They gots stuffs in thems!

Recently my mom sent me a couple boxes of some vegetarian gelatin substitute. I’ve been in a very use-up-all-the-little-odds-and-ends mood, so in the spirit of Valentine’s Day I created some  jiggly, romantic little hearts.

Pomegranate yay!

I still had a couple of 16 oz. bottles of Pom Wonderful juice sitting in the fridge, and considering each box of fake gelatin called for 16 oz. of liquid, how could I NOT make pomegranate Jell-O?

Big or little, both were delicious.

I also had a couple of pomegranates sadly getting older in the fridge so I added them for crunchy awesomeness reasons. And for a little romantic mysteriousness, I included a splash of rose water.

Kinda sorta heart-shaped?

The fakey gelatin stuff (which is from Natural Desserts and is vegan, gluten-free and Kosher…here are the ingredients: Vegetable Gum, Adipic Acid, Tapioca Dextrin, Calcium Phosphate, Potassium Citrate) works great and it’s not brittle like agar agar or gummy like pectin. The only real difference is that it had to be added in powdered form while the juice was boiling hot, whisked in and poured into molds immediately. It sets up CRAZY fast and it was actually kind of hard to get the pomegranate arils into some of the small hearts – I had to kind of throw them in to get them to not just sit on the surface.

The recipe below is how you’d make this with real gelatin.

Squooshy & juicy.

Jiggly Pomegranate Hearts

1. 1/4 oz. Knox gelatin
2. 16 oz. (2 cups) Pom Wonderful 100% pomegranate juice, chilled
3. 1/8 tsp rose water
4. 1/4 cup fresh pomegranate arils

Bloom the gelatin in 4 oz. (1/2 cup) of juice. In the meantime, bring the rest of the juice to a boil. Remove from heat and stir in the rose water, then whisk in the gelatin mixture until completely dissolved. Pour into heart-shaped molds and/or ramekins and add arils. Chill until set, about 3 hours.

Because there is no added sugar in this recipe, it’s actually quite healthy, and the rose water adds a slight floral sweetness that counteracts the tart pomegranate juice. The arils are beautifully suspended like jewels and the whole thing really is pretty romantic.

You remake them.

What do you do if you’re REALLY busy with school and life in general and don’t have the time to remake them for another couple of weeks?

You remake them when you finally have some time and send them out as “screw your New Year’s diet” treats! (For all intents and purposes, you readers are encouraged to also think of these as Ideas for Next Year.)

I got little wax paper bags for them and everything!

First up: the one thing that did turn out right, one of the only truly foolproof things that comes out of my kitchen. Marshmallows!

Spicy and delicious!

From the shape you can probably guess what flavor they are. Yeah, gingerbread!!

I actually ended up making these, realized they were thinner than I originally planned on so they would NOT work as giant fluffy cubes, and had to go all the way to NY Cake & Bake like three days later for their tiniest gingerbread man cutter. Somehow I restrained myself from buying anything else while I was there.

Oh noooooo!

I was originally just going to put a pinch of this spice, an eighth of a teaspoon of that spice…but then I decided that I also wanted to be able to roll the marshmallows in a blend of spices and powdered sugar instead of just straight up sugar, to maximize their spicy taste, so I made my own gingerbread spice blend. I have plenty left over for anytime I want gingerbread flavor – it would make a great addition to hot cocoa, cookies, coffee even. It would also make a nifty gift for anyone who is interested in baking but doesn’t really have a giant collection of odd spices and such like I do.

Pretty presentation.

