Pumpkin Swirl Brownies with Ganache Frosting

A friend challenged me to recreate this "amazing" brownie she ate at a farmer's market in the city. Challenge accepted (obviously). She sent me an email with a good two paragraphs describing the brownie and the frosting, peppered with specificity. It was nice to hear another foodie describe the tastes and textures she experienced. I got super excited and after Thanksgiving craziness subsided, I got right to work.

These were fudgy brownies (cause I am NOT a cakey brownie person, then its just cake. Duh!). These were not just brownies with a little pumpkin in them. The pumpkin and chocolate batters are even and complement each other perfectly. Usually when there is a "swirl" in brownies, be it pumpkin or cheesecake, I find that the swirl part is lacking and not very good. Not the case with these! The pumpkin batter is every bit as good as the brownie. Are you excited now?

And I haven't even gotten to the frosting...which was excellent! It was very creamy and rich, just perfect. I couldn't resist the sprinkles.

PS: Forgive the picture. I took it at work with my camera phone because I forgot before I left the house!

Pumpkin Swirl Brownies
Martha Stewart

8 tablespoons unsalted butter
6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 3/4 cup sugar
4 large eggs
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups solid-pack pumpkin
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9 by 13 inch baking pan (original recipe calls for a 9 inch square pan, but mine turned out plenty thick).

Melt chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl set over simmering water, stirring until smooth.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, cayenne and salt in a large bowl; set aside. Put sugar, eggs and vanilla in the bowl of an electric miser fitter with the paddle attachment; beat until fluffy and well combined, 3 to 5 minutes. Beat in flour mixture.

Divide batter between two medium bowls. Stir chocolate mixture into one bowl. In another bowl, stir pumpkin, oil, cinnamon and nutmeg. Transfer half of chocolate batter to prepared pan smoothing top with a rubber spatula. Top with half of pumpkin batter. Repeat to make one more chocolate layer and one more pumpkin layer. Work quickly so batters wont set.

With a small spatula, gently swirl the two batters to create a marbled effect. Bake until set, mine took about 30 minutes.

Dark Chocolate Ganache
Martha Stewart

2 cups heavy cream
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 pound bittersweet chocolate, chopped

In a large saucepan, bring 2 cups heavy cream, 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar and 1/8 teaspoon salt to a boil. Remove from heat; add 1 pound bittersweet chocolate and let stand, without stirring, for 1 minute. Whisk just until combined. Refrigerate, stirring occasionally, until spreadable, about 1 hour. Top cooled brownies with ganache.

Caramel Pumpkin Pecan Gingersnap Cheesecake

Who is obsessed with the Pioneer Woman? (*raises hand)
Who is obsessed with cheesecake (*sheepishly raises hand)

I just had to make this cheesecake from her for our Thanksgiving extravaganza this weekend. I LOVED the filling. It was definitely creamy, but very surprisingly wasn't too rich! The only trouble I had with it was that the crust got really hard from the caramel right on top of it. Nonetheless, delicious. When I make this again, I think I will swirl the caramel into the pumpkin batter.


Caramel Pumpkin Pecan Gingersnap Cheesecake
Pioneer Woman

12 ounces storebought Gingersnaps
1/2 cups chopped pecans
6 tablespoons butter, melted
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 dash salt

4 8-oz packages cream cheese
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 15-oz can pumpkin puree
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
4 whole eggs
2 tablespoons heavy cream
1 12-oz jar caramel topping

Crush gingersnaps in a food processor. Add chopped pecans, melted butter, brown sugar and salt. Pulse until thoroughly combined. Press into bottom and sides of a 10-inch springform pan. Chill for 20-30 minutes.

In a mixing bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar until light and fluffy. Add pupmkin and spices and mix again. Add eggs one at a time. mixing for 20 seconds between each addition. Add cream and mix until just combined.

Remove crust from fridge. Pour 1/2 jar of caramel topping on crust. Sprinkle caramel with chopped pecans. Gently pour cheesecake filling into pan. Even out the top with a flat spatula.

Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour 15 minutes. Cool on counter for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, pour the rest of the caramel topping over the top. Smooth with a flat spatula until evenly smooth. Cover and chill cheesecake for another four hours or overnight.


When ready to serve, remove rim from pan and slice.

Golden Corral Rolls

LadyJayPee at Eating, Etc. made these wheat rolls several years ago and since then, I have been obsessed. They will always be a part of my holiday table from now on.

Despite that fact that these rolls have to rise twice, they are easy to make and you just have to mix them, sit them down and forget about them, shape them into balls, let them chill some more and then bake! Easy as pie!

Unfortunately, my rolls didn't rise the second time very much, but they still baked up nice and pretty and delicious.

Golden Corral Rolls
Eating, Etc.

