Pumpkin Apple Muffins

It's been pumpkin season for a while, but I'm only getting the chance now to post about a good pumpkin recipe I've tried towards the beginning of this month. I've found delicious looking pumpkin cupcake recipes that I want to try, but for this occasion I wanted to make something healthier that James and I could eat as an on-the-go breakfast--Pumpkin Apple Muffins. Apples were a great addition to these muffins that added a nice texture.

I slightly modified a Pumpkin Apple Muffin recipe I found through a Google search. Normally I have my go-to websites for recipes, but Cookies and Cups' muffins looked so good that I couldn't resist testing it out. As I mentioned before, I wanted a healthier muffin, so I had to forgo the cream cheese and streusel toppings. I think I prefer these indulgent toppings on cupcakes anyway.

The other differences in my recipe are the portioning, the sugar content, and the pumpkin pie spice mixture. I decided to halve the recipe and spread the batter out in 12 muffin cups. For the sugar, I thought the amount was more than I wanted for this muffin so I cut it down by 1/4 cup. I also replaced 1/4 cup of white sugar with dark brown sugar because brown sugar helps seal in moisture and draws moisture from the air over time to keep the muffin moist. This is helpful since you can so easily over mix muffin batter that doesn't use butter (non-cakey muffins). Lastly, I broke down the pumpkin pie spice mixture in a note below the recipe. I know that not everyone buys pumpkin pie spice, including myself, so I know how frustrating it is to see so many pumpkin recipes use it and always have to convert it.

Pumpkin Apple Muffins

Ingredients

1 1/4 cup flour
1/2 cup granulated white sugar
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 Tbsp pumpkin pie spice*
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup apple, peeled and chopped (1 small apple should work)

*You can break this down using a 8:4:2:1 ratio of ground cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves. Most recipes often use a 4:2:2:1 ratio but in the end it's based on personal preference. For example, using the 4:2:2:1 ratio, a blend of 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp ground ginger, 1/8 tsp nutmeg, and 1/8 tsp cloves makes 1 tsp of pumpkin pie spice. You can double this to make 2 tsp and take 1 1/2 tsp for this recipe. When I made this, I didn't have ground ginger, so I replaced it with an equal amount of cinnamon.

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Line your muffin pans with liners, or spray pans with cooking spray
3. Prepare muffin batter by whisking together flour, sugars, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda and salt.

4. In another bowl mix together eggs, pumpkin and oil.

 5. Pour these wet ingredients in the dry ingredients bowl.

6. Mix until incorporated.

 7. Stir in chopped apples.

8. Fill muffin cups ~2/3 full and bake for about 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out cleanly.
9. Take the muffins out of the pans and cool on a wire rack.

These muffins tasted like cakey muffins and kept moist for several days. They were also still sweet even though I cut down on sugar. I think I need to play around with the sugar levels of this recipe, but overall they were good and I'd definitely make them again.

Lemon squares

Lemon squares or lemon bars are a perfect combination of buttery shortbread crust and a sweet yet tart lemon custard. These are one of my favorite baked goods to make because they're simple, easily impress, and, of course, delicious.

I've been using a recipe I found on Allrecipes since I first started making these and it's a great recipe, but I wanted to switch it up and decided to use Chef John's Lemon Bars recipe. I'm usually excited to try Chef John's recipes ever since James got me watching foodwishes (Chef John's blog name) videos on YouTube. I've already tried a few of his recipes with yummy results, so I was confident this recipe wouldn't fail me. The recipes aren't drastically different, as they use similar ingredients, but in the end I think I like Chef John's recipe more. It turns the crust into something more like a shortbread cookie, uses a bit less sugar (which I do anyway when I modify recipes), and creates a more custardy lemon filling with the use of the egg yolk instead of an additional whole egg. You can still use a whole egg instead of the yolk if you really don't want to go through the trouble of separating the egg. It doesn't change the recipe that much, but I'd recommend following the recipe if you can.

Below is the recipe from Chef John's website and the directions I got from his Allrecipes submission.