Gingerbread Marshmallows

1. 1/2 oz. powdered gelatin
2. 1/2 cup cold water
3. 2 cups sugar
4. 1/3 cup + 2 Tbsp light corn syrup
5. 1 Tbsp + 1 tsp molasses
6. 1/4 cup water
7. 1/4 tsp salt
8. 2 tsp gingerbread spice blend (formula to follow), plus more for coating
9. Powdered sugar

In the bowl of a stand mixer, bloom the gelatin in the cold water for 5 minutes. Place the sugar, corn syrup, molasses and water in a saucepan and cook over high heat until it comes to a rolling boil. Pour over the gelatin and beat with the paddle attachment on high (you can start at a lower speed if it’s really splattery at first but once it starts to fluff up turn it way up) for 8-10 minutes, until white and fluffy but not too stiff. While it beats, line a rectangular casserole dish or a smallish sheet pan with greased plastic wrap. Also grease a spatula. Beat in the salt and spice blend. Use the greased spatula to move the marshmallow blob to the chosen greased, lined receptacle and smooth out the top as much as you can. Cover with another piece of greased plastic wrap and let set for at least 3 hours. Once completely set, prepare a shallow bowl or pan of powdered sugar/gingerbread spice mixture (about 1/2 Tbsp spice for every cup of powdered sugar). Coat whatever tool you are using to cut the marshmallows (knife, scissors, cookie cutter) in the sugar mixture and toss every cut piece thoroughly in the spiced sugar. Keeps well in an airtight container or bag for 1-2 months.

Gingerbread Spice Blend

1. 2 parts ground cinnamon
2. 2 parts ground ginger
3. 1 part ground nutmeg (I used freshly grated)
4. 1 part ground cloves
5. 1 part ground allspice (I crushed whole berries in a mortar & pestle)

In my case, I just had a “part” equal a Tablespoon. You could increase this as much as you wanted, but I wouldn’t decrease it by more than half, just so you have enough to coat the marshmallows.

These are adorable and spicy-delicious. I wish everything else had come out so effortlessly adorable but that’s what this weekend is for (well, this weekend is REALLY for finishing a big school project, but it’s also for re-making things I’m still pissed about screwing up in the first place).

There were cupcakes…LOTS of cupcakes…

My first intoxicating taste of quince and teaching myself to pipe buttercream roses.

Putting my mom's homemade liqueur to good use and making the most gorgeous buttercream ever, plus my first pastry cream.

My first foray into the wonderful world of salty-sweet desserts and still one of my favorite cupcakes.

The pinkest cupcake I ever did make and my first taste of pink peppercorns.

Trying out polenta for the first time, though it would be months before I actually ate it in non-baked good form.

Becoming addicted to the chewy, gluten-free and super easy treats that are mochi cupcakes.

Browning butter for the very first and certainly not the last time, and creating a cupcake that was so amazing I still catch myself thinking about it at random times.

Updating my old faithful pumpkin cupcake recipe with a decadent new filling.

Getting REALLY experimental with some funky freeze-dried astronaut food and a little help from a fellow cupcake enthusiast.

Taking my love for salty-sweet to new extremes with fancy salts and one SERIOUSLY chocolatey cupcake.

Damn, cupcakes are great. I’m hoping I’ll have the time to get back into Cupcake Hero in the new year, and I’m eagerly awaiting the return of Iron Cupcake: Earth. I’d love for the theme of ICE to stay a little abstract, like it was in October with the music theme – I had SO MUCH FUN making both of my entries into successful, adorable, delicious realities.

Moving on…if you’re familiar with my blog at all, then you already know all about my slight addiction to making ice creams and other awesome frozen desserts. Let’s see some of the best inventions I came up with…

The sexiest ice cream photo ever...and my revelation on making successful ice cream without a machine.

My first frozen yogurt, which was a semi-finalist in the first James Beard Foundation Twitter Recipe Contest!

Ice cream for my boyfriend, inspired by the caffeinated awesomeness that is chocolate-covered espresso beans.

My answer to strawberry rhubarb pie a la mode...skip the pie, keep the a la mode...and a little crust, if you must.

The most refreshing, semi-healthy ice cream...in my soy and tea-loving opinion.

Another pie-inspired ice cream, this time with juicy peaches and creamy mascarpone cheese.

A vague concept becomes reality...ohhh hibiscus.

