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Archives for October 2010

White Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

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White Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

All the goodness of White Chocolate - in a Buttercream frosting. Perfect!
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Ingredients
  

  • 1 cup butter softened
  • 12 ounces white chocolate melted, and slightly cooled
  • 1 cup confectioners' sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • pinch sallt

Instructions
 

  • In a large bowl, beat the butter, using an electric mixer, at medium speed, until creamy.
  • Beat in the melted white chocolate.
  • Add the confectioners sugar, vanilla, and a pinch of salt. Beat at low speed, scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl, until the frosting is light and fluffy

Brown Sugar Pumpkin Bars

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Brown Sugar Pumpkin Bars

The perfect blend of pumpkin and spice, topped with a luscious cream cheese frosting.
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Cook Time 40 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes

Ingredients
  

For the Bars

  • 2 cups brown sugar
  • 1 cup pumpkin puree
  • 4 eggs room temperature
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 1 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1/2 cup butter melted

For the frosting

  • 2 8-ounce packages cream cheese softened
  • 1/2 cup butter (1 stick) softened
  • 2 cups sifted powdered sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla

Instructions
 

For the Bars

  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
  • In a mixing bowl, combine the brown sugar, pumpkin puree and eggs, stirring well.
  • In another bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and spices, stirring to combine.
  • Add the dry ingredients to the pumpkin/egg mixture. Whisk together.
  • Stir in the melted butter.
  • Pour into a 10-1/2 x 16 inch jellyroll pan.
  • Bake until the cake springs back when lightly touched - about 40 minutes
  • Cool completely before frosting.

The Frosting

  • Beat the cream cheese, butter and vanilla until light and fluffy. Add the powdered sugar, beating until smooth. Be careful not to over-beat. Spread on the cooled bars. Refrigerate any left-over frosting

Dinner in a Pumpkin

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Dinner in a Pumpkin

Baked pumpkin filled with savory meat and veggies - and best of all, you can eat the container! To call this Fall comfort food would be an understatement! Be sure to use a smaller pumpkin (4-5 lbs). If you need to serve more than 6, plan on using multiple pumpkins rather than one large pumpkin.
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Cook Time 1 minute
Total Time 1 minute
Servings 6

Ingredients
  

  • 1 small to medium Pumpkin
  • 1 onion chopped
  • 2 Tablespoons oil
  • 1½ to 2 pounds ground beef or ground turkey
  • 2 Tablespoons Soy Sauce
  • 2 Tablespoons brown sugar optional
  • 1 can (4 ounces) sliced mushrooms drained (can use fresh and sauté lightly before adding)
  • 1 can (10 3/4 ounces) cream of chicken soup
  • 1 1/2 cups cooked rice
  • 1 can (8 ounces) sliced water chestnuts drained

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 375º F.
  • Cut off the top of the pumpkin and thoroughly clean out the seeds and pulp. Rinse well and pat the inside dry.
  • In a large skillet, sauté the onions in oil until tender.
  • Add the meat and brown. Drain the drippings ,if any, from the skillet.
  • Add the soy sauce, brown sugar (if using), mushrooms and soup. Simmer 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  • Add the cooked rice and water chestnuts. Stir to combine.
  • Spoon the mixture into the cleaned pumpkin shell. Replace the pumpkin top and place the filled pumpkin in a shallow cake pan or on a rimmed baking sheet which has been lined with foil.
  • Bake for 1 hour, or until the flesh of the pumpkin is tender and easily pierced with a fork. Depending on the size of the pumpkin - this could take up to 2 hours.
  • Put the pumpkin on a platter. Remove lid and serve the meat/rice filling. Don't forget to scoop out some of the cooked pumpkin to eat as well.

Notes

Make sure to use a rimmed baking sheet or pan as the pumpkin can get quite weepy during the baking process.  Lining it with either foil or parchment paper will aid in cleanup.
I have made this using a higher temperature (425 degrees) during the latter portion of the baking -which enabled me to bake cornbread at the same time - and had great success.  Just lightly cover the top of the pumpkin with foil to prevent browning/scorching if needed.
This meal can be made vegetarian by using a vegetable based soup, omitting the meat and adding additional vegetables - eggplant, celery, grated carrots, etc.  The vegetables will need to be sweated or sauteed before adding - to make sure that the filling isn't too moist.

