Posted on by Opie · 3 Comments

Bourbon Pumpkin cake

A few years ago I got a cookbook called Booze Cakes and this recipe is based off one from that book with a few modifications, of course. It’s perfect for the fall. It’s like a pumpkin pie, super moist. I was lucky enough to find a great Bourbon barrel-aged maple syrup at Costco. It enhanced the subtle Bourbon flavor. Enjoy!

Bourbon Pumpkin Cake

Cake:

  • 1 stick unsalted butter
  • 1 1/2 cups brown sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 cups flour
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp baking soda
  • 2 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
  • 1/2 tsp kosher salt
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 1 1/4 cups pumpkin puree
  • 1 tsp real vanilla extract
  • 1/4 cup bourbon
  • 2 tbsp Grand Marnier

Glaze:

  • 1/2 cup good maple syrup
  • 3 tbsp unsalted butter
  • 3 tbsp pumpkin butter
  • pinch of kosher salt
  • 1/2 cup Bourbon
  • 2 tbsp Grand Marnier

Frosting:

  • 16 oz cream cheese, at room temp
  • 6 tbsp unsalted butter, at room temp
  • 2 cups powdered sugar
  • 2 tbsp Bourbon

Direction:

Preheat your oven to 350°. Spray 2 round cake pans or 1 rectangle 9″x13″ pan with non-stick cooking spray. I line mine with parchment paper and spray the paper. It really makes getting the cake(s) out super easy.

In a stand mixer cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 4 mins. Add in the eggs one at a time, beating until well combined.

In a medium bowl; sift together the flour, baking powder & soda, pumpkin pie spice, and salt. Add to the butter mixture with the milk in alternating additions until well combined. Add in the pumpkin, vanilla, bourbon and Grand Marnier. Pour into your cake pan(s) and cake for 30 to 35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out of the center clean.

For the glaze; bring the maple syrup, butter, pumpkin butter, and salt to a boil. Lower and simmer for about 3 minutes. Add in the bourbon and Grand Marnier and simmer for 1 more minute. Allow to cool.

One the cake(s) have cooled slightly, take a skewer and poke a ton of holes in the top. Pour the glaze over the cake and allow it to soak in. Finish cooling the cake all the way.

For the frosting, in a medium bowl beat together the cream cheese and butter until smooth. Slowly add in the powdered sugar, beating until smooth. Add in the bourbon and beat until combined and smooth. Frost your cake and eat.

Posted on by Opie · 1 Comment

No-Bake Peanut Butter Pie

So this recipe is quite different than the last one I posted. I received this from a friend of a friend and thought I’d give it a try. I modified the original slightly and will probably tweak it a little more. Even though it’s a pie you make it in a spring form cake pan. Which worked really well for building it up but the graham cracker crust stuck to the bottom on me, even though it had a stick of butter in it! I’ll have to work on that part but overall it was delicious. Enjoy!

No-Bake Peanut Butter Pie

  • 1 1/2 cups crushed graham crackers
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • 1 stick unsalted butter, melted
  • 16 oz cream cheese, at room temp
  • 2 cups creamy peanut butter
  • 2 cup powdered sugar, divided
  • 2 tsp real vanilla
  • 2 cups heavy whipping cream
  • 2 tbsp. Kahlua
  • 3 1.55 oz Hershey chocolate bars

Directions:

Crush the graham crackers in a food processor until pretty fine. Add in the brown sugar and melted butter. Press into the bottom, and slightly up the sides, of a 9″ spring form pan.

In a medium bowls beat together the cream cheese and peanut butter until smooth. Add in 1 cup of the powdered sugar and the vanilla. Beat until smooth.

In another bowl, I put mine with the beaters in the freezer for 30 mins, beat the heavy cream until soft peaks form. Add in the remaining powdered sugar and Kahlua, beat until stiff peaks form.

Gently fold in 2/3 of the whipped cream into the peanut butter mixture. Once it’s all incorporated, pour it into the spring form pan.