A spicy, warming drink becomes a chilly dessert when I get my hands on some Concord grapes.

Ahhh…ice cream. I actually have to make some more soon, since Z and I just polished off my last batch last night. It got significantly easier to make after I got an ice cream maker for my birthday (thanks Mom and Dad!) but I’m still ok with making it by hand.

I also tried my hand at making macarons, several times over. Sometimes they come out great, sometimes not so much…but they’re generally delicious no matter what (and if they do fail, I can usually figure out what I did wrong).

Before I learned the correct way to pipe them...simple and wonderful, though, with a delicious honey-meringue filling.

Confusing Coconut Macarons...

It took me about five tries before I finally figured out what the problem was with these particular macarons, but they were worth all the trouble!

Making macarons with the Daring Bakers...marshmallow filling? Oh yes.

As I type this I currently have some egg whites aging on the windowsill behind me (I don’t have a lot of counter space) so watch for another flavor coming up soon!

It wasn’t all sweet, sugary concoctions, though – I’ve done quite a few savory original recipe here as well.

I learned how to make risotto and learned of the magic that is fried sage.

I made my first ever homemade noodles - spinach, even! - in the Daring Bakers lasagna challenge.

I made a batch of fat egg noodles, which were incredibly awesome and well worth the time and effort...and went great with the cheesy, zesty accompaniments I added.

I got my hands on some excellent coconut oil and went to town, frying everything from plantains to chicken.

I succeeded in making gnocchi on my second try, and good thing, too, since I used pretty purple potatoes!

Just looking at those makes me hungry. I definitely need to take an afternoon and make homemade pasta again soon. Yum yum! Maybe ravioli next time?

I know you’re probably getting tired of this but I’ve got a few more to go! There were a lot of other tasty treats coming out of my kitchen (both in Maine and New York) in 2009. Here are my other non-cupcake, ice cream, macaron or savory favorites…

Rainbow carrots made a gorgeous gradiated gift for a friend.

Marshmallows became a regular part of my repertoire.

I overcame a ridiculously long, cold power outage with my first ever crepes, hand-whipped cream and fresh fruit.

I topped cake with cookies.

I made the BEST CUSTARD EVER.

I tried my hand at whoopie pies, which were wildly popular for about 5 minutes.

I made my first cheesecake, complete with homemade graham cracker crust.

I made my own yogurt.

Panna cotta wobbled its way into my life.

I made the most magical cookies ever.

I got pretty good at making my own jams.

I invented tasty morsels upon request from friends and family.

Finally - a socially acceptable way to drink molasses!

I got pretty darn good at making Madeleines.

I impressed a chef at school with my twist on a Daring Bakers challenge, shortly after learning to make these in class.

Agar agar is neato stuff and Muscat grapes are way tasty!

I can’t agree with those of you who are saying good riddance to 2009 – it has been one of the best years of my life. One of the hardest in many ways, but overall I am probably the happiest I have ever been. I am in a place I have always wanted to be, learning about something that I am obviously VERY interested in, interning at an excellent restaurant and loving every minute of it (even the tedious, hand-cramping piping and messy dishwashing!) and best of all? Z moved down just a few weeks ago so now we don’t even have to miss each other anymore.

What will 2010 bring? For me, a frantic final month of school, filled with projects and exams. Some I’m looking forward to (I’ll be finishing my plated dessert menu project this weekend), others I dread (ugh, WEDDING CAKE). After that, I hope to find a good job fairly quickly and continue learning, practicing and having a great time. As for this blog, I am still very interested in posting some how-to videos, which will hopefully become reality soon since I now have someone here to hold the camera for me! But first up will be some posts about the goodies I made for, uh, Christmas…which I STILL haven’t mailed because half of them didn’t work out the first time. They’ll be accompanied by a note that reads “screw your resolution – eat more sweets.”

Happy New Year, guys. :)

Walk up the chocolatey front walk...

