12 Days of Recipes ~ Day 1: Chocolate Pecan Pie

Introducing The 12 Days of Recipes!  As I was listening to Christmas carols over the weekend and baking five pies and six red velvet cakes (at times like this I wish I had two ovens) and thinking about which recipe to blog about, it occurred to me: why not share all of them!  Everyone is always looking for good dishes to make for parties or when company comes over.

So…..Every day for the next 12 days I’ll post a holiday recipe.  All of these will be recipes that I have made, so I have tested them out for you!   I’m going to do an assortment: some baking, some brunch ideas, some dinner ideas…all perfect for your Christmas/New Year’s parties!

Day  1: Ooey Gooey Chocolate Pecan Pie

This recipe is adapted from one I found in Taste of Home and it is fabulous!   The chocolate adds a dark richness to the usual sweetness of a pecan pie.  This pie takes a while to bake, longer than the average pecan pie, but the center still stays soft and gooey while the edges taste like a moist brownie.

Next time you need a crowd-leasing dessert, try out this fudgy, nutty, buttery pie! 

Chocolate Pecan Pie

1 refrigerated pie crust

1/2 cup butter

4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped

1-1/4 cups packed brown sugar

3/4 cup + 2 tbsp light corn syrup

3 eggs, lightly beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 cups finely chopped pecans

Unroll pie crust and ease into a 9” pie pan.  Trim pastry to 1/2 in. beyond edge of plate; flute edges.  For filling, melt butter and chocolate in a microwave; stir until smooth. In a large bowl, combine the brown sugar, corn syrup, eggs, vanilla and salt. Stir in chopped pecans and butter mixture. Pour into pastry.   Bake at 350° for 55-65 minutes or until center seems set. Cover edges with foil during the last 15 minutes to prevent overbrowning if necessary. Cool on a wire rack.

I actually finished up the last little bit as I was typing….perfect with a cup of coffee!  

Happy Baking!

Football ... and music?

Happy Sunday!  This week’s feature cake was made for my friend’s husband, Adam, for his birthday.  He is man of few interests: family, music, and Notre Dame football!  This presented a challenge – how to combine music and football into one cake!

His wife, Stefanie, came up with the coolest idea!  A football-shaped cake with a musical score on the laces, and a set of piano keys and a guitar fret instead of the usually white lines on the ends of the football.  I thought it was a fantastic idea…just wish I had thought of it :)

I started by carving the basic shape of the football…very basic at this point!  

Then I went back and trimmed it until I got the shape just right.  Next, I frosted it with chocolate buttercream….oh so yummy!  It takes a little while to get the frosting so smooth.  But, if there are any imperfections in the buttercream, they will show through the fondant.

  

I covered the cake with a reddish-brownish colored fondant.  I usually use crumbled aluminum foil to add texture to the fondant so it looks more like a football.  Unfortunately, I was completely out of aluminum foil, so I searched around the kitchen for something to add texture.  In the back of my cooking utensil drawer, I found my meat tenderizer…it created the perfect look!  Necessity is the mother of invention :)

Next, I cut out a guitar fret and piano keys from white fondant... 

 Then laid them on cake...

 After painting on some details, the cake was done!

The notes on the laces are actually from the Notre Dame fight song! 

Adam and Stefanie were both thrilled with the cake!  It is always so much fun making cakes for my friends!

I've been baking cookies like crazy this week, so next week I'll share several recipes...Molasses cookies, Raspberry almond thumbprints, Chocolate-dipped butter cookies with toasted coconut, and Chocolate peppermint crackle cookies.  Happy baking!

Recipe of the Month: Cinnamon Streusel Pumpkin Pie

Happy Sunday!  Thanksgiving is coming up this week, so I thought I’d share a fall-themed recipe this month - Cinnamon Streusel Pumpkin Pie.

I absolutely love Thanksgiving!  It’s a whole day of spending time with family and cooking together celebrating all our blessings.

I actually combined two recipes…one from Cook’s Illustrated for their pumpkin pie and one for Cinnamon Streusel.

I started by pre-baking the pie crust slightly.  This keeps the crust from getting soggy.

Then I combined the heavy cream, milk, eggs, egg yolks, and vanilla.  This recipe uses heavy cream and milk instead of the standard evaporated milk which gives the filling a smoother, richer flavor.

The Cook’s Illustrated Pumpkin Pie recipe also calls for precooking the pumpkin with sugar, maple syrup, cinnamon, gingers, nutmeg, and a slightly unusual ingredient: canned yams.

  

According to their recipe, “Simmering the filling for pumpkin pie is an unusual step, but its benefits are threefold. First, cooking the pumpkin and sweet potatoes drives off moisture and concentrates their taste. Second, cooking the spices along with the pumpkin allows their flavors to bloom. Third, heating the filling allows it to firm up quickly in the oven, rather than soaking into the pastry and causing the crust to become soggy.”

