Pumpkin Chocolate Tiramisu - Happy Thanksgiving!

This three-layer tiramisu is a holiday variation of the traditional tiramisu, using pumpkin, chocolate and amaretto instead of espresso and rum. Based on a Cook's Illustrated recipe, and inspired by a Martha Stewart recipe, the mascarpone layers are flavored with pumpkin puree, with the middle layer additionally flavored with melted chocolate. The ladyfingers are brushed/dipped with cocoa and amaretto. The top is dusted with cocoa and cinnamon, with chocolate decorations.

This recipe creates a very light and soft mascarpone layer. For a denser, thicker cake, use less whipping cream.

Pumpkin Chocolate Tiramisu
Serves 10-12

Ingredients

* 9 tablespoons amaretto
* 6 large egg yolks
* 2/3 cup sugar
* 1/3 teaspoon salt
* 1 1/2 lbs mascarpone cheese (about 3 8-oz. tubs)
* 1 1/2 cup heavy cream
* 36-48 ladyfingers
* 1 to 1 1/2 cans pumpkin puree (15-22 oz.)
* 6 oz. semisweet chocolate
* 3 tablespoons cocoa + 1 tablespoon for dusting
* 1 cup hot water
* 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon for dusting

Directions

1. Stir hot water, cocoa and 5 tablespoons amaretto in bowl until cocoa dissolves; set aside.
2. Beat egg yolks in a standing mixer (whisk attachment) until just combined. Add sugar and salt and beat at medium-high speed until pale yellow (1.5-2 minutes), scraping down the sides. Add remaining 4 tablespoons amaretto and beat until just combined (20-30 seconds). Add mascarpone and beat at medium speed until smooth (30-45 seconds). Transfer to a large bowl.
3. In the same mixer bowl, beat 3/4 cup heavy cream until stiff peaks form. Fold into mascarpone mixture. Fold in pumpkin puree.
4. Combine chocolate and remaining 3/4 cup heavy cream, and microwave until chocolate is melted. Stir until smooth. Transfer 1/3 of the pumpkin mixture into a separate medium bowl, and fold in chocolate mixture.
5. Cover bottom of pan or baking dish with ladyfingers dipped in cocoa-amaretto mixture (dip each side very quickly). Top with pumpkin mixture. Add another layer of ladyfingers, and top with pumpkin-chocolate mixture. Add another layer of ladyfingers and finish with remaining pumpkin mixture. Combine 1 tablespoon cocoa with cinnamon and dust over top.

Unfortunately, the tiramisu did not survive heavy Thanksgiving road traffic and accidents. Fortunately, we made pumpkin cookies with brown butter icing as back-up!

UPDATE: I've been asked about my pumpkin cookie recipe, so here it is. I arrived at this recipe through experimentation after tweaking a couple other recipes. Hope it works well for you all!

Rolled Pumpkin Cookies with Brown Butter Icing
20-24 cookies

Ingredients

* 2 3/4 cup flour
* 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
* 3/4 teaspoon salt
* 1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
* 1 teaspoon ginger
* 1/2 teaspoon cloves
* 1 cup unsalted butter (room temperature)
* 1 cup brown sugar (packed)
* 2/3 cup canned pumpkin puree
* 1 teaspoon vanilla
* 1 egg

For the icing (makes 1 cup) - from Martha Stewart:

* 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
* 2 cups confectioners' sugar
* 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
* 2 tablespoons milk

Directions

1. Beat together butter and brown sugar until fluffy. Add egg and continue beating until incorporated.
2. Sift/whisk dry ingredients together in medium bowl. Then add flour mixture to butter/sugar mixture in two to three portions, beating after each addition until just incorporated.
3. Fold in pumpkin puree. The cookie dough should still be thick.
4. Divide the dough into two portions, wrap in plastic wrap, and flatten into discs. Chill dough overnight or place in freezer for at least a couple hours.
5. Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees.
6. Remove chilled dough from fridge/freezer, roll out to 1/8-1/4 inch thickness, cut into desired shape with cookie cutter, and place on lined, non-stick baking sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes. The cookie will not brown much at all, but should spring back slightly when pressed with finger.
7. As the cookies are cooling, prepare the brown butter icing: Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat, swirling occasionally until nut-brown in color (about 10 minutes). Remove from heat, pour butter into bowl, leaving any burned sediment behind. Add sugar, vanilla and milk to brown butter, stirring until smooth.
8. After the cookies have cooled, dip and twist the surface into the icing. Allow the icing to set -- it won't quite harden, but it will develop a dry surface.