I chose a gingerbread house for the challenge because, well, it hasn’t been done yet and I haven’t made one since I was a kid. I know they’re not necessarily the tastiest treats but they’re a lot of fun to make and allow for an almost endless range of creativity.

Oh look! Pumpkin pals!

You may be curious as to why my house appears a little spooky for December. Well, when you host a challenge, you have to make it somewhat in advance to work out any kinks in the recipe and get all organized and stuff, so I made mine back in the beginning of November. And I bought candy in October. Which meant that I bought Halloween candy. But it’s ok because I like Halloween better than Christmas, and I hope it reinforces my interpretation that a gingerbread house can be any kind of structure, not necessarily a house decked out for Christmas.

What's in the coffin?

There was originally supposed to be a little gingerbread Dracula in the coffin but he fell over on himself in the oven. I should have made him more like a tuile but didn’t think of it. He tasted pretty good though.

I don't know why I put sanding sugar on the cross. I just never find an excuse to use it I guess.

I decided to fill the coffin with one of my favorite basic candies, gummi worms. Creepy and delicious!

Wormy-snakey-gummy things! Yum!

I sure do love my chewy, fruity candythings.

That coffin was kind of a pain to build. I should have actually measured the dimensions or something but the sides kept falling off. I probably held it together for an hour. But, in the end, it held together and you can tell what it is, and that’s all it takes to make me happy.

I very specifically wanted the little Hershey bars.

I made a smoked salt-cacao nib streusel to use as dirt, which was cute and tasty. I also used royal icing to glue little fun-sized Hershey bars down as a path, which came to me when I first envisioned this little house.

Note the "dirt"...the delicious, chocolatey, salty dirt.

I’m no decorative piping master but I can pipe a straight line (sometimes). I would have liked to have piped something a little fancier but my royal icing came out really thick. Like, so thick you might want to decrease the amount listed in the recipe. Oops.

Spooky wreath?

I think the star of this particular house, though, is the spooky candy and not the fancy piping.

More pumpkins, this time of the marshmallowy variety.

If I had more time I’d gladly have thrown together a smaller, fancier house too but time is not a thing I’ve had for a while now.

I had them shingled at first but it was toooo heavy (or so I feared).

I would have also liked to have had the time to test out more than one recipe, but luckily for me I somehow managed to convince the totally awesome Y of Lemonpi to co-host with me, so there were two recipes for our fellow bakers to choose from. (And apologies to the gluten-free/vegan factions, we would have LOVED to have had enough time to test specifically for you guys but we are both mega-busy little bakers these days and it just didn’t happen…we knew you guys would handle things awesomely on your own though.)

So that's who lives here!

I’m off to go look at the (hopefully) hundreds of other houses floating around the merry internet now. Unseasonal or not I am pretty happy with mine – I would definitely actually measure my sides next time so they don’t overlap in weird places, but it was easy enough that I would, in fact, consider a next time. After all, it’s easier than building a chocolate Kitchenaid or a sugar fireplace!

Well hi there!

The December 2009 Daring Bakers’ challenge was brought to you by Anna of Very Small Anna and Y of Lemonpi. They chose to challenge Daring Bakers’ everywhere to bake and assemble a gingerbread house from scratch. They chose recipes from Good Housekeeping and from The Great Scandinavian Baking Book as the challenge recipes.

Anna’s Notes: If you don’t have an awful lot of time, the doughs can easily be frozen and then thawed when you are ready to roll it. The baked pieces can also be tightly wrapped in plastic and frozen for assembly later.

Y’s Notes: I found this slideshow very helpful: http://www.bonappetit.com/tipstools/slideshows/2008/12/gingerbread_house…

Variations: You are welcome to use either recipe we tested, depending on your taste or what is available where you are.

