Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls with Cream Cheese Icing

I saw this recipe on another blog (for more tips on making this, check it out) and decided to make it for a pumpkin-themed dinner with my best gal pals. We all agreed that this is an amazing recipe and even JAY had seconds (he's not a sweets person) and declared it to be the best pumpkin dessert he's ever had. Yes folks, this is the real deal.

Note that this recipe tells you how to make it by hand, but I used my mixer. If I had to do it again, I would add 2 c all-purpose flour and then add small amounts until the dough no longer sticks to the sides of the bowl. Also, I bet this would be really good with chopped pecans in the filling- if you like that sort of thing. Also, when you spread the filling on the rolled dough, I would recommend not spreading it all the way to the far end (what will be the outside of the roll) because it kind of gushes that way as you roll and it will spread itself.
Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls with Cream Cheese Icing
roll dough adapted from King Arthur Flour
makes approximately 15-16 rolls

INGREDIENTS:

Roll Dough:
1/4 cup warm water (not hot, about 110 degrees)
1 package (2 1/4 teaspoons) active dry yeast
1/3 cup warm milk
1 large egg, beaten
3/4 cup pumpkin puree, either fresh or canned
1 tablespoon melted butter
2 cups (approximately) All-Purpose Flour
1 1 /4 cup Whole Wheat Flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom

Filling:
1 stick butter
2/3 cup white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon each of allspice and ginger
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon cloves

Cream Cheese Frosting:
4 ounces cream cheese
1 stick (4 ounces) butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 teaspoon lemon juice
2-3 cups powdered sugar

DIRECTIONS:

In a large bowl, stir yeast into water to soften. Let rest for 5 minutes before stirring. Add milk, eggs, pumpkin, butter, 1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour, brown sugar, salt, cinnamon, ginger and cardamom to yeast mixture. Beat vigorously for 2 minutes.

Gradually add remaining flour (all purpose), a little at a time, until you have a dough stiff enough to knead. Start with about 1 1/2 cups and increase if necessary. Turn dough out onto a floured surface. Knead, adding flour as necessary, until you have a smooth, elastic dough.

Put dough into an oiled bowl. Turn once to coat entire ball of dough with oil. Cover with a towel and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour.

Combine the white sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, allspice, ginger, nutmeg and cloves in a small bowl, set aside. Transfer the risen dough to a lightly greased work surface, and pat or roll it into a 16" x 12" rectangle. Spread softened butter over dough and then sprinkle with the sugar mixture.

Roll the dough into a log the long way; it'll stretch to about 20" long as you roll. Using a very sharp knife, slice the log into 15 slices. In order to cut down on drag, it helps to rinse the blade in hot water, and wipe it off, between slices. Place slices in a greased 9x13 inch baking pan (or in two 8 or 9 inch round cake or pie pans). Cover with a towel and let rise until almost doubled, about 45 minutes.

Bake in a preheated 375°F oven. Bake the rolls till they're brown around the edges and beginning to turn golden brown across the center, about 20-30 minutes.

While rolls bake, prepare the cream cheese frosting. Add the cream cheese, butter, vanilla, and lemon juice to a small food processor. Blend until smooth and combined. Add the powdered sugar 1/2 cup at a time, blending in between, until well mixed and desired consistency is reached. (I used 2 cups powdered sugar)

Frost warm rolls with the cream cheese frosting and serve immediately.

For night before prep: Prepare the rolls up to the point where you roll and place in the pan. Then, cover in plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. In the morning, remove the pan from the fridge and proceed with the instructions where you left off. Rising time may be slightly longer than noted in the recipe due to the dough being cold vs room temp.

Coconut Panna Cotta

I made this for dessert on Christmas; we needed a light dessert after all the chocolate, egg nog, and gingerbread goodness that was being consumed. This is SUPER EASY!!! It originally came from Super Natural Cooking by Heidi Swanson.

We served it after a pretty rich dinner: crown of lamb, roasted garlic potatoes, Brussels sprouts with bacon and a green salad (arugula, blue cheese, walnuts). We served it with Asti spumante; Martinelli's would work well too. I made the crackers a week in advance and they kept nicely in a tupperware.

for the panna cotta:

1(14 ounce) can coconut milk

1 1/4 cups whole or 2% milk

1/3 cup natural cane sugar (I used 1/4 cup and it was fine)

1 1/2 Tablespoons Agar Agar flakes or 3/4 teaspoon agar powder (I used the flakes)

Lightly oil 6 ramekins and set aside. Place coconut milk, milk, sugar and agar flakes in a pan. Stir, then let rest for 10 minutes to allow the agar to soften and start to dissolve (this is critical or you get agar clumps, which are fine but the overall effect is more like tapioca than panna cotta). Very slowly, bring ingredients to a gentle simmer and simmer a few minutes until the agar is incorporated. If it doesn't completely dissolve, pour the mixture through a strainer, pushing the undissolved agar through as well. Pour into the ramekins and chill until set, about an hour.

