Archive for the ‘sweet rolls’ Category

So… October’s over… I’m sure you’ve noticed…

It just occurred to me that I haven’t shared any pumpkin recipes with you. At all. And here we are, staring November down already.

Not that there’s any great shortage of pumpkin recipes sitting in your Google Reader these days… and not that pumpkin cookies and muffins and breads haven’t been spewing forth from my kitchen in the past four weeks… because, good grief, they have been.

But I won’t let you down. Can I show you some wonderfully fluffy, sticky pumpkin rolls that will make all your troubles melt away? That’s not a bad deal, if you ask me.

Again, the secret ingredient here is the Instant Yeast that I’m in love with. So, so so so easy. One rise! Count ‘em, ONE. Cinnamon rolls just got that much faster. Throw in some pumpkin and a few spices, and they just got that much tastier. And cream cheese icing? Good heavens, somebody knock me out.

Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls

adapted from Bakers’ Banter

Ingredients:

for dough:

4 to 4-1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup canned pumpkin

2 eggs

2-4 Tablespoons lukewarm milk

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) soft butter

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ginger

1/4 teaspoon cloves

4 Tablespoons brown sugar

1-1/2 teaspoons salt

2 teaspoons Instant yeast (such as SAF)

for filling:

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1-2 Tablespoons ground cinnamon

1/4 cup melted butter

raisins, optional

chopped pecans, optional

for icing:

1 Tablespoon butter, room temperature

1 oz. cream cheese, room temperature

2 cups powdered sugar

Milk, enough to make it drizzling consistency (about 3-4 Tablespoons, or more)

Directions:

In a large mixing bowl, combine 1-1/2 cups of the flour with all the rest of the dough ingredients. Mix until smooth. Stir in enough of the remaining flour to make a soft, slightly sticky dough. Knead until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Set dough aside to rest about 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, mix together the cinnamon and sugar for the filling, and melt the butter on low.

On a lightly-greased surface, roll out the dough into a 14″ by 20″ rectangle. Pour the melted butter onto the dough and spread around with a spoon or pastry brush. Leave one of the long edges free of butter for about 1 inch. Sprinkle the cinnamon and sugar over the butter, and sprinkle on the pecans and raisins, if desired.

Starting with the long end that’s covered with filling, roll the dough into a log. Cut the log into quarters (you may want to trim off the edges) and cut each quarter into thirds, making 12 rolls total.

Place the rolls into a lightly greased 9 x 13″ baking dish, and cover with a damp cloth. Let the rolls rise in a warm place until they are fluffy and nearly doubled in size (about 40-50 minutes). Near the end of the rising time, preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Bake the rolls uncovered at 375 degrees for about 25-30 minutes, or until they are lightly browned and feel set. Remove them from the oven and set them on a rack. Turn them out of the pan, and allow them to cool for 10-15 minutes. During the cooling time, make the icing.

To make the icing: Cream the butter and cream cheese together until smooth. Add the powdered sugar, and mix until smooth. Stir in the milk, a tablespoon at a time, until the icing reaches a good drizzling consistency. When the rolls have cooled for about 15 minutes, drizzle the icing over them, or brush it on with a pastry brush. Let the rolls sit for another 5 minutes, and then dig in!

Sunday is my baking day. Not my only baking day, you understand, but my favorite one. By a long shot.

Check it out. I get home from church, kick off my shoes, and don the cute plaid apron. Wha-BAM! The flour starts flying. But, you know… in a peaceful, Sunday sort of way.

Sunday afternoons are just about the loveliest time for me. I can put my little boy down for a nap, turn on some pretty Sunday-ish music, throw something in the oven, sit and read for a while, and enjoy the sunlight streaming through the muslin curtains on my west-facing kitchen window.

Then, before you know it, there’s something warm and delicious - like this sweet carrot pineapple bread - that my husband and I can sit down and share together. And you know what? I think that’s the sweetest thing of all.

When do you like to bake? I wanna hear.

Carrot Pineapple Bread

adapted from The Taste of Home Baking Book

Ingredients:

3 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

3/4 teaspoon salt

3 eggs

2 cups shredded carrots

1 cup vegetable oil

1 can (8 oz) crushed pineapple, drained

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts (optional)

Directions:

Preheat the oven for 350 degrees F. In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. In another bowl, beat the eggs; add carrots, oil, pineapple, and vanilla. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. The batter will be very thick. Fold in nuts, if desired.