Obviously, you are also allowed to use any sort of candy or sugar decorations you wish. You can even make your own candy to decorate the house! You may give your house any theme you’d like – you don’t have to stick to the traditional Christmas house. We are providing a rough template but feel free to find or make your own (there are a lot of great books out there with tons of fun blueprints and ideas). Some books you may want to check out:

Gingerbread: Things to Make and Bake by Teresa Layman http://www.amazon.com/Gingerbread-Things-Make-Teresa-Layman/dp/081093367…

How to Build a Gingerbread House: A Step-by-Step Guide to Sweet Results by Christina Banner http://www.amazon.com/Build-Gingerbread-House-Step-Step/dp/0981580610/re…

Gingerbread Houses by Christa Currie http://www.amazon.com/Gingerbread-Houses-Christa-Currie/dp/0385472676/re…

The Gingerbread Architect: Recipes and Blueprints for Twelve Classic American Homes by Susan Matheson and Lauren Chattman http://www.amazon.com/Gingerbread-Architect-Recipes-Blueprints-American/…

Gingerbread Houses: Baking and Building Memories by Nonnie Cargas http://www.amazon.com/Gingerbread-Houses-Baking-Building-Memories/dp/087…

Your house can be as big or as small as you’d like, but it MUST meet these requirements:

1. Everything needs to be edible – no glue or inner non-food supports allowed.

2. You must bake the gingerbread yourself, whichever recipe you choose. No graham cracker houses please!

3. You must use some sort of template. If you don’t use ours, take a picture or link to what you do use in your final post. It doesn’t have to be super technical – Anna didn’t even measure hers, she just cut out shapes from parchment and made sure the edges matched up.

See?

4. Your house must be able to stand on its own. If you want to go adding balconies with candy stick buttresses or whatever go right ahead, but the main house itself must be free-standing.

We feel that by having these simple ground rules in place but giving you the freedom to run with the challenge otherwise, anyone with a few hours of free time this month can tackle this. And if you have a bigger chunk of time, you can REALLY tackle it.

Preparation Time for Anna’s Recipe: 10 minutes to mix the dough, 4-8 hours at least to chill it, then 5 minutes to roll, 10 to rest, and 10 to cut. Another 30 minutes to rest, if necessary. 25-30 minutes to bake, depending on the size of the pieces. I would estimate 2-4 hours to decorate, depending on how ornate you want to make everything. It could certainly take longer if you are doing a lot of intricate royal icing designs or making your own candies. Altogether, this will take 7-13 hours, including chilling time. But, as noted above, you can break this up over several days or even a couple weeks if the freezer is utilized.

Equipment Needed:

1. Stand or handheld electric mixer (not required but it will make mixing the dough a lot easier and faster)
2. Plastic wrap
3. Rolling pin
4. Parchment paper
5. Baking sheets
6. Cardboard cake board or sheet of thick cardboard
7. Foil, if desired
8. Small saucepan
9. Small pastry brush (optional)
10. Piping bag with small round tip, or paper cornets if you’re comfortable with them

Anna’s Recipe:
Spicy Gingerbread Dough (from Good Housekeeping) http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/recipefinder/spicy-gingerbread-dough-157…

1. 2 1/2 cups (500g) packed dark brown sugar
2. 1 1/2 cups (360mL) heavy cream or whipping cream
3. 1 1/4 cups (425g) molasses
4. 9 1/2 cups (1663g) all-purpose flour
5. 2 tablespoon(s) baking soda
6. 1 tablespoon(s) ground ginger

Directions

1. In very large bowl, with wire whisk (or with an electric mixer), beat brown sugar, cream, and molasses until sugar lumps dissolve and mixture is smooth. In medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and ginger. With spoon, stir flour mixture into cream mixture in 3 additions until dough is too stiff to stir, then knead with hands until flour is incorporated and dough is smooth.

2. Divide dough into 4 equal portions; flatten each into a disk to speed chilling. Wrap each disk well with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight, until dough is firm enough to roll.

3. Grease and flour large cookie sheets (17-inch by 14-inch/43×36cm)

4. Roll out dough, 1 disk at a time on each cookie sheet to about 3/16-inch thickness. (Placing 3/16-inch dowels or rulers on either side of dough to use as a guide will help roll dough to uniform thickness.)