Ingredients for 16 Small Lemon Bars:

For the shortbread crust:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup room temp unsalted butter (1 stick)
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1/4 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt

For the lemon layer:
2 large whole eggs
1 large egg yolk
1 cup white sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1 tbsp grated lemon peel

Directions

1. Place an oven rack into middle position in oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly oil an 8x8-inch baking dish.
2. Place 1 cup flour and butter in a mixing bowl and mash with the back of a spatula or wooden spoon until thoroughly combined. Mix in 1/4 cup confectioners' sugar, vanilla extract, and salt; mash mixture together until mixture looks like a slightly crumbly cookie dough.
3. Moisten your fingers with a little water and press dough into bottom of prepared baking dish. Use a fork to prick holes all over the crust.
4. Bake crust on center rack in the preheated oven until crust edges are barely golden brown, 22 minutes.
5. Beat eggs and egg yolks together in a bowl; whisk in white sugar and 2 tablespoons flour until smooth. Add lemon juice and lemon zest; whisk for 2 minutes. Pour lemon custard over crust.
6. Bake on center rack until custard is set and top has a thin white sugary crust, 25 minutes. Let cool completely before cutting into bars. Dip knife into very hot water, run around the edge, and cut into 16 squares. Dust cookies with 1 teaspoon confectioners' sugar.

Blueberry Scones

I didn't realize until James told me that I keep posting about variations of baked goods. So far it's been two kinds of one thing--first cheesecake and now scones (our joint post on pate choux doesn't count since we both wrote it, but it's another good example of two kinds of one baked good). This wasn't actually intentional but just a funny coincidence.

I found this recipe for blueberry scones when I was looking for scone recipes the first time. America's Test Kitchen recipes always seem great and I was excited about how these scones used fresh blueberries. I definitely wanted to try this recipe whenever I got the chance. I ended up getting organic blueberries on sale and immediately thought of using some for these scones.

It was a messy process making these scones with so much flour and dough around my hands that I couldn't take many pictures. I know I'll be making these scones again so when that time comes, I'll get James to help me take pictures each step and update this post. I ended up halving this recipe because I didn't have a big enough surface and used my cutting board to roll out the dough. This also helped me feel better that I wasn't using so much butter for 8 scones. Halving the recipe still made 8 scones but they were smaller and better for portion control.


Below is America's Test Kitchen's recipe for Blueberry Scones with the note from their website about the recipe at the beginning. I've made additional notes for anyone who also decides to halve this recipe (halved ingredients are italicized and in blue) as well as additional personal tips that I normally add in the recipes I post.

Notes from ATK's website: "It is important to work the dough as little as possible—work quickly and knead and fold the dough only the number of times called for. The butter should be frozen solid before grating. In hot or humid environments, chill the flour mixture and workbowls before use. While the recipe calls for 2 whole sticks of butter, only 10 tablespoons are actually used (see step 1). If fresh berries are unavailable, an equal amount of frozen berries (do not defrost) can be substituted. An equal amount of raspberries, blackberries, or strawberries can be used in place of the blueberries. Cut larger berries into 1/4- to 1/2-inch pieces before incorporating. Refrigerate or freeze leftover scones, wrapped in foil, in an airtight container. To serve, remove foil and place scones on a baking sheet in a 375-degree oven. Heat until warmed through and recrisped, 8 to 10 minutes if refrigerated, 16 to 20 minutes if frozen. See final step for information on making the scone dough in advance."

Ingredients

• 16 tablespoons unsalted butter, frozen whole ( see note above) | 8 tbsp unsalted butter, frozen and grated, 1 tbsp melted for brushing scones. Only 5 tbsp are actually used (see note above)
• 1 1/2 cups blueberries, fresh, about 7 1/2 ounces, picked over (see note) | 3/4 cup blueberries
• 1/2 cup whole milk | 1/4 cup milk
• 1/2 cup sour cream | 1/4 cup sour cream
• 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, plus additional all-purpose flour, for work surface (10 ounces) | 1 cup all purpose flour, plus additional flour
• 1/2 cup sugar, plus 1 tablespoon sugar, for sprinkling (3 1/2 ounces) | 1/4 cup sugar, plus extra for sprinkling
• 2 teaspoons baking powder | 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda | 1/8 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon table salt | 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 teaspoon lemon zest, grated | 1/2 tsp lemon zest (I omitted this because I didn't have a lemon and knew it wasn't absolutely necessary, but adding it helps enhance the flavor)

