Posted on by Opie

Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls with Bourbon Maple Cream Cheese Frosting

I recently had a coworker give me some homegrown pumpkin. I wasn’t about to let that go to waste and I was craving cinnamon rolls. So I did a little research and found some recipes I liked and then as is my want, I customized them to make them unique to me. Mostly the addition of bourdon to the frosting and I added some of my Herman starter to the mix. This made the dough a lot more flavorful and rich.

Pumpkin Dough

  • 1/3 cup whole milk
  • 3 Tbsp unsalted butter
  • 1/2 cup pumpkin*
  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 1/4 Tsp ground nutmeg
  • 1/2 tsp kosher salt
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 1/4 tsp active dry yeast (1 envelope)
  • 2 2/3 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 cup Herman starter

Filling

  • 1 stick of unsalted butter, room temp (8Tbsp)
  • 3/4 cups brown sugar
  • 1 Tbsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
  • 1/2 tsp ground allspice
  • 1/4 tsp ground ginger
  • 1/4 tsp ground cloves

make the dough

Warm the milk and butter together until the butter is just melted. You want the mixture to be between 105° and 115°. In a bowl or stand mixer whisk the pumpkin, sugar, nutmeg, and salt. Slowly add in the milk mixture, egg, yeast, and Herman starter. Slowly add in 1 cup of flour. Mix for at least 1 minute, scraping down the sides of the bowl. Add in the rest of the flour a 1/3 of a cup at a time and beat until smooth.

Kneed the dough for 5 minutes, this is much easier with a stand mixer. You’ll want to switch to a dough hook. If the dough is too sticky you may need to add a little more flour, do this 1/8 of a cup at the most. I had to do this because my pumpkin happened to be really “wet”. You want the dough to be smooth and elastic, a little tacky is good but not super sticky. If you add to much flour though it won’t be a delicate dough but tough instead.

Let dough rise in a lightly greased bowl for about 2 hours or until doubled in size.

Roll out the dough

Punch down the dough and turn it out onto a lightly floured work surface. Roll it out to 10″x14″ rectangle. Let it rest for 10 mins. In the meantime grease your baking dish, you can use a 9″ round or 9″x13″ rectangle. Makes between 10-12 rolls.

This is also a good time to skip down to the filling recipe and put that together.

Spread the soften butter evenly on the dough. Combine the brown sugar and spices and sprinkle on top of the butter.

Roll up the dough from the long side (14″). Use a sharp knife or unflaroved dental floss but the log into 10 to 12 discs. Arrange them in the buttered backing pan. Cover the rolls with either plastic wrap or a light towel, let them rise for 1 hour. Preheat your oven to 350°.

Bake the rolls for about 30 mins, the tops should be nicely browned. Let cool on a wire rack for at least 10 mins.

Maple bourbon cream cheese frosting

  • 1 package (4oz) cream cheese, at room temp
  • 3 Tbsp maple syrup
  • 1 Tbsp Bourbon
  • 2/3 cup of powdered sugar

Beat the cream cheese until smooth and slightly fluffy. Slowly, I mean slowly, add it the maple syrup. If you do it too fast the cream cheese will start to chunk up and no one wants that! Once it’s again light and fluffy slowly add in the Bourbon and then beat in the sugar a little at a time. Once it’s all combined and smooth you can frost the rolls and enjoy!

Posted on by Opie

Torta Caprese

So I first saw this recipe on PBS, Christopher Kimball’s Milk Street. Unfortunately he doesn’t share his recipes for free so I hunted around and combined the best of what I found. Bonus this is gluten free and unlike some flourless chocolate cakes not dense at all. Enjoy!

Torta Caprese

Torta Caprese

  • 1 1/2 cups bittersweet chocolate
  • 1 cup unsalted butter (plus for buttering the pan)
  • 1 tsp espresso powder
  • 5 large eggs, separated
  • 1/4 tsp kosher salt
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 1/2 cups almond flour (the finer the better)
  • 1 tsp real vanilla
  • 1 tbsp bourbon (I used rye)
  • Almond slices & powdered sugar for garnish

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9” springform pan.

