Thanksgiving in the desert (Part 3: Pumpkin Roll)

I've been making this pumpkin roll for Thanksgiving dessert for several years now. It's a recipe that takes a little extra time and effort, a perhaps a bit of luck. Each year, I worry that the cake part will crack and split or that I'll drop it while delicately transferring it from the counter to the fridge.

But I must say: this year's result was my best so far, and I think it has raised my roll-making confidence.

Ingredients

1/4 cup powdered sugar (to sprinkle on towel)
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tspn baking powder
1/2 tspn baking soda
1/2 tspn ground cinnamon
1/2 tspn ground cloves
1/4 tspn salt
3 large eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup canned pure pumpkin
1 cup walnuts, chopped
1 (8-oz.) package cream cheese, softened
1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
6 tblspns butter or margarine, softened
1 tspn vanilla extract
1/4 cup powdered sugar

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease 15X10-inch jelly roll pan; line with wax paper. Grease and flour paper. Sprinkle towel with powdered sugar.

Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves and salt in a small bowl. Beat eggs and sugar in large mixing bowl until thick. Beat in pumpkin. Stir in flour mixture. Spread evenly into prepared pan. Sprinkle with nuts.



Bake for 13 to 15 minutes or until top of cake springs back when touched. Immediately loosen and turn cake into prepared towel. Carefully peel off paper.


Roll up cake and towel together, starting with narrow end. Cool on wire rack for 30 minutes.



Beat cream cheese, powdered sugar, butter and vanilla extract in a small mixing bowl until smooth. Carefull unroll cake; remove towel. Spread cream cheese mixture over cake.


Reroll cake. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving, if desired.


Source: Libby's

My notes

I like me some walnuts, but I think 1 cup is way too many. I usually use about 1/2 cup, and it is plenty.

When you flip the roll over from the pan to the towel, do it swiftly, with confidence. There is no real easy way to do this (and if you know of one, please share), but if you're are too slow or gentle about it, you risk it crumbling off the wax paper or collapsing in the process. If you do it right, some of the powdered sugar will puff up at you from the force of your flip.

My kitchen tends to get a little smoky when I bake this, thanks to some kind of reaction with the wax paper and the heat of the oven. I always worry that it will affect the taste of the roll, but it never does. So I don't know if I leave too much wax paper hanging off the edges or what, but oh well. It doesn't seem to hurt anything, so I don't lose any sleep over it.

Thanksgiving in the desert (Part 2: Candied Pecans)

I wanted to try my hand at making candy so I would have another snack to put out between meals while my in-laws were in town for Thanksgiving. I was perusing the website for Raising Arizona Kids Magazine, and I came across a homemade gifts section, where I found a recipe for Candied Pecans.

This recipe only makes 1/2 cup of pecans at a time. That is a little annoying when you're trying to make a big batch because the pan gets all caked in the candied stuff and you have to clean it in between each batch. I tried making more than 1/2 cup at a time, but the pan got too crowded and the pecans didn't coat evenly.

In the end, they were really tasty, but the process was a bit tedious. I would make them again, but I'd probably only make a small batch.

Ingredients

2 Tblspns butter
1/2 cup pecan halves
2 Tblspn packed light brown sugar

Directions

Melt butter in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add pecans and cook, stirring, until golden brown and toasted (about 3 minutes). Add sugar and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Transfer to a piece of waxed paper to cool completely.

Source: Raising Arizona Kids Magazine

Thanksgiving in the Desert (Part 1: Fudge)

My in-laws traveled from Pennsylvania and Georgia to join Mike and I for Thanksgiving. We were beyond excited. It was the first Thanksgiving we were able to spend with family in several years, and since this is a family that loves food, we spent several days preparing.

On the menu: Turkey (duh), Pennsylvania Dutch potato filling, apple-sausage stuffing (a family recipe from our friend Mike, who makes it every year and watches as everyone fights over the leftovers), my Grandma's apple sauce, some veggies and rolls.

Mike was in charge of all things meat, potato and vegetable. And, boy, can that man cook a turkey.

Yum:


And here we are, contentedly stuffed around our tiny table:

For the main dessert, I made a pumpkin roll. But, of course, I couldn't stop there. I figured we might want some sweets to snack on throughout the five days they were in town, so I also made my first-ever batch of fudge, some candied pecans, and my festive mini-chocolate covered pretzel sticks. I'll blog all this week about each treat I made.

First up: the fudge. Why is that first? Because it was amazing. You must make this. You just MUST. It is easy, it is quick, and if you share, you will be loved.

My husband is not a huge sweets person (an abomination, I know), and he couldn't stop eating this. He says it is his new favorite thing I bake.

Macadamia Nut Fudge

Ingredients

1-1/2 cups sugar
1 jar (7-oz.) marshmallow creme
1 can (5-oz.) evaporated milk
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter or margarine
2 bags (8-oz. each) Hershey's Special Dark Chocolate Chips and Macadamia Nuts
1/2 tspn vanilla extract

Directions

1. Line 8- or9-inch square pan with foil, extending foil over edges of pan.

2. Combine sugar, marshmallow creme, evaporated milk and butter in heavy medium saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, to a full boil. Boil, stirring constantly, for 5 minutes.

3. Remove from heat; add macadamia nut mix and vanilla. Stir just until chips are melted; pour into prepared pan.

4. Refridgerate 1 hour or until firm. Lift fudge out of pan using foil. Place on cutting board. Cut into squares. Store tightly covered in a cool, dry place.