Directions

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 425 degrees. Score and remove half of wrapper from each stick of frozen butter. Grate butter and place grated butter in freezer until needed. Melt 2 (or 1) tablespoons of remaining ungrated butter and set aside. Save remaining 6 tablespoons butter for another use. Place blueberries in freezer until needed. To take a page from Alton Brown, a good way to freeze blueberries is to first freeze them laid flat on a baking sheet and then transfer them in either a container or plastic bag. Make sure to dry the blueberries well after washing them before freezing.
2. Whisk together milk and sour cream in medium bowl; refrigerate until needed. Whisk flour, 1/2 (or 1/4) cup sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and lemon zest in medium bowl. Add frozen butter to flour mixture and toss with fingers until thoroughly coated.
3. Add milk mixture to flour mixture; fold with spatula until just combined. With rubber spatula, transfer dough to liberally floured work surface. Dust surface of dough with flour; with floured hands, knead dough 6 to 8 times, until it just holds together in ragged ball, adding flour as needed to prevent sticking. It's fine to knead the dough more times if it hasn't fully formed. Stop once the dough comes together.
4. Roll dough into approximate 12-inch square. Halving the recipe creates a smaller square of dough. I couldn't measure it but I would say it's roughly an 8-inch square. Fold dough into thirds like a business letter, using bench scraper or metal spatula to release dough if it sticks to countertop. Make sure to flour whichever tool you use to prevent dough from sticking to the scraper/spatula. Lift short ends of dough and fold into thirds again to form approximate 4-inch square. Again sizing is likely different for a smaller square. Transfer dough to plate lightly dusted with flour and chill in freezer 5 minutes.
5. Transfer dough to floured work surface and roll into approximate 12-inch (or 8-inch) square again. Sprinkle blueberries evenly over surface of dough, then press down so they are slightly embedded in dough. Using bench scraper or thin metal spatula, loosen dough from work surface. Roll dough, pressing to form tight log. Lay seam-side down and press log into 12 by 4-inch rectangle. Halved recipe produces a smaller rectangle which turn into mini scones. Using sharp, floured knife, cut rectangle crosswise into 4 equal rectangles. Cut each rectangle diagonally to form 2 triangles and transfer to parchment-lined baking sheet.
6. Brush tops with melted butter and sprinkle with remaining tablespoon sugar. Bake until tops and bottoms are golden brown, 18 to 25 minutes. Transfer to wire rack and let cool 10 minutes before serving.
7. To Make Ahead: After placing the scones on the baking sheet, either refrigerate them overnight or freeze. When ready to bake, for refrigerated scones, heat oven to 425 degrees and follow directions in step 6. For frozen scones, heat oven to 375 degrees, follow directions in step 6, and extend cooking time to 25 to 30 minutes.

Messily bitten scone

The scones turned out amazingly flaky, reminiscent of puff pastry with the method used, and fluffy on in the inside. It was more enjoyable eaten hot even before they're fully cooled.

Savory & Sweet - Pate Choux

Earl Gray Creampuffs (left) and Cheddar Gouda Gougeres (right)

Behold, pate choux, a twice cooked pastry shell invented by the French. Buttery and light, it’s most commonly known as the shell of sweet pastries including the cream puff, profiterole and éclair. But, like the crepe, it has roles outside of the dessert and breakfast world. We decided to create a joint post and make two different pate choux pastries – the iconic creampuff and cheesy gougere.

So first, let’s talk about the science behind the pate choux. In its very basic form, it’s made of flour, milk or water, eggs and butter. The butter and water phase are combined and brought to a simmer before the flour is unceremoniously dumped into it and the resulting dough is stirred until smooth. This coats the flour granules with fat, inhibiting gluten formation, and hydrates the starch. The eggs are added, providing both valuable structure and richness. When baked, the outside of the pastry sets before the inside, leaving little to no escape for the incorporated air and steam. The steam and air coalesce within the pastry and form a large air pocket in the center.

Baking these pastries requires two baking temperatures. First, 400 F for 15 min in order to set the crust, and then another 15-25 minutes at 350 F to brown, finish cooking the egg proteins and remove excess moisture.

Having made cream puffs together before, we wanted to be more experimental. I made cream puffs with earl grey pastry cream while James used the base of a pate choux recipe to create his own version of gourgeres. We created mini sandwiches with steak, sauteed spinach, fresh tomato and caramelized onion.

