This came from a recipe website. It is absolutely delicious. I made it for Thanksgiving, and everybody requested it again for Christmas (and birthdays, graduations…)

Ingredients
3 eggs, separated
1 cup sugar, divided
2/3 cup canned pumpkin
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon salt
FILLING:
1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons butter, softened
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
Additional confectioners’ sugar, optional

Directions
Line a 15-in. x 10-in. x 1-in. baking pan with waxed paper; grease the paper and set aside. In a large bowl, beat egg yolks on high speed until thick and lemon-colored. Gradually add 1/2 cup sugar and pumpkin, beating on high until sugar is almost dissolved.
In a small bowl, beat egg whites until soft peaks form. Gradually add remaining sugar, beating until stiff peaks form. Fold into egg yolk mixture. Combine the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt; gently fold into pumpkin mixture. Spread into prepared pan.
Bake at 375° for 12-15 minutes or until cake springs back when lightly touched. Cool for 5 minutes. Turn cake onto a kitchen towel dusted with confectioners’ sugar. Gently peel off waxed paper. Roll up cake in the towel jelly-roll style, starting with a short side. Cool completely on a wire rack.
In a small bowl, beat the cream cheese, butter, confectioners’ sugar and vanilla until smooth. Unroll cake; spread filling evenly to within 1/2 in. of edges. Roll up again. Cover and freeze until firm. May be frozen for up to 3 months. Remove from the freezer 15 minutes before cutting. Dust with confectioners’ sugar if desired. Yield: 10 servings.

Sticking with the chocolate theme, today I am making chocolate mousse. It is an old recipe from one of the all time great cook books The Women’s Weekly Cooking Class Cookbook. It is such an easy recipe to pull together and it’s quick.

You Will Need
4 Eggs

125g Dark Cooking Choclate

1 cup of Cream

1 Punet of fresh Raspberries

Method

Take 4 beautiful eggs and separate them.

Beat the egg whites till soft peaks form and put aside.

Melt 125g dark cooking choc. Let it cool a little.

Beat 1 cup of cream till stiff.

Mix the egg yolks into the chocolate.
Then add the beaten cream.
Then gently stir in the egg whites.
Pour into 4 wine glasses (very eighties) or 4 ramekins, bowls, whatever and refrigerate.

Leave a couple of hours.

It’s yum straight from the fridge whilst standing at the door or for desert with a few raspberries.

You do the math: Thanksgiving + ridiculously early “dinner” + big-ass turkey + too many desserts + amazing people + big container of leftovers for midnight “snack” = ??

And now on to food. A pretty table ain’t nothing without good food! Everyone zoomed in…
With their cameras?!! Um, I swear, they are not food bloggers…But what’s great about these people is that they’re total foodies like me!

Stuffing:
 Apples, French bread, walnuts, cranberries. It was freaking amazing. I went back for seconds and thirds. Hands down, my favorite dish of the night!
 4-Cheese Mac & Cheese:
With Parmesan cheese, white cheddar, gorgonzola, and goat cheese. Say what? All my favorite cheeses in one dish?  I went for seconds and thirds again. Definitely a close favorite!
Candied yams:
Honestly, I did not think I would like this at all because it would be too sweet for me, so I only took a tiny bit. But it turned out pretty good. Good enough for seconds!
 Mashed potatoes:
Damn it, my mashed potatoes never turned out this good!
The most freaking amazing cranberry sauce:
Homemade, with fresh cranberries, orange rind, apple cider, liquer, and…Whatever. I can’t remember, but it sure saved the boring turkey!

Also, fresh-baked cheese and herb biscuits:
Light, buttery, flaky, cheesy. What’s not to love?
 After that superfluous dinner, everyone wobbled to the living room to sing some praise songs together, because who best to thank on Thanksgiving than God, right?
La la la la~
 Tra la la la~
These guys are wondering, “When the heck is dessert time?” I can just read it in their heads!
I know I was!

