bourbon chocolate pecan pie

Pecan pie is so perfect for either Thanksgiving or Christmas celebrations. And on my little ones first Thanksgiving, I couldn't help but make pecan pie. My husband is quite the traditionalist when it comes to pecan pie. And I should know this after last year with this tart, it wasn't his favorite. But put chocolate in about anything and I'm happy. When I saw this recipe in Baked I had to give it a try. I loved it! It was super simple to throw together (something necessary with a 6-month-old) and the texture with the chopped pecans and melted chocolate was like eating a piece of candy, mmm. Because the pie crust recipe made two crusts I was able to make another pecan pie, more traditional, that I will post soon.

Bourbon Chocolate Pecan Pie
adapted from Baked: New Frontier in Baking
Pie Crust (makes enough for two single crust pies)
3 cup flour
1 Tbl sugar
1 tsp salt
1 cup cold unsalted butter
3/4 cup ice cold water
In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, sugar, and salt together and place in a bowl of a food processor. Cut the cold butter into cubes and add to flour mixture. Pulse in quick bursts until pieces resemble peas. While pulsing, drizzle ice water into food processor through tube. As soon as the dough comes together in a ball, remove from food processor and divide into two equal balls. Flatten into a disk and wrap each with plastic wrap. Refrigerate the disks until firm, about 1 hour.

Filling
2Cups pecan halves, toasted
3 large eggs
3/4 cup light corn syrup
3 Tbl. sugar
4 Tbl dark brown sugar
3 Tbl unsalted butter, melted
pinch of salt
1 tsp vanilla
3 Tbl bourbon
6 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped

Dust work surface with flour. Roll dough out into a 12" round. Transfer to pie dish. Wrap and freeze the crust until firm, about 2 hours, or up to 3 months.
Preheat oven to 325.
Coarsely chop 1 cup of pecans and set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk the eggs until combined. Add the corn syrup, sugars, butter, salt, vanilla and bourbon. Whisk again until combined. Stir in the chopped pecans and set the filling aside.
Spread the chocolate evenly along bottom of the frozen pie shell, Slowly pour the filling on top of the chocolate. Arrange the remaining pecan halves on top of the filling.
Bake in the center of the oven for 30 minutes, then cover the edges (or if using a tart pan ignore this part) loosely with aluminum foil and bake another 30 minutes Test the pie by sticking a knife in the center of the filling. If if comes out clean it is down, otherwise bake for another 5 minutes and test again.
Cool the pie on wire rack and serve warm or at room temperature.

3rd birthday

I had the honor of making my neice's birthday cake and cupcakes for her third birthday bash. Her mom found the cutest accessories at Pretty Smitten for the cupcakes, too cute. There is something special about making cakes for others for celebratory events.

almond turtles

When it comes to Halloween I feel like it is a great excuse to eat sweets, candy in particular. But I'm not very interested in the mini-sized supermarket / convenient store standards. This year, after watching an episode of Giada at Home, I decided to make almond turtles. These were beyond easy to make. And so very delicious! The one change I made was using salted almonds instead of the the smoked almonds called for in the recipe. These made pretty huge turtles and the next time I make these will try them in mini muffin pans instead of the standard size. Don't get me wrong, I didn't mind devouring the giant candy but I think it would be best slightly smaller. I think these might make an appearance in my holiday goody containers I make each year. Go here for the recipe.

halloween cookies

It is obvious that this post should have been yesterday, is my daughter at six month an excuse? I keep promising that I will get more regular with my postings. Not letting a month go in between. Well without further delay...halloween cookies. I used my standard sugar cookie recipe, cut them out with this very spooky spider cut out and decorated them with black royal icing. While shopping, the ease of parking has definitely become more of a priority with little miss. I find myself at deCroupte's ,a cake shop with tons of parking, to purchase everything from cake boxes to cookie cutter.

pumpkin bread

As soon as the calender turns to the tenth month I pull out all my stored away pumpkin recipes. Pumpkin bread is definitely one of the first I make. It makes the whole house smell like autumn. I've been enjoying the recipe you can find on the back of the Libby's canned pumpkin puree but the ingredients lead more toward cake than bread. In the morning I want to at least think I'm eating a little healthy. I adjusted a few ingredients with great results. I know what you are thinking, 3 cups of sugar...healthy...let's just say healthier.

Pumpkin Bread
adapted from Libby's canned pumpkin puree
2 Cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 Cup all-purpose flour
2 Tbl pumpkin spice
dash of cinnamon and nutmeg
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 Tbl salt
1 Cup granulated sugar
2 Cup brown sugar
1 15 oz pumpkin puree
4 large eggs
1/2 Cup vegetable oil
1/2 Cup applesauce
1/2 Cup orange juice

Preheat oven to 350. Line 2 loaf pans with parchment paper
Combine flour through cinnamon in large bowl. In another bowl combine sugar through orange juice and mix with wire whisk. Add pumpkin mixture to flour mixture, stir until moistened. Spoon into prepared pans.
Bake 50 - 70 minutes or until wooden pick is inserted into center and comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire racks.

salted butter caramel sauce

So it's still be insanely hot these last few weeks and the fire might now be officially out in the foothills behind us but we are still finding ash on our cars in the morning. Needless to say it hasn't been baking weather. I'm hoping for fall temperatures to arrive soon, I have some baking to do!

This caramel sauce came in handy to pour over chocolate ice cream I had made. I think I could have drank the sauce I loved it so much!

Salted Butter Caramel Sauce
from The Perfect Scoop
by David Lebovitz
6 Tbl butter, salted or unsalted
3/4 Cup sugar
1 Cup heavy cream
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 teaspoon coarse salt (i used fluer de sel)

Melt butter in large, deep heavy-duty saucepan or Dutch oven. Stir in the sugar and cook, stirring frequently, until the sugar is deep golden brown and starts to smoke.
Remove from the heat and immediately whisk in half of the cream until smooth (wear an oven mitt, since the mixture will steam and splatter and may bubble up furiously). Stir in the rest of the cream, then the vanilla and salt. If there are any lumps of caramel, whisk the sauce gently over low heat until they're dissolved. Serve warm. Makes 1 1/2 Cups

ginger scones

There is a place nearby in Pasadena called Euro Pane. They've got a lot of things going for them and one of their cult followings is their ginger scones. From what I understand, the baker/owner use to work at La Brea Bakery before opening up her own place. This recipe comes from La Brea Bakery via epicurious.com. The shape of these scones are different from those you'll find at Euro Pane but the taste is almost identical.

Ginger Scones
adapted from epicurious.com
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon grated lemon peel
11 tablespoons chilled unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons whipping cream
2/3 cup diced crystallized ginger

Preheat oven to 400. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In the bowl of a food processor combine flour, sugar, baking soda and grated lemon, blend. Add butter and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Transfer to a large bowl and toss in ginger. Make a well in the center and add 3/4 cup of cream, or like I did, rush and add the 2 tablespoons as well. Mix until moist with fork or hands. Transfer to a floured surface and knead dough 8-10 times. Divide dough in half and pat each portion into 3/4 inch thick round. Cut rounds into 6 wedges each and transfer to baking sheet. If you have those 2 tablespoons of whipping cream left, brush the tops of the scones. Bake until lightly browned, about 18 minutes.