Place the chocolate, butter, and espresso in a double boiler and stir until melted and smooth. Allow to cool until just warm to the touch.

Beat the egg whites, with salt, until stiff peaks form. In another bowl beat the egg yolks with sugar, vanilla, and bourbon until light and pale. Using a spatula mix the chocolate, almond flour, and egg yolks until well combined. In batches gently fold in the egg whites being careful to not deflate them. Pour mixture into the prepared pan and bake for 40 minutes. Should be fluffy with possible cracks on the top.

You do not want to over cook this cake! The toothpick test should come out slightly gooey with some crumbs.

Dust with almond slices and powdered sugar once cooled.

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Raspberry Layer Fudge

This was another recipe that I came across where the final product looked delicious. However, in making it; it was a huge pain! But it was delicious even if it wasn’t as pretty as I’d like. The problem is the original recipe had you layering and swirling and it just didn’t work. The chocolate and the raspberry would just blend together. If I make it again I’ll do one layer and a time, refrigerating between to make them set. None of the swirling. It’s very tasty though. The only modification I made was to add a little framboise brandy to heighten the raspberry flavor. Enjoy!

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Raspberry Layer Fudge

  • 12 oz while chocolate (chips or chopped)
  • 12 Oz semi-sweet chocolate (chips or chopped)
  • 1 14oz can sweetened condensed milk, divided
  • 2 tsp real vanilla extract
  • 1/4 cup pureed raspberries
  • 2 tbsp. framboise
  • 2 tbsp. water (divided)

Directions:

Puree the raspberries with the framboise in a blended. Refrigerate until it’s thickened, about 30 minutes.

Line a 8″x8″ pan with parchment paper and spray with non-stick cooking spray.

Put the chocolate and white chocolate in to two microwavable bowls with half of the condensed milk and water in each. Nuke for 30 seconds at a time, stirring in-between, until completely melted and smooth.

Add 1/2 of the chocolate and smooth out. Then add 1/2 of the raspberries and smooth out. Add 1/2 of the white chocolate and, you guessed it, smooth it out. Repeat. Refrigerate until set, about 30 minutes.

Use the parchment paper hanging over the sides to lift it out. Peal it off and cut it into squares and enjoy!

Posted on by Opie · 1 Comment

No Bake Chocolate Tart

It’s not often that I will try making a recipe that’s specifically labeled “healthy”. Let alone one that is vegan, gluten free, and paleo! All of those, at least in my mind, make the dish sound tasteless. But I do try to keep an open mind and get over myself. So when I came across this recipe I almost went next but the picture that accompanied the recipe made me stop. It looked absolutely delicious. So I looked it over and all of the ingredients seemed good and figured I’d give it a try. I was really looking for something that was dairy free at the time and can always use a gluten free dessert as well. I will say that I did modify the original recipe slightly. Who ever wrote it was either using commercial equipment or lied. It looks really dense, like a flourless chocolate cake but it actually is pretty light. Enjoy!

No Bake Chocolate Tart

Crust:

  • 1/2 cup chopped dates (about 8)
  • 1 cup almonds
  • 1 oz dark chocolate, melted (use good quality)
  • 1 tbsp. coconut oil, melted
  • 1/4 cup lot water
  • 2 tbsp. chocolate liqueur (I used chocolate whiskey)
  • pinch of fine sea salt

Filling:

  • 1 13.5 oz can coconut cream (make sure you get cream, not milk)
  • 4 oz dark chocolate, melted
  • 1/4 cup coconut oil
  • 1/2 cup chopped dates (about 8)
  • 1/4 cup hot water
  • 2 tbsp. chocolate liqueur (I used chocolate whiskey)
  • 1 tsp real vanilla extract

Topping:

  • Fresh berries
  • whipped cream (I used coconut whipped cream)

Directions:

Put the dates in a bowl with the hot water and liqueur and allow them to soak for at least 15 minutes. In your food processor, pulse the almonds until fine. Add in the dates and pulse again until well combined. Add in the melted chocolate, coconut oil, and salt. Pulse until well combined. Press into a 9″ round tart pan, I greased mine with a little coconut oil so it would come out easier. Allow to chill for 30 minutes.