Somehow, an Asian dish slipped into the mix:
 Korean rice cakes. But that’s okay, at least it wasn’t fortune cookies.

For this pecan pie, we stuck a candle into it:
  And we sang another song, this time a birthday song, because it was this little fella’s first birthday:
  How cool is it that his birthday is on Thanksgiving? The look on his face seems to indicate that he doesn’t know what the hell is going on though. Tee hee!

Eggnog was passed around…
…and we were divided into “Love-it” and “Hate-it” camps. I’m in the “hate-it” camp. Yeck. Too sickening rich…it’s like drinking custard that someone puked out.

It’s amazing how much you can stuff into your stomach if you put your heart into it. Here’s Renee, not afraid to chow down some more:

She is so pretty. And huggable. I love her!

After dessert we settled down, nursing our food babies…
And real babies…
And we talked some more. I loved this group of people. I didn’t know half the people here, but we were an interesting, ecelectic mix from all over the world: Nepal, Kazakhstan, India, Singapore (me), Taiwan, Korea, Romania…
Can you tell who is from where? No matter…we are all beautiful!

The baby started sleeping…
…and thus it was time to leave.

I had the most wonderful, heart-warming night. Thanksgiving rocks. It’s now officially my favorite holiday ever. Hopefully my next Thanksgiving will be “kung-pao chicken”-less as well!

Question of the day: What is your favorite Thanksgiving dish? Do you have a non-traditional Thanksgiving tradition?

Oh, and Egg-nog: Love it or hate it?

These bars are a great combination of sweet and salty.  The strawberry jam is interchangeable with other jams (cherry, blackberry, etc) and adds another flavor dimension to the bars.  They are a lot to take in large size so cut them into smaller pieces to serve.  I line the pan with parchment paper which makes it easier to pull them out to cut.  I’ve never had a complaint about them. . .other than I can’t stop after just one.  Enjoy!!

Mise En Place for Crust

1 1/2 c.  All Purpose Flour
3/4 c sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
3/4 c. (1 1/2 sticks) soft butter
1 c. diced pecans, toasted

Mise En Place for Filling

1 lb. (two 8-oz packages) cream cheese, softened
3/4 c. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs
1/4 c. seedless strawberry jam

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2.  Lay out pecans on cookie sheet and place in oven while it heats until toasted and fragrant
3.  In mixing bowl combine flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and soft butter.  Add in pecans when they are done toasting.
4.  Press mixture into greased (or lined with parchment paper) 9×13 or 11×11 pan.
5.  Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, until set, then remove and cool for another 15 minutes
6. For filling, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth
7.  Gently beat in vanilla and eggs one at a time.
8.  Pour mixture into pan and spread over crust.
9.  Warm strawberry jam in microwave for a few seconds to loosen it up
10.  Place jam in ziploc bag and cut off tip of one corner
11.  Run jam in three or four lines across top of cream cheese mixture.

12.  Run a small dowel (or toothpick, knife tip, etc) across lines of jam to make decoration on top
13.  Bake for 20 to 22 minutes, just until the filling is set (middle should still be wobbly)
14.  Once removed from oven run a knife around the outside of bars to loosen any stuck to side (this will help prevent cracking)
15.  Cool for 1 hour at room temp, then refrigerate until completely cool and firm
16.  Cut into small bars and serve in muffin cups

*Sigh*  I knew going into the holiday that it was going to be rough.  I always have a tough time when  there is a buffet of some sort.  I’m pretty good with “meal” foods, but it’s the buffet of desserts that gets me.

The first step of OA is to admit that you are powerless over food. Well, once again I have proven that this is certainly the case with me.  I am weak.  It’s as if I can’t be trusted around certain foods.  It makes me feel disappointed in myself, that I don’ have the self-control to stay away.  I should never take the first bite.  I won’t bore you with the details of what desserts I ate, but suffice to say that I took the proverbial first bite, thought the bites were really good, and had some more bites.  This happened with four different desserts.  At home , on a regular day, I can take the first bite, but when I’m not in my home and it is some occasion where there is a lot of desserts, this sickness clouds my rational thoughts.

