Mini Pumpkin Souffles

I realized that it's almost DECEMBER and I hadn't made anything with pumpkin yet. Fall is hands down my favorite season and it's rare that there is a non-chocolate dessert that people love so I jump on the chance to bake with pumpkin. The other mini souffles turned out well so I decided to try a non-chocolate option (I almost always try a new cake recipe with chocolate first; it hides a multitude of sins).

On a more pathetic note, the thought of missing out on the short window of time where pumpkin puree is readily available hurt so much that I actually went to the store after vowing that I was going to be lazy and use whatever I had on hand and hoarded an extra 2 cans of the stuff for later.

Total prep time: 15 minutes + 20 minutes baking and cooling
Verdict: These were much more moist, for lack of a better word, than the chocolate ones. I'm not sure if it's because I had them in the oven for less time or if it's because I didn't remove them from the muffin tin right away and they ended up steaming while they were cooling. Overall, they're not very sweet. I would add milk to the mixture to make it more custard-y or serve them with a cinnamon/brown sugar/graham cracker topping to up the dessert factor.

my collapsed souffle :(

Mini Pumpkin Souffles

Adapted from Comfy Tummy, yields 12 mini souffles

1 cup pumpkin puree
1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon Whiskey Vanilla Extract
3 eggs, separated
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1. Preheat oven to 375F, spray or grease baking dish (ramekin if you have it, muffin tin works too).

2. Combine 1/4 cup sugar, egg yolks, vanilla, spices and pumpkin puree.

3. In a separate (not plastic) bowl, add 1 tablespoon sugar to the egg whites and beat until stiff peaks form.

4. Gently fold egg whites into pumpkin batter. Work in small batches, adding egg whites in thirds to the batter, until the egg whites have just been incorporated into the batter.

5. Fill baking dish/cups/tin to the brim and bake for 12-15 minutes.

Mini Chocolate Souffles

The urge to bake was strong. In fact, it was much stronger than the urge to clean, finish a manuscript, do laundry, or go out with people. Of course, the urge to bake was tempered by being to lazy to do any real work in the kitchen (there's no flour to sift!) or buy any extra ingredients (for some reason there are TWO cocoa powder tubs in the pantry).

Total prep time: 10 minutes + 15 minutes to bake.
Verdict: Excellent way to burn through the extra cocoa powder and surprisingly satisfying given the lack of carbs in the dessert. I detest chocolate, so the roomie bravely tried it and liked it. Overall, tasty and gluten-free (bonus!).

Mini Chocolate Souffles

Adapted from Real Simple, yield = 4 mini souffles

2  tablespoons unsalted butter
3  ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate*
1/2  teaspoon Whiskey Vanilla Extract
2  eggs, separated
2  tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon butter or cooking spray

2 tablespoons cocoa powder

*I almost never buy baking chocolate and replace 1 oz of chocolate with 3 tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa powder and 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil (butter works too).

1. Preheat oven to 375F, spray or grease baking dish (ramekin if you have it, muffin tin works too) and dust with cocoa powder.

2. Melt butter and chocolate together in a heatproof bowl over simmering water until smooth. Remove from heat and add vanilla extract and egg yolks. Stir well.

3. In a separate (not plastic) bowl, add sugar to the egg whites and beat until stiff peaks form.

4. Gently fold egg whites into chocolate batter. Work in small batches, adding egg whites in thirds to the batter, until the egg whites have just been incorporated into the batter.

5. Fill baking dish/cups/tin to the brim and bake for 12-15 minutes.

Boozy Cake Challenge #1

The idea for this cupcake from an old friend who sent me an article for a  s'muffin and asked for the boozy version. The result: a graham cracker cake with a boozy hershey kiss filling topped off with a toasted marshmallow. I dedicate this recipe to my original drinking buddy/favorite engineer Ricky (what happens in Boston stays in Boston).

Ricky's Boozy S'mores Cupcakes

Graham Cracker Cupcake (adapted from Ming Makes Cupcakes #32), yields 12 cupcakes

1 cup flour

3/4* cup graham cracker crumbs - use original/honey crackers NOT cinnamon

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 stick unsalted butter

1 cup of sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon Whiskey Vanilla Extract

1/2 cup milk

*original recipe called for 1/2 cup of graham cracker crumbs, but I really wanted the flavor to come through.

"Boozy Hershey kisses"

12 plain chocolate kisses

1 shot of Whiskey - I used Jameson because that's what I had

Topping

1 bag regular sized marshmallows

1. Preheat oven to 400F. Take out butter and eggs so that they come to room temperature. Unwrap chocolate kisses, pour whiskey over them and set aside (keep the runoff, it will be chocolate infused booze).

2. Graham cracker crumbs: take out a bunch and blend into a fine powder by pulsing in a blender/food processor OR put in a ziploc bag and crush with a rolling pin or whatever's handy (boozy tip: a bottle makes for a great impromptu rolling pin).

3. Combine flour, cracker crumbs, baking powder, and salt. Make sure there are no clumps and set aside.

4. In a separate bowl, mix the butter and sugar together. Add eggs and vanilla extract, then add the flour mixture and milk in alternate batches starting with the flour mixture. If the batter looks too dry, add a little milk or booze (try to make sure it's the same booze you used to make the boozy extract).

5. Add 1 tablespoon of batter to cupcake tin, then place boozy chocolate kiss in center and add more batter. Fill cupcake tin to about 2/3 full. Bake for 15 minutes at 400F.

6. Place a marshmallow on top of each cupcake. Bake at 400F for another 5 minutes. The marshmallow melts off center, but it's an easy fix with a butter knife.

7. Let the cupcakes cool for 10-20 minutes. When they are just warm, carefully drizzle the runoff from making the boozy kisses onto the cakes (confession: I used a syringe and shot 6 cc's into each cake).

Taste test: One taster felt compelled to eat 3 and commented "FYI: These were the best cupcakes I've ever had." on Facebook.

Booziness: "the Jameson kicks in after couple of these."

VERDICT: I think the cake would've been better if it had been a ganache and not just a hershey kiss, but I didn't want to work that hard on my own birthday cake and I don't like chocolate so I didn't want to be stuck with a ton of ganache. Also, I'm pretty sure the ganache would be a mess if it went into the the oven so   the only way to make the ganache work is modify it or  make a marshmallow frosting and then toast it with a torch.

Cupcake rave!

Toasty topping: do NOT try to do this with the broiler,
you'll burn the marshmallows. No one wants charred cupcakes.

Cross-section.

Homemade Vanilla Extract

Whiskey* Vanilla Extract

2 vanilla beans

Jameson Whiskey (about a shot give or take)

dark or lightproof bottle

Spilt the vanilla beans in half and cut in half so that they fit into a small bottle. Add Whiskey and let sit in a cool, dark place for a month. 

*I was planning on having a whiskey-themed cake so I used whiskey, but I'm sure vodka or rum would work just as well (obviously Bourbon should work given all of the bourbon extracts on the market).

Easiest recipe ever. The only hard part is waiting a month for it to mature, but considering it's REAL vanilla extract for a fraction of what you'd pay at Williams Sonoma or Whole Foods, it's totally worth the wait. I bought my beans from Trader Joes for $3.99 and used booze that I had on hand in the apartment. I also forgot to take pictures because I am the worst blogger ever BUT I will do a controlled experiment with different boozes and document it as soon as I have enough guinea pigs to taste all of the resulting cakes.