So, I cooked everything together until it became smooth and shiny.

Then I mixed the pumpkin with the custard and poured it into the crust.

While the pie was baking, I prepared the cinnamon streusel topping.  From a failed attempt at making a similar pie last Thanksgiving, I found out that it’s best to let the pie cook for about 10 minutes before adding the streusel.  Otherwise, the streusel sinks to the bottom….still tasty but not nearly as pretty.

I topped the semi-set pie with the streusel and put it back in the oven for another 40 minutes or so.  The recipe called for baking it an additional 20-25 minutes, but mine took about 15 more minutes before the center was set.

But once it came out, it was beautiful!  And did I mention it smelled so good!

Happy Thanksgiving to all my readers!  I hope you have a blessed day!

Cinnamon Streusel Pumpkin Pie

Crust

1 refrigerated pie crust

Filling

1 cup heavy cream

1 cup whole milk

3 large eggs plus 2 large yolks

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 (15-ounce) can pumpkin puree

1 cup drained candied yams from 15-ounce can (see note)

¾ cup sugar

¼ cup maple syrup

¾ teaspoon ground ginger

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 teaspoon table salt

Streusel

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

1/3 cup packed dark brown sugar

1/4 cup regular oats

1/4 cup chopped pecans

3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon ground ginger

2 tablespoons chilled butter, cut into small pieces

2 to 3 teaspoons water

 To prepare crust, roll dough to an 11-inch circle. Fit dough into a 9-inch pie plate coated with cooking spray. Fold edges under; flute.  Line crust with foil, and fill with pie weights or pennies. Bake on rimmed baking sheet 15 minutes. Remove foil and weights, rotate plate, and bake 5 to 10 additional minutes until crust is golden brown and crisp. Remove pie plate and baking sheet from oven.

While pie shell is baking, whisk cream, milk, eggs, yolks, and vanilla together in medium bowl. Combine pumpkin puree, yams, sugar, maple syrup, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt in large heavy-bottomed saucepan; bring to sputtering simmer over medium heat, 5 to 7 minutes. Continue to simmer pumpkin mixture, stirring constantly and mashing yams against sides of pot, until thick and shiny, 10 to 15 minutes.

Remove pan from heat and whisk in cream mixture until fully incorporated. Strain mixture through fine-mesh strainer set over medium bowl, using back of ladle or spatula to press solids through strainer. Re-whisk mixture and transfer to warm prebaked pie shell. Return pie plate with baking sheet to oven and bake pie for 10 minutes.

While pie is baking, prepare streusel.  Combine all ingredients and cut in butter with a fork or fingertips until crumbly.   Remove pie from oven and sprinkle with streusel. Reduce oven temperature to 300 and bake for an additional 25-35 minutes or until pie is set, but still slightly soft in the center.

Transfer pie to wire rack and cool to room temperature. Serve with whipped cream if desired.

Catering a Wedding

Happy Sunday!  This week I’m deviating from my usually cake features to share some pictures from a recent wedding I catered.  I mainly enjoy decorating cakes, but I occasionally get to prepare the food for events too!  It’s a nice change of pace from just baking and decorating.

I had such a great time working with Michelle Street and her parents!  They were absolutely the sweetest family and the event was a huge success.  The wedding ceremony was held at Scarritt Bennett and the reception was at Crieve Hall Church of Christ.  The bride’s colors were deep purple, burnt orange, and celery green – a beautiful combination for an early fall wedding.

 The delicious menu also had an autumn feel to it as well:

Pork Tenderloin with Yeast Rolls and Poppyseed Mustard

Apple and Red Cabbage Salad

Stuffed Zucchini Bites, Spinach Puffs, and Roasted Red Pepper Dip with Tortilla Chips

The Roasted Red Pepper dip was so popular!  So, just as a bonus, here’s the recipe!

7 ounce jar roasted red peppers, drained and diced

6 oz shredded Monterey Jack cheese

1 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened

1 cups mayonnaise

1 tbsp minced onion

1 head garlic, roasted

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. In a small baking dish, mix the roasted red peppers, Monterey Jack cheese, cream cheese, mayonnaise, onion, garlic and Dijon-style mustard.

3. Bake in the preheated oven 25 minutes, or until bubbly and lightly browned. Serve warm.

In addition to tea and water, the bride’s family also chose Spiced Apple Cider … oh so yummy!

I received such a sweet note from the bride and groom after the wedding,

“Abby, 

Where do I start?!?  The food was incredibly delicious!  I only got a few bites, but it so SO good!  We received so many complements!  We really appreciate your hard work, and for helping us making our day special! Thank you!

~ Michelle and Chris"

And that is why I do what I do!