1 pkg. active dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water (105-110 degrees F)
2 teaspoons sugar
1 cup milk, just to scalding hot (do not simmer or boil)
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter
1 teaspoon salt
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 3/4- 2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1/4 cup vital wheat gluten
2 tablespoons butter, melted

Dissolve yeast in 1/4 cup warm water. Stir in the 2 teaspoons of sugar. Let sit for about 5 minutes until mixture foams up.

Heat milk in microwave or in small saucepan on stove top.

Add sugar, butter and salt to hot milk and stir until butter is melted. Cool to 105-110 degrees F. Pour milk mixture into bowl of stand mixer. Add the yeast mixture and egg and mix together.

Mix in all-purpose flour, whole wheat pastry flour and vital wheat gluten, beating to form a soft dough. Knead with mixer for 5 minutes, adding extra flour if needed.

Place dough in warm oiled or buttered bowl, turning greased side up. Cover with parchment paper and let rise in warm place until doubled in bulk, about 75-90 minutes.

Punch dough down and hand-knead for 5 minutes on lightly floured surface. Divide dough into 12 pieces and shape into round rolls. Place them, not touching in greased 13 by 9 inch pan. Cover with parchment paper and let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, about 30-45 minutes.

Bake at 375 for 18-20 minutes or until tops are golden brown.

Brush tops of rolls with melted butter.

Thanksgiving Spread and Sweet Potato Casserole

Happy food hangover day! Or something of the sorts...

I had such a great Thanksgiving and have enough recipes to get me through several weeks of blogging!

I packed all my goods into a large (and I do mean large!) shoulder bag on Thursday and headed over to my friend India's apartment, where I found her assembling her father's recipe for homemade stuffing.

We assembled and baked and cut and diced and played around in the kitchen the entire afternoon and had fun arranging all our dishes in the oven.

Mid afternoon our friend Diandra joined us and made a delicious Walnut Soup and salad for us. Of course, we had to assemble all the food on India's kitchen table for picture time. Smile food!


In case you are wondering what all is on the table, here is our list:

Brisket (random, I'm aware)
Green bean casserole
Sweet potato casserole
Stuffing
Wheat rolls
Salad
Macaroni and cheese
Cornbread

We filled our plates to the nines and I (brilliantly) remembered to photograph my plate full of deliciousness. Jealous? You should be!


Even through all the rich food we inhaled, there was no way we weren't ready for dessert (obviously). India made her Dad's Apple and Berry Crumble (which I sheepishly didn't get a picture of) and a Pumpkin Caramel Cheesecake from yours truly.

I probably don't need to tell you that we didn't even make a dent in the food that night and had so many leftovers its a bit out of control. Hope your Thanksgiving was as coma-inducing as ours was. Here is the recipe for the Sweet Potato Casserole I made. It is probably my favorite holiday dish and demand it every time I go home.

Sweet Potato Casserole
All Recipes

5 sweet potatoes (I used 3 extra large ones)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup butter
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup white sugar
2 tablespoons heavy cream
1/4 cup butter, softened
3 tablespoons all purpose flour
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9 by 13 inch baking dish.

Bake sweet potatoes 35 minutes in the preheated oven, or until they begin to soften. Cool slightly, peel and mash.

In a large bowl, mix the mashed sweet potatoes, salt, 1/4 cup butter, eggs vanilla extract, cinnamon, sugar and heavy cream. Transfer to the prepared baking dish.

In a medium bowl, combine 1/4 cup butter, flour, brown sugar and chopped pecans. Mix with your fingers to the consistency of course meal. Sprinkle over the sweet potato mixture.

Bake 30 minutes in the preheated oven, until topping is crisp and lightly browned.

Thanksgiving Cookies

T-minus 24 hours until Turkey Day!

Or, in my case, Lack of Turkey Day.

I've was never a huge fan of Thanksgiving growing up. Despite the fact that I like to eat, Thanksgiving food never really did it for me. I'm not a huge fan of turkey, I don't like those marshmallowy sweet potatoes and there are many other things I would rather eat than mashed potatoes and gravy. I used to pile my plate high with green bean casserole (please tell me you know what this is) and then eat a ton of pie (typical).

Nowadays I have expanded my horizons and with a little help from some great cooks (ahem, JP, ahem), I now have some dishes that I simply CANNOT do without! That's why I'm super excited this year to be making Thanksgiving dinner! Well, MY version at least. Several of my friends and I are getting together and each bringing our favorite dishes. I'm super excited to not only try out their favorites, but have mine all together in one place!

Needless to say, upon arrival at chez Sugar tonight, I will be baking and cooking up a storm until tomorrow morning. Get ready to hear all about my adventures next week!

These little gobblers were made for Annie Bananie and her family to enjoy. Or, more specifically, to keep the kids quiet. Or something.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!

I used this cookie recipe and this icing recipe.