Pumpkin Doughnuts/Muffins (From Mrs. P.)

Ok, so these are pretty much amazing. I think. :) They're super-duper moist, super-duper pumpkin-y, and...not too terribly sweet! I did have a few that tasted a bit too...much like baking soda. Maybe a mixing problem, and maybe because there's either too much baking soda or not enough sugar. Either way.
I do want to try substituting honey for the brown sugar...just because I like honey, and because I like substituting things. :) So, according to this website, it's a bit up to taste. (By the way, there are 4 Tablespoons in a quarter cup.) I think I'll try a 1/4 cup of honey. Then do a 1/4 cup buttermilk, not a 1/2 cup, reduce the oven temperature to 325, and see what happens! Normally, it says to increase the baking soda in a recipe as well by a 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda per cup of honey. However, since this'll be such a small amount of honey, and since I already think it tastes a bit too much like...baking soda...we'll try it without that little addition. :)

"Doughnuts"
Makes 12 very small muffins, but I think they're just the right size. You could...try putting a big spread of nutella in the middle to make them taller...just sayin'. :)
The recipe is from a book called "Deceptively Delicious," by Jessica Seinfeld. Her website is here

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup canned pumpkin puree

1/2 cup sweet potato puree

1/2 cup buttermilk

1 large egg white

1 tablespoon soft tub margarine, melted

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice

1/4 cup powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350. Coat a doughnut mold or 12-cup mini-muffin tin (I used regular muffin pans) with cooking spray

In a large bowl, beat together the sugar, pumpkin, and sweet potato purees, milk, egg white, margarine, and vanilla. Add the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and spice, and mix until completely incorporated.

If making into doughnuts:
              Pour the batter into a gallon-sized plastic bag or pastry bag, and cut the bottom tip off of one side of the bag. Squeeze the batter through, into the doughnut mold.
If making into muffins:
             Spoon into the muffin tins. Makes 12 muffins.
Bake until the tops are lightly browned and a toothpick comes out clean when inserted, 15 to 25 minutes. Turn out onto a rack to cool. When cool, dust with powdered sugar.

Almost-but-not-quite Chocolate Souffle Cake




(Note: I am quite sure about the chocolate part. The "almost-but-not-quite" bit refers to the souffle-ness of the cake. Since this cake gets its lightness from egg whites, it is similar to a regular old souffle. However...it gets more moisture, yumminess, and...yes, fat...from the egg yolks that are used in addition to the egg whites. On the other hand, it means that you only waste one egg yolk, instead of all of the egg yolks you would have had to throw out had you made a proper souffle! Think on that and be encouraged. :))
I made this for our church's birthday Sunday--it was, after all, my birthday today--and thought it turned out to be more like lighter brownies than cake. It was very yummy, and the texture was nice...but really worth all of the effort it took? I haven't decided yet. Maybe I just need more practice at making souffles. Sigh.  

(This recipe is originally from here.) 


Ingredients:
1/2 cup semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate chips
½ cup plus 1/3 cup granulated sugar, divided
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/8 tsp salt
½ cup boiling water
2 large eggs, separated, at room temperature
½ tsp pure vanilla extract
¼ cup all-purpose flour
3 large egg whites, at room temperature
½ tsp lemon juice
2 to 3 tsp powdered sugar for dusting

Preheat oven to 375°F. Line the bottom of an 8-inch springform pan with a round of parchment paper and line the inside circumference with a strip of parchment. (Since it was for birthday Sunday, and thus to be shared with many more people, I baked it in a 9x9" square pyrex dish. Yeah, yeah...not the best. Maybe that's why I wasn't completely satisfied with it.)

Combine the chocolate, ¼ cup sugar, cocoa and salt in a medium bowl. Pour in the boiling water and whisk until mixture is smooth and the chocolate is completely melted. Let cool while you beat the egg yolks.

In a separate bowl, beat egg yolks with vanilla extract using an electric mixer on high speed until blended. Gradually beat in ¼ cup sugar until pale yellow and thick, about 2 minutes. Fold in chocolate mixture using a rubber spatula until well combined.

Combine the egg whites and lemon juice in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat on medium-high speed until soft peaks form. Gradually add remaining 1/3 cup of sugar and beat on high speed until stiff but not dry peaks form.

Sift flour into chocolate mixture and fold it in until well blended. Quickly fold about a one third of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture to lighten it, and then gently fold in the remaining egg whites in two parts. Pour batter into prepared pan and gently smooth the top if necessary.

Bake until puffed and cracked at the surface, about 30 minutes. A toothpick or wooden skewer inserted into the center should come out with a few moist crumbs clinging to it. Cool the pan on a wire rack. The torte will sink as it cools like a soufflé should.

Remove the sides of the pan and pull off the parchment paper. Using a fine mesh sieve, sift a little powdered sugar over the top and serve with a little whipped cream if desired.

Peach sandwich scone recipe

Okay, so this is pretty much an amazing recipe. Basically just because we went on a...peaches "kick" for about a week and a half. That is, until our peaches ran out. With the remnants of our bushel of peaches, we made peach butter! Which is also amazing. Recipe to follow, hopefully.
I'm afraid we ate all of these before I could take a picture of them...so you'll just have to trust me that they are wonderful and tasty and scrumptious and...yup. :) All of those adjectives.

Peach sandwich scone recipe

1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

4 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

2 dashes salt

2 tablespoons chilled butter or 2 tablespoons margarine, cut into small pieces

2/3 cup yogurt--vanilla, plain, peach...whatever. :) If you decide to go for peach or vanilla, you might want to    take out some of the sugar. 

1-2 ripe peaches, sliced thin

1/4 cup buttermilk, for brushing

1 tablespoon granulated sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a bowl. Cut in butter with a pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add yogurt to flour mixture, stirring just until moist.

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead lightly 4 or 5 times; dough may be slightly sticky. If the butter has warmed too much in the making of the dough, shape the batter into a dish, wrap in plastic wrap, and let rest in the fridge for 15 minutes.  If the butter is still cool, shape the dough into a disk and, on a well floured surface, roll dough to a little less than 1/2-inch thickness.  My dough was about 12-inches long and 10-inches tall.  The dough will be rolled just thinner than a biscuit dough that you would cut biscuits from.

Brush half of the rolled out dough with buttermilk.  Arrange peach slices, in a single layer, across the buttermilk moistened dough.  Sprinkle with half of the cinnamon sugar mixture.  Carefully fold the empty side of dough over the peach sliced layer.  Press gently together.  Add a bit of flour to your hands and press the edges of the dough in, creating more of a rectangle shape than a half circle shape.  Using a floured knife, slice dough into sixteen even pieces.

Place dough on prepared baking sheets, leaving about 1 inch of room around each scone for spread while baking.  If dough has warmed, and feels mushy, place in the fridge for 20 minutes to rechill.  Remove from the fridge.  Brush each scone top with buttermilk, and sprinkle with remaining cinnamon sugar.

Bake scones for 15-18 minutes, until golden brown and cooked through.  Remove from oven and allow to cool for 15 minutes before serving.  Scones are best served warm, on the day they’re made, with soft butter.
(Or you can do what we did...make them the night before, and then eat them on the road, on our way down to Dallas the next morning. :)