The Big Reveal: Willow Bird Baking Challenge #1 “Cinnamon” Rolls and a New Challenge!

Willow Bird Baking Challenge is a 5-week series wherein I introduce a new challenge each week. The challenges require you to get creative and innovative in the kitchen. You create your dish, bake it, and send me a photo before the following weekend, when I show off the masterpieces on Willow Bird Baking!

Challenge #1 was to innovate “cinnamon” rolls. I provided a yeast dough recipe that participants had to fill, top, and/or glaze with creative new combinations. I was amazed at what you all came up with! Just see for yourself:


Kelly

Kelly Made: Guava & White Chocolate Cream Cheese Rolls and Plantain & Bacon Rolls

Comments:“After waiting 100 years for my plantains to ripen, I was FINALLY able to make my rolls […] Thank you so much for this challenge. I’m always wary of making cinnamon rolls because my dough is always too sticky and I can never roll them properly. But I did it. I made two types since I had a lot of dough – Guava & White Chocolate Cream Cheese and Plantain & Bacon. Both very delicious.”




Amy H.

Amy Made: Toffee Ginger Pumpkin Cheesecake Rolls (see more on her Google Doc, here)

Comments: “The first thought I had was pumpkin. Yuuuum, pumpkin. […] Then I thought, cream cheese. Well actually, it was more like creeeeaaamm cheeese. Pumpkin cheesecake. I picked myself up off the floor and googled pumpkin cheesecake. What I found knocked me back on the floor. GINGER pumpkin cheesecake. Now we’re talking. A new google search and up it came, the magic ticket, Crunchy ginger pumpkin cheesecake with toffee topping. SOLD!”



Trudy

Trudy Made: Pineapple Ginger Rolls

Comments: “They’re done!! They came out as minis since I rolled the dough so thin. They taste delicious!!! Thanks again for even thinking of these challenges.”



Natalie

Natalie Made: Raspberry Lemon Curd Rolls (see more at her blog, Life Made Simple)

Comments: “Stephen and I have been loving all of the fresh berries we’ve been eating and since I had a couple of lemons sitting around it just seemed like the natural choice. In order to create a ‘filling’ I decided on curd, something that would make them nice and gooey inside. […] These sweet rolls are absolutely perfect in every way! Enjoy! Also thanks Julie for such a fun challenge, I’m already looking forward to the next one!”



Shelley C.

Shelley Made: Pumpkin Brown Butter Apple Cinnamon Rolls with Maple Frosting (see more at her blog, C Mom Cook)

Comments: “Funny enough, I wanted to make something just like these, and was going to use your pumpkin pull-apart bread dough for them (which I made last year, by the way, and it was AWESOME)… then I saw this challenge! […] Thank you SO much for a really fun baking experiment. I can’t wait to see what next week’s challenge will be!”



Jenni

Jenni Made: Caramelized Apple Cinnamon Rolls (see more at her blog, The Gingered Whisk)

Comments: “I can’t wait to see all the awesome rolls that were made! This was such a great idea! Can’t wait to see what next week will be (my husband is already complaining about sabotaging his diet..haha!)”




LeAndra

LeAndra Made: Orange Cranberry Cardamom Rolls (see her blog Love & Flour)

Comments: “I simply used orange jam, a sprinkle of cardamom, and chopped dried cranberries for the filling. Thanks for the encouragement!”



Gaby

Gaby Made: Chiles-en-Nogada Cinnamon Rolls (see more at her blog, The Gab Housewife Chronicles)

Comments: “Chiles en Nogada is a very traditional Mexican dish, very ancient. And very elegant, and actually, expensive. It has a lot of ingredients, and it’s very time consuming to prepare them. So I made some in September for Mexico’s Independence DAy and I had chile’s filling leftover, and I filled the cinnamon rolls with it, and tried to give the glaze a little “nogada” (walnut sauce) flavor. They usually are garnished with pomegranate seeds, so I added those too.”




Stephanie

Stephanie Made: Pumpkin Pie Rolls with Cream Cheese Topping and Chicken & Cheese Rolls

Comments: “I loved this challenge concept and the savory example you gave reminded me of a recipe my mom used to make. I made both a sweet and savory cinnamon roll. Mainly because I am a savory person and my spouse is a sweet person. Thank you for giving me something to do today besides homework. I read 5 chapters for my credential program while everything was sitting (raising dough) and cooking.”




