The vanilla frosting recipe I used wasn't anything to write home about so I haven't included it. 

I also made Red Velvet Cupcakes from Alexandra Cooks and we decorated the cupcakes with sprinkles and these adorable dinosaur toppers and cupcake wrappers.

One-Bowl Vanilla Cupcakes

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
3 large eggs
1 1/4 cups milk
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups cake flour (I used all-purpose flour and they turned out just fine - but if you have cake flour, go for it)

Preparation
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Line 24 cupcake tins with baking papers.  Place the butter in a medium, heatproof bowl placed over a pot of gently simmering water.  When the butter is just melted, whisk in the brown sugar.  Let cool to lukewarm temperature, about 4 minutes.

Whisk the eggs into the mixture.  Add the milk, vanilla, baking powder, and salt; whisk to combine.  Whisk in the flour until evenly combined.

Fill each baking paper two-thirds full.  Bake until a skewer inserted into the middle of a cupcake comes out clean, about 20 minutes. 

Roasted Apple Tart

In recent years, I've developed a love-hate relationship with my birthday.  I love celebrations and this year was no exception - Rob planned a birthday surprise with many of my dearest friends at a new brewery that we love (the Denver Beer Co.), one of my favorite people visited from New York and we had a wonderful weekend in Colorado, including a birthday dinner with my parents (my mom and I almost share a birthday) and I heard from my friends and family from all over the world.  Pretty awesome!

On the other hand, I turned 31.  Sigh.

Something else that cheered me up were the unexpected, fabulous gifts I received, including one from M, an amazing friend from college, who sent me a new cookbook that I immediately put to use.  Nothing cures the birthday blues like baking!

Martha Stewart's New Pies & Tarts is incredibly useful.  Certainly my other cookbooks contain recipes for pies and tarts, but it is great to have a collection of creative approaches to pies and tarts in one place.  So far I have made Apple Pie, a savory Swiss Chard and Goat Cheese Galette and this Roasted Apple Tart.  I love a classic apple pie, but I really wanted to try something different and this certainly is the time of year to experiment with apples.  What sets this tart apart is that it contains a layer of roasted apples topped with thinly-sliced apples.  There isn't cinnamon or nutmeg in this tart, but there is Calvados, or apple brandy.  The apple-brandy-crust combination is dynamite! 

A note about the crust - this is my go-to crust recipe from Cook's Illustrated.  They call it "Foolproof Pie Dough" and it is.  The surprise ingredient is vodka, which helps keep the crust moist, making it easier to roll out and handle.  Don't worry - there is no vodka flavor as the alcohol vaporizes in the oven.

Roasted Apple Tart

Adapted from Martha Stewart's New Pies & Tarts

Crust (this will yield enough dough for two 9" tarts - if you only plan to make one crust, freeze the other half of the dough wrapped tightly in Saran wrap for future use)

• 2 1/2 cups (12 1/2 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon table salt
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch slices
• 1/2 cup cold vegetable shortening, cut into 4 pieces
• 1/4 cup cold vodka
• 1/4 cup cold water

Filling 

• 1 teaspoon unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
• 6 tart, firm apples, such as Granny Smith
• 1/4 cup, plus 3 tablespoons sugar
• 2 tablespoons fresh bread crumbs
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon plus 1 1/2 teaspoons Calvados or other apple brandy
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Make the crust:
Process 1 1/2 cups flour, salt, and sugar in food processor until combined, about 2 one-second pulses. Add butter and shortening and process until homogeneous dough just starts to collect in uneven clumps, about 15 seconds (dough will resemble cottage cheese curds and there should be no uncoated flour). Scrape bowl with rubber spatula and redistribute dough evenly around processor blade. Add remaining cup flour and pulse until mixture is evenly distributed around bowl and mass of dough has been broken up, 4 to 6 quick pulses. Empty mixture into medium bowl.

Sprinkle vodka and water over mixture. With rubber spatula, use folding motion to mix, pressing down on dough until dough is slightly tacky and sticks together. Divide dough into two even balls and flatten each into 4-inch disk. Wrap each in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 45 minutes or up to 2 days.  Let dough soften at room temperature prior to rolling.

Make the filling:

Place the tart pan on a parchment-lined baking sheet.  On a lightly-floured surface, roll out the dough to 1/4 inch thick.  Press the dough into the bottom of the tart pan.  Trim excess dough flush with the rim.  Refrigerate or freeze until firm, about 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Peel, core, and slice 3 apples into 8 wedges each.  Toss wedges with the flour, 1/4 cup sugar, the bread crumbs, 1 teaspoon lemon juice, the Calvados and the salt.  Spread in an even layer on a rimmed baking sheet and bake 20 minutes.  Toss apples, and continue baking until very soft and caramelized around the edges, 15 to 20 minutes more.  Transfer to a bowl and roughly mash.  Let cool completely.

Peel, core and quarter 1 apple.  Core and quarter (do not peel) the remaining 2 apples and slice all 3 apples very thin.  Toss peeled and unpeeled apple slices separately with remaining 2 teaspoons lemon juice.  Spread the mashed apple mixture into the tart shell.  Fan peeled apple slices on top of mash.  Evenly brush apples with half the melted butter and sprinkle with half the remaining sugar.  Repeat layering with unpeeled apple and remaining butter and sugar.  Bake tart until apples are dark golden brown on edges, about 65 minutes.  Transfer to a wire rack and let cool slightly.

Plum Crumble with Cinnamon-Nutmeg Crème Fraîche

Baking with plums is new territory for me. I love plums, but in my book they are for snacking not for baking. However, I read this post on House to Haus last week and thought that perhaps I was being shortsighted. It was time to try a plum dessert.