Clean your food processor. In a microwave proof bowl, heat the coconut cream, chocolate and coconut oil until completely melted and smooth. About 30 seconds at a time, stir, repeat. Add the dates to your food processor and pulse until smooth. Add in the chocolate/coconut mixture and pulse again until completely smooth. Fill the chilled tart shell and chill again until set, about 2 hours.

Before serving top with berries and whipped cream. I also dusted a little powdered sugar and some additional grated chocolate. Enjoy!

Posted on by Opie

Kahlua Chocolate Cake with Whipped Chocolate Ganache Frosting

Ok so this is chocolate cake recipe no. 3. I liked this because it has Kahlua in it, which I like the flavor of. The mixture of coffee and chocolate really go well together. The original recipes was a mess, however. It listed baking soda twice, no baking powder at all, nor any sugar, among other things. Then a friend sent me the previous recipe and I realized that it was basically the same cake, modified to have Kahlua in it. And not messed up. So between the two I was able to figure out what it should and shouldn’t have in it and fixed it. Also this one called for strawberry frosting as well, which I thought would be gross with the coffee flavor of Kahlua. So instead I used a chocolate ganache frosting. Enjoy!

 

Kahlua Chocolate Cake with Whipped Chocolate Ganache Frosting

Cake:

  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 1 1/2 cups Dutch processed cocoa powder (the darker the better)
  • 1 tbsp. baking powder
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
  • 4 large eggs, at room temp
  • 1/2 cup sour cream
  • 1 cup buttermilk
  • 1 cup warm water
  • 1/2 cup Kahlua
  • 1 tsp espresso powder
  • 3/4 cup vegetable oil
  • 1 tbsp. real vanilla extract

Frosting:

  • 9 oz chocolate, chopped (I used dark)
  • 9 oz heavy cream, hot
  • 1 tsp espresso powder
  • 2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temp*
  • 8 oz cream cheese, at room temp
  • 1 cup powdered sugar

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350° and spray 3 round 8″ cake pans with non-stick cooking spray, line with parchment paper, and spray again.

Sift together the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder & soda, and salt in a large bowl.

Nuke the water until warm, about 1 minute. Add in the espresso powder (this really enhances the chocolate flavor).

In a large measuring cup, beat together the eggs and sour cream. Add in the buttermilk, oil, Kahlua and vanilla. Pour the warm water mixture and the buttermilk mixture into the dry ingredients. Use a spatula to fold all the ingredients together until combined. Like brownies, you don’t want to over mix it or you’ll get a chewy cake.

Divide the batter evenly between 3 pans. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow to completely cool.

Microwave the heavy cream for 1 1/2 minutes until hot. Pour over the chocolate and let sit for 3-4 minutes. Beat until smooth (you may need to nuke it again, do so 15 seconds at a time). Beat in the espresso powder. Allow to cool, beating every 5 to 10 minutes, until it’s barely warm.

In a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the butter and cream cheese until smooth. As in the previous two recipes, make sure the butter is super soft. Add in the chocolate ganache and beat the crap out of it until it’s smooth and somewhat fluffy. Turn down to low and slowly add in the powdered sugar, beat until incorporated, and then turn it up and beat the crap out of it again. Once it’s light and fluffy you can frost your cake.