Robyn

Robyn Made: Apple Cinnamon Chip Buns (see more at her blog, Almacucina)

Comments: “I’m new to your site and glad I found it! These buns are amazing; here’s my entry (I guess apples are on everyone’s mind this time of year) to Challenge #1.”



Amy

Amy Made: Oatmeal Apple Cinnamon Rolls with Vanilla Bean Caramel Glaze (see more at her blog, Snozzberries? Who Ever Heard of a Snozzberry?)

Comments: “They are yummy and I’m calling them almost healthy because they have oatmeal in the dough and apples in the middle – those two things are healthy, right? They totally counteract the gallon of melted butter in it, right? Right?”



Dianna

Dianna Made: Cuban Sandwich “Cinnamon” Rolls (see more at her blog, The Kitchen Prep)

Comments: “Ok… I did it. I really went outside the box here: Cuban Sandwich “Cinnamon” Rolls. (Do we still call them cinnamon rolls if they don’t actually contain any cinnamon whatsoever!?) They are totally perfect for representing me, a South Florida girl with a Cuban heritage. Thanks so much for challenging us and for adding a new recipe to my arsenal that I just KNOW will be well loved!”




Eric

Eric Made: Ricotta, Honey, & Dill Buns (see more on his Google Doc here)

Comments: “[…] in the end – totally worth it! The ricotta and honey soaked into the bread, and the dill flavor shone through just enough. With some honey butter slathered on top of these, they border on being decadent, while still tasting fresh from the herbs! All in all, while I may have a little less hair than I started the weekend out with, I deem the challenge a success! Thanks!”



Ala

Ala Made: “Sorry, It’s Still Summer” Raspberry Cheesecake Rolls with Lemon Icing (see more at her blog Wallflour Girl)

Comments: “With the plethora of pumpkin and autumnal recipes hitting the web these days, I thought we all needed a little reminding that it is not, in fact, autumn everywhere in the world. In some places, it’s legitimately springtime, and in others, it’s legitimately autumn but actually not because it doesn’t feel like autumn. It feels, in fact, like summertime. Still. In October.”




Ready for Challenge #2?

Last night, Trudy and Kelly jumped on Google Hangout with me to introduce Challenge #2, and here it is!

You can find the braid dough recipe here — but the fillings, glazes, and toppings are up to you! Let’s get baking!

Congratulations to all of the participants of Challenge #1 for their fantastic work!

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Brown Butter Pumpkin Cake Cheesecake with Salted Caramel

Um, this is a humble-looking cake.

That’s a polite way of saying, “Look, I know this cake is ugly.” It’s brown cake on a brown cheesecake with some brown caramel drizzled on top. It has holes where I poked it with a toothpick. It’s kinda crooked. Whatever. That’s okay.

I’ve been thinking about ugliness and prettiness a lot lately. I teach 7th graders, and the issue comes up often with them. Sometimes they explicitly address it, but more often, I see girls meticulously adjusting their hair in a window, rolling their shorts up a little shorter than their parents would allow, reapplying perfume and lip gloss in the hallway, making passing comments about the importance of mascara to their friends, and joining in a group gripe session about what shoes they can and cannot wear at school. The pull to be pretty is incredibly strong.

These are not those teenage girls you see in movies, either — those vain, flighty girls who have never seen the inside of a novel. They aren’t stereotypes. These girls are brilliant, fun, athletic, witty, strong, independent. They’re all those great things — and they still feel the pressure. Does my body look like everyone else’s? Do my clothes seem stylish? Do I need to wear makeup? Does my outfit look all right? Even as they’re boldly marching to their own drum, they’re hearing the one that TV shows, movies, magazines, and the millions of sexualized images contained therein beat for them every day. The one that says: “You don’t look quite right. You should buy something to fix the problem.”

(Before we go on, I should warn you that the rest of this post could be triggering to those with eating disorders.)

I’ve never been a man, so I can’t speak for them. But as a woman, I can tell you that there’s a naked, humiliated discomfort that creeps up through your chest sometimes when you look around a room. It’s cold and withering. Suddenly you want to wiggle your pants a little lower, adjust your shirt, slick your tongue across your dry lips, smooth any frizzies in your hair, suck in your tummy, push your shoulders back.