The earl grey cream puffs were good, but it needed a stronger tea flavor. It was difficult to describe what flavor it was if you didn't already know. An easy way to solve this, which is also added to the recipe instructions, is to add extra tea bags to steep. Of course, using an extract produces a strong flavor, but it would probably be difficult to find some to buy. As an alternative to steeping multiple tea bags, you can make earl grey tea or any other tea extracts by making it in the same way you would make vanilla extract. Instead of placing vanilla beans in vodka, you can steep tea bags in vodka. I haven't tried it myself yet, but we will definitely test this out with some future recipes.

Pate Choux (Cream puff/éclair shell)
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon granulated white sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
1/2 cup milk
2 large eggs, beaten
Procedure
1) In a saucepan, combine the sugar, salt, butter and milk and heat at medium-high until boiling.
2) Once the butter and milk mixture begins to boil, add all of the flour at once, reduce the heat to low, and stir vigorously until dough is formed. Cook the dough in the pan for ~ 2min until it begins to pull away from the pot when stirred. Preheat the oven to 400 F
3) Transfer the dough to a large mixing bowl, stir for 2-3 minutes (this develops gluten and releases steam), and then allow it to come to room temperature.
4) Once the dough has cooled, slowly add the egg while stirring (add in about ¼ egg to ½ egg intervals; this will make your life a lot easier). The dough will separate when the egg is being poured in, but will come back together. The degree of separation depends on the amount of egg added in.
5) Transfer the mixture into a piping bag or ziplock bag with the corner cut out and then pipe the dough onto a parchment or silicone mat lined baking sheet in 1.5-2” dollops (this is an approximate diameter measurement).
6) Bake for 15 minutes before turning the oven temperature down to 350 F. Continue baking the shells until they’re golden brown.
7) Remove the shells from the oven and with a paring knife, poke venting holes in each of the creampuffs. Turn the oven off and place the shells back into the oven with the door slightly ajar until they cool.
8) Either use a pastry bag to fill or cut each shell in half and spoon/pipe in the filling.
*For the gougeres,  add 3 ounces of grated cheese (we used a mixture of cheddar and gouda) in step 3, after the dough has cooled slightly. Grate another 1/2 ounce of cheese and sprinkle some on top of the shells after they're piped (step 5).

Pastry Cream
2 cups milk (or half & half)
1/4 cup white sugar
3 egg yolks
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1 tablespoon AP flour
1/3 cup white sugar
2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (for the earl grey tea flavor, we omitted the vanilla and steeped two packets of tea in the milk/cream)
A pinch of salt
Procedure:
1) In a heavy sauce pan, bring milk to a near boil on medium-low heat (you should see some bubbling, swelling, and steam). If you're making a tea flavored pastry cream, heat the milk until it starts to steam and froth, then take the milk off the heat, place the teabags into the pot and allow to steep for 10-15 minutes. For a stronger tea flavor, steep additional bags of tea. The number of extra tea bags depends on the strength of the tea and personal preference. In another bowl, mix together the eggs, cornstarch, sugar and salt until incorporated.
2) Pour the hot milk into the egg mixture and stir. Pour the mixture through a mesh strainer back into the saucepan. Constantly stir until it thickens.
3) Once thick, remove the pan from the heat or pour the pastry cream into another vessel. Add the vanilla extract and butter and stir until incorporated. Place plastic wrap directly on top of the pastry cream and refrigerate until ready for use.

Cinnamon rolls!

Few things in life are better than the smell of baking Vietnamese cinnamon rolled inside pillows of rich dough. Well, eating cinnamon rolls would be better than just smelling I guess. Slathered with copious amounts of smooth icing, cinnamon buns are one of my favorite breakfast treats.

I've had a lot of problems with making them over the past two years. I've overbaked them, underbaked them, allowed the yeast to bloom too much and not enough. The results from my first ten batches have been extremely experimental in nature and frankly, less than stellar.

After so many failed trials, I've learned how not to make cinnamon buns. So here are a few tips before we get started.

1. Weigh your ingredients. The volume of flour can vary quite a bit so weighing is the most accurate method of measurement.

2. Proof your yeast. Give the little buggers a head start and make sure your yeast is still viable. I usually add the yeast, ~ 2 oz room temperature water, and teaspoon or so of regular granulated sugar. Once it starts to foam, you're ready.

3.  Use a thermometer to check the buns during baking. Yeast leavened doughs, at least for me, have been a bit finicky with their cooking times and measuring the internal temperature has been the most reliable way for checking doneness.