Posted on by Opie

Chocolate Cake with Strawberry Frosting

So this recipe, and the one that’ll follow it, are basically the same cake. I originally found the one I’ll post after this and was intrigued because it has Kahlua in it. It called for a strawberry frosting as well, which I thought was gross. Strawberry and coffee, which is the flavor of Kahlua, just do not go together as far as I’m concerned. So the next cake, which I make before this one, has a completely different frosting. Then a Facebook friend sent me this recipe, which was great! I made a few modification. The original called for 3 cups of sugar, way to much if you ask me. And I switched up the frosting, again I’m not a huge fan of buttercream frosting.

Now as I was on a cake kick, and this was really the 3rd cake recipe in a row, I decided to mix it up a bit. I made this into mini cupcakes instead. But you can certainly make this as a cake as well, either rounds or a sheet cake. Enjoy!

Chocolate Cake with Strawberry Frosting

Cake:

  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 1 1/2 cups Dutch processed cocoa powder (the darker the better)
  • 1 tbsp. baking powder
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
  • 4 large eggs, at room temp
  • 1/2 cup sour cream
  • 1 cup buttermilk
  • 1 1/2 cups warm water
  • 1 tsp espresso powder
  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  • 1 tbsp. real vanilla extract

Frosting:

  • 2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temp*
  • 8 oz cream cheese, at room temp
  • 1 tbsp. real vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup finely dices strawberries
  • 2 tbsp. strawberry syrup (I use DaVinci coffee syrup)
  • 2 cups powdered sugar

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350° and line four 24 mini cupcake pans. If you’re going to make a cake, then you’ll want 3 round 8″ cake pans. Standard spray the non-stick cooking spray, parchment paper, yada yada yada. If cupcakes, use cupcake liners; super easy.

Sift together the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder & soda, and salt in a large bowl.

Nuke the water until warm, about 1 minute. Add in the espresso powder (this really enhances the chocolate flavor).

In a large measuring cup, beat together the eggs and sour cream. Add in the buttermilk, oil and vanilla. Pour the warm water mixture and the buttermilk mixture into the dry ingredients. Use a spatula to fold all the ingredients together until combined. Like brownies, you don’t want to over mix it or you’ll get a chewy cake.

If making mini cupcakes, about 1 heaping tbsp. per cupcake of batter. Regular cupcakes, fill about 3/4 full. Rounds you’ll divide the batter evenly between 3 pans. Sheet cake, just dump it all in.

  • Mini cupcakes – bake for 15 minutes
  • Rounds – 35 to 40 minutes
  • Sheet – 40 to 45 minutes

Standard: you’ll know they’re done when a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out mostly clean. For cupcakes, pick on in the middle of the pan to test.

For the frosting:

Dice up the strawberries. Put them in a bowl, or I used a ziplock bag, and add in the strawberry syrup. I found that adding the syrup really enhanced the strawberry flavor. This is really helpful if you can’t find good, flavorful strawberries (heyI made this in February, it’s not like they’re going to be great).

Using a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, beat the butter and cream cheese until smooth. *Note: as I mentioned in the previous recipe, for butter cream frostings you want the butter super soft. So while I say at room temp, the softer the better. Otherwise you’ll end up with chunks of butter in your frosting.

Once it’s smooth add in the strawberries and vanilla. Continue beating until smooth again and then turn down the mixer and slowly add in the powdered sugar. Beat until light and fluffy. Frost away and then eat!

Posted on by Opie · 1 Comment

Guinness Chocolate Cake with Irish Cream Frosting

Ok I’ve been on a complete chocolate kick of late. This recipe is going to be 1 in a series of 3 that are all pretty close. In fact I realized that the next 2 that I’ll post are basically the same recipe, the only difference is one has Kahlua in it. Now with all three of these it’s all about the cocoa. Use good cocoa, not that Hershey stuff!

This one is my favorite of the 3 that I’ll be posting. It’s super moist and the frosting, which has Bailey’s in it, is super flavorful. The original recipe had the frosting as a buttercream, which I am not a fan of. So I cut it down by adding a little cream cheese and reducing the sugar dramatically. I mean really, do you need 6 cups of powdered sugar in your frosting? Enjoy!