Source: Hershey's Recipe Collection

My notes

I couldn't find the bags of chocolate chips and macadamia nuts, so I bought two large Hershey's Special Dark bars (4.25-oz. each) and 1/2 cup of chopped macadamia nuts. I broke the chocolate bar up into small chunks. It was just the right amount of chocolate and nuts.

As you're cooking the marshmallow creme mixture, you might start to see a little bit of the creme start to brown a bit. That's ok. Mine did that, and I worried that it was getting burned, but I just kept stirring it constantly, and it turned out great.

Also, I scored some lines into the fudge right after I poured it into the pan, while it was still warm. That made it easier to cut into nice pieces later, once it had hardened up.

This fudge would make a great homemade Christmas gift. I bought some pretty tins from the dollar store, and I'm going to fill it with this fudge to send to family and friends.

My *gasp* first pumpkin pie

One might think - considering my love of Thanksgiving (favorite holiday!) and pumpkin and baking - that I would have made countless pumpkin pies in my 21 28 years in this world.

One would be wrong.

I cannot recall ever making a pumpkin pie. I used to ask for pumpkin pie instead of birthday cake, but I never made my own. During my childhood and college, my aunt, uncle or grandma always made the pies for Thanksgiving. I willingly ate my share. After I graduated college, that arrangement remained primarly the same, but I was almost always working on the holiday and would usually just partake in a work potluck. The rest of my family got to feast on my aunt's, uncle's or grandma's pies (which always included a pumpkin pie and a fruit pie, like apple or cherry).

But there have been two Thanksgivings since I got married, and last year, the holiday was soon after we returned from our honeymoon. I honestly think I bought a pre-made frozen pie to simplify my life. I was cooking a turkey for the first time last year and figured one new thing was enough to conquer.

This year, life wasn't any less complex, but I had all of my stock-piled pumpkin and wanted to make a pie.

Full disclosure: I'm weary of pies. I've made them from scratch, including a peach pie I started enthusiastically when I was about 14 and quickly lost patience with ... I love pumpkin pies largely because the whole crust factor is a lesser issue - no lattice on the top, just crimping on the side. And this year, I still went the easy way out with a store-bought crust. But it's progress, people!

My husband loved the pie and said I should make pumpkin pie more often. Will do, babe.

Here's our full spread:


Ingredients

1 (9 inch) unbaked deep dish pie crust
3/4 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
2 eggs
1 (15 ounce) can LIBBY'S® 100% Pure Pumpkin
1 (12 fluid ounce) can evaporated milk

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

2. Combine sugar, salt, cinnamon, ginger and cloves in small bowl. Beat eggs lightly in large bowl. Stir in pumpkin and sugar-spice mixture. Gradually stir in evaporated milk. Pour into pie shell.

3. Bake for 15 minutes. Reduce temperature to 350 degrees F.; bake for 40 to 50 minutes or until knife inserted near center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack for 2 hours. Serve immediately or refrigerate. (Do not freeze as this will cause the crust to separate from the filling.)

Source: Libby's

Let's get ready to RUMBLE!

This week marks the start of the official holiday baking season! I must say, I am rather excited.

As you can see on the left, I've been stocking up. That's because my in-laws are coming to the desert for Thanksgiving! The last time I shoveled down a meal of turkey, stuffing and potatoes with family was 2003. That's SIX YEARS.

The past several Thanksgivings have been spent with good friends. The kind of friends who are practically family anyway. But even so. There's something about having family coming into town for the holiday that has Mike and I bouncing off the walls with excitement.

Our menu is planned. I, of course, am in charge of all things sweet. I'm going to make my Grandma's applesauce for a side dish, and a pumpkin roll for the big dessert. And then I'll whip up some candied pecans, mini chocolate-covered pretzel sticks and maybe even some fudge. That way we'll have sweets to snack on for the several days they're in town.

For those of you who don't have it all planned out yet, here are a few holiday baking tips, courtesy of associatedcontent.com:

1. Start Early. You never know what's going to come up, and sometimes sugar, chocolate and other common ingredients can be fickle. You want to make sure you are prepared for mistakes.

2. Check Equipment. If you are making candy or working with sugar, it's imperative that the thermometer is exact. If not, you risk ruining the entire batch. Check it before you get started.

3. Use High Quality Ingredients When Necessary. While you can (and should!) get away with store brands for sugar and flour, things like chocolate need to be of a higher quality. They are easier to work with, and your recipes will turn out better.

4. Don't Mix Water With Chocolate. When melting chocolate, DO NOT allow it to come into contact with water. This will cause the chocolate to seize, or become a hard, gritty, unappealing mass of chocolate. So try to avoid even a drop of water. If it does happen, add about a teaspoon of vegetable oil and try to melt the chocolate again. This might save it, if it hasn't had a lot of time to seize.

5. Avoid The Flour Cloud. If you are mixing a lot of dry ingredients, stir by hand before turning on the mixer. This will avoid a loss of ingredients and that "flour cloud" which manages to get all over your kitchen.

6. Avoid Grease With Butter Recipes. If a cookie recipe calls for butter, you don't need to grease the pan. The butter will act as its own grease, and will allow you to easily pull the cookies off of the tray.

7. Corn Syrup For Softness. If you want softer cookies, add corn syrup to the mix. This will keep the cookies softer for longer. I usually add a tablespoon or two, depending on which recipe I'm making.

8. Cake Is Done When It Pulls Away. In addition to the toothpick test, a cake is done when the sides start to pull away from the pan.

9. Hold Cake Tips At An Angle. If you are writing on a cake, hold the tip at an angle, which will smooth out your writing and prevent your hand from dragging on the cake.

10. Use Cursive On Cakes. When writing on a cake, use cursive. It flows better, and decreases the amount of breakages in the writing.