Now, the fact of the matter is that I only went over my calorie count by about 250 calories.  I could have done tons more damage, and in the past I would have in a heartbeat.  I consider myself as having kept my abstinence because even though I compulsively ate more dessert than I planned on,  because thankfully I was able to put on the brakes before it got worse, I didn’t continue the eating at home and today I’m right back on track.  But ugh, I still felt a little full after we got back home last night.  I never eat until I’m full.  For SO many years I used to eat until I was physically ill, but for close to two years I have not done that.  I did not like feeling that fullness I felt last night.

In the grand scheme of things, I know that going over my count by 250 calories is not the end of the world.  It was the compulsive behavior that was so upsetting to me.  It is just always a hair away from the surface and can easily cross the surface at any given moment. 

I have put Thanksgiving dinner behind me, there is nothing I can do about it now.  All I can do is make today a good one (which I did) and continue to take it one day at a time.   Still, it sucks to feel week, powerless and out of control.  I know all the tricks, made my plans, didn’t frame the desserts in some negative way and yet, I still succumbed to the compulsion.  It’s like I can talk the talk but I can’t walk the walk. 

I hate that I’m probably going to go through this for the rest of my life.  While I would love to avoid family dinners, special occasions, etc. and stay safe in my home cocoon, I know that that is not a reality.  I have to live my life, which includes these dinners and events.  I need to either find a better way of dealing with the compulsion, or just assume I’m going to go a little overboard, let it happen within reason, be kind to myself about it, then just get back on the horse the following day. 

This sucks.

Makes 12 servings

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 3 large eggs
• 2 cups sugar
• 1/4 cup fresh orange juice
• 1 1/4 cups milk
• 1 1/2 cups extra virgin olive oil (Meyer Lemon or Blood Orange would work particularly well)
• 1/4 cup orange liqueur, such as Grand Marnier
• 3 tsp finely grated lemon zest
• 1/2 cup almonds, finely chopped
• Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting
• Fresh berries and mint, for garnish

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350. Spray the bottom and sides of a 10-inch round cake pan with nonstick spray. Cut out a piece of parchment paper into a circle and set in the bottom of the pan.
2. In a mixing bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. In a separate large bowl, cream together the eggs and sugar with a whisk. Add the orange juice, milk, olive oil, orange liqueur and lemon zest
3. Mix the dry mixture into the wet mixture. Whisk until blended well. Pour the mix into the prepared cake pan. Sprinkle with almonds on top of the cake.
4. Bake for 1 hour until the cake springs back to the touch. Place on a rack to cool. Run a knife around the edges and place to cake on a stand. Dust with confectioners’ sugar, garnish with fresh berries and mint.

Friends define “the holidays” for me.

A beautiful setting.

The bird.

And then we all cried when the avocado pie spilled.

DESSERT SPREAD!

Pumpkin "Pillows" with Maple Glaze

A Belle with Buns Observes the Bon Bons

]]> http://starwoodgal.wordpress.com/2009/11/27/recipe-no-crust-coconut-pie/ Fri, 27 Nov 2009 23:52:16 +0000 starwoodgal http://starwoodgal.wordpress.com/2009/11/27/recipe-no-crust-coconut-pie/ http://theyoungandthevegan.wordpress.com/2009/11/27/pumpkins-for-the-win/ Fri, 27 Nov 2009 23:48:06 +0000 theyoungandthevegan http://theyoungandthevegan.wordpress.com/2009/11/27/pumpkins-for-the-win/

I love food.  I love family, and good company, and watching movies in the middle of the day.  So of course, I love Thanksgiving.

My favorite part of Thanksgiving?  Pumpkin pie.

Unfortunately, it’s not exactly a vegan dish.  The recipe I’ve used for so long that I trust it inherently has eggs, cream, and butter in it.  The only vegan recipes I could find online either used things I don’t (agave, while interesting, is just not a part of my pantry, and I don’t like tofu in baked goods), or just didn’t look quite right.

