Maple Gingerbread Layer Cake with Salted Maple Caramel Sauce

We had a very non-traditional Thanksgiving this year.  It was just hubs and I and the 'rents in Florida.  First of all, the temps were in the mid-80's and that alone would have been enough to not be motivated for some huge heavy traditional spread, but in truth, we're all just not huge turkey fans.  So we opted to forego the entire scene.  We ended up having leftover ham sandwiches for lunch and then a few appetizers for dinner.  No pumpkin pie. No pecan pie.  No mashed potatoes.  Just ham sandwiches and a delicious crostini appetizer (which I'll tell you about in a later post!).

However......we did have cake!  A damn delicious cake, if I do say so myself.  I saw this recipe in the daily Epicurious post on my Yahoo news page and it just sounded too good to not try.  Now, I don't make many cakes.  I don't know why, really.  I just don't.  And because I don't, I'm a horrible cake icer (is that a word?).  My cakes will never be pretty, as is the case with this one, but it certainly didn't lack flavor.

My dad was pretty unimpressed with this after his first bite, but by the end of his third piece (in a row) he had changed his mind.  The icing on this is a maple-sugar whipped cream and it's really light, but paired with the salted maple caramel sauce drizzled over the top, it's a perfect combination.  Throw in the maple-coated pecans and wowza!  And I just realized I didn't even mention the cake itself.  It's got a ton of flavor from the candied ginger and the five-spice powder.

There are a lot of components to this cake, but individually they're all really simple and come together quickly.  You could even make the caramel sauce and maple pecans in advance.

Here's the recipe:

Maple-Gingerbread Layer cake with Salted-Maple Caramel Sauce

Bon Appetit, October, 2010

Ingredients:

Maple-coated pecans:
3/4 cup pecan halves, toasted
1/4 cup pure maple syrup (preferably Grade B)
Coarse kosher salt

Cake:
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons Chinese five-spice powder (This is available almost everywhere now.  I found mine in Publix)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
1/3 cup chopped crystallized ginger (1 1/2 to 2 ounces)
1 cup maple sugar (Mom didn't have any of this in her pantry, so I substituted 1/2 regular sugar and 1/2 brown sugar and added about a tablespoon of maple syrup to the batter)
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 large eggs
3/4 cup hot water
2/3 cup mild-flavored (light) molasses

Frosting:
1 1/3 cups chilled crème fraîche
1 1/3 cups chilled heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup maple sugar
6 tablespoons powdered sugar

Ingredient info: Chinese five-spice powder—a spice blend that usually contains ground fennel seeds, Sichuan peppercorns, cinnamon, star anise, and cloves—is available in the spice section of most supermarkets. Crème fraîche is sold at most supermarkets and at specialty foods stores.


Preparation:

For maple-coated pecans:
Place large piece of foil on work surface. Combine nuts and maple syrup in heavy medium skillet (do not use nonstick) over medium-high heat and bring to boil, tossing to coat. Cook until syrup is dark amber and almost cooked away and thickly coats nuts, tossing often, 3 to 3 1/2 minutes. Scrape nuts onto foil. Working quickly with 2 forks, separate nuts. Sprinkle with coarse salt. Cool until coating is crisp and hard, about 1 hour. DO AHEAD: Pecans can be made 1 day ahead. Store airtight at room temperature.

For cake:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter and flour two 9-inch-diameter cake pans with 1 1/2-inch-high sides. Combine first 4 ingredients in processor; add ginger. Blend until ginger is finely ground, about 1 minute. Using mixer, beat maple sugar and butter in large bowl until fluffy. Beat in eggs 1 at a time (batter may look curdled). Stir 3/4 cup hot water and molasses in small bowl. Beat dry ingredients into butter mixture in 4 additions alternately with molasses mixture in 3 additions.

Divide batter between prepared pans (about 21/2 cups each). Bake until tester inserted into center comes out clean, 30 to 32 minutes. Cool cakes in pans on racks.

For frosting:
Combine crème fraîche, cream, and both sugars in large bowl. Using electric mixer, beat until very thick and stiff.

Cut around pan sides to loosen cake layers; turn out onto racks. Place 1 cake layer on platter. Spread with 1 1/3 cups frosting. Drizzle with 3 tablespoons caramel sauce. Top with second cake layer. Spread remaining frosting smoothly over top and sides of cake.

Drizzle top of cake with 3 tablespoons sauce. Cover with cake dome; chill at least 1 hour.

