Pumpkin Pie Cake for Thanksgiving

I wanted to try something special for Thanksgiving. I was reading Momofuku Milk Bar and I liked the idea of the Apple Pie Layer Cake. I decided to make a Pumpkin Pie Cake.

Pumpkin Ganache

My starting point was the Pumpkin Ganache from the Milk Bar Cookbook. It's basically a mixture of pumpkin purée and white chocolate, smoothed out with some glucose. I was able to buy glucose at Joann in the cake decorating section. It's pumpkin-y, but isn't spiced like pumpkin pie. I made a double recipe.

To add spice, I made a Cinnamon Brown Sugar Cake, based on the Triple Browned Cake from Completely Delicious. To that recipe I added 1 tablespoon cinnamon, 1½ teaspoon ground ginger, ½ teaspoon ground cloves, and ½ teaspoon grated nutmeg. I baked the cake in three 9-inch cake pans.

The original cake has a liquid cheesecake layer; I love pumpkin cheesecake, so I knew the flavors would work together. I doubled the recipe and baked the cheesecake in an 8-inch round cake pan, which has approximately the same volume as two of the 6-inch square pans called for.

The pie crumbs are very easy and delicious. I made a double recipe, but had a bunch left over. I'll save them for another dessert.

I made all the components on Monday and Tuesday, assembled the cake Wednesday, and served it Thursday.

I assembled the cake in my 8" Cake Pan with Removable Bottom. A springform pan would work equally well in place of the cake ring. The Bakery at Wegmans gave me three acetate strips after I called and asked about them. I wouldn't have wanted to make the cake without them, and I didn't have enough time for an online order.

 

I trimmed the cakes to 8-inches by cutting around the base of an 8-inch cake pan. I also trimmed and leveled the tops of the cakes.

I lined the cake pan and put in the bottom layer, then spread the liquid cheesecake over.

I sprinkled on the pie crumbs.

I piped the pumpkin ganache using the cake icer tip because the ganache was the most firm element. I tried to push each element up to the edges evenly, and wiped the inside of acetate after each layer. I then did the same again, adding the next piece of acetate.

I froze the cake overnight, and removed it from the pan the next day.

Instead of frosting, I mixed 1 cup heavy cream, ½ cup sour cream, and ½ cup brown sugar, then let it sit 4 hours in the refrigerator. I whipped it right before serving, the spread it level with the top of the acetate.

The key to making these cakes attractive is to layer very evenly and spread each layer to the edge. I forgot that I was supposed to take the acetate off when the cake was still frozen, so the sides weren't as smooth as they would have been otherwise.

The flavor was the best part. The combination was much better than any individual component. I was very proud, and can't wait to make more cakes like this in the future.

 

Posted with Blogsy

No-Bake Cheesecake, with Gluten-Free and Sugar-Free Options

My mother's birthday was last week. She is on a very restrictive diet–no gluten and no sugar or artificial sweeteners. The only sweetener she can have is stevia. Sugar is very chemically important to cakes, so I knew I couldn't make a traditional cake. But a cheesecake is just a custard, and custards can be made without sugar, so that's what I made.

This also was a last minute cake. I knew when my mother's birthday was, of course, but I didn't know that my brother from out of town would be having a dinner for her the day before her birthday. I didn't have time to make a traditional cheesecake, so I adapted the No-Bake Cheesecake Tart from ATK's The Quick Recipe that claims to take one hour start to finish.

It is due to my own inattention that I don't have a picture of the cheesecake unmolded. Oops.

The recipe calls for a tart pan with a removable bottom, but I just used my cake pan with a removable bottom. A springform or plain pie plate would also work if that's what you have.

I was a little sloppy making the graham cracker crust. I bought gluten-free graham cracker crumbs, but didn't realize until too late that they had a little sugar. If the person you are preparing this for can't have even small amounts of sugar, I would make a crust with something like cereal crumbs, which i would prepare the same. Erewhon Crispy Brown Rice Cereal is certified GF and has no cane sweeteners and <1 gram sugar per cup.

For the crust I simply combined 1 cup gluten-free graham cracker crumbs and 4 tablespoons melted butter. I then lined my pan with a parchment circle, trimmed to size, and pressed the crumbs to cover the bottom.

I baked the crust for 10 minutes at 350 degrees, then let it cool. If I was making the tart without the restrictions, I would add 1 tablespoon sugar to add structure.

I started by measuring out 1/2 cup heavy cream and 1 1/2 teaspoons plain gelatin in a Pyrex cup. I transferred 1/4 cup of the cream to a small mixing bowl and sprinkled the gelatin over the remaining cream, stirred it, and let it sit 5 minutes to "soften" which I'm guessing means hydrate. I finally microwaved the gelatin and cream for 40 seconds, until it was bubbly, to dissolve it.

The other 1/4 cup cream I whipped with my egg beater (my husband helped). As I've mentioned before, my 6 quart KitchenAid cannot whip very small amounts. I think he got a little carried away; I wouldn't have whipped the cream quite so much. You've gotta love the enthusiasm though!

I softened 8 ounces cream cheese in my mixer by beating the heck out of it. Then I tried to fold in the whipped cream by hand, but I don't know if I was at all successful at keeping any bubbles. so I went back to beating the cream in with the mixer. Once the cold cream was incorporated, I beat in the warm cream with the dissolved/melted gelatin.