5. Trim excess dough from cookie sheet; wrap and reserve in refrigerator. Chill rolled dough on cookie sheet in refrigerator or freezer at least 10 minutes or until firm enough to cut easily.

6. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (149C)

7. Use chilled rolled dough, floured poster board patterns, and sharp paring knife to cut all house pieces on cookie sheet, making sure to leave at least 1 1/4 inches between pieces because dough will expand slightly during baking. Wrap and reserve trimmings in refrigerator. Combine and use trimmings as necessary to complete house and other decorative pieces. Cut and bake large pieces and small pieces separately.

8. Chill for 10 minutes before baking if the dough seems really soft after you cut it. This will discourage too much spreading/warping of the shapes you cut.

9. Bake 25 to 30 minutes, until pieces are firm to the touch. Do not overbake; pieces will be too crisp to trim to proper size.

10. Remove cookie sheet from oven. While house pieces are still warm, place poster-board patterns on top and use them as guides to trim shapes to match if necessary. Cool pieces completely before attempting to assemble the house.

Royal Icing:

1. 1 large egg white
2. 3 cups (330g) powdered sugar
3. 1 teaspoon white vinegar
4. 1 teaspoon almond extract

Beat all ingredients until smooth, adding the powdered sugar gradually to get the desired consistency. Pipe on pieces and allow to dry before assembling. If you aren’t using it all at once you can keep it in a small bowl, loosely covered with a damp towel for a few hours until ready to use. You may have to beat it slightly to get it an even consistency if the top sets up a bit. Piped on the house, this will set up hard over time.

Simple Syrup:

1. 2 cups (400g) sugar

Place in a small saucepan and heat until just boiling and the sugar dissolves. Dredge or brush the edges of the pieces to glue them together. If the syrup crystallizes, remake it.

These might look a little familiar to anyone who has bothered to read ALL the way back on this blog…back to when the pictures were horrible instead of slightly-less-than-horrible…

Hello again!

Yeah, my pumpkin cupcakes are back. And with a purpose!

What pumpkin shortage?

This month’s Cupcake Hero theme is pumpkin! Since I couldn’t get it together in time to enter last month’s banana contest, I’m totally bringin’ it with my favorite fall treats.

I take back what I said last year. Mellocreme pumpkins NOT optional.

BUT WAIT THERE’S MORE!

Just shifting into focus to say hello...

Since I finally figured out the perfect frosting for these spicy lovelies last year (and greatly improved upon it by way of some gorgeous chocolate and cocoa powder that I got at a Scharffen Berger event), I decided it was high time I created a filling for them. And what a filling it is…

Ladies and gentlemen, pumpkin cupcake nirvana has been achieved.

A little browned butter caramel with your pumpkin and chocolate?

Sittin' on some pumpkins.

Oh yes…I think that about does it as far as pumpkin-y awesomeness is concerned.

Oh artificial pumpkin goodness. Why you got to be so awesome?

I brought these to class. They were appreciated pretty thoroughly, especially the filling. Many of my classmates had only recently (like last week) been introduced to the wonder of brown butter so it went over very well.

Quick! Eat it!

I definitely recommend you make these this fall. And then eat them. Eat them fast.

...before it turns into a pumpkin.

Ultimate Pumpkin Cupcakes

First You Gotta Bake the Cakes…

1. 1 1/4 cup unsalted butter
2. 1 cup dark brown sugar
3. 1 1/4 cup sugar
4. 2 eggs
5. 1 15 oz. can pumpkin (plain pumpkin, no spices pre-mixed in there!)
6. 3 cups AP flour
7. 2 tsp baking soda
8. 1 tsp fine salt
9. 3 1/2 tsp cinnamon
10. 1 tsp nutmeg
11. 1/2 tsp ground cloves
12. 1/2 tsp ground ginger