 

Guinness Chocolate Cake with Irish Cream Frosting

Cake:

  • 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 3/4 cup Dutch processed cocoa powder (darker the better)
  • 2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp kosher salt
  • 3/4 cup sour cream of plain full fat yogurt (I used sour cream)
  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  • 3 large eggs, at room temp
  • 1 tsp real vanilla extract
  • 1 cup Guinness beer

Frosting:

  • 4 sticks unsalted butter, at room temp*
  • 8 oz cream cheese, at room temp
  • 2 cups powdered sugar
  • 6 tbsp. Bailey’s Irish cream liqueur

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350°. Spray two 8″ cake rounds, or one 9″x13″ cake pan, with non-stick cooking spray. Line with parchment paper and spray again.

Sift together, in a large bowl, the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda & powder, and salt. In a large measuring cup, beat the eggs and sour cream until smooth. Add in the vegetable oil, vanilla and bear.

Add the liquid to the sifted dry ingredients and fold together with a spatula until just combined. Like brownies, you don’t want to over mix it or you’ll have a chewy cake. Pour into your cake pan or pans and bake for 40 to 45 minutes; or until a toothpick comes out of the center clean. Allow to cool completely.

In a stand mixer, with the whisk attachment, beat the butter and cream cheese until smooth. *Note: buttercream based frostings can be a real bitch. You want the butter soft, and I do mean soft! So while I put “at room temp” the warmer the better. But DO NOT MICROWAVE IT! Doing so has a tendency to make the butter melt in pockets and that won’t work for your frosting. Once it’s smooth Alternate the Bailey’s with the powdered sugar until it’s all incorporated and smooth. Then frost your cake.

Posted on by Opie · 1 Comment

Lemon Curd Thumbprint Cookies

I came across this recipe and it interested mostly because I have lemon curd on hand frequently. If you follow this blog, you know I use it in several recipes I’ve already posted. My Limoncello Tiramisu and Limoncello Cake both use it and you’ll want to check them out if you plan on making these as that’s where you will find the recipe for my lemon curd. Or you can get store bought. They were a big hit at work. Enjoy!

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Lemon Curd Thumbprint Cookies

  • 2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temp
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 2 large egg yolks
  • 1 lemon, juiced and zested
  • 1/2 tsp kosher salt
  • 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup lemon curd (see recipe links above)

Directions:

Pre-heat your oven to 350° and line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.

In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add in the egg yolks one at a time, beating again until fluffy. Add in the lemon zest and juice, should be about 2 tbsp. of juice.

In a medium bowl shift together the flour and salt. Turn the mixer to low and beat in the flour until combined. Shape the dough into balls, about 1 tbsp. of dough will do. Place on the cookie sheets at least 1″ apart. Take you thumb and push down in the middle of each ball to form a well, this is where the curd will go. Bake about 20 minutes or until the sides barely start to turn brown. Remove from the oven and fill the centers with lemon curd, it’s take less than a tsp. Return to the oven and bake for another 2 minutes. Allow to cool and then dust lightly with powdered sugar (optional).

Posted on by Opie · 1 Comment

Blackberry Cheesecake Bars

This recipe was sent to me as a request to make. Even though they’re called bars, it’s basically a square cheesecake. Which makes it challenging in that they don’t make square or rectangle springform pans, which make getting the cake out super easy. The original recipe also called for making it in a 9″x13″ sheet pan. I didn’t really want one that big and I also didn’t happen to have that many blackberries. So I split it between two 8″ square pans. One thing that did intrigue me about this recipe was the crust. Most cheesecake is a graham cracker crust. This one calls for  vanilla wafers and pecans. Now I’m not a fan of pecans so I decided to try something a little different, I used candied pecans instead. And as I was using 2 pans, I made one blackberry and one blueberry. Keep in mind that since I did this, the topping recipe below was split in half. So where I used 1 cups of sugar, I put 1/2 cup in each type of fruit. They turned out delicious! Enjoy!