Pumpkin Apple Streusel Cake

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Pumpkin Apple Struesel Cake

Moist, dense, earthy - this cake combines the best of what fall has to offer - pumpkin, apples, and warm spices. Served warm with whipped cream or at room temperature all by itself, this cake is a winner every time.
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Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 10 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 40 minutes
Servings 12

Ingredients
  

  • 3 Tablespoons butter
  • 4 cups apples peeled, cored and diced, measured after chopping
  • 3 Tablespoons brown sugar Try using Sucanat or Coconut Sugar
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1-1/2 cups whole wheat flour
  • 1 cup brown sugar Sucanat or coconut sugar
  • 4 Tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter room temperature, cut into pieces
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 3/4 cup pumpkin puree
  • 1/3 cup sour cream
  • 2 Tablespoons granulated sugar
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 2 teaspoons Pumpkin Pie Spice
  • 2 large eggs beaten

Instructions
 

For the Apples

  • In a medium skillet, melt 3 Tablespoons butter over medium-high heat. Add the apples and cook for about 5 minutes, or until apples begin to brown.
  • Add 3 Tablespoons brown sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon and cook for several minutes more (about 3).
  • Remove from heat and set aside to cool.

For the Struesel and Cake

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-inch spring-form pan.
  • Combine flour, 4 Tablespoons butter,1 cup brown sugar and salt in a large bowl.
  • Cut in the butter, by hand or by mixer, until the mixture resembles coarse meal.
  • Set aside 2/3 cup of the dry mixture to be used for the streusel.
  • In a medium size mixing bowl, combine the pumpkin, sour cream, 2 Tablespoons granulated sugar, pumpkin pie spice and baking soda, whisking to combine. Stir the pumpkin mixture into the dry cake ingredients.
  • Add the eggs, mixing well.
  • Transfer the batter into the buttered spring form pan.
  • Scatter the cooled apples evenly over the top.
  • Sprinkle the reserved crumb topping over the apples.
  • Place the spring-form pan on a baking sheet or aluminum foil. Bake at 350 degrees until the topping is golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean – about 1 hour and 10 minutes.
  • Cool the cake on a rack for 20 minutes. Run a knife around the edge of the spring-form pan to loosen the sides before removing.
  • Serve the cake warm, with whipped cream, or at room temperature. . . Enjoy!

Notes

Be sure to read the recipe through before you begin.  Although simple to make, the process varies from the normal method.
Try using Sucanat  or Coconut Sugar (it does not taste like coconut, is very sweet, and is very low on the glycemic index) in place of brown sugar.  Either of these bring a whole new level of flavor and yumminess to this cake.
You could make this cake with all purpose flour in place of  whole wheat flour, but there is no comparison in the final product.  The wheat flour takes the cake to a whole new level of delicious.

Here’s what’s Happening on the Homestead

Spring.  Just the word congers up images of blossoms and bunnies, eggs and chicks. . . . and catalogs filled with tableware, linens and all the fresh spring color imaginable. . . . so when my spring edition of the Pier1 catalog arrived – I was immediately drawn to devour every page.  The dinnerware, table settings, linens were, in typical Pier1 form, a wonderful feast for the eyes. pier1-catalog-page

But, there was one thing that especially drew my attention. . .their adorable folded napkins – especially the little bunnies in the upper right corner of the page. The catalog directed readers to log on to their website for instructions  – which I immediately did.

Upon arriving at the page, I  searched for the Bunny Fold pier-one-bunny-ears-directionsand found this.   I grabbed some cloth napkins (which happened to be from Pier1) and, following their directions, began folding.  It only took me to the 4th step to figure out that there was a real problem with the directions – they were rolling from the wrong side of the napkin. . . and by the final step – it was unmistakable.

wrong-way-bunny-napkinI had created this.  I took an unfolded napkin and the directions to my husband – who, as a builder, reads instructions for a living  . . . and his response was immediate – these are not right.  They have rolled from the long side and not the point – and used directions for a granny knot.  It needs to be an ‘overhand’ knot.  (50 plus years of scouting – he should know his knots!)

After making a few simple changes – rolling from the point and using an overhand knot – the finished product looked like the one in the Pier1 picture.  Success!    folded-bunny-napkin-perfection

 And so, as much as I LOVE Pier1, no one is infallible.  I have done my own set of instructions, including pictorials, for your use should you be wanting to try these little treasures.  Such a simple way to dress up a spring  or Easter table.

Just Click Here to go to the instructions.  Happy Spring!

Enjoy,

Kathy

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