Preheat the oven to 350. Cream the butter and sugars until they are light and fluffy, then add the eggs one at a time, waiting until each is fully incorporated into the creamed mixture before adding more. Gradually add the pumpkin and beat until smooth. Whisk together the flour and other dry ingredients, then gradually add them to the batter until everything is homogenous. Plop into lined muffin tins (an ice cream scoop is great for this since it’s a very thick, almost dough-like batter) and bake for 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the middle of one comes out clean. Cool completely before filling and/or frosting. Makes about 28 cupcakes. (I usually make 24 and pour the rest of the batter into a buttered large ramekin or Pyrex dish as a little treat for myself.)

Then You Have to Make the Filling…

1. 4 oz./8 Tbsp unsalted butter (you can use salted if you like, just omit the added salt)
2. 1 cup sugar
3. 1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp heavy cream, room temperature
4. Pinch of fine salt

Cut the butter into several pieces and melt them in a small saucepan. Continue cooking, gently swirling the pan, until the milk solids begin to burn – the butter will smell nutty and caramelly and there will be brown bits in the bottom of the pan. Don’t let the burnt bits get black though – remove the pan from the heat before it gets too dark. If you have a vessel that can handle it (like a Pyrex container) pour the browned butter into it immediately; otherwise, let it sit in the pan until it has cooled slightly, then move to a bowl or other container, being sure to scrape as much of the lovely brown part from the bottom of the pan as you can. Refrigerate the butter until it has solidified. Once you are ready to make the rest of the filling, cut it into small pieces.

Place the sugar in a saucepan with tall sides. Wet it with just enough water to make it the consistency of wet sand, then place over high heat. Brush down the sides of the pan with water to keep crystals from forming. Cook, swirling the saucepan gently, until it is a nice amber color and smells caramelly. You can make it as mild or dark as you like but a nice medium caramel is just about perfect for me. Add the butter and salt all at once and stir until melted, then remove the pan from the heat and gradually add the cream. Be careful – the caramel will bubble up angrily when you pour in the cream (this is why you want a tall pan). If any bits of caramel seize up, just place the pan over medium-low heat and stir gently until everything is dissolved and smooth. Allow to cool, then chill in the refrigerator to make it firmer and easier to scoop into the cakes.

And Of Course There’s the Frosting…

1. 2/3 cup whole milk
2. 6 oz. chopped dark chocolate
3. 2 tsp cocoa powder

Place the chocolate in a medium mixing bowl. In a small saucepan, bring the milk just to a boil, then immediately pour it over the chocolate. Let it sit for about 30 seconds, then slowly begin stirring it with a whisk, from the middle out, until all the chocolate is melted and you have a smooth, creamy ganache. Sift in the cocoa powder and stir until it is fully incorporated. Chill until firm and spreadable.

Now for the Assembly!

1. Cooled Pumpkin Cupcakes
2. Chilled Brown Butter Caramel Filling
3. Chilled Double Chocolate Ganache
4. Mellocreme Pumpkins

Use a small round cutter to cut out the middles of the cupcakes. Be careful – they’re very soft! Spoon a glob of caramel into each, then trim the middle and place the “lid” of cake back on top of the caramel. Let the caramel set up a bit inside the cakes (chilling or even freezing if you’d like). Whisk the ganache slightly to get it tightened up, then spread a thin but opaque layer on top of each cupcake. Top each with a mellocreme pumpkin.

I’ve learned a lot of things over the past year on my own as well as more recently in class. For instance, the cocoa powder in the ganache is entirely unnecessary from a technical standpoint – the cocoa butter in the ganache is what makes it bind up. If you were to use cream, as is traditional, the cream itself would be thickening it as you beat it. I decided to stick to my original, slightly odd choice of milk (back when I was afraid of cream) because I think a perfectly smooth ganache would detract from the velvety soft cake, and left in the cocoa powder strictly for that extra bitter chocolate kick that goes so well with the almost too-sweetness in this cupcake.