for the coulis:
1/4 cup natural cane sugar (Florida Crystals or other light, organic whole cane sugar)
2 cups berries (I used frozen raspberries, blackberries and blueberries)
juice of 1/2 a lemon

Combine the berries, sugar and lemon juice in a small saucepan, bring to a simmer, then remove from the heat. Mash the berries a little with the back of a spoon and chill.

for the cracker toppers:
1 package of 6-inch Wonton wrappers
1/4 cup natural cane sugar (Florida Crystals)
1 1/2 teaspoons ginger (Penzey's)
1/4 teaspoon sea salt, fine-grained
1/4 cup assorted seeds (sesame, white and black, fennel, poppy, cracked cardamom, caraway)
1 egg
1 tiny splash heavy cream (or yogurt or milk)
cookie cutters, smallish, like 2-inch diameter

Preheat the oven to 350 F, position racks in the middle and line a couple of baking sheets with parchment or a silpat.

Combine sugar, ginger, and salt in a small bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk egg and cream together. Cut the wonton wrappers into various shapes, pressing down hard and cleanly cutting. I used a soft towel under the surface of the wonton to get my lame plastic cookie cutters from like 1982 to work. Brush the wonton shapes with a thin glaze of the egg mixture. Sprinkle each with seeds, and a generous dusting of the sugar mixture. Keep it all sort of in the middle, so you can see the cookie edges a bit.

Move the wontons into a single layer on the baking sheets and bake until the wontons are golden and crisp, 5-8 minutes. They go from not done to burnt really fast, watch 'em.

For the presentation: just turn the ramekins over on a plate, pour a little coulis on top, and stick a few crackers in the panna cotta.

Tres Leches Cake

I made this cake that I found on the Pioneer Woman's website. It was a huge hit at the party I went to. I had attempted the same cake a few years ago with a different recipe. This one was definitely much better. Sorry for the bad photo, I forgot to take a picture and managed to get one after it was almost all eaten.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup All-purpose Flour
• 1-½ teaspoon Baking Powder
• ¼ teaspoons Salt
• 5 whole Eggs
• 1 cup Sugar
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla
• ⅓ cups Milk
• 1 can Evaporated Milk
• 1 can Sweetened, Condensed Milk
• ¼ cups Heavy Cream
• 1 pint Heavy Cream, For Whipping
• 3 Tablespoons Sugar

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Spray 9 x 13 inch pan liberally until coated.
Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl.
Separate eggs.
Beat egg yolks with 3/4 cup sugar on high speed until yolks are pale yellow. Stir in milk and vanilla.
Pour egg yolk mixture over flour mixture and stir very gently until combined.
Beat egg whites on high speed until soft peaks form. With mixer on, pour in 1/4 cup sugar and beat until egg whites are stiff but not dry.
Fold egg white mixture into other mixture very gently until just combined.
Pour into prepared pan and spread to even out surface.
Bake for 35 to 45 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.
Turn cake out onto a rimmed platter and allow to cool.
Combine condensed milk, evaporated milk, and 1/2 cup heavy cream in a small pitcher.
When cake is cool, pierce the surface with a fork several times.
Slowly drizzle all but about 1 cup of the milk mixture—try to get as much around the edges of the cake as you can.
Allow the cake to absorb the milk mixture for 30 minutes.
Whip 1 pint heavy cream with 3 tablespoons of sugar until thick and spreadable.
Spread over the surface of the cake. Decorate cake with whole or chopped maraschino cherries. Cut into squares and serve.

Better Than Apple Pie

A friend of mine brought this over one night when we had dinner together and pointed me to a recipe for Swedish Apple Pie from Allrecipes.com, but said she tweaked it. I also did a bit of tweaking and here is the final product! I call it "Better Than Apple Pie" because it doesn't use a traditional pie crust and the topping is better than apple crisp topping. It's almost more like a cookie! The original recipe calls for Granny Smith Apples, which I usually love in pies, but since my tree is bursting with apples right now, those are the ones that made it in. (I have no idea what kind they are) Just like apple pie, I love it with vanilla ice cream.


Makes 1 9-inch pie (6-8 servings)

20 minutes prep, 40 minutes bake time

Filling:
1 1/2 lbs 5 Granny Smith Apples, peeled, cored and sliced (about 5)
1/2 T sugar
some cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice, to taste

"Crust":
3/4 c white sugar
3/4 c brown sugar, packed
1 1/2 c flour (I've used whole wheat and white, both work great)
3/4 t cinnamon
3/4 t pumpkin pie spice
1/2 c butter (1 stick), melted
2 eggs

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Toss apples with 1/2 T of sugar, cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice to taste, and pour them into a pie plate. Thoroughly mix together sugars with the flour, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, butter, and egg. Spread this evenly over the top of the pie.
3. Bake in preheated oven until the apples have cooked and the topping is golden brown, about 40 minutes.