Tips for success:

• Work quickly, and keep the unused half of the cookie dough chilled while working with the first half. 
• When rolling out the dough, place the dough between two sheets of waxed paper dusted with flour. Sandwiching between wax sheets helps prevent the dough from sticking to the rolling pin and otherwise making a mess. I would also suggest dusting the dough disc with flour. Also, consider taping the bottom sheet of wax paper to the table to avoid slipping and sliding. 
• Use non-stick foil (my recommendation) or parchment paper to line the baking sheet.
• Be liberal with the spices.
• Consider doubling the icing recipe to make the icing dipping process easier.
• The icing may separate -- stir to re-emulsify, and add a little extra milk if necessary to thin the consistency.

Spaghetti Cupcakes - Trick or Treat!

The idea for these spaghetti cupcakes comes from the book Hello, Cupcake!, and I was inspired after seeing my sister-in-law make them for April Fool's Day. Instead of using canned frosting, I decided to better complement the strawberry jam (the marinara sauce) with white chocolate flavoring.

This white cake is filled with strawberry meringue buttercream, and topped with a thin layer of white chocolate whipped ganache, and then covered with white chocolate buttercream noodles. White chocolate and butter both have a pale yellow color, so that no food coloring needs to be added to mimic cooked noodles.

A Ferrero Rocher hazelnut chocolate serves as the meatball, tossed in low sugar strawberry preserves (the low sugar variety has a more realistic red shade than regular preserves). Finally, grated white chocolate serves as the parmesan cheese. By the way, I love Ferrero Rocher chocolates. I'm going to have to try a cupcake version of them one day.

These "trick" cupcakes were complemented by my pumpkin cupcakes as the "treat." Happy Halloween everyone!

Coconut Cupcakes 2-Ways - Lemon & Curry Ganache

Last weekend, I made two coconut cupcakes. The first is a fluffy coconut cupcake (lightness achieved with whipped egg whites), with lemon curd filling, and topped with a coconut-lemon buttercream. This cake recipe was taken from a Cupcake Wars episode and easily makes my favorites-list. The curd and buttercream were light and creamy, and complementary in taste and texture.

The second cupcake had a similar cake recipe, minus the whipped egg whites, and plus ground coconut. This cake (on the left) was more golden and had more texture.

I filled it with a coconut buttercream, and topped with whipped curry ganache. Unfortunately I was a bit short on ganache, so I used a comb to create some texture and then "blinged-out" with decoration (pearlized dust and toasted coconut). The flavor combination is perhaps less conventional, but yummy and memorable.

I didn't used to be a coconut fan, but the more I explore pastries and baking, the more interesting I am finding the taste of coconut. While I don't really like the texture of coconut flakes in my desserts, I may be a convert with respect to flavor!

More Chocolate Cupcakes - Peanut Butter Banana & Hazelnut

Continuing from my last post, I tried two more chocolate cake recipes this week.

1. Chocolate Butter Cupcake (Rose Levy Beranbaum, Rose's Heavenly Cakes)
2. German Chocolate Cake (Rose Levy Beranbaum, Rose's Heavenly Cakes)

The verdict:

1. The Chocolate Butter Cupcake recipe was slightly less dense/dry than the prior All-American butter cake I made, and tasty in small portions. But, I think at this point, I am going to conclude that butter cakes are not ideal for cupcakes, which are ultimately a very thick slab of cake. I think butter cakes are much better for holding up layer cakes, and I will put this to the test at some point. One exception might be a red velvet variation with cream cheese frosting, which I tasted at a recent cocktail event. Perhaps the creamier/richer the frosting, the better the pairing, which would explain why the curry ganache cupcakes I made last week worked. Important to note: These red velvet cupcakes I tried were mini cupcakes; I am not sure I would have enjoyed that much fudginess/density at the full cupcake size. Ultimately, I will admit this could be a taste/texture preference of mine, and others might like butter cakes more.
   
2. The German Chocolate Cake is fantastic, and definitely can serve as an alternative to the Ultimate Chocolate Cupcake recipe. It is slightly less rich, but it has a good texture and distinctive chocolate taste which makes it yummy to eat on its own.

