Thanksgiving Foods

Thanksgiving was Justin's and my first holiday together as an official married couple, and it presented unheard of challenges. In the end we settled on having Thanksgiving afternoon at Justin's MawMaw's house and the day after thanksgiving at my parent's. This solution was not without it's faults, but it was the best we could come up with. There was also the challenge of splitting up who was making what, and in the end we settled on being in charge of all desserts. However, in spite of all the challenges and general ridiculousness - Thanksgiving was officially awesome. We had fun, we watched the game (hook em!), we ate way too much food.

As far as the desserts we made - Okay, I know its a little late. Actually, it's a lot late. But, better late than never right? Maybe you can make these for thanksgiving next year. Or for Christmas this year. Or just because. Cause you know what? They were goooood.

I found this Pear Cranberry Cake in my issue of 'Gourmet Magazine' - it's easy, delicious, and beautiful. Jewel-bright cranberries and moist pear give it color, sweetness, and festivity.

Ingredients (for cake)
3 cups all purpose flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 spt cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground allspice
1/2 tsp grated nutmeg
1 3/4 cups sugar
1 1/4 cups vegetable oil
4 large eggs
1 tbsp vanilla extract
3 Bosc pears (you could use Bartlett too if you wanted), cut into 3/4 inch pieces
1 cup cranberries (thawed if frozen)

Ingredients (for glaze)
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup pakced light brown sugar
1 tsp light corn syrup
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 (3 inch long) cinnamon sticks.

Instructions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350F with rack in the middle and butter either an angel food cake pan or a 15 cup bundt pan. 

2.  Whisk together flour baking powder, salt, and spices.

3. Beat together sugar, oil, eggs, and vanilla with an electric mixer until combined well.

4. At a low speed mix in pears and cranberries, then mix in the flour mixture until incorporated. Spoon batter into your pan and bake until a wooden pick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean - about 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours depending on your oven. Cool in pan for 30 minutes then turn out onto a rack to cool completely.

5. To make the glaze bring cream, brown sugar, corn syrup, vanilla, cinnamon sticks, and a pinch of salt to boil in a small heavy saucepan, stirring occasionally, then simmer until slightly thickened, about 10 minutes. You don't want to scald the cream, so start on low heat and raise gradually. Cool the glaze for about 5 minutes and discard the cinnamon sticks, then pour the glaze over the cake, letting some drip down the sides.

* Cake can be made 1 day ahead and kept at room temp, and glazed up to 3 hours in advance of serving.

The other desserts I made were (obviously) pies. My mom told me that I should just let her know what I was making, and she would buy frozen pies to supplement. No way. Why would you buy frozen pies when you have a daughter who enjoys, nay, loves, baking? So, I also made a German Chocolate Pecan Pie and a Pumpkin Pie - that way no one would have any reason to wish for frozen pies. 

German Chocolate Pecan Pie

 (sorry this is the only picture I got, and it's not very good - camera issues)

Ingredients:
1 premade roll out pie crust
2 large eggs
5 tbsp unsalted butter
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
2 1/2 cups pecan halves, coarsely chopped
3/4 cup sweetened flake coconut
3/4 semisweet chocolate chips

Instructions:
1. Roll out premade pie crust and blind-bake according to instructions on box until crust is just lightly baked (you don't want it to brown much to prevent burning later).

2. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, whisk the eggs. In a heavy, medium saucepan, whisk together the butter and 1/2 tsp salt with the brown sugar and corn syrup over medium heat until melted and smooth. Whisk the sugar mixture into the beaten eggs very slowly so as not to cook the eggs with the heat from the sugar mixture. Stir in the nuts and coconut.

3. Spread chocolate chips in the pie shell then pour filling over it. Bake until set, about 25 minutes. Allow the pie to cool completely before slicing.

Finally, I made Paula Deen's Pumpkin Pie, I'll let you follow the link for that recipe. It's a basic pumpkin pie, and really delicious. I also made Cinnamon Whipped Cream to go with it - definitely a big hit.

Spice Cake with Caramelized Pears and Maple Buttercream Icing

I'm not sure how many of you heard, but sadly, Gourmet Magazine has published its last issue. This recipe is one i found in the last ever issue, and it is amazing. Gourmet Magazine, you will be missed.

So as I've mentioned before we're a little broke right now, therefore, instead of giving friends crappy $10 gifts they'll throw away after the obligatory month of display, I'm baking them birthday cakes and they get to take the left-overs. So far - no complaints. My friend Kristy had a birthday last week and managed to get in to Austin and I offered her a cake of her choice. She asked me "umm... is there anything with cinnamon in it?" and I immediately went to my issue of Gourmet Magazine and pulled out this Spice cake. It is, without a doubt, the most complicated recipe I've ever posted. But believe me, it's worth the trouble.