In a small microwave proof bowl, nuke the chocolate bars for 30 seconds at a time until completely melted and smooth. Pour on top of the peanut butter mixture and smooth out. Pour the remaining whipped cream on top and smooth out. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

Posted on by Opie · 4 Comments

Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie

To get ideas for cooking, and to post to this blog, I frequently ask people I know what their favorite dessert is. Recently one of those was peanut butter. Since I’ve already made peanut butter cookies I decided to try coming up with something else. Lucky for me I had recently come across a recipe for peanut butter pie. Which was fine but I happen to like chocolate with my peanut butter so I added a layer to the top. It turned out pretty good. Enjoy!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie

  • Pastry for a single-crust pie (see previous blog post)
  • 1 1/2 cups light corn syrup
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
  • 1/4 tsp kosher salt
  • 4 large eggs, at room temp
  • 1/2 tsp real vanilla extract
  • 4 1 1/2 oz Hershey chocolate bars

Directions:

Pre-heat your oven to 350°. On a lightly floured workspace roll out the dough and line a pie pan with it. Chill while making the rest of the pie.

In a large bowl, beat together the corn syrup, sugar, peanut butter and salt until creamy. Beat in the eggs and vanilla until light and fluffy. Pour into the pie shell and bake for 60-70 minutes. It will puff up, that’s fine. It will also fall once you take it out, that’s fine too. You want it to be almost set, so a knife inserted in the middle will come out almost clean.

Allow to cool. Break up the Hershey chocolate bars and microwave in a microwave proof bowl for 30 seconds at a time, stirring between, until melted and smooth. Pour over the top of the cooled pie and smooth out. Eat.

Posted on by Opie

Raspberry Swirl

This is one of the first recipes I ever made out of the Farm Journal’s Country Cookbook that my mom gave to me when I moved out on my own. It’s always been one of my favorites from that cookbook, it and the bread pudding recipe in it (I’ll post that recipe sometime in the future). The only change I’ve made is to add, surprise surprise, booze; Chamborg to be exact (with is a raspberry liqueur). This is perfect for the summer as it’s like an icecream version of cheesecake. Enjoy!

Raspberry Swirl

  • 1 cup graham cracker crumbs
  • 4 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
  • 1 cup plus 2 tbsp sugar, divided
  • 3 eggs, separated
  • 1 8oz package of cream cheese, at room temp
  • 1/8 tsp kosher salt
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 10 oz raspberries, fresh or frozen
  • 2 tbsp Chambord

Directions:

Combine the graham cracker crumbs, butter, and 1 tbsp sugar. Lightly press into a greased 11″ x 7″ pan.  Bake in a 375° oven for 8 minutes. Cool completely.

In a bowl beat the egg yolks at medium speed until light yellow and the consistency of mayo. Add in the cream cheese, sugar, and salt; beat until smooth.

In another bowl, beat the egg whites until they form stiff peaks. Beat the heavy cream until it’s stiff. Fold in with the egg whites and then fold that into the cream cheese/egg yolk mixture.

Crush the raspberries (thaw if using frozen first). Add in the Chambord and stir. Gently swirl 1/2 through the cheese fillings. Spread on top of the graham cracker crust. Spoon the remaining raspberries on top. Freeze for at least 1 hour, longer is better. Let sit at room temp for  30 minutes before serving.

If you are going to store for longer than a couple of hours you should cover it with foil.

Posted on by Opie · 2 Comments

Fruit Custard Tart

I got this recipe from a series of Italian cooking classes that I was lucky enough to take several years ago. You can use all sorts of different fruits for this, whatever you have on hand. I used Granny Smith apple this time but I’ve made this with raspberries, blueberries, etc. I also like to “soak” my fruit in a little liquor, whatever I have that’s the same flavor. In this case, a little apple schnapps, but I’ve also used Calvados (apple brandy). Enjoy!

Fruit Custard Tart

Dough:

  • 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • pinch of kosher salt
  • 1 tsp lemon extract
  • 1 stick unsalted butter, cut into cubes
  • 1 egg

Custard:

  • 2 large apples, sliced
  • 3 eggs, 2 yokes and 1 whole
  • 2 tbsp. apple liquor
  • 1/2 tsp real vanilla
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 2 tbsp. all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • powdered sugar for dusting

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350°. Combine the flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor. Add in the cubes of butter and pulse until combined. It should look like peas. Add in the egg and extract and pulse until it has gathered. Press into a 9 1/2″ tart pan.

Place the apples over the dough in the tart pan. In a medium bowl add the egg, egg yolks, sugar, flour and beat in the cream. Pour over the apples and bake for 1 hour or until set. Cool and dust with powdered sugar.