As we get older, we practice resisting the serpentine siren song of self-hatred. We engage in positive self-talk. We tell ourselves that strong is the new skinny. We decide to think of food as fuel, not an emotional tool. We support body-positive advertising campaigns. We stop counting calories or weighing ourselves if those things present a problem. We try to resist fashion trends that perpetuate the cycle of objectification (even though “everyone’s wearing them!” — sigh). We do this for ourselves and for our daughters, hoping that they grow up with a mindset of self-love and a measure of comfort with their own bodies.

But it’s still hard. And from what I remember and what I hear, it can be even harder for adolescents.

I won’t harp on this next point. It’s not some dramatic reveal; it’s my life. It’s a fact about me, just like it’s a fact that I love my dog and would drive miles out of my way for a fountain Coke Zero. It just happens to be a fact I don’t particularly relish discussing. I’ve thought about telling you for months — every time someone asks, “How do you stay fit eating all that cake?” — and now I’m just going to, because there’s no shame in saying what I’m about to say: I’ve struggled with disordered eating since high school. My mindset about food and my body has never been healthy — and there’s a gap between my self-image and my physical reality that causes a lot of emotional distress for me. Lady Gaga just acknowledged this same thing to destroy the shame and stigma attached to the issue, and to blow the issue wide open.

I’ve obviously known about my own issues for years (and addressed it in appropriate ways), but hearing the occasional student discussing calorie counts, hearing about people who have been targeted because of their weight, hearing a student say the really scary F-word, and seeing the body-anxiety people are admitting to on Lady Gaga’s website makes me realize: it’s time to get angry (this article contains some offensive language).

I’m angry that anyone decided they could turn my physical appearance into an emotional game to earn more money. I’m angry that they create illusions to manipulate us (slathering heavy makeup onto rail-thin girls; pouring them into tiny clothing; sexualizing them and emphasizing their body parts as objects for consumption; contorting them into the shapes of inanimate objects; photographing them; airbrushing them into oblivion; and slapping their photos across roadways, shopping malls, televisions, movie screens, magazines, and the internet). I’m angry that they target us — they target older women (aren’t you tired of those wrinkles?), they target fat women (don’t you want to smooth out your body shape?), they target thin women (don’t you want a push-up bra?), they target young women (here are the newest, skinniest skinny jeans), they target moms (when will you get back to your pre-pregnancy jeans?). I’m angry that while we’re telling our 12- and 13-year-old girls how fantastic and smart and capable they are, they’re hearing from dozens of other sources that they’re not good enough.

But anger can be productive. Angry girls can stop buying products made by companies who try to hurt them. They can say, “My body was not created to for the sole purpose of looking sexy for others,” and wear the clothes that make them happy and comfortable. They can decide to focus on the food that fuels them well and the exercise that energizes them, not the number on the scale. They can politely refute peers who try to convince them they should be worrying about clothes, makeup, and being attractive. They can enjoy fashion choices as tools for expression and not for marketing themselves. When they’re angry, they have the strength of their indignation supporting them when they say, “This has gotta stop. This will stop with me!”

(P.S. Here’s a pretty awesome example of a girl who said just that (strong language).)

* * *

It’s kind of problematic to talk about health, weight, and body image on a blog where I post decadent desserts every week, so I wanted to take a moment to tell you what I think about eating. Not those disordered thoughts that sometimes hold me back, but the wholesome thoughts I trust. My ideal — one that I am spotty about conforming to for lots of reasons — is that you should eat, mostly, to fuel your body with healthy, humanely-produced food. Eating should be about positive provision for yourself, not about negative restrictions. Sweets, however — especially particularly decadent ones like this cake — should be an every-now-and-then treat, one that you refuse to deny yourself, but also one that you don’t let enslave you.

When you’re looking for one of those every-now-and-then treats, this cake is the perfect choice. What it lacks in, ahem, visual appeal, it makes up for tenfold in taste. The brown butter pumpkin cake layer is nutty, spiced, and delicious atop the smooth, sweet pumpkin cheesecake. A gorgeous salted caramel sauce is poured on each slice just before serving.

What is your food philosophy? How do you boost your own self-confidence in the face of all the industries trying to tear it down for profit?