A few notes on the maple buttercream icing: Buttercream icing is actually one of the hardest things I think I've ever made. It's very finicky and you have to be very careful to follow these instructions perfectly, or i promise you will end up with buttercream soup. Also, real buttercream icing has uncooked eggs in it (the eggs do get heated, but not thoroughly enough to kill all possible bacteria), if you are anywhere close to as paranoid as I am then I highly suggest using pasteurized eggs. Also, if you make your buttercream icing the day before you can refrigerate it, however, it will need to be revivied. Buttercream icing can actually be refrigerated up to 1 week in advance. The trick to reviving it is to bring it all the way to room temperature (you can put it over a warm water bath) then to whip the hell out of it. Seriously, on super high speed, for at least 2 or 3 minutes, possibly longer.

For Spice Cake:
2 2/3 cups all purpose flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp grated nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1 cup whole milk
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup packed dark brown sugar
5 large eggs

For Caramelized Pears
2 1/4 lb Bartlett or Bosc pears (about 5)
1/2 stick unsalted butter
1 tbsp granulated sugar
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
2 tbsp brandy

For Maple Buttercream
4 large egg whites at room temp for about 30 minutes
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup maple sugar (this can be found at Whole Foods, although it's a little expensive, you can also make this, ask me if you're curious)
1 1/3 cups pure maple syrup
4 sticks unslated butter, cut into tablespoons and softened.

The Gourmet Magazine suggests using 3 (8-inch) round cake pans, but I didn't have any, so I used 2 9-inch round cake pans and adjusted the cooking time slightly.

Spice Cake:
Preheat the oven to 350 with rack in the middle and butter and flour your cake pans. (Cake can be made 1 day ahead and wrapped in plastic wrap, at room temp).
Whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, and spices in a large bowl. In a separate small bowl stir together milk and vanilla.
Beat butter and sugars with an electric or stand mixerat medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 to 5 minutes. Then add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. At low speed mix in flour mixture in 3 batches, alternating with milk/vanilla mixture (beginning and ending with the flour mixture) and mixing until just combined.
Divide batter among pans, smoothing tops, then rap the pans on the counter to eliminate any air bubbles (or you can have fun and make a lot of noise like me by dropping them on the counter from several inches up). Bake until pale golden and a wooden pick inserted into center of cakes comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes for the 3 8-inch pans, or about 20 minutes for the 2 9-inch pans. Cool cakes in pans on racks for about 10 minutes then run a knife around the edge of pans and invert cakes onto racks. Turn right-side-up and cool completely.

Caramelized Pears:
Peel and core pears, then coarsely chop (or make your husband/boyfriend/significant other do this).
Heat butter in a 12-inch heavy skillet over medium-high heat until foam subsides*, then saute pears, stirring occasionally, until just beginning to brown, 2 to 3 minutes.Stir in the sugar, lemon juice, and brandy - cook over high heat, stirring, until juices are deep golden and pears are tender, about 5 to 8 minutes.

*really that means until the butter has just completely melted, otherwise you'll burn it and have to toss out the first try like I did.

Maple Buttercream:
(just a reminder, please, please, make sure your butter is completely at room temp)
Beat egg whites with cream of tartar and salt using cleaned beaters at medium speed until they just hold soft peaks. Add maple sugar a little at a time, beating, then continue to beat until whites just hold stiff peaks.
Boil maple syrup in a small heavy saucepan over medium heat, undisturbed, until it reaches "soft-ball stage" (That's around 238 to 242 on a candy thermometer) - about 3 to 7 minutes.
With mixer at a low speed immediately pour hot syrup in a very slow stream down side of bowl in to egg whites, then beat at high speed scraping down side of bowl occasionally with a rubber spatula, until meringue is cool to the touch, about 6 minutes. It's really important that the meringue is cool, if you need to, put the bottom of the bowl over an ice bath for just a minute or two.
At medium speed add butter 1 tbsp at a time, beating well after each addition (if the buttercream is still soupy after about half the butter is added, then it's time for the ice bath). Continue beating until buttercream is smooth - it's okay if the mixture looks a little curdled before all the butter is added, but it should come together before the beating is finished.

To assemble the cake:
Put 1st layer on serving plate (can use pieces of aluminum foil to prevent getting icing on the plate) then spread with buttercream and top with pear filling (half or all depending on how many cakes you made). Top with second cake layer and either frost cake with remaining butter cream, or repeat with another layer.