I decided to fly solo.  And it worked!

Pumpkin Pie

Crust:

1 1/2 cups flour
4 Tbsp margarine
2 Tbsp vegetable shortening
about 1/4 cup very cold water

Filling:

1 can (15 oz) pumpkin (or about two cups if you’re using fresh)
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 Tbsp molasses
1/2 tsp cloves
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp salt
egg replacer for 2 eggs (1 1/2 tsp powder + 4 Tbsp water)
1 cup plain coconut milk yogurt

Recipe Notes:

This makes the filling for one nine-inch pie.  Because it’s sweetened with brown sugar and molasses, it will be fairly dark brown and not extremely sweet.  The spices here are meant as a guideline; I like my pies pretty well-spiced, and this reflects that.  Feel free to tweak to your individual preferences.

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2. Prepare pie crust: with a pastry cutter, combine margarine, shortening, and flour until well incorporated.  Add the water, a little at a time, until the dough forms small pieces that flatten without breaking when you pinch them.  (The less you work the dough, the flakier it is, so do this quickly.)  Pat the dough into a mound on top of a piece of waxed paper, then place another piece of waxed paper on the top and roll the dough into a circle large enough for your pie pan.  Remove the top sheet, and invert the bottom sheet over the pan, using the paper to help you guide the crust into place.  Remove the paper, trim the edges of the crust, and poke the bottom and sides several times with a fork.

3. Prepare filling: mix everything together in a bowl.  It’s that simple.

4. Pour filling into crust and bake at 375 for 10 minutes, then at 350 for another 30-40 minutes.  The pie is done when the center resists gentle pressure.

5. Remove from the oven, wait until it cools and sets, and enjoy!

Was invited to dinner with friends, this is what I made to say thanks.

P.S. Promise to post on a more regular basis

GC

I’d been poking through several cookbooks, looking for an interesting recipe to try out for Thanksgiving (my family never did the traditional pumpkin or pecan pies). I stumbled across one recipe for Red Wine Pears in Williams Sonoma’s Cooking for Friends (p. 206).

So, I decided to give poached pears a try, but with a twist – white wine (my preference) and with cardamom, a relatively new spice for me. I learned about it a couple years ago, when we first made a Cranberry Pear Tart (now a Thanksgiving staple when I go home for the holiday) but otherwise haven’t come across it in many recipes. I’m on a bit of a crusade this season, to experiment with this new spice, beginning with Cardamom White Hot Cocoa, and now, White Wine & Cardamon Poached Pears, served with a White Chocolate Cardamom Sauce.

Thanks to S. for filling in when my camera died on Thanksgiving.

White Wine & Cardamon Poached Pears

Created by Me!

Ingredients:

• 6 pears – ripe, pealed, halved and cored
• 1 c. water
• 3 c. Chardonnay or other dry white wine
• 3/4 c. granulated sugar
• 1 vanilla bean
• 1 tsp. ground cardamom

Combine water, wine, sugar, vanilla bean (split open with seeds scraped into the pot) and cardamom in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil and stir until sugar dissolves.

Add pears to water and wine mixture. Bring to a boil again, then reduce heat to low. Cover and allow pears to simmer until pears are soft and tender, about 25 minutes. Be sure to stir pears, flipping them, and occasionally basting pears with the sauce.

When pears are soft, move them to a bowl.

For the final time, bring the water and wine mixture to a boil, boiling until sauce has reduced to about a cup and a syrup has formed, approximately 10 minutes. Pour over pears and refrigerate at least 3 hours (or up to overnight) before serving.

Transfer pears (without the syrup) to a serving bowl. Serve cold or at room temperature.

White Chocolate Cardamom Sauce

Created by Me!

Ingredients:

• 6 oz. good-quality white chocolate, chopped
• 1/2 c. half and half
• 1 tsp. ground cardamom

Combine all ingredients in a small sauce pan over medium heat. Whisk until combined.

Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly.

Pour over poached pears or the dessert of your choice.

Threatened way back in October, here it is: a dessert pie with beets in it.  I took to calling this the rustic New England pie, as it’s flavors of apples and cranberries, beets and maple syrup call to mind the flavors of autumn in New England.

Surprisingly, this was a lot sweeter than many thought it might be.  And coupled with the beet-infused whipped cream, made for a different take on an apple-cranberry pie.  While I almost always like a cup of coffee with dessert, I have to say that Mayflower Brewing’s Porter was a fine accompaniment.

You can use whatever apples you like here so long as they are a firm apple suitable for cooking.  I believed I used Hampshire and they worked fine; more common varieties that would be good substitutes include Macoun or Braeburn.  As for the dough, I use a slightly sweet all butter dough.  I know there are proponents on either side of this divide.  I intend to experiment more with lard in dough but this is a  pretty good dough and since I always have butter on hand, it has become my default recipe.

Rustic New England Pie

• 2- ½ cups all purpose flour, plus more for rolling
• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 14 tablespoons (1 3/4 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 4 to 7 tablespoons ice water or more, if needed
• 2 large beets, peeled and shredded in a food processor
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon sugar
• 4 large apples, peeled, cored, and sliced thinly
• 1 cup fresh cranberries
• ¼ cup brown sugar
• ¼ cup maple syrup

1. Combine flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor and pulse to combine.  Add butter and pulse again until mixture resembles a coarse meal.  Add the water a few tablespoons at a time and pulse to combine.  When the dough is together, turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead lightly.  Separate into two disks, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for about an hour.

2. Place shredded beets in a colander and set over a bowl.  Sprinkle salt and sugar over beets and toss.  Let stand for at least 15 or 20 minutes to draw out moisture.  Reserve beet juice.

3.  Preheat oven to 375°F.  Place a heaping cup of beets, the apples, and cranberries in a bowl.  Add brown sugar and maple syrup and stir to combine.

4. Roll out one disk of dough until thin and large enough to fit into a pie dish.  Fit and trim to leave about one inch around the edge of the dish.  Roll out the other disk and reserve.  Pour fruit mixture into dish and place second piece of dough on top.  Trim that and pinch and fold the edges to seal.  Make several cuts across the top to allow steam to escape.  Brush dough with cream and sprinkle with sugar.

5. Bake for about one hour.  Let cool and serve with beet-maple whipped cream.

Beet-Maple Whipped Cream

• 1 pint of whipping cream
• 3 tablespoons beet juice (from pie recipe)
• 4 tablespoons maple syrup

1. Place whipping cream in a stand mixer and begin beating.  As cream starts to thicken, pour in beet juice and maple syrup and continue beaten until stiff peaks form.

Thaw time: 40 minutes
Prep time: 30 minutes
Bake time: 35 minutes
Cool time: 30 minutes
Makes: 6 servings

1 sheet puff pastry (from 17.3 oz package), thawed
1 egg
1 T water
2 T granulated sugar
1 T all-purpose flour
1/4 t ground cinnamon
2 large Granny Smith apples, peel, cored and thinly sliced
2 T raisins
Confectioners’ sugar (optional)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1. Heat oven to 375 degrees. Beat egg and water in small bowl with fork. Stir sugar, flour and cinnamon in medium bowl. Add apples and raisins and toss to coat.

2. Unfold pastry sheet on lightly floured surface. Roll pastry sheet into 16×12″ rectangle. Spoon apple mixture onto bottom half of pastry sheet to within 1″ of edge and roll up like jelly roll. Tuck ends under to seal. Place seam-side down onto baking sheet. Brush pastry with egg mixture. Cut several slits in top of pastry.

3. Bake 35 minutes or until pastry is golden brown. Let cool on baking sheet on wire rack 30 minutes. Sprinkle with confectioners’ sugar, if desired.

