Pumpkin Cranberry Bread

Pumpkin is going to be with us for the next two months and I want to capitalize on all that it has to offer.  As I start to plan my Thanksgiving feast, in my head, I take into consideration all the wonderful flavors of the season; pumpkin, chestnuts, sweet potatoes, corn, cranberries, brussel sprouts, citrus, apples, pears, pecans, baby squash, beets, and so much more.

I like my Thanksgiving table to be colorful, festive and tasty.  I have my trusty favorites;

cranberry-raspberry sauce

beet-pear puree

roasted brussel sprouts

pecan pie

pumpkin praline pie

However, each year, I try to create new dishes.  Right after Halloween (like now), I start to mull through magazines (new and old), cook books, the Internet, and my friend's blogs. Each year, I like to try new potato dishes, vegetables, biscuits, savory puddings, breads, and quick breads.  I came across this recipe on Molly's blog,  Orangette, and ironically I had this recipe earmarked in one of my books, The New Joy of Cooking.  It was a sign.  I had to try it.

I had a bit of left over pumpkin puree in the fridge and this was a great way for it to not go to waste.  I love making quick breads and muffins.  Generally, when making both of these, one could easily use things found in your very own pantry.  It is a great way to whip up an after school snack, a quick early morning breakfast for the kids and both really take no time at all.

I love this bread.  The original recipe called for golden raisins, but I immediately knew I wanted to replace the raisins with cranberries. The pumpkin flavor is not overwhelming, the cranberries add just the right tartness and the hazelnuts add the perfect crunch.  This is not only going to be a staple in our home this holiday season, but I already see it wrapped and packaged as gifts for friends and neighbors.  

Pumpkin Bread with Hazelnuts + Cranberries

adapted from The New Joy of Cooking

1 9" loaf 

ingredients:

1 1/2 cups unbleached flour

1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. ground ginger

1 tsp. table salt

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

1/4 tsp. ground cloves

1 1/4 tsp. baking powder

1/3 cup water

1/2 tsp. vanilla

6 Tbls. unsalted butter, room temperature

1 1/3 cup succanat

2 large eggs, room temperature

1 cup pumpkin puree, room temperature

1/2 cup chopped hazelnuts, toasted

1/2 cup fresh cranberries

instructions:

• preheat oven to 350*.  Butter a 9 x 5" loaf pan(I used an 8 x 4" loaf pan and two small paper loaf pans).

• whisk together flour, cinnamon, baking soda, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, baking powder. set aside.

• in another bowl, mix the water and the vanilla.  

• in a the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter until creamy. beat in the sugar until combined and just blended.  add the eggs, one at a time.  add the pumpkin puree and beat on low speed until blended.

• add the flour mixture in three parts, alternating with the water/vanilla mixture in the two parts.

• scrape down the sides of the bowl and then fold in the hazelnuts and the cranberries.

• pour batter into the prepared pans.

• bake the 8" loaf for about 50 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean from the center.

• bake the mini loaves for about 22-28 minutes.

• let cool on rack for about 15 minutes.

• turn the loaves out onto the wire rack and let cool completely.

I actually made several of these and froze them, individually.  Next week I have a breakfast meeting to go to and I plan on taking one of these out of the freezer the night before and reheating, slightly the following morning.  This beats dunkin doughnuts any day of the week!

Hazelnut macaroons + chocolate raspberry ganache

More egg whites.  I just can't throw them out.  Thus, more macaroons.  Today, hazelnut shells with chocolate-raspberry ganache.  I think I over aged my egg whites.  Is that possible?  These were not one of the more successful macaroon endeavors.  Nor were they the prettiest, hence, delicious.  The ganache was the perfect combination of bitter and sweet.  It was smooth and easy to apply to the shell of the macaroon.  This will go down as a staple ganache recipe! 


Macaroons
adapted from helene of mytartelette.com


for the shells
90 grams (about 3) egg whites (measured after aging)
25-50 grams(2 Tbls. - 1/4 cup) granulated sugar
200 grams ( 1.5 cups + 2 Tbls) powdered sugar
110 grams ( 3/4 cup) almond flour/meal (for this recipe I did 1/2 hazelnut flour - 1/2 almond flour)
1 Tbls. powdered food coloring (optional)

prep the eggs
48 hours in advance, separate the whites from the yolks and place whites in a super clean bowl.  leave at room
temperature, uncovered for at least 24 hours.  refrigerate after that.  you can use eggs that have been aging for up to 5 days.