Chocolate Butter Cupcake: Hazelnut Ganache Cupcakes

I filled these chocolate butter cupcakes with hazelnut ganache, and topped with whipped cream with a hint of hazelnut. Finally, a piece of sugar cone, because who doesn't like ice cream cones?

German Chocolate Cake: Peanut Butter Caramelized-Banana Chocolate Cupcakes

These cupcakes were filled with a peanut butter cream cheese filling, covered with a peanut butter chocolate whipped ganache, and topped with caramelized bananas. I am not normally a peanut butter fan, but these cupcakes came out pretty delicious, creamy without being heavy, and with the right balance of flavors. I had never caramelized bananas before, and really had no plan for how to pipe the frosting but I pulled it together somehow.

Chocolate Cupcakes 4-Ways - Mint Chip, S'mores, Mocha Meringue, Curry Ganache

Last weekend, I decided to put four chocolate cupcake recipes to the test, in the hopes of finding an alternative to my fave Ultimate Chocolate Cupcakes recipe (which uses bread flour instead of the more typical all-purpose flour or cake flour).

The four candidates:

1. Chocolate Fudge Cupcakes (Cupcake Wars, Dorothy Tong, 2010)
2. Chocolate Cupcake with Mint Chip Filling (Top Chef: Just Desserts, Danielle Keene, 2010)
3. Perfect All-American Chocolate Butter Cake (Rose Levy Beranbaum, Cake Bible)
4. Domingo Cake (Rose Levy Beranbaum, Cake Bible)

The verdict:
I hadn't made a butter cake in so long, I forgot how different the texture and coloring is! Butter cakes have a softer and finer crumb, are lighter in color compared to oil cakes, and are denser than oil cakes. They also support a truer chocolate flavor, as opposed to the oftentimes more bitter and/or barely-chocolatey flavor of chocolate buttermilk or oil cakes.

1. The Cupcake Wars cupcake came out a little bitter and bland. It is not a keeper for me, but being less flavorful, it served as a good template for featuring toppings and other flavorings.
2. The Top Chef: Just Desserts cupcake was pretty good, and had a solid chocolate flavor due to a heavy dose of cocoa. I was surprised that the recipe did not use salt -- I think the addition of salt would add a little more depth to the flavor. With a bit of tweaking, this could be a good recipe to keep, but flavor- and texture-wise, it did not top my favorite Ultimate Chocolate Cupcakes from Cooks Illustrated.
3. / 4. Rose's two chocolate butter cake recipes were melt-in-your-mouth delicious coming out of the oven. They tasted fudgy, and reminded me of a cross between flourless chocolate cakes and chocolate souffles, if that makes any sense. Delicious! When fresh, the All-American was more chocolatey and memorable than the Domingo. However, the day after, the All-American was a bit too dry and dense in texture for me (perhaps an execution error on my part). The Domingo (which uses sour cream) fared better and maintained a better chocolate flavor, even though a bit dense as well. Perhaps oil cakes are just a preferable texture for cupcakes. However, I can see how butter cupcakes would be much better for constructing layer cakes.

Next weekend, I think I will try the butter recipe again to see if I can achieve a better texture, perhaps using Rose's chocolate butter cupcake recipe which adds some baking soda. Inevitably, my oven from the 70s/80s will have temperature control issues, but I will keep a closer eye. I will also try Rose's German Chocolate Cake recipe (without the German filling/frosting), as that chocolate cake recipe is an oil recipe. So, in other words, my chocolate cake recipe experiment is to-be-continued.


I topped the All-American with mocha meringue frosting, which was tasty, but ended up being my least favorite combination.


I topped the Domingo with a curry chocolate ganache (rich, creamy, and with a pleasantly surprising spice kick) which went perfectly with the fudginess of the Domingo cake and created my favorite combination.

I converted the Cupcake Wars cupcakes into S'mores cupcakes (filled with ganache glaze and topped with a Graham cracker and toasted marshmallow meringue frosting).