Ahhh Thanksgiving. The day of huge turkey feasts complete with all the trimmings. And what Thanksgiving meal is complete without the obligatory pumpkin dessert? Certainly not this one! Instead of the traditional pumpkin pie, I decided to break in my (relatively) new springform pan (that I got for the low low price of $4! ) and go with a pumpkin cheesecake.

I must admit, this was my first cheesecake using a springform pan. Usually when I make cheesecakes I take the easy route and pour the filling into those pre-made graham cracker crusts. I know, it’s cheating, but all is fair when it comes to cheesecake.

Anyways, I found this recipe at myrecipes.com. It’s a great site that features recipes from a bunch of food magazines like Cooking Light and Southern Living to name a few. You can find a recipe for just about anything there, and a lot of them are tried and true, complete with ratings and commentary and everything!

This cheesecake was simply scrumptious. It was super creamy but not too heavy on the tummy, and has a nice full pumpkin flavor! I was also very pleasantly surprised with the crust! This was my first official try making the crust for a cheesecake, and I couldn’t have asked for a simpler or tastier crust.

The recipe is pretty darn simple, if I do say so myself! While the recipe does call for at least 8 hours of chilling, I found that it was perfectly good after about 6 to 7 hours. To save some of the hassle of having to wake up and make cheesecake, I went ahead and made the batter the night before and let it chill in the fridge overnight. This made for some super fast cake makins and I found no negative side effects!

I did have to watch the time, though. Even though I took it out a tad early, my cheesecake still ended up a little toasty. Still tasty though!

Pumpkin Cheesecake - from Cooking Light via myrecipes.com
Crust:
56 (8oz.) reduced fat vanilla wafers
1 T. butter or stick margarine, melted
Cheesecake:
3-8oz. blocks fat free cream cheese, softened
2-8oz. blocks 1/3 less fat cream cheese, softened
½ c. granulated sugar
½ c. packed brown sugar
3 T. all purpose flour
1 t. ground cinnamon
½ t. ground nutmeg
½ t. ground ginger
¼ t. salt
dash of allspice
2 t. vanilla extract
4 large eggs
15oz. can pumpkin

• Preheat oven to 400F. To prepare crust, place wafers in a food processor; pulse 2 to 3 times or until finely ground. Add butter; pulse 10 times or until mixture resembles coarse meal. Firmly press mixture into bottom of a 9 inch springform pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 400 for 10 minutes; cool on a wire rack.
• Reduce oven temp to 325F.
• To prepare filling, beat cheeses with a mixer at high speed until smooth. Add the granulated sugar and next 8 ingredients (through vanilla), beating well. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add pumpkin. Beat well.
• Pour cheese mixture into prepared crust; bake at 325F for 1 1/2 hours or until almost set (when the center barely moves when the pan is touched). Remove cheesecake from oven; run a knife around the outside edge. Cool to room temperature; cover and chill at least 8 hours.

I would definitely consider this a Thanksgiving day success story! Maybe next year I’ll even tackle the turkey!

-Morgan K.

Ingredients (for 2):

30 ml flax seeds, ground

15 ml chia seeds, ground

2.5 ml soy lecithin, powdered

¾ cup thawed strawberries

30 ml coconut butter (Artisana brand)

15 ml agave syrup

Blend all ingredients in high speed blender and chill to set at least 30 minutes before serving. Enjoy!

Délicieuse et nourrissante, cette mousse aux fraises est vraiment simple à faire.

Voici les ingrédients pour 2 personnes :

30 ml graines de lin, moulues

15 ml graines de chia, moulues

2,5 ml lécithine en granules, moulue

¾ tasse de fraises décongelées

30 ml beurre de noix de coco (marque Artisana)

15 ml sirop d’agave

Mélanger tous les ingrédients au mélangeur ou au robot et réfrigérer au moins 30 minutes avant de servir.