prepare the macaroons
• if using nuts, place powdered sugar + nuts in a food processor and give them a good pulse until finely ground.  sift a few times to remove bits and pieces. ( I like bobs red meal hazelnut meal & almond meal ) if using color add it now.
• in a standing mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the egg whites to a foam (like bubble bath), gradually add the sugar until you obtain a glossy meringue (like shaving cream).  Do not over beat your meringue or it will be too dry
• add the nut mixture, give a quick fold to break some of the air and then fold the mass carefully until you obtain a batter that falls back on itself after counting to 10.  Give quick strokes at first and then slow down.  Test a small amount on a plate;  if the tops flattens on its won you are good to go.  if there is a small beak, give the batter a couple of turns.
• fill a pastry bag fitted with a plain tip (80 or 809) with the batter and pipe small mounds on to parchment lined baking sheets.  let macaroons sit out for 30 minutes to an hour to harden their shells.
• preheat oven to 300*.  when read to bake, bake for 18-20 minutes, rotating half way through. let cool.

prepare chocolate raspberry ganache
3 oz. bittersweet chocolate, chopped fine
1/3 cup heavy cream
1 Tbls. unsalted butter, room temp
1/16 tsp. raspberry extract or raspberry oil

directions:
• melt chocolate + cream in a bowl over simmering water ( do not let water touch bottom of the bowl), stirring until smooth.  remove from heat and add the butter and extract until melted.  let stand at room temp until cooled completely and thickened.

assembly:
• match up macaroons by size and lay upside down on a cookie sheet.  put about a teaspoon of ganache on one of the macaroons and carefully press the the other macaroon on top.
• let sit in refrigerator over night.
• eat and enjoy!

French Macaroons - Hazelnut

A few weeks ago, I took a class with Helene from My Tartlette.  Her blog, her photos, her recipes are amazing and when I found out on Fuji Mama's blog that she was coming to town, I immediately signed up.  It wasn't so much the macaroon, it was the idea of meeting her, fellow blogger, lover of all things eatable!

I enlisted my friend Lisa, and we ventured out to an evening cooking class.  It was so fun. I really need to get out more.  Not only were we instructed and entertained by Helene, but Rachel and Jen (our hosts) were gracious and funny.  We all met at a new pastry school in Woodland Hills.  The space was perfect and the group of ladies were just an extra added bonus.

I have not attempted to make macaroons since our March 5th class, however the other day I motivated to age some egg whites.  Helene suggests the egg whites be aged, at room temp for 24 hours.  I then covered them and left them in the fridge for 72 hours( you can leave them for up to 5 days).  Today was the day for the big bake off.

Lisa and I were talking and she said she wanted to try to make them with hazelnuts rather than almonds (Lisa has probably turned out 15 dozen macaroons since the class...). That same day I happened to be at whole foods and found a bag of ground hazelnuts.  I threw them in my cart.

I made Helene's macaroon recipe:


 90 grams (3 large) egg whites 
200 grams powdered sugar
110 grams ground almonds ( I used the hazelnuts)
25-50 grams sugar ( used like 30 grams - didn't want them too sweet).


For directions, go to My Tartlette blog.  She explains it way better than I ever could!

macaroons resting  and waiting to bake

baked and resting

piped and ready to be paired with its mate

I paired the hazelnut macaroons with a Mocha Ganache.  Yum!


Mocha Ganache
1/4 cup plus 2 Tbls. heavy cream
3 Tbls. unsalted butter
1 tsp. ground espresso
9 oz. milk chocolate (imported) chopped
1 tsp. vanilla


Bring cream and butter to a simmer over medium heat.  Add instant coffee to dissolve.  Reduce heat to low and add chocolate until melted.  Mix in vanilla.  Pour into a bowl and chill until firm.  Stir occasionally.

Pipe onto macaroons.

place in fridge, covered, overnight to "age"

Eat and Devour!

Chocolate Hazelnut Tart

The end of the summer means cramming all that is possible into a 3 day weekend. For us, returning from vacation, my days were filled with stocking the fridge, meal planning for the week, returning to packing lunches (yuck) and lots and lots laundry. We did manage to say yes to one labor day invite. Which means, I was forced to add one more thing to my list of chores; cook for a crowd.

As you all know (for those of you whom even bother to read my blog. I believe there is one or two of you) I love The Modern Baker. Thus far, everything I have made from this great big book of everything scrumptious is wonderful. The chocolate hazelnut tart is no exception.

I opted to make the sweet crust, and with his suggestion, opted to add ground almonds to the dry ingredients. This dough really came together nicely and was easy to assemble. After sitting in the fridge for 2 hours, I attempted to roll it out, however it was a little on the wet side. I decided to press it into the tart pan and it turned out great.

The recipe has orange zest in the ganache. I still have a a small bag of candied orange peels in my freezer. I decided to chop some up and add them to the top of the tart which complimented the toasted hazelnuts.

The tart is super rich, but got rave reviews.