We are having our work holiday party tomorrow evening and I was given the task of bring a dessert. Our dinner is catered but the drinks and desserts are being brought by the staff.

I settled on making something seasonal so something made with pumpkin! I’ve tried Tartine’s pumpkin tea cake recipe in the past and know it will taste great but I also wanted to do something different so also decided on mini pumpkin cheesecakes (plus our pharmacy tech requested cheesecake of some sort and even though she doesn’t like pumpkin, she would eat pumpkin cheesecake…).

Tartine’s Pumpkin Tea Cake Recipe (with a few variations):

1 2/3 cups flour (used 1 cup whole wheat + 2/3 cup all purpose)
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tbsp + 2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp of nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cloves (did not use)
1 cup + 2 tbsp pumpkin puree
1 cup of vegetable oil (sunflower, canola or safflower)
1 1/3 cup of sugar (used 1 cup b/c pumpkin puree already sweetened)
3/4 tsp of salt
3 large eggs
2 tbsp sugar for topping

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
2. Lightly butter the bottom and sides of a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan. (I used a mini loaf pan)
3. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves in a medium mixing bowl and set aside.
4. In another mixing bowl (I used my stand mixer), beat the pumpkin puree, oil, sugar, and salt until well mixed. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, without over mixing. Scrape down sides of bowl with a rubber spatula.
5. On low speed, add the flour mixture until just combined. Scrape down sides of the bowl, then beat on medium spped for 5 to 10 seconds to make a smoth batter. It should have the consistency of a thick puree.
6. Pour the batter into the loaf pan and smooth the surface with an offset spatula. Sprinkle evenly with the sugar.
7. Bake for about one hour, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. (For mini loaf pans, took about 35 minutes.
8. Let cool in the pan on a wire rack for about 20 minutes then invert onto the rack, turn right side up, and let cool completely.
9. Serve the cake at room temperature. It will keep, well wrapped, at room temperature for 4 days or in the refrigerator for about 1 week.

The pumpkin cheesecake recipe comes from here.

I didn’t let the cream cheese sit at room temperature long enough so it didn’t blend up very well so you could see spots of cream cheese in the filling. But I guess it still tasted fine. Plus I ran out of maple syrup so substituted light corn syrup instead. Also, I ended up having to bake them a little longer because the centers wouldn’t set.

The above recipe uses a mini cheesecake pan but I just used my cupcake pan with paper liners and it turned out fine. I didn’t bother to make the topping, I don’t think the cheesecakes needed it.

The completed tray of cakes:

The cheesecakes (as I mentioned, you can still see a bit of the cream cheese):

The sugary topping of the pumpkin tea cakes. I decided to slice them all up so it’s be easier for everyone to pick up.

http://www.amazon.com/Sof…e/dp/0071418660

We are having a study group get together so I said I’d bring dessert. I didn’t want to make something too complicated so pulled out my Big, Soft, Chewy Cookies book to search for a recipe in which I had all the available ingredients at home.

I settled on the Butterscotch Cookies. Recipe below:

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups packed dark brown sugar
1 large egg
3 tbsp whipping cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour (used 1 cup all-purpose + 1 cup whole wheat)
1 cup cake flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

1. Heat oven to 375 F
2. In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar until smooth. Add the egg, whipping cream, and vanilla and blend.
3. In a separate bowl, mix both flours with the baking soda and salt. Add to creamed mixture.
4. Using either an individual 1/4 cup measure or a 2 ounce ice cream scoop, scoop level amounts of dough and drop 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheets.
5. Bake until cookies are golden and firm to touch, about 15 minutes. Using a spatula, transfer cookies to a rack and let cool.

Makes about 16 cookies.

To prevent hardening, wrap each cookie individually in plastic wrap and store at room temperature for up to three days.

I took more time for my cookies to firm up, maybe 20 minutes baking time and I was able to make more like 20 cookies since I used a smaller ice cream scoop. The outside edges are a bit crunchy (which I like) and a cake-like center. It is quite filling though, you feel like you’re eating the biggest cookie in the world.

http://www.marthastewart….colate-cupcakes

For my co-workers’ birthday, I tried Martha Stewart’s One Bowl Chocolate Cupcake Recipe and topped them with dark chocolate salted caramels from Trader Joe’s. I wanted to do something with salted caramels because one of my coworkers likes salty and sweet desserts rather than just sweet desserts.

Here is the result:

The recipe:

Ingredients

Makes 18 to 24

* 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (substituted dark chocolate cocoa)
* 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 1/2 cups sugar (only used 1 cup)
* 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
* 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
* 3/4 teaspoon salt
* 2 large eggs
* 3/4 cup warm water
* 3/4 cup buttermilk (substituted 2% milk)
* 3 tablespoons safflower oil (substituted vegetable oil)
* 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners; set aside. Sift together cocoa powder, flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into a large bowl. Add eggs, warm water, buttermilk, oil, and vanilla, and mix until smooth, about 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides and bottom of bowl to assure batter is well mixed.
2. Divide batter evenly among muffin cups, filling each 2/3 full. Bake until tops spring back when touched, about 20 minutes, rotating pan once if needed. Transfer to a wire rack; let cool completely.

Cupcakes will keep, covered, for up to three days.

The cupcake batter came out really runny but baked up fine. I substituted a few items (see above). I put the caramels on the top of each cupcake (enough batter to make 24, perfect because each box of TJ’s salted caramels has 12 and I bought 2 boxes) as the cupcake was setting, about 15 minutes into baking. This also allows some time for the chocolate and caramel to melt to make the gooey topping.

The salt really helps with the sweetness of the cupcake. They were a big hit!