Happy Thanksgiving!  Since I headed home for the holiday this year, I had to make my Thanksgiving-type foods for myself a week or so earlier.  So, I chose to experiment with dessert, making a new recipe for a Jell-o pudding pie.  I found it in the grocery store, next to a display for the new seasonal flavor of Jell-o instant pudding:  Pumpkin Spice.  It’s very easy, basically Jell-o instant pudding, milk, spices, and Cool Whip layered together in a vanilla wafer crust (or graham cracker crust).  It came out perfect and delicious, and held up for over a week of leftovers.  Here’s my version:

Triple-Layer Pumpkin Spice Pie

2 cups milk

2 pkg. (4 serving size) Jello Pumpkin Spice flavor Instant pudding

¼ tsp. cinnamon

1 tub (8 oz) cool whip

[sugar and dash nutmeg for seasoning up Cool Whip, optional]

Graham cracker pie crust (I used a vanilla wafer crust, see recipe below)

½ c. pecans

1 T honey

Beat 1^st 3 ingredients together, put half of mixture in bottom of crust.  Mix rest with half of cool whip, put on as next layer.  Use rest of cool whip as topping.  Refrigerate 1 hour.  Garnish:  cook pecans and honey in skillet on med. Low until caramelized, about 2-4 min.

Vanilla Wafer crust:

6 T butter, melted

1 1/2 cups vanilla wafer crumbs

1/4 cup sugar

[dash cinnamon or nutmeg, optional for this pie]

Mix together and press into pan.  Prebake:  8-10 min. at 350 degrees.

I prefer the vanilla wafer crust over graham cracker because it holds together better and is more solid as a crust than graham cracker, which tends to crumble apart.  Of course, you’ll need to put the wafers in a food processor or blender to break them up; unlike the soft graham crackers they won’t be crumbled up by a rolling pin.  I put in a bit of spice to the crust this time, just because of the pumpkin pie flavor.

I also seasoned up the top layer of pure Cool Whip; but that’s pretty much because I think Cool Whip tastes bland and awful otherwise.  I put a big tablespoonful of sugar and a shake or two of nutmeg to help cut the blandness.  It really helped.

I’m not sure I did the garnish right, as the honey-covered pecans always stuck to everything.  I had to peel (and hopefully not tear) them off of the wax paper they were cooling on, and then they stuck to each other, stuck to the dish I kept them in, etc.  Kind of annoying.  I’m not sure I’d do that next time, unless I chose maple syrup or brown sugar/butter/karo to caramelize the pecans with, as the honey taste doesn’t completely go with pumpkin.  In all, this was an awesome dessert, plus it looked really impressive too.

My daughter, Zoe, made Ina Garten’s Pumkin Banana Mousse Tart.  Everyone I mentioned this to said, “banana, really?’  It was really delicious.  The crust worked especially well with it.

Serves 10

For the crust:
2 cups graham cracker crumbs (14 crackers)
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 lb (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted

For the filling:
1/2 cup half-and-half
1 (15 oz) can pumpkin puree
1 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
3/4 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
3 extra-large egg yolks
1 pkg (2 tsp) unflavored gelatin
1 ripe banana, finely mashed
1 tsp grated orange zest
1/2 cup cold heavy cream
2 Tbs sugar

For the decoration:
1 cup (1/2 pint) cold heavy cream
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
Orange zest, optional

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine the graham cracker crumbs, sugar, cinnamon, and melted butter in a bowl and mix well. Pour into an 11-inch tart pan with a removable bottom and press evenly into the sides and then the bottom. Bake for 10 minutes and then cool to room temperature.

For the filling, heat the half-and-half, pumpkin, brown sugar, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a heat-proof bowl set over a pan of simmering water until hot, about 5 minutes. Whisk the egg yolks in another bowl, stir some of the hot pumpkin into the egg yolks to heat them, then pour the egg-pumpkin mixture back into the double boiler and stir well. Heat the mixture over the simmering water for another 4 to 5 minutes, until it begins to thicken, stirring constantly. You don’t want the eggs to scramble. Remove from the heat.