One year ago: Pumpkin Cheesecake Stuffed Snickerdoodles
Two years ago: Blueberry Stuffed French Toast Bowls
Three years ago: Best Ever Cream Cheese Pound Cake with Easy Caramel Frosting and Spiced Apples

Brown Butter Pumpkin Cake Cheesecake with Salted Caramel



Recipe by: Willow Bird Baking, with a pumpkin cake layer adapted from Fine Cooking, salted caramel from Martha Stewart, and a cheesecake adapted from Betty Crocker
Yield: 10-12 servings

Pumpkin cheesecake alone is delicious, and even moreso if it’s settled into a gingersnap crust. But top that cheesecake with a layer of brown butter pumpkin cheesecake (and then drizzle on some salted caramel for good measure) and you have yourself a downright masterpiece. This cake would be perfect for Thanksgiving!

Browned Butter Pumpkin Cake Ingredients:
3/4 cup pumpkin puree
3/8 cup (6 tablespoons) unsalted butter
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
pinch table salt
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 large egg
2 tablespoons and 2 teaspoons buttermilk

Pumpkin Cheesecake Ingredients:
3 cups gingersnap cookie crumbs (this was about 45 cookies for me)
1/2 cup and 2 tablespoons butter
pinch of table salt
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
2 tablespoons brandy, if desired
1 1/3 cup pumpkin puree
3 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3 eggs

Salted Caramel Sauce Ingredients:
3/4 cup sugar
1/8 (2 tablespoons) cup water
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/8 cup (2 tablespoons) creme fraiche or sour cream
1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Pinch of coarse salt

Directions:
To make browned butter pumpkin cake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease one 9-inch cake pans very thoroughly Cut a parchment round to fit in the bottom and then grease that too. Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat and cook it, swirling occasionally, until it’s golden brown with a nutty aroma, around 4 minutes. Remove it from heat and pour it into a bowl to cool for about 15 minutes.

Whisk or sift together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, salt, and cloves in a small bowl. In a separate, large bowl, whisk together 3/4 cup of pumpkin puree, granulated sugar, brown sugar, egg, and buttermilk until well combined. Use a spatula to stir in the dry ingredients until just combined, and then whisk in the browned butter. Pour batter evenly into prepared cake pans.

Bake the cake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with just a few moist crumbs, around 28 minutes. Turn the oven down to 325 degrees F to prepare it for the cheesecake. Let cake cool in their pan until mostly cool before turning it out onto wax paper to wrap and freeze. Freeze at least 30 minutes or until firm.

Make the cheesecake crust: Place the gingersnap cookie crumbs and salt in a small bowl. Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat and cook it, swirling occasionally, until it’s golden brown with a nutty aroma, around 4 minutes. Remove it from heat and pour it over the cookie crumbs. Toss with a fork to moisten all of the crumbs. Press into a thin layer covering the bottom and sides of the springform pan (at least 3 inches up the sides). It’s hard to get the crust up that high, but keep pressing the crumbs up from the bottom with a smooth-sided glass (twisting the glass as you do so, so the crumbs don’t stick) and working them around — you’ll want it that high to hold the cake layer. Patience helps with this step. Bake the crust for about 8 minutes.

Make the cheesecake: In a small bowl, mix the flour, pumpkin pie spice, brandy, and pumpkin and set this aside. In the bowl of a mixer, mix cream cheese, brown sugar, and regular sugar until well blended and creamy. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing between each, and continue mixing until combined. Add the pumpkin mixture and continue mixing until combined. Pour mixture into prepared crust and smooth the top with a spatula.

Bake for 1 hour 15 minutes to 1 hour 25 minutes or until center of cake is almost set. The top may crack, but it doesn’t particularly matter, since you’ll be covering it anyway. When it’s ready, turn the oven off and leave the door open at least 4 inches. Let the cheesecake sit in the oven for 30 minutes. Place the cheesecake on a wire rack to fully cool. When almost cool, place it in refrigerator to chill.

Make caramel sauce: Prepare an ice-water bath. Heat sugar and water in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat until mixture boils and sugar dissolves, washing down sides of pan often with a wet pastry brush to prevent crystals from forming. Reduce heat to medium, and cook until sugar turns dark amber (about 345 degrees on a candy thermometer), 5 to 7 minutes more. Immediately remove from heat, and carefully whisk in 1/2 cup cream. Return to medium heat, and cook until sugar melts completely and mixture boils.