DO AHEAD: Can be made 1 day ahead; keep chilled. Let stand at room temperature 30 minutes before continuing.

Cut pecans into pieces or leave whole. Press pecans into frosting on sides of cake. Cut cake into wedges. Spoon sauce over.

Salted Maple-Caramel Sauce

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter

1/2 cup maple sugar

3/4 cup heavy whipping cream

1/8 teaspoon coarse kosher salt

5 to 6 drops imitation maple extract

Melt butter in heavy medium saucepan over medium heat. Add sugar. Whisk until sugar melts and mixture is thick and boiling, 2 to 3 minutes. Gradually whisk in cream. Bring sauce to boil, whisking often. Boil until sauce thickens enough to coat spoon and is reduced to 1 cup, whisking often, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from heat. Whisk in coarse salt and extract. DO AHEAD: Can be made 1 week ahead. Cool, cover, and chill.

Happy Thanksgiving.....

If you're at all like me, right about now you've settled into the comfy part of the couch and secretly unbuttoned your pants so that you can breathe!  You swore you were not going to overeat this Thanksgiving, but here we are.  Once again.  Which is why you're going to want to make this tomorrow.  It's intended to be a vegetarian dish, but if you have an overabundance of turkey to use up, you could definitely throw it in here.

This is a really hearty soup that is high in fiber and low in calories (without the turkey!) which makes it perfect for the next few days.  So you'll feel better about yourself.  And not feel guilty about all of the upcoming Christmas parties you'll be attending.    Whatever works, right?


I found this recipe on what has quickly become my favorite twice-weekly email.....The Dish from Food and Wine (click on the link to subscribe).  There's usually a theme to the email and it's chock full of great recipes, weekly meal planners, wine tips, etc.  Anyhoo, this one was from Mary Ellen Diaz, who went from being a chef in a gourmet restaurant to running the First Slice Soup Kitchen in Andersonville, Illinois.  This is based on a brothy tortilla soup that's full of bulgur, barley and brown rice and spicy Latin flavors, which she says "do well on the street".

Everyone loved this soup.  It's filling, healthy, and most importantly.....tasty!  And depending on the dried peppers you choose, it can be as spicy or as mild as you like it.

Here's the recipe:

Spicy Grain Soup

Recipe by:  Mary Ellen Diaz

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 cup pearl barley
Water
1/2 cup short-grain brown rice
1/2 cup bulgur
1 tablespoon light olive oil
3 ancho or dried mulato chiles—stemmed, seeded and broken into 2-inch pieces (use gloves to handle any spicy chiles)
1 large onion, thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, halved
2 quarts vegetable broth (I do not like the taste of vegetable broth, so I used chicken broth.  I realize this doesn't make it vegetarian, but....I don't care!!)
1 1/2 cups canned diced tomatoes
6 cilantro sprigs, plus 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1 teaspoon ground allspice
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
1/2 pound shiitake mushrooms, stems discarded, caps thinly sliced
One 15-ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 medium carrot, finely diced
1 medium zucchini, finely diced
1 medium parsnip, finely diced
1/2 cup salted roasted pumpkin seeds (I eliminated these.  Couldn't find them)

DIRECTIONS:


In a medium saucepan, cover the barley with 4 cups of water and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer over low heat until tender, about 35 minutes; drain. Return the barley to the pan and cover. In another medium saucepan, cover the brown rice with 2 cups of water and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer over low heat until tender, about 35 minutes. Drain the brown rice and add to the barley.

In a medium bowl, cover the bulgur with 1 cup of hot water. Cover and let stand until the water is absorbed, 10 minutes.

In a large, heavy pot, heat the olive oil. Add the chiles, onion and garlic and cook over moderately high heat, stirring occasionally, until the onion is lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Add the broth, tomatoes, cilantro sprigs and allspice and season with 1 tablespoon of salt and a pinch of pepper. Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer over low heat for 45 minutes. Let cool slightly. Puree the soup in a blender and return to the pan.
Add the mushrooms, black beans, carrot, zucchini and parsnip to the pureed soup and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer over low heat for 20 minutes. Add the barley, rice and bulgur and season with salt and pepper. Ladle the soup into bowls, sprinkle with the pumpkin seeds and chopped cilantro and serve.

NOTES
One Serving 368 cal, 14 gm fat, 1.4 gm sat fat, 29 gm carb, 11 gm fiber.