Dissolve the gelatin in 1/4 cup cold water. Add the dissolved gelatin, banana, and orange zest to the pumpkin mixture and mix well. Set aside to cool.

Whip the heavy cream in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment until soft peaks form. Add the sugar and continue to whisk until you have firm peaks. Carefully fold the whipped cream into the pumpkin mixture and pour it into the cooled tart shell. Chill for 2 hours or overnight.

For the decoration, whip the heavy cream in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment until soft peaks form. Add the sugar and vanilla and continue to whisk until you have firm peaks. Pipe or spoon the whipped cream decoratively on the tart and sprinkle, if desired, with orange zest. Serve chilled.

It’s been a few years now that I gift Cranberry Preserves as a Xmas gift.  People love it…

Cranberry juice is popular here in Puerto Rico, but eating fresh cranberries is not.  I usually get asked by EVERY cashier at the supermarket every time I buy the Ocean Spray bags of fresh cranberries what do I make with them.  It’s super weird…   I usually explain to them that I make a jelly with them… but now I can also mention that I make these trifles too… which will bring us to a different dilemma with them – explaining what’s a trifle?

I like this recipe because it makes use of any leftover cranberry preserves you might have from Thanksgiving and looks super pretty too.  We made them last in wine glasses, but you can certainly make them in a large trifle dish too.  I got the inspiration for this dish from the Everyday Food December 2008 issue.   I like it because you can prepare some parts ahead, buy some others and just assemble… and if you purchase the pound cakes, no baking necessary.

CRANBERRY TRIFLES

2 cups of cranberry preserves – recipe here

1 loaf of pound cake – or make this recipe for egg-less yellow cake here… – cut up into 1” cubes

1 tub of whipped topping

½ cup passion fruit juice

1. In your preferred presentation dish assemble first a layer of the cranberry preserves at the bottom.
2. Then place a layer of cake cubes.  Dampen them with a little passion fruit juice using a pastry brush.                                                
3. Place a layer of cranberry preserves on top of the layer of cake.
4. Place a layer of whipped topping on top of cranberries.
5. Continue layering this same way until you reach the top of the dish you’re serving it in… finishing with the whipped topping.

Place in the refrigerator for about an hour before serving.  This will allow the flavors to mix in together.

Quick Fudge Frosting:

• 1 cube butter
• 1 lb box powdered sugar
• ¼ cup cocoa
• ¼ tsp salt
• 5 T boiling water
• 1 tsp vanilla

Beat all together with an electric beater.

Mocha Frosting:

• 5 T butter
• 2 ½ cups powdered sugar
• 3 T strong black coffee
• 3 T cocoa
• 1 tsp vanilla

Cream butter and cocoa.  Alternate adding sugar and hot coffee.  Cream well and add vanilla.  I got this from Black Butte Ranch — they use it on their Sourdough Chocolate Cake.

Cream Cheese Frosting:  (good with carrot cake or spice cake)

• 1 box powdered sugar
• 1 cube butter
• 8 oz cream cheese
• 2 t vanilla

Beat all together with an electric beater.

Easy Penuche Frosting:

This frosting looks like a bit of trouble, but it’s pretty easy and is guaranteed to blow your mind.  It is good with spice cake.

•  1 stick butter
• 1 cup brown sugar
• ¼ cup milk
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla

Melt butter.  Add sugar and let boil for 2 minutes, stirring.  Remove from heat and add milk.  Return to the stove and heat to boiling.  Cool to lukewarm and add powdered sugar and vanilla.

From Lynette

• 1 lb butter (4 sticks)
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 4 cups flour

Preheat oven to 325.  Beat butter & sugar, then add flour 1 cup at a time.  Roll out and cut into rectangles or circles.  Poke with a fork, then bake for 20 minutes.

Optional:  Add 1 cup dried cranberries, or 1 cup chopped walnuts + 2 tsp vanilla

From Cathy