The man I am with now...my sweetheart, my love... is not a food lover. In fact, he will proudly tell you that if it were possible to get his nutritional quota from a daily pill, he would take it, and dispense with meals altogether. Every meal we have ever eaten out, comes with specific instructions to the waiter about what to add, or more likely remove, from his carefully selected menu choice. His idea of a gourmet meal is a burger with a fried egg on top. Our first date was at Red Robin... I think you get the idea. But I do have to give him a little credit... he can make some killer barbeque chicken! So, some of you may be thinking that I went from one extreme to the other. Where's the happy medium here, between the guy who loves food and the guy who eats only to survive?
I'll tell you what... It's me. I'm the happy medium... because now I get to be the star of my own kitchen. My ex-husband had a rather large ego when it came to cooking, and the result of this was that there was no room for me in the kitchen, literally and figuratively. I know that if we had stayed together, my culinary skills and dreams would have gone untapped. With him around, there was only room for one chef in the house, and unfortunately, it wasn't me. But now... I can putter around my kitchen, experimenting and creating to my heart's content! And my sweetheart, my AJ, is my number one supporter. Though he is most certainly not a foodie, he does love a good dessert every now and then, and willingly tastes all of my creations.
When I bring desserts in to work to test out on my co-workers, he brags about my dishes as if he were my paid marketing director... which I'm guessing is how I got "volunteered" to bring dessert to a party this past Saturday night. He is currently in school working on a Masters degree, and he and his program cohort were celebrating their last day of classes on Saturday. When AJ first mentioned the party to me, he sheepishly said that he hoped it was okay, but that he had volunteered me to make the dessert for the party... thought it was a good venue to test out some of my recipes. And of course, he was right. Part of me wanted to jump for joy that he thought I was up to the challenge, and part of me wanted to run and hide and tell him that I wasn't ready yet. So after some last minute panic and second thoughts, I did it. And it was a success! I got wonderful compliments from the guests and I left there on Cloud Nine. Oh yeah, and did I mention that the husband of the woman hosting the party is a trained chef? And not just any old chef, but a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, the most prestigious culinary school in the U.S....ummm... AJ forgot to mention those details when he signed me up for this gig... But Chef John was a great guy, totally supportive of my culinary attempts, and I thoroughly enjoyed talking with him and perusing his extensive culinary book collection... all in all, a magical evening.
One of the desserts I brought on Saturday was a new one for me. While it's not usually a good idea to bring a "never-been-tried" recipe to a party, this one turned out to be a hit. It is a Pumpkin Spice Cake with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting. The recipe was one I found in the "Art and Soul of Baking" book by Cindy Mushet. This first time I made it, I followed the recipe exactly, though when I make it again, I will most likely tweak the frosting a bit. It came out too runny and kept wanting to slide off the cake (it didn't help that I ran out of time and didn't actually level the cake!). The recipe calls for using maple syrup, which has a nice flavor, but I plan to cut back on the amount used. I would start out with half the amount, so a quarter cup, and then add more if needed. The other thing I might try is a little bit of maple extract to bring out a stronger maple flavor. I will list the recipe as it is originally written, and you can modify it as I've suggested or not. Without further ado, here it is...
with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting
Cake:- 1 stick unsalted butter, room temp
- 1 1/2 cups firmly packed light brown sugar
- 2 large eggs, room temp.
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1 cup canned pumpkin puree
- 2 cups sifted cake flour*
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp ground allspice
- 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/8 tsp ground cloves
- 1/2 cup buttermilk, room temp.
Frosting:
- 12 oz cream cheese, room temp.
- 3/4 stick unsalted butter, room temp.
- 1/2 cup plus 1 Tbsp pure maple syrup, preferably grade C
- 1 3/4 cups sifted confectioners sugar
- 1 cup pecan pieces, toasted and finely chopped**
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and position rack in center of oven. Butter 9 inch round cake pan, and fit with a round of parchment paper. (Note: If you are using a dark or non-stick coated pan, you will need to turn the heat down by 25 degrees, otherwise your cake will cook too quickly on the outer edges but will not get done in the middle.)
2. Beat the butter and brown sugar with mixer on med-high until very light in color, 4 to 5 minutes. Scrape down bowl with spatula.
3. Beat the eggs and vanilla in a small bowl to blend. With the mixer on medium, add the eggs to the butter mixture about 1 Tbsp at a time, allowing each addition to blend before adding the next. Halfway through, scrape down the bowl, then continue adding eggs as before. Add the pumpkin and blend well.
4. With a fine-mesh strainer, sift the cake flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg and cloves into the bowl and whisk to blend. With the mixer on the lowest speed, add the flour mixture and the buttermilk alternately. Begin with 1/3 of the flour mixture, then half the buttermilk, then another 1/3 of flour, then the rest of the buttermilk, then the final amount of flour. Scrape the bowl and finish blending by hand.
5. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake for about 1 hour, or until the top is firm to the touch and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Transfer to rack to cool completely.
6. Make the frosting: Place the cream cheese and butter in a medium bowl and blend with a mixer until smooth. Add the maple syrup and confectioner's sugar and mix thoroughly. Scrape bowl down and blend again briefly.
7. Once cake has cooled, run a thin flexible knife or spatula around the edge of the pan to loosen the cake. Place a cake cardboard or large plate on top of pan and flip over so that the cake is on the plate. Lift the cake pan off, leaving the parchment paper on the cake. Flip again so the cake is right side up. Level the cake if necessary. Using a serrated knife slice the cake horizontally into two layers. (Note: Or you can do what I did, and make two batches of the cake recipe so that you have two 9" layers, for a larger, taller cake.)
8. Place the top half of the cut cake on a serving plate, with the cut side up. With an icing spatula or thin flexible knife, spread a generous 1/2 cup of frosting evenly over the surface. Flip over the bottom half of the cake on top of the frosting with the parchment side up. Remove the parchment and use the remainder of the frosting to cover the top and sides of the cake. Press the toasted pecan pieces into the sides of the cake. Serve immediately or refrigerate until needed.
Storing: The cake will keep refrigerated for 3 days. It is best served at cool room temp. and should be taken out of the fridge 30 to 45 minutes before serving.
* The cake flour should be sifted first, then measured. An easier way to do this is to use a small kitchen scale if you have one, and sift out 7 ounces of flour (which equals 2 cups of sifted flour). You could also sift the flour directly over a large glass measuring cup until you get to the 2 cup line.
** The pecans should be toasted first before chopping them into small pieces. You can toast the pecans on a baking sheet at 350 degrees for 7 to 9 minutes.
I hope you enjoy this recipe. And as always, let me know what you think!
- Colleen
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