Roasted Butternut Squash, Bacon and Goat Cheese Pizza

We just had what was probably the last perfect weekend of the year.  The last few days of wind and rain succeeded in knocking the last of the Fall colors from the trees and we can start to feel the bite in the air.  All of this means that time out at the pool house is going to be limited for a while, so we took advantage of the nice weather while we had it and fired up the pizza oven last Friday.

(Sorry for the poor quality of the photo but all I had out at the pool house was my iPhone!)

I usually end up making about four pizza's with three of them being the basics that everyone will eat.....some combination of tomato, mozzarella, pepperoni, mushrooms and sausage.......but I always like to throw one "experiment" into the mix.  This time it was this Roasted Butternut Squash, Bacon and Goat Cheese Pizza.  Surprisingly, this was everyone's favorite of the night!

I used the wood fired oven to roast cubed squash, chopped bacon and thinly sliced shallots, but your could just as easily roast these on a sheet pan in your oven.  I could have just eaten this all on its own as a side dish, but spread on top of the pizza with some goat cheese and chopped rosemary, this was simply amazing.

I doubt we'll see many more of these beautiful Fall sunsets either! Could we just avoid Winter this year????
 

Here's the recipe:

Roasted Butternut Squash, Bacon and Goat Cheese Pizza

Ingredients:

1 small butternut squash; peeled, seeded and cut into a small dice
1 large shallot, thinly sliced
4 slices applewood smoked bacon, sliced lengthwise then cut into about 1 inch pieces
1 tablespoon chopped rosemary

Put all of these onto a sheetpan and toss with enough olive oil to coat and salt and pepper.
Roast in a 400 degree oven until squash is just fork tender.  You don't want it too soft as it's going to bake in the oven a little longer.

Pizza dough (Use your favorite recipe or store bought is fine)
Olive Oil
Goat Cheese

On top of your favorite pizza dough, drizzle some olive oil and spoon the roasted squash mixture over the dough.   Sprinkle with goat cheese.  If you like a lot, go for it.....it's your party.  Drizzle with a touch more olive oil and pop it into the oven or grill it.  However you like to cook your pizza.

Pumpkin Spice Cake

If you're looking for an alternative to pumpkin pie this Thanksgiving, you really need to try this.  It takes five minutes to assemble, you don't have to make pie crust, it'll feed more people, and it's damn delicious.  I've even converted pumpkin haters with this recipe.

My mom used to make this back in the day but I didn't have a recipe so I went searching and found this on Betty Crocker's website.  My mom was a Betty Crocker girl, so this must be it!!  It's pumpkin on the bottom with a dry spice cake mix sprinkled on top, and then drizzled with melted butter!  Don't be concerned when it comes out of the oven and there are parts where the cake mix didn't quite soak up the butter......those are the best bites!

Hubs prefers this served with whipped cream, but I'll bet it's great with ice cream, also!  If you're a traditionalist at Thanksgiving and have to stick with your pie, then take this to your next party.  I guarantee it will be the first thing gone!

Pumpkin Spice Cake

adapted from Betty Crocker

Ingredients:

1 can (15 oz) pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix)
1 can (12 oz) evaporated milk
3 eggs
1 cup sugar
4 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1 box Spice Cake mix
1 1/2 cups chopped pecans or walnuts
1 stick butter, melted

Directions:

Heat oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease or spray bottom and sides of 13x9 inch glass pan.  In medium bowl whisk together pumpkin, milk, eggs, sugar and 4 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice until smooth.  Pour into pan.

Sprinkle dry cake mix over pumpkin mixture.  Sprinkle with pecans.  Pour melted butter evenly over top.

Bake 50 to 60 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean.  Cool 30 minutes.

Acorn Squash Soup

I've had several squash sitting on my counter for a week or so and couldn't decide what I was going to do with them, then the temperatures took a nosedive late last week so I was craving some soup.  Problem solved!

This is a Guy Fieri recipe that I found on Food Network's website.  The one thing you never have to worry about with any of Guy's recipes is it being boring.  In my experience, he always brings the flavor.

This starts by oven roasting the squash with shallots and garlic and the smells alone that fill your kitchen are reason enough to make this!!  One of my acorn squash looked a little small so I roasted a butternut squash to make sure I had enough flesh in the end.

I couldn't find savory anywhere so I substituted thyme and it worked fine.  I garnished mine with some toasted and chopped hazelnuts and a little creme fraiche.  