Remove from heat, and pour into a bowl set in ice-water bath. Let caramel cool, stirring often, for 10 minutes. Stir in creme fraiche, vanilla, and salt. Cover and refrigerate until you’re ready to use it.

Assemble the cake: Smear a layer of caramel sauce on top of the cheesecake and carefully place your pumpkin cake layer on top. Pour the rest of the salted caramel on top of the cake layer. Chill for at least 3 hours before serving. Top with toasted pecans.

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Willow Bird Baking Challenge: Challenge #1!

I’ve been hinting on Willow Bird Baking’s Facebook page for a week now that a big challenge was coming your way, and now the wait is over! Here’s the first installment of my new Google Hangout series, Willow Bird Baking Challenge. In the 5-week series, I’ll introduce a new challenge each week that will require you to get creative and innovative in the kitchen. You can create your dish, bake it, and send me a photo before the following weekend. I’ll show off your masterpieces each weekend on Willow Bird Baking!

Are you ready to hear Challenge #1? Your completed challenge is due next Friday, October 5. Here you go!

And here’s the link to the “base” recipe for the cinnamon roll dough!

Happy brainstorming and baking!

Gooey “German” Pumpkin Skillet Cake

Everything I need to know in life, I am learning from my dog.

She’s a mess, but she’s an amazing little mess, and I learn a lot from how she lives her life. Here are all the ways she’s teaching me lately.

1. She takes time to smell the roses — literally (especially if the roses have recently been peed on, but I digress).

I only recently started to appreciate this about her; it used to annoy me. When I take her outside, I’m always in a hurry to get back inside, get to work, or get to bed. She likes to explore, though, sniffing each blade of grass with intense concentration, evaluating the pheromones of all the dogs there before her, finding interesting plants to pee on, and investigating the occasional mushroom. I’ve noticed with some sadness lately that she seems rushed and nervous, knowing I’m going to pull her away from her survey at any moment. Why am I in such a hurry? I’m resolving now to wake up a little earlier, stay outside with her a little longer, and maybe smell the roses (not as literally, perhaps) a little more myself.

2. She stays positive. She’s been limping recently due to a back injury, but I’ll be darned if she doesn’t limp right up to me with a bone in her mouth, ready to play fetch! Now that’s optimism. (And that’s also a guilt trip, since she knows I’m gonna say no!) Personally, if I get so much as a cold, I can become a huge Chocolate-Chip-Cookie-Dough-eating baby. I could use some of Byrd’s positive attitude.

3. She wiggles. It’s just cute! Okay, I guess it might be kind of weird if I start doing this one.

4. She asks for what she needs. I can be pretty passive at times. Sometimes I’m shy about my desires or needs, so I’ll just hint at them or hope people can read my mind. This can produce miscommunication and frustration. Byrd, on the other hand, is about as direct as she can possibly be. If she wants me to throw her bone, she sets it on my foot and howls like a banshee. When she needs to go out in the middle of the night, she stares at me and cries. When she wants her food, she spins in circles until I put her bowl down. She may not be verbal, but she makes her needs known, and therefore they get met. If I want my needs to be met, I need to be just as straightforward.

5. She lets people know that she loves them. However, she does this with full frontal licking attacks (sticking her tongue up my nostril is her favorite), so perhaps I should find different tactics. Perhaps.

6. She’s not perfect. Did I mention that she’s a mess? Evidence:

    -I had to take a sick day during the second week of school to take her to the vet because she periodically just kind of falls apart (knee, hip, back, allergies, upset tummy, you name it).
    -She’s one of those expensive fluff-balls you have to groom every month.
    -She had an accident in the floor today. And yesterday.
    -She also barks at loud noises (and soft noises. And silence.) Basically, this (language warning!).

She feels bad about these mistakes when admonished, but she’s resilient, and she continues to believe that she deserves my love. Why can’t we be like that? When I make a mistake, I feel like I just kicked a kitten or shut down a children’s hospital. I feel like I don’t deserve people’s mercy or love. But you know, there’s only so much you should punish yourself for goofing up!