4. Don't skimp out on the salt. Salt encourages gluten formation and stability and we need that to offset the relative acidity (which does the opposite) of the yogurt.

5. An overnight stay in the fridge will yield superior flavor and texture. This has to do with gluten and yeast. Yeast produce milder and more pleasant flavor compounds at colder temperatures, and relatively harsh flavors at room temperature. The extra time also allows for some gluten development and small yeast produced gas bubbles to infiltrate the entirety of the dough.

Cinnamon Rolls
Dough
- 4 large egg yolks, room temperature
- 1 large whole egg, room temperature
- 2 ounces (approximately 1/4 cup) + 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
- 3 ounces unsalted butter, melted, approximately 6 tablespoons
- 5 ounces vanilla yogurt, room temperature
- 3 ounces water, room temperature
- 18-20 ounces all-purpose flour, approximately 4 cups, plus additional for dusting
- 1 package instant dry yeast, approximately 2 1/4 teaspoons
- 1 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt
Filling
- 4 ounces light brown sugar
- 1 ounce unsalted butter, melted, approximately 2 tablespoons
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- pinch of salt

Method
1) Combine the water, yeast, and teaspoon of granulated sugar, and allow to sit until foamy at the surface, ~ 30 minutes.
2) Add the yogurt, melted butter, egg yolks and whole egg to the yeast and mix thoroughly.
3) In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour (keeping 2 ounces in reserve) and salt to aerate and then add the wet ingredients. Mix until the dough comes together and then place on a floured surface and knead until the surface is tacky, not sticky. Add more flour if needed.

4) Cover the dough and allow to rise until it doubles in volume, ~ 2 hours.
5) Punch the dough down and roll it out to a 12" x 18" rectangle and brush with 1 ounce melted butter, leaving a 1" border at the top.

6) In a bowl, combine the light brown sugar, pinch of salt and ground cinnamon and apply to the butter dough, and gently pat the sugar down. Begin rolling the dough from bottom to top and crease the unbuttered portion to seal the roll. Cut into 12 cinnamon buns and place them into a buttered baking pan. Cover and allow to rise in the refrigerator overnight.

7) Uncover the cinnamon rolls, place the baking tray in an off oven with a pot of boiling water, and allow them to rise for an additional half an hour. Afterwards, remove everything from the oven and preheat to 350 F.
8) Bake the cinnamon buns until they reach an internal temperature of 190 F, ~ 25 minutes.
9) Remove the cinnamon buns from the pan while warm and allow them to cool before glazing.

Dried Cranberry Cream Scones

Scones are one of my favorite breakfast or tea-time treats to eat. I've wanted to make them for a while so it was a good thing that I found this America's Test Kitchen recipe after looking for one that would help me use up my leftover heavy cream. America's Test Kitchen, along with Alton Brown's Good Eats, is a great show that I like to try out recipes from. Their recipes are tested in their kitchens hundreds of times or even more in order to optimize the best flavors that people look for in a particular recipe. Not having access to their cookbook, I looked at food blogs and found this recipe, adapted from one originally for cream currant scones.

These scones were not as sweet as the typical ones you can buy, which explains the low amount of sugar in the recipe, but I still enjoyed them and they were even better with jam. It tasted cakey due to the addition of the egg and vanilla and almost reminiscent of the taste of a biscuit (after all scones are very similar to biscuits). One thing to be careful about when making scones is not overworking the dough otherwise the scones will be tough and less tender. Though I used a mini food processor to make mine as I thought it would make things easier, I found that I would have preferred making it by hand. It's ultimately up to your personal preference as either method works. 

For ease of access, here's the recipe below with slight additions from the adapted recipe.


Dried Cranberry Cream Scones Recipe
Servings: 16 small scones

Ingredients:

2 cups (9 ounces) All Purpose Flour (preferably a low-protein brand such as Gold Medal or Pillsbury)

1 Tbsp baking powder
4 Tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
4 Tbsp cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes*

1/2 cup dried cranberries
3/4 cup heavy cream
1 egg slightly beaten
1 tsp. of vanilla
2 Tbsp of sugar for sprinkling on top

*You can freeze the butter, grate it, and then refreeze it just until you're ready to use it which works better if you're doing this by hand and don't have a pastry blender.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Place the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, and butter in a food processor (half at a time if using a mini food processor). Pulse everything in 3-second intervals until everything resembles coarse meal, with a few slightly larger butter lumps. If doing this by hand, use 2 knives, a pastry blender or your fingers until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Add dried cranberries and pulse one more time or stir in.