Acorn Squash Soup

Guy Fieri

Ingredients
3 whole acorn squash, approximately 8 cups when cooked
6 shallots, 1 cup diced, 3 left whole and peeled
6 garlic cloves, peeled
3 tablespoons olive oil, plus 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon pepper, freshly cracked, plus more for seasoning
1 stick unsalted butter, in all
4 cups chicken stock, low-sodium
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
1/4 teaspoon white pepper
1 teaspoon sage, dry
1 teaspoon savory
1 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1/3 cup grated Parmesan

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Cut the squash in half on the equator and remove the seeds with a spoon. Cut a flat spot on each end so the squash will sit flat. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and arrange the squash, cut side up. To 3 of the squash halves, add a peeled shallot and to the other 3 add 2 garlic cloves on each. Drizzle with 2 tablespoons of olive oil and season with 1 tablespoon each of the salt and freshly cracked pepper. Roast in the hot oven until very tender and starting to caramelize and collapse, approximately 1 hour. Remove from oven and when cool enough to handle, remove the squash from the skin. Reserve the roasted shallots and garlic with the squash. Can be done ahead.

In a large Dutch oven, heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and 2 tablespoons of the butter over medium-high heat and when the butter is starting to foam, add the raw diced shallots and saute until they are starting to caramelize, about 5 to 6 minutes. Deglaze with 1/2 cup of the chicken stock and stir to remove any fond. Reduce the heat to medium-low and add in the reserved squash, roasted shallots and garlic and then the remaining chicken stock. Stir to combine, then puree with a stick blender. The mixture will be very thick. Add in the cayenne, white pepper and the herbs. Stir in the cream and Worcestershire sauce and heat slowly over medium-low heat. When the mixture comes to a slow simmer, mix again with the stick blender and stir in 1/4 cup of the Parmesan and turn heat to low. Serve with a fresh crack of black pepper, a nice drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil and a light sprinkle of remaining Parmesan. Ladle into soup bowls and serve.

FFwD - Roast Chicken for Les Paresseux

So this week's FFwD is Roast Chicken and it was delicious, but first, did anyone see Oprah yesterday?  Her guests were former Tiger Beat teen heartthrobs and I was suddenly a starry-eyed 11 year old all over again.   If you're a middle aged woman who grew up in this country then chances are you purchased Tiger Beat magazine at least once in your life.  Remember the posters inside?  I think there was one of Shaun Cassidy every week and all of them ended up on my bedroom wall.  I was in love.....

Remember the song Da Doo Ron Ron?

"I met her on a Monday and my heart stood still

Da doo ron ron ron da doo ron ron

Sombody told me that her name was Jill

Da doo ron ron ron da doo ron ron"

So obviously he was singing that song for me.  I'm Jill.  Duh.  I just knew I was gonna grow up and marry him.  Cuz I made his heart stand still.

Anyhoo.....It was a nice trip down memory lane.  She also had Peter Frampton on and he won the prize for most unrecognizable.  Remember all that hair?  Gone.  Frampton Comes Alive.  I wore that that album OUT. 

Back to the roast chicken for les paresseux, or roast chicken for lazy people.  This fits the bill.  Super easy and you only dirty one pot.  But that's not the best thing about this dish.  The best thing is the bread.  OMG, the bread.  You start by rubbing oil all over the inside of a dutch oven and then placing two slices of bread in the bottom of the pan.  All I had was a baguette so I ended up with five slices, because it's bread, and more is better.  You then place the whole chicken on top of the bread before you put it in the oven and what happens is just plain over the top amazing.  All of the juices soak into the bread and it gets this nice crispy crust on the bottom and holy chicken fat, did I mention it's amazing?

I threw in some potatoes, onions and carrots halfway through baking because I'm one of those lazy people and that meant I didn't have to dirty anymore dishes or make another side dish.  

Make this.  If for no other reason, do it for THE BREAD.

Barefoot Bloggers - French Toast Bread Pudding

 What a way to kick off Ina's new book, "How Easy is That?"....French Toast Bread Pudding.  The Barefoot Blogger's group has been a little loosey goosey lately so I'm thrilled that we're back in the swing and will be blogging exclusively through the new book for a while.

In the introduction to this recipe, Ina says she was making french toast one day and decided to throw everything into one dish and for an easy bread pudding.   That's essentially the theme of this new book......easy adaptations of delicious classic recipes.  And as with all Ina recipes, this is full of flavor.

I actually assembled mine the night before and refrigerated it overnight.  I wanted to serve it to hubs for breakfast to try to trick him into liking this!  He's NOT a fan of bread pudding, so I called it baked french toast.  Shhh.  He loved it!  A little maple syrup on top makes this a perfect breakfast or brunch dish but I'll bet I can talk him into having it for dessert the rest of the week!