7. She may be a mess, but she’s worth the trouble. And I am, too.

Even now, Byrd is teaching me. I’m currently learning all about the joys of relaxation from listening to her snore on the blanket beside me, sleeping off a busy day of pooping on my carpet. I’ll carry her into my bedroom in a moment for our bedtime, but before that, I wanted to tell you about possibly one of the best pumpkin recipes I’ve ever tasted. It’s not as cute as a fluffy poodle, but it is incredibly delicious (something poodles probably aren’t. I don’t ever want to find out if that’s true or not.)

This cake isn’t really “German” as in the nationality, but it includes the filling from German Chocolate Cakes (which are named in honor of Sam German, an American who created a product for Baker’s Chocolate.) It’s a moist, simple pumpkin skillet cake with a layer of gooey, rich toasted pecan and coconut filling ladled over top. Mike and I ate it with ice cream (duh) and a totally excessive drizzle of caramel sauce, swooning with every bite. You’re going to LOVE it.

What does your pet teach you?

One year ago: Cheap and Simple Taco Pockets
Two years ago: Gulab Jamun with Caramelized Bananas
Three years ago: Homemade Puff Pastry and Vol-au-vents
More WBB pumpkin recipes can be found here!

Gooey “German” Pumpkin Skillet Cake



Recipe by: Willow Bird Baking, with filling adapted from David Lebovitz
Yield: about 8 servings

This cake is INSANE and easy and you just have, have, have to make it. That is all.

Cake Ingredients:
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 cup pureed pumpkin
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
2 1/8 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/2 cup toasted pecans (optional, see note in directions)

“German” Filling Ingredients:
2/3 cup heavy cream
2/3 cup sugar
2 large egg yolks
2 ounces butter, cut into small pieces
1/3 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup pecans, toasted and finely chopped (see note in directions)
1 cup unsweetened coconut, toasted (see note in directions)

Directions:
Note: To toast your chopped pecans, spread them on a sheet pan and bake at 350 degrees F for about 6 minutes or until fragrant, stirring a couple of times. Toast coconut the same way, stirring often (it might take less time, however: maybe 4-5 minutes total). Don’t be scared and pull the nuts and coconut out when it’s pale — let it get good and dark, but not burnt.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. In a 10- or 12-inch cast iron skillet (I used a 10-inch) over medium heat, melt the butter. Stir in the vegetable oil, sugars, and vanilla and remove from heat. Let this mixture cool until the pan is no longer hot (about 5 minutes) so you won’t scramble your eggs.

Add both eggs to the butter mixture, whisking them well to combine. Whisk in the pumpkin. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, allspice (Note: it’s kind of lame to use another bowl for this and I think you should be able to just dump all your dry ingredients on top and whisk them in well, but I was too chicken to try. If you just dump them in, please let me know how it goes!)

Stir in the toasted pecans if you’re using them. Bake your skillet cookie for 15-35* minutes, or until the edges are getting golden and the center is still soft (a toothpick inserted into the center should come out with some moist crumbs, but no liquid batter).

While your cake bakes and then cools for a bit, make the filling. Place the butter, salt, toasted coconut, and toasted pecans in a medium bowl. In a small saucepan, heat the cream, sugar, and egg yolks over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture is thickened, coats the spoon, and reads 170 degrees F on a candy thermometer. Pour this mixture over the coconut mixture and stir until the butter melts. Let the mixture cool completely (I set mine in the fridge once it was almost cool to thicken it some more.) Spread the cooled mixture over the surface of the pumpkin cake. Eat immediately (preferably straight from the skillet, with heaps of vanilla bean ice cream!)

*Depending on your skillet, this cooking time can really vary. I’d start checking at 15 minutes and then check every couple of minutes after that with toothpicks. Make sure to look for moist crumbs, not a clean toothpick. If you overbake, it might be dry!

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Vanilla Custard Soaked Pumpkin Poke Cake

“What’s the cross-street?” the cab driver asked impatiently. I shifted my short orange skirt, uncomfortable by how it rode up my thighs as I sat on the sticky hot leather of the backseat.

“Um. I don’t know. I’m sorry; I’m not from here.”

“Do you have a phone where you could just look it up?” his voice was tinged with annoyance now.

“Um. No. I have a paper map.” His grunted response indicated that this wasn’t helpful. He slammed on the accelerator with the jolt I was becoming accustomed to in New York City cabs. I rolled my window down halfway to breathe in the mixture of exhaust and asphalt as we swerved our way out of Brooklyn.