Now for the flavoring. I beat in 1 tablespoon lemon juice. I was using Stevia in the Raw in packets, so I added 8 packets to the bowl and mixed them in. I did, and you should, go by taste here. Stevia is very sweet and the sweetness lingers, so I tried to maintain some tartness.

I definitely had cheesecake filling now, but it seemed a little plain. If I'd had time to shop, I would have made the cheesecake plain and topped it with some very nice raspberries. Working from my pantry, I decided to go with freeze-dried raspberries from Just Tomatoes.

I've recently read Momofuku Milk Bar, and in that Christina Tosi uses powder made from freeze-dried corn in her corn cookies. So I pulverized 1 cup of freeze dried berries into powder, then mixed it with 1/2 cup of cheesecake filling.

I transferred the plain batter to the pan, then tried to pipe stripes of the raspberry. It didn't go very well. The filling was very thick, and the puréed raspberries were not uniform enough to go through my tip. Next time, I will use a very large plain tip.

Trying to rescue my dessert, I used a butter knife to marble the topping. I think it looked OK in te end. I then put the tart in the freezer for 15 minutes to set.

The cookbook also recommends strawberry jam and pumpkin pie filling as swirl-in ideas, which sounds promising.

When unmolded, the tart was very thin, maybe 1 inch tall. My mother loved it and ate it for breakfast and dessert until it was gone.

No-Bake Raspberry Cheesecake Tart, with GF and sugar free options

Adapted from The Quick Recipe

Serves 8, 1 hour total

Crust

1 cup graham cracker crumbs, GF graham cracker crumbs, or Brown Rice Cereal crumbs

4 tablespoons butter, melted

1 tbsp sugar, optional

Filling

1/2 cup heavy cream, divided

1 1/2 tsp plain, unflavored gelatin

8 oz cream cheese

1 tablespoon lemon juice

8 packets Stevia in the Raw, to taste

OR

1/4 cup sugar

1 cup Just Raspberries, pulverized in a blender

OR

1 pint fresh raspberries for topping

Directions

Preheat oven to 350. Combine crumbs, butter, and optional sugar, then press into a pan with a removable bottom or pie plate. Bake 10 minutes, then let cool.

Put 1/4 cup of the cream in a glass bowl, sprinkle over the gelatin, then stir to combine. Let sit 5 minutes, then microwave 40 seconds, until bubbling.

Meanwhile, whip the remaining 1/4 cup cream in a small bowl. In a larger mixing bowl beat the cream cheese to soften. Beat the whipped cream into the cream cheese, then the heated gelatin and cream mixture. Add lemon juice and stevia or sugar.

If using dried berries set aside 1/2 cup filling. In either case, transfer filling to pan.

If using dried berries, mix berries and filling. Either pipe stripes or spoon small blobs of the filling to the pan, then carefully use a butter knife to swirl decoratively.

Freeze 15 minutes to set, then refrigerate until ready to serve. Top with fresh berries, if using, just before serving.

Posted with Blogsy

Chocolate Turtle Cheesecake

A different post today. I'm having my kitchen redone (God bless you, Landlord!), so I made this cake at my father's house. Dad bakes bread and has a very, very cool kitchen. But, I was flustered by not knowing where anything was, so I don't have many pictures.

This cake is for my friend Alysia, whose birthday was Saturday. Her family has a lot of July birthdays, so she asked about a cheesecake instead of a traditional birthday cake. After some discussion, she said that she likes New York-style cheesecakes and the Turtle flavor combination–chocolate, caramel, and pecan.

My inspiration is this beautiful Turtle Cheesecake by Miss Patti at Cake Central.

I'll write about the cheesecake later–today I'm focusing on the elements that make it Turtle.

This blog is all about challenging myself (and becoming rich and famous), so I wanted to make the caramel and chocolate sauces. I used the recipes from The Family Baking Book from ATK.

Dad has a very high BTU cooktop and Le Creuset pots. They have a white lining that makes it very easy to see the color of the caramel. *sigh*

The failed caramel

I hash to throw away my first batch of caramel, as I didn't read the friggin' directions. We live, and, hopefully, we learn.

I put enough water in the pan to cover the bottom, the added 7 ounces or 1 cup of sugar to the middle. I then heated the pan over medium-high without stirring until the syrup was light amber.

I then lowered the heat to medium-low and cooked until it was the color I wanted. I removed the pan from heat and very slowly whisked in 1 cup heavy cream. The first failure was mostly from not adding the cream slowely. Finally, I stirred in lemon juice, vanilla, and a pinch of salt. I have a new-found love of caramel.

I made the chocolate sauce later in my gutted kitchen. It was very simple–I just heated cream and stirred in chopped chocolate and a little corn syrup off heat.

Now we come to the fun part–squeeze bottles! I feel so fancy. I decorated the cheesecake on my kitchen table, in the middle of my living room, while distracting my children with Sid the Science Kid.

I tried doing a layered grid like the inspiration photo, but the relative viscosities of the sauces fought me. I ended up flooding the cheesecake with caramel and decorating with chocolate sauce.

The caramel tasted much too good to leave it at that, so I covered the sides in caramel also. Some chopped pecans, et violà!

Posted with Blogsy