 

Blackberry Cheesecake Bars

Crust:

  • Foil, the heaver the better
  • 1 11 oz box vanilla wafers
  • 1 cup candied pecans
  • 1 stick unsalted butter, melted
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 tbsp. vanilla schnapps (optional)

Filling:

  • 3 8oz packages of cream cheese, at room temp
  • 1 1/2 cups sugar
  • 4 eggs
  • 1/2 cup sour cream
  • 1 tbsp. vanilla schnapps

Topping:

  • 4 cups blackberries (I used 2 cups and 2 cups blueberries)
  • 1 cups sugar
  • 1 heaping tbsp. cornstarch
  • 1/4 cup plus 2 or so tbsp. cold water
  • 2 tbsp. vanilla schnapps
  • 1 lemon, juiced (about 2 tbsp.)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350° and line your pan (or pans) with foil one way (long way if you’re using a 9″x13″ pan). Spray with nonstick spray. Take another pan, I use my lasagna pan, and fill it half way with hot water. Put it on the bottom rack.

In a food processor, pulse the wafers and pecans until fine. Remove any large chucks or crush them up. Add in the melted butter, vanilla, and schnapps (if using). Pulse until combined. All of the crumbs should be well coated with the butter. Press into the bottom of the pan (or pans, divide equally). Make sure you press it down nice and firm.

In a stand mixer, beat the cream cheese and sugar until light and fluffy (no lumps). Turn it down and add the eggs one at a time until smooth again. Add in the sour cream and beat until smooth. Pour into the pan (or pans, divide equally). Smooth out the top and bake for 50 minutes. Turn off the oven and open the oven door, allow the pan to sit in the open oven for 15 mins. Remove and allow to cool completely.

While it’s cooling; in a medium sauce pan (or in my case 2 pans) combine the fruit, sugar, 1/4 cup water, and lemon juice. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and cook until the fruit starts to thicken, about 5 to 7 minutes. In a small jar, combine the cornstarch and remaining water (divided if you’re make 2) and shake well. Add into the fruit and boil for another 2 to 3 minutes, it should really thicken up. Cool completely.

Now here was the challenging part for me. I didn’t want to serve these in the pans with the foil as I’d cut the foil with the cakes and people could (would) have foil attached to their bites. So I  carefully used the foil to pull them out on to a counter, towards the edge. Took a plate and put the lip just under the edge of the cheesecake and carefully slide it forward by pulling on the foil until the cheesecake was all the way on the plate. Then I spread the fruit topping on it and chilled for an hour (or overnight, but cover it with wrap).  Cut into bars and enjoy!

 

 

Posted on by Opie

Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Cookies

OK so this is one of the recipes where I found it on the interwebs, tried it, didn’t like it really, but let other people eat them anyway. And much to my surprise, they loved them! Clearly my taste should not dictate everything I make. I didn’t really make any changes to it, which for me says a lot. Enjoy!

 

Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Cookies

  • 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 cup cornstarch
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 stick unsalted butter, at room temp
  • 4 oz. cream cheese, at room temp
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 tbsp. milk
  • 1/2 tsp real vanilla extract
  • 1 1/4 cups powdered sugar
  • 3/4 cups mini chocolate chips (more if you want to sprinkle some on top)

Directions:

Sift together the flour, cornstarch, and baking powder in a medium bowl.

In your stand mixer, with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and cream cheese but it’s smooth. Turn down to low; add in the egg, milk, and vanilla. Beat until smooth. Add in the powdered sugar and beat until fluffy. Add in the flour mixture and beat until just combined. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

Pre-heat your oven to 375° and line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Roll the dough into about 1″ balls, place them about 2″ apart, and flatten them slightly. You can use the bottom of a glass or just your hand. If you like, sprinkle a few more chips on top before you flatten them.  Bake for 10 minutes, they should just start to turn brown around the edges. Allow to cool and then eat.