French Toast Bread Pudding

Barefoot Contessa "How Easy is That?"

Ingredients:

1 challah loaf, sliced 3/4 inch thick (If the challah is fresh, not stale, slice and bake for 10 minutes at 350 degrees)
8 extra large eggs
5 cups half-and-half or milk
3 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon grated orange zest
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
Confectioners' sugar and pure maple syrup, for serving

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Arrange the bread in two layers in a 9 x 13 x 2 inch baking dish, cutting the bread to fit the dish.  Set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, half-and-half, honey, orange zest, vanilla, and salt.  Pour the mixture over the bread and press the bread down.  Allow to soak for 10 minutes.

Place the baking dish in a larger roasting pan and add enough very hot tap water to the roasting pan to come an inch up the side of the baking dish.  Cover the roasting pan tightly with aluminum foil, tenting it so the foil doesn't touch the pudding.  Make two slashes in the foil to allow steam to escape.  Bake for 45 minutes, remove the aluminum foil and bake for another 40 to 45 minutes, until the pudding puffs up and the custard is set.  Remove from the oven and cool slightly.

With a small sieve, dust lihtly with confectioners' sugar and serve hot in squares with maple syrup on the side.


And make sure you pick up a copy of "How Easy is That?"

Halloween in NYC......and Eataly!!

Mr. B and I and some friends spent Halloween weekend in NYC.  I was a little disappointed in the lack of people in costume.  I mean aren't all the freaks supposed to be there??  Just kiddin.....I love the city and have never once come into contact with any freaks.  Some weirdos.  But definitely no freaks.

The first thing we usually do is belly up to the bar at PJ Clarke's for a few beers and a burger.  It's just a few blocks from Exclusive Resorts Park Avenue apartments and it's my favorite bar in town.  Great place to start the weekend.

We also headed to the Meatpacking District.  I can't believe I've never been there before.  This is where all the cool people hang out.  (Which may answer my question?)  This is where the Chelsea Market is located (home of Food Network....of which I was denied access.  Wassup with that?) along with Chelsea Pier and tons of very chic shopping.

We had a lunch reservation at Colicchio and Sons which is right next door to Mario Batali's Del Posto and across the street from Morimoto's of Iron Chef fame.  I felt important just standing on the street corner.

Didn't quite have the same feeling the next day at lunch.  This happened to be hubs choice.  His barber (who takes restaurant advice from their barber??) told him Crif Dogs was the best hot dog in the city.  Real gourmet, my husband.

That's the classy sign out front!!

That's hubs before completely clogging his arteries.  These are DEEP FRIED HOT DOGS, people.  I didn't even know deep frying a hot dog was an option.

Nice, right?

This is why I don't let the mister choose the restaurant very often.  He'd be dead in about a month.  Two deep fried hot dogs and Velveeta covered waffle fries.  Ugh.

Then it was off to the most amazing "grocery store" I've ever been to in my life.  I've already begun my letter writing campaign to Mr. Batali to start construction on one of these babies in Birmingham......Eataly.

First of all, this place was PACKED.  For good reason.  If you're a food lover, this is your   definition of heaven.

It's a massive collection of everything Italian.........

every type of fresh pasta you can imagine....

bread.....amazing bread....

Meat.......beef......

Awwwww.......pork.....

Row after row of olive oils......

Seafood........

hello, my pretty.........

and here's where I almost died......cheese, cheese, cheese, cheese.....

cheese, cheese.......

and next door.......WINE!!!!!  Italian WINE!!!!!

Yes, it is!!!!  You must go if you're anywhere close to Manhattan.  From this day forward it will be my first stop upon leaving LaGuardia.

And because it was Halloween weekend, and because the love of my life had deep fried hot dogs for lunch, we thought it only appropriate to stop at Dylan's Candy Bar and finish him off.  I'm not a huge candy lover so I'd never been here before but if sweets are your thing, put this one on your list.  Every type of vintage candy bar imaginable can be found here.

Fun place.

I couldn't resist taking a picture of the "scaffolding" in front of Dior.

So Dior, isn't it!

And a trip to New York City would not be complete for me without a Saturday morning walk in Central Park followed by breakfast at Sarabeth's.  I love Central Park on Saturday in the Fall.  Everyone is out getting some exercise with their best friends!

There was hockey practice at Wollman Rink.

And the fall colors were just beautiful.

I marvel every time I'm there that this beautiful piece of Mother Nature is smack in the middle of the concrete jungle that is Manhattan.