Transfer everything to a large bowl. Stir in heavy cream, egg, and vanilla mixing the dough by hand until it forms into a uniformed and slightly moistened dough.

On a floured surface, grab enough dough to fit into your hand about the size of a baseball and gently roll it in a ball.

Flatten the ball and until your disk is approx. 3/4″ in height. Press down the outside of the dough circle so the center is slightly taller. Evenly sprinkle sugar on top of each circle.

Cut each circle in quarters. You should have enough dough to make 4 circles and 16 scones.

Bake on a ungreased cookie sheet, or line a baking sheet with a baking mat or parchment paper. Bake for 15 minutes until the bottoms are golden brown. Remove scones from baking sheet and cool on a wire rack. You can eat them as is or serve with butter or jam.

Hot out of the oven

Serve with jam...

...or eat plain :)

Let's Experiment: Flan-Style Panna Cotta

This one is a brainchild from a sleepless night (thank you caffeine) in college. What is it exactly? From the first look, it's flan or creme caramel (cousin of the quintessential French dessert, creme brulee), but it's not. It's the Italian pudding, panna cotta, masquerading as flan. The flan style panna cotta is really quick to make, is done on the stove-top and sets in the fridge, and requires only five ingredients - half and half, sugar, vanilla, gelatin and a pinch of salt.

So first off, how are panna cotta and flan different? Flan is thickened with a mixture of whole eggs and egg yolks, while panna cotta receives its structural integrity from gelatin. Because panna cotta uses gelatin, it doesn't need to be baked, and unlike flan, panna cotta doesn't come with a ready made sauce (caramel is first poured into the ramekins for flan before baking and this later becomes a caramel sauce).

So let's get started!

 Flan-Style Panna Cotta

Milk, sugar, vanilla extract and gelatin

Equipment
- 6 4-oz ramekins
- 1 saute pan
- 1 saucepan
- measuring cups
- measuring spoons
- wooden or silicone spatula
- whisk
Ingredients
- 3 cups half and half
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

- 1 packet (2.5 teaspoons) unflavored gelatin

- pinch of salt

Method

1) Add 3/4 cups sugar to a dry saucepan and set the heat to medium-low.

2) When the edges of the sugar begin to melt and brown, use a spatula to gently mix and redistribute the unmelted sugar. Continue to do this until all of the sugar has dissolved and the resulting caramel has reached the desired color.

3) At this stage, quickly pour the caramel into each ramekin and gently swirl the ramekin to ensure even coverage. Set the ramekins aside to cool.

4) Bloom the gelatin by sprinkling it on top of the 1/2 cup of half and half and stir to combine. Allow it to rest until the gelatin has hydrated.

5) In a deep saucepan, combine the remaining sugar and half and half along with a pinch of salt and heat on medium, making sure to stir often.

6) Once the mixture reaches a boil, add in the bloomed gelatin, whisk and continue boiling until the gelatin has dissolved (~1-2 minutes).
7) Allow the pudding to cool to room temp and then pour into the prepared ramekins. Cover the ramekins with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 3 hours, but preferably overnight, to set.

8) To serve, retrieve the pudding from the refrigerator and using a thin bladed knife, insert the blade where the panna cotta meets the ramekin and turn the ramekin while keeping the knife stationary. Place an inverted plate over the ramekin, grab both the ramekin and plate and invert to release.

Update and cheesecake again

We've been a bit behind on our blog posts lately, but we're going to try to post at the very least every other week if not more frequently. I haven't had much time to bake since my last post so it's funny that I ended up making a cheesecake again.

I haven't made many variations of cheesecake before, but it's not supposed to be much different as long as you have your base for the cheesecake, which is the normal cheesecake filling. I've used Alton Brown's cheesecake recipe enough that I could be confident the cheesecake would come out well even if something different was added to it. At my sister's request, I made a peppermint white chocolate cheesecake. The only difference was adding melted Hershey's Candy Cane Kisses which are essentially white chocolate Kisses with candy cane bits inside. 