Spoon into two greased 8-in. by 4-in. loaf pans. Bake for 50-70 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes on a wire rack. Remove loaves from pans and cool completely on wire racks.

(Note: This bread was great the day-of, but it wasn’t until after I wrapped it up and let it sit over night, that I fell in love with it.)

I think people underestimate the value of a good cry.

I’m not just talking about crying in general - I’m talking about the hard-core, tear-jerking-movie-induced, that’s-what-I-get-for-investing-myself-emotionally-in-the-characters kind of cry. The kind where you give up trying to keep the tears inside the brim of your eyelids, and you stop trying to invent discreet ways to send your hand up to your face. You could even blow your nose and not be ashamed a bit. That kind of a good cry. And then the credits role, and you feel so much better than when the movie started. It’s so healthy for you.

Tonight I watched Shadowlands with Anthony Hopkins and Debra Winger. Rather, I watched the movie Shadowlands, which stars Anthony Hopkins and Debra Winger. And really, I’m a different person now. If you’re feeling up to an emotionally draining, rewarding, deeply moving, beautiful movie, go get Shadowlands. Grab a box of tissue, a fleece blanket, fuzzy socks, and a cup of hot cocoa. Turn off your phone, turn off all the lights, turn off the pesky movie critic in your head, and press play. And be sure to find a trusted friend, spouse, sister, mom, or cat to enjoy it with.

Now, for an unbelievably tasty, crazy-moist cake that really has absolutely nothing to do with crying.

Space Needle Cake. It’s nothing more or less than a simple, decadent chocolate cake, but where’s the fun in that? I’ll continue to call it Space Needle Cake for as long as I live, because I love the reactions and curiosity I get from people when they hear the name.

Now, why the name Space Needle? Well, for no other reason than that that was the name that it had when I was given the recipe. I got it from my mom several years ago, who got it from an old college roommate, who got it from somebody else, and I’m not sure how far back the chain goes. The story is that this is the chocolate cake recipe that is (or was) served at a restaurant at the Space Needle in Seattle, Washington. Is that true? I have no idea. Does it matter? No. This rich, chocolatey, insanely moist cake brings smiles and groans of pleasure to everyone it comes in contact with, so I’m not terribly concerned with it’s nebulous origin. And Space Needle Cake is still a great name.

Although this recipe makes two 8-inch round layers, I chose to make the recipe twice so I could have a tall, dramatic three-layer cake. And so I could hand over the fourth layer to someone special.

Space Needle Cake

adapted from an unknown source probably relating somehow to the Space Needle

Ingredients:

1 stick of butter, room temperature

2 cups sugar

3 eggs

3/4 cup vegetable oil

1/3 - 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup boiling water

1/2 cup buttermilk

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

For the chocolate ganache:

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

1-1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

In a small mixing bowl, mix together flour, salt, and baking soda, and set aside. In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. Add eggs, oil, cocoa, and vanilla, and beat until smooth. Mix in the boiling water. Mix in the flour mixture and the buttermilk alternately, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Mix just until smooth. The batter will be very thin.

Pour batter into two prepared 8-inch round pans. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Let the cake cool in the pans on a cooling rack for 10-15 minutes, then invert onto the cooling rack. Cool completely before covering with icing or chocolate ganache.

For the ganache, bring the whipping cream to a boil in a medium saucepan. Pour the boiling cream over the chocolate chips in a medium mixing bowl. Let stand for 2-3 minutes, then stir until completely smooth.

When covering the cake with ganache, first cover the edges of the serving platter with several 6-inch squares of wax paper, forming a circle of wax paper pieces. Place the cake on top. Go crazy with ganache. When you’re done, slowly pull each piece of wax paper out from under the cake, to reveal a clean, ganache-free platter.

***(High altitude baking adjustments: Add an extra egg, reduce boiling water by 1-2 Tablespoons, and reduce baking soda by 1/8 teaspoon. Increase oven temperature by 20 degrees and bake until done, about 25-30 minutes.)

Friends, I have good news.

1. Sometimes I make treats for myself to eat.