My night until now had been filled with strange new experiences. I was wading through New York alone, and since the months leading up to this trip had been so emotionally difficult, I found myself seeing every street through a gauzy shroud. Everything looked gray and artsy. I accepted each new sensation like a confused guard — noticing its approach, unsure whether to welcome it or block it out. So far, though, I’d chosen to be rather hospitable, embracing the unusual slick of makeup across my cheeks and lips, some uncharacteristically chic earrings weighing down each lobe, and a solitary foray into the chaotic Brooklyn evening.

The neon glow of La Esquina, a corner taqueria and café, had cradled me in the darkness, lighting my way but hiding my uncertainty. The hostess looked just like Jessica Alba. She was wearing a tutu dress with a gorgeous back tattoo. I tried both on mentally, wondering if either tutus or body art was another sensation to embrace while I was feeling experimental. She tugged a table out from the wall to let me squeeze into the booth behind it, passing me one lonely menu and a sweet smile.

With the firm booth underneath me boosting my confidence, I looked around at the tiny café. People with hip hairstyles were drinking pretty drinks all around me. A wall of books decorated the back wall. Waiters kept their cool in the middle of chaos, sweeping steaming plates from the kitchen to each table. Looking over, I was suddenly sure that the pretty blonde next to me was Cate Blanchett. But I barely batted an eyelash; I played it New-York-cool.

I found myself torn between different choices on the menu — food always shapes a place for me, and New York had been no exception so far. The NYC atmosphere wasn’t comprised of skyscrapers, but of the thin, blistered slices of cheese pizza from the hole-in-the-wall pizzeria I slid into no more than an hour after arriving. It was built with the thick, seeded bagel I bought at Murray’s one sunny morning, with the skin that resisted my bite and the mound of smoked salmon and fresh whitefish salad tucked inside. It was cobbled together from wedges of Momofuku’s rich crack pie, layered with chocolate and pretzels, and tall bottles of the cereal milk that invoked my childhood’s empty breakfast bowls.

So the choice ahead of me was consequential. I knew whatever ended up on my plate that night would be the shape of Brooklyn in my memory.

I don’t usually drink, but then again I don’t usually walk around New York alone, peer down at a city from 86 floors up the Empire State Building, scale boulders in Central Park, or find myself sitting beside movie stars. So when a white sangria caught my eye on the menu, I ordered it (and a coke on the side). I took a few sips as I considered the tacos. The sweet-sharp wine and bitter citrus — along with the gorgeous guacamole Cate was eating beside me — made me crave something salty and fresh. I finally settled on a plate of the pulled pork tacos. The first bite painted Brooklyn neon-gorgeous: the crisp corn tortillas boasted mounds of succulent roast pork, jalapeños, shreds of cabbage, and pale pink pickled radishes. I squeezed a spritz of lime juice on before I devoured the tacos, trying to sip my sangria demurely between each greedy bite and listening to the hum of conversation around me.

It was after that amazing meal that I ended up in the cab with the only rude driver (and the only rude person in general, for that matter) I’d encountered in New York so far. I accepted his angst as a quaint tourist attraction, a phenomenon I had to encounter to say I’d really experienced the city. Then I muted the blaring television mounted on the back of his seat and settled in for the ride back to my hotel.

I’ve been back in Charlotte for months now, but all of my New York memories came flooding back recently as I read about the city in Luisa Weiss’s new book, My Berlin Kitchen. The book is a love story, a story of place, a memoir, a cookbook — so many different things. I’ve been a bit disillusioned with cookbooks lately. Everyone has one and they’re all beautiful, but the focus is on the food. Maybe it sounds odd or counter-intuitive for a food blogger to say the focus shouldn’t be the food, but I always feel like people can find recipes anywhere. There are websites and books full of great dishes, cooking tips and techniques, and reviews.

What I’m looking for in a food blog — and, I now realize, even in a cookbook — is a person. I want the intersection of a person’s fragile or sacred moments and the food that carries them through. I want to be invited in. In My Berlin Kitchen, Luisa opens the door, invites you in, and even serves you some cake. The beautiful, personal nature of the narrative and its gorgeous food descriptions make it such a wonderful book to settle onto the couch with. I hope you’ll pick up a copy.