Chocolate Fudge Cupcakes (Cupcake Wars, Dorothy Tong, 2010)
Makes 22 cupcakes

Ingredients

* 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 3/4 cups sugar
* 3/4 cups high-fat cocoa powder
* 2 teaspoons baking soda
* 1 teaspoon baking powder
* 1 teaspoon kosher salt
* 1 cup buttermilk, shaken
* 1/2 cup vegetable oil
* 2 extra-large eggs, room temperature
* 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 1/2 cup freshly brewed strong, hot, coffee
* 1/2 cup hot water

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Sift together the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. In a separate large bowl, combine the buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla. Add the wet ingredients to the dry. Slowly stir in the coffee and water. Bake for 20-25 minutes.

For the Top Chef cupcakes, I filled and topped with chocolate mint chip mousse. My execution wasn't perfect, and my mousse was a bit too soft, but chilling the cupcake helped hold it all together.


Chocolate Cupcake with Mint Chip Filling (Top Chef: Just Desserts, Danielle Keene, 2010)
Makes 24 cupcakes

Ingredients
Chocolate Cupcake:

* 1 3/4 cup all purpose flour
* 2 1/8 cup sugar
* 1 1/2 cup cocoa
* 1/2 tsp baking powder
* 1 tsp baking soda
* 2 eggs
* 1/2 cup oil
* 1 cup buttermilk
* 3/4 cup & 2 tablespoons coffee, cold
* 1/2 tsp vanilla

Mousse:

* 6 oz bittersweet chocolate
* 3 yolks
* 1/4 cup & 2 tbsp. water
* 1/4 cup sugar
* 1 cup heavy cream
* 1/4 cup crème fraiche
* 1/4 tsp mint oil
* 1/2 cup flaked chocolate

Directions

Chocolate Cupcake: Sift flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda into mixing bowl. Combine egg, oil, buttermilk, coffee and vanilla. Add to dry ingredients, whisk on medium, scrape down sides and whisk 1 minute more. Scoop into cupcake tin filled w/ liners. Bake at 350 degrees until done, 20-25 minutes.

Mousse: Melt chocolate, whisk yolks to thick ribbon in mixer. Heat sugar and water to boiling. On low speed, slowly pour hot sugar mixture into yolks. Whip until cooled and thick. In a separate bowl whip heavy cream, crème fraiche, and mint oil to soft peaks. Fold chocolate into yolks, fold in whipped cream in 3 additions. Fold in flaked chocolate. Chill.

Core chocolate cupcakes and fill with mousse. Top with more mousse (or whipped cream or toasted meringue) and sprinkle on chocolate curls.

Malted Chocolate Cupcakes - Baked Sundaes!

These malted chocolate cupcakes are topped with fresh whipped cream, sprinkles and a Maraschino cherry.

I also filled the cakes with a "Whoppers" buttercream (using ground Whoppers choclate malted milk balls) to add to the malt flavor (which unfortunately was largely masked in the cake itself). The buttercream filling adds a needed sweetness and moisture so that the cupcake doesn't end up tasting like a black forest cherry cake. Which, would be interesting to try . . . hmmmmm . . .

Oreo Cupcakes - Cookies & Cream

I had been planning this cupcake for a while, thinking about what ways I could make an Oreo cupcake that was something more than just a cake base and buttercream frosting on top. I'm pretty satisfied with the result here, although I think there are many more interesting variations to try. Coincidentally, my sister-in-law baked a version of an Oreo cupcake on the same exact night with a whole Oreo cookie at the bottom, which I definitely want to try next time! I was afraid a whole cookie at the base would burn or disappear somehow, but I hear it stays crunchy and is quite delicious.

Here, I have a chocolate cake with a fudge cookie bar in the middle. The fudge cookie bar is a baked Oreo cookie bar with ganache poured on top. Because the cookie is made from ground Oreos, it is crumbly rather than "crunchy", but I will continue to experiment with that. The ganache adds a smooth creamy moist filling.

For the frosting, I made an Oreo "mousse." I did in fact try a mousse base, but the egg yolks made the frosting too yellow. Then I tried the same mousse with egg whites instead of egg yolks, but that doesn't hold up. Then I tried a meringue buttercream base without the butter, but the texture and taste just weren't quite right. Finally, I ended up with a whipped cream stabilized with some gelatin, with ground Oreos folded in, and I think I achieved the light fluffy consistency I was looking for. The cookie on top is a Nabisco chocolate wafer, like the type I used in my Icebox Cake. I would not recommend grinding up this wafer for the frosting. The wafer has ground coconut in it, which results in an odd crunch/chew that does not blend well with whipped cream.