I am thrilled to report that the experiment was a huge success. Rob referred to the plum crumble tonight as "plum crack". It is THAT good. I'm not sure I can give the plums full credit - the topping is crunchy and sweet and perfectly complements the plums - but certainly the tart plums help to really set this crumble apart. I've actually made this twice (in the past week). The first tart was made with plums from the grocery store. The second tart was made with plums from my friend Doug's plum tree, which he let me raid while we were over for a barbecue on Saturday. With the number of plums I picked, I could make 10 crumbles but I'll try to resist my gluttonous urges and do something healthier with the remaining plums. You, however, should find some plums and make this crumble!

My crumbles, like my pies, err on the side of more fruit. I prefer a high fruit to crumble ratio, so keep that in mind if you make this. The original recipe called for 12 plums; I used 16 when I made it with grocery store plums and about 20 when I used plums from Doug's tree (they were a bit smaller than the store-bought plums). The original recipe also calls for candied ginger. I love ginger in many forms, but I just don't like candied ginger, so I omitted it. Check out the original recipe here if you like it and want to include it - I am sure it is delicious! That said, without the candied ginger, this was divine. If you are convinced that you won't like baked plums, make this with whatever fruit you do like. The topping is perfection.

I always like a little dollop of something on my baked fruit desserts. If you have vanilla ice cream or whipped cream, either would be a nice compliment. If you want to make something special, I'd recommend homemade crème fraîche with a little taste of fall (see below for what I added). The dominant flavor is still the tanginess of the crème fraîche, but the cinnamon and nutmeg complement the crumble well.

Plum Crumble
Adapted from the NY Times 
Total time: 50 minutes
Yield: 6 to 8 servings 

2 tablespoons brown sugar
1½ tablespoons plus 1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
¼ plus ½ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground ginger
16-20 purple Italian or prune plums, cut in half and pitted
¾ cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
1 well beaten egg
½ cup unsalted butter, melted

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees, with rack in center.

2. Thoroughly mix brown sugar, 1½ tablespoons flour, ¼ teaspoon cinnamon and ground ginger. Add to plums and mix well. Arrange, skin side up, in ungreased, deep 9-inch pie plate.

3. Combine remaining sugar, baking powder, flour, cinnamon and salt. Mix well. Stir in egg. Then, using hands, mix thoroughly to produce little particles. Sprinkle over plums.

4. Slowly drizzle butter evenly over crumb mixture. The butter has a tendency to roll down the topping and over the rim of the pie dish, so do this step carefully. Bake the crumble for 30 to 35 minutes. The crumble is done when top is browned and plums yield easily when pricked with cake tester. Remove from oven and cool.

5. Serve warm or refrigerate for up to two days or freeze well covered. If reheating, bring to room temperature then warm at 300 degrees. If desired, serve with ice cream, whipped cream or the cinnamon-nutmeg crème fraîche.

Cinnamon-Nutmeg Crème Fraîche

1 cup of crème fraîche (so easy to make at home using this recipe)
1 tsp freshly-ground nutmeg
1 tsp cinnamon

Combine the spices with the crème fraîche and adjust to your liking!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

Our vacation last week kicked off in Aspen with an all-day trail run/hike around the Maroon Bells.  The views are dramatic and the peaks are steep... and we learned a lesson the hard way about winging it when trail running in the mountains and ended up on an adventure that lasted three times as long as we originally planned.

Thankfully, I had greedily stashed a delicious and filling pumpkin chocolate chip muffin in my backpack from the Aspen Farmer's Market earlier that morning.  The plan was to just peruse the market rather than to buy, but I couldn't resist the table of muffins and pastries.  I think about about hour four of running, Rob wished he hadn't resisted (don't worry, I set aside my only child tendencies and shared the muffin).

Pumpkin is one of my favorite foods.  I look forward to fall each year - pumpkin soup, pumpkin bread, pumpkin lattés.  After savoring the muffin on our Aspen adventure, I had to try my hand an recreating the muffins at home.  The recipe I used comes from the Baking from the Heart cookbook and the contributor of this particular recipe is Joanna Chang of Flour Cafe & Bakery in Boston fame (I've posted about her banana bread here).  These take a matter of minutes to put together and make a great treat for breakfast (yes, I'll eat a muffin which chocolate chips for breakfast... I can tell you are judging).

The only significant change I made to the recipe was inspired by this month's Fine Cooking magazine, which included an article on baking with olive oil.  While the magazine cautions against substituting olive oil for butter when the butter is to be creamed, I found that it worked extremely well in this instance - the resulting muffins were surprisingly light and flavorful.  If you'd prefer to only use butter, the original recipe called for only 1/2 cup.  Happy fall!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins
Adapted from Baking from the Heart
Yield = 1 dozen muffins 

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon freshly-ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 cup (200 grams) granulated white sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup solid packed, canned pumpkin puree (1 15-ounce can)
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.   Place rack in the middle of the oven. Line 12 muffin cups with paper liners or spray each cup with a non-stick vegetable spray.

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, ground spices, and salt.

In the bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Beat in the vanilla extract.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl.  With the mixer on low speed, alternately add the flour mixture and pumpkin puree in three additions, beginning with the flour mixture.  Fold in the chocolate chips.  

Fill the muffin cups evenly with the batter using two spoons or an ice cream scoop.  Place muffins in the oven and bake for about 18 -20 minutes, or until firm to the touch and a toothpick inserted in the center of one of the muffins comes out clean.  Place the muffins on a wire rack to cool.