 

I used the same recipe and proportions as our Orange cheesecake, substituting the orange zest with melted Hershey's Candy Cane Kisses. However, instead of mixing it altogether with the rest of the cheesecake filling, you mix the melted chocolate with 1 cup of the filling. That is if you want to make it with a marbling effect. You can just as easily skip this step and combine everything for a more uniform taste. There is more than one way to marble a cheesecake, but I've written the easier method in the recipe. The way I did it was alternating pouring portions of the different mixtures into the crust and then running a butter knife through the mixtures to create the effect. The problem with this method is that if you've never done it before, like I hadn't, it's easy to unevenly distribute both mixtures as well as mess up the artistic look of the marbling when you try to fix it. 

The peppermint white chocolate cheesecake came out well with the same creamy and custardy texture the regular Alton Brown's cheesecake makes but with a not too overwhelming sweetened peppermint taste. The white chocolate flavor seemed to blend together with the cheesecake taste. I didn't get the marbling done the way I intended, but its slight marbling gives it a nice light pink color. In my eagerness to unmold the cake, the sides didn't pull off the pan well and I unfortunately didn't choose to save extra graham cracker crumbs to hide it and cover the sides. In the end, taste is all that matters and this cheesecake was still really good.

To make things easier, here's the recipe again with the modifications.

Ingredients
 

Crust:
18 graham cracker squares, crumbled
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1 tablespoon sugar

Filling:
16 ounces cream cheese (room temperature)
1 cup sour cream
3/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract (substitute peppermint exact for stronger peppermint taste)
2 large eggs
2 yolks
1/4 cup heavy cream
A pinch of salt

30 Hershey's Candy Cane Kisses, melted

Directions

· Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. 

· In a small bowl, combine crumbled graham crackers, the melted butter, and 1 tablespoon of sugar. Press 2/3 of the mixture into the bottom of the pan. Place remaining crumbs on a sheet pan and bake both the crust and the remaining mixture for 7-8 minutes. Cool. Reserve additional crumb mixture for sides. 

· In a large bowl, cream the cream cheese and sugar until mixture is smooth and lightened. Make sure there are no lumps as they don't disappear after baking. Add the sour cream and mix until smooth. · In a separate bowl, combine vanilla, eggs, yolks, and heavy cream. Pour the liquids into the cream cheese mixture and whisk to incorporate. 

· Melt the Hershey's Candy Cane Kisses in a either a double boiler (placing the ingredient in a bowl, which is placed on top of a pot with hot, boiled water) or carefully microwaving it for a minute, checking it every 15 seconds and stirring occasionally until it is completely melted.

· When the bowl the melted chocolate was in is cooled enough to touch, combine it with a cup of the cream cheese filling
· Pour the rest of the cream cheese filling into the cooled crust

·  To marble the cheese cake, drop spoonfuls of the chocolate mixture randomly over the top of the batter. Using a butter knife or small offset spatula, swirl the chocolate into the cheesecake batter.

· Lower oven temperature to 250 degrees F. Place cheesecake into a preheated water bath, in the oven for 1.5 hours. After 1.5 hours, check the cheesecake to see if it is done. When jiggled, the cheesecake should only slightly wobble in the center. Once done, turn the oven off and open the door for one minute. Close the door for one more hour. Remove the cheesecake from the water bath and let it come to room temperature on a cooling rack before storing it in the refrigerator. Allow the cheesecake to set in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours, but preferably 6 hours to ensure that it will fully set. 
· When ready to serve, run a plastic knife along the sides of the pan and carefully unmold  the cake onto a serving dish or plate. Take the remaining graham cracker mixture and press into the sides of the cake by rotating the unmolded cake over the sink and gently pressing the crumbs into the cake. 
· To slice, place your knife into some hot/warm water and wipe clean each time you make a pass through the cake.  

Extra cheesecake tips:

-If you're using a springform pan for the cheesecake, there's a chance the water from the water bath may seep into to crust. To prevent this from happening, simply put the pan in a larger closed cake pan.

-To help loosen the cheesecake from the sides of the pan, place the cake in a hot water bath for about 15 seconds before unmolding to serve.

-If you happen to accidentally ruin the sides of the cheesecake while unmolding, you can easily cover it up with the graham cracker crumbs you reserved for the sides, or smooth it out with an icing spatula or a butter knife.

Cheesecake right out of the oven

Cute, fat wedge as the first slice