Luisa spends most of her memoir trying to pinpoint “home,” so with my story of being a stranger in a strange land, I bring you a dash of the familiar. This homey, comforting, moist pumpkin cake is soaked in an indulgent cinnamon-vanilla custard before receiving its golden broiled icing. It’s simple to make and a lovely way to welcome fall.

What are food memories you have from different places you’ve visited?

One year ago: Pumpkin Spice Pull-Apart Bread with Butter Rum Glaze
Two years ago: Assorted Donut Muffins
Three years ago: Mini-Pies: Pumpkin, Peach Crisp, and Sour Cream Apple

Vanilla Custard Soaked Pumpkin Poke Cake



Recipe by: Adapted from America’s Test Kitchen’s Oatmeal Snack Cake with Broiled Icing, totally inspired by Kristan’s Oreo Poke Cake
Yield: 9 servings

The moist pumpkin cake on its own is a huge hit, so imagine the deliciousness that ensues when you flood it with a sweet, warm cinnamon-vanilla custard. The resulting dessert is velvety and filled with autumnal goodness.

Cake Ingredients:
1 cup (3 ounces) quick-cooking oats*
3/4 cup water, room temperature
3/4 cup (3 3/4 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 cup pumpkin
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup (3 1/2 ounces) granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed (3 1/2 ounces) dark brown sugar
1 large egg, room temperature
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Vanilla Custard Ingredients:
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoons flour
3/4 cup milk
3 tablespoons sugar
1/8 teaspoon vanilla
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon cardamom

Broiled Icing Ingredients:
1/4 cup packed (1 3/4 ounces) dark brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
3 tablespoons milk
1 cup sweetened shredded coconut
1/2 cup (2 1/2 ounces) pecans, chopped

Directions:
Make the cake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Create a foil sling for an 8-inch square pan: cut two 16-inch lengths of foil and fold them to widths of 5 inches each. Fit foil pieces into baking dish, one overlapping the other, pushing them into corners and up sides of pan; allow excess to overhang pan edges. Cut two more pieces of the same size and arrange them in the same way, except perpendicular to the first two. This creates a sling that will help you remove the cake after baking and cooling. Spray foil lightly with nonstick cooking spray.

Combine the oats, pumpkin puree, and water in medium bowl and let sit until water is absorbed, about 5 minutes. In another medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg together.

In a separate large bowl, cream together the butter and sugars for a few minutes until the mixture resembles damp sand (scraping down the bowl as needed). Add the egg and vanilla and mix until combined. Add the flour mixture in 2 batches, mixing until just incorporated after each addition. Add the oat mixture and mix until just combined. Stir the mixture by hand to make sure everything is combined.

Glop the batter into the prepared pan and tap it against the counter a few times to ditch any air bubbles. Smooth the surface with a spatula. Bake the cake, rotating halfway through baking, until a toothpick inserted into center comes out with few moist crumbs attached, about 28 to 32 minutes. Let the cake cool in the pan for about 10 minutes while you make the custard.

Make the custard: Slowly melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat. Remove from the stove and stir in the flour until it’s blended. Add the milk and return to the heat, stirring as you add the sugar. Continue stirring, bringing the mixture to a boil and boiling for about a minute. Remove the pan from the heat and add vanilla, cinnamon, and cardamom. Let the mixture cool for a few minutes as you use the handle of a wooden spoon to poke holes every inch or so over the cake. Pour the warm custard over the cake evenly. Let the cake continue to cool while you make the icing.

Make the icing: Move the oven rack to around 9 inches away from the broiler heating element and preheat the broiler. In a medium bowl, whisk together the brown sugar, cinnamon, melted butter, and milk. Stir in the coconut and pecans before spreading the mixture evenly over the top of the cake. Broil the cake, keeping a close eye on it and rotating as needed, until topping is bubbling and golden, about 3 to 5 minutes. Let the cake cool in pan until it’s cool enough to pop into the fridge. Chill it for at least 2 hours before serving. Use the sling to pull the cake gently out of the pan. Cut it into squares and transfer to a platter or serving plates; discard the foil. Heat each serving for 30 seconds to a minute in the microwave before serving to remove the chill.

*ATK’s notes: Do not use old-fashioned or instant oats for this recipe. Be sure to use a metal baking dish; glass pans are not recommended when broiling. A vertical sawing motion with a serrated knife works best for cutting through the crunchy icing and tender crumb.


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