6/22/08

Wedding Cakes for Savvy Palates

Living in California means having access to some of the best ingredients around. Just at the corner market alone, you'll find perfectly ripe organic strawberries,champagne mangos by the bushel, sticky-sweet fresh pineapple and paper sacs overflowing with cherries. I won't even start on the transcendental hangar steak at Mustard’s and the delicate, well-balanced Pinots at Carneros. 

With all of these top-quality ingredients, I figured what better way to put them to good use than in my cake recipes. So, this summer with a boom in wedding cake commissions, I have been experimenting with new flavor combinations for my food savvy San Francisco clients. Some have been great discoveries and others have been flops. The winners? Orange blossom honey buttercream, smooth mango cake, chocolate coriander ganache, Vietnamese cinnamon cream cheese icing. The losers were green tea pastry cream for its way too intense flavor and almond chiffon cake for its overly dry texture and bland flavor. I consider these my “works in progress”.

Finding a beautiful flavor combination gives me inspiration for the design of the cake, and in turn momentum for my next commission. When clients ask me what flavors I offer, I respond that each of my cakes is unique. I have great standard recipes, but no stock flavors. One client who wanted to know more asked me what my favorite dessert was. I answered that it always changes; however, since it's been a blistering 80 degrees lately in San Francisco, I am currently in love with the tropical popsicle made with real fruit pieces, coconut and fruit juice. Yum.

9/10/07

Aloha!

Two trips to Hawaii, a new day job working as Food Developer and several cake commissions have kept me very busy lately. Despite all of this, I have not forgotten about my Web site.

In keeping with a tropical theme, I recently designed a beautiful cake for a wedding at the Tonga Room at the Fairmont in San Francisco. Click on My Cakes to see pictures. For those of you who have not been to the Tonga Room, it is a really fun tikki bar that features a giant indoor pool and a pirate ship where it actually rains. On some nights, a band plays on a floating island in the center of the pool. However, after sipping my way through Maui and the Big Island, the drinks at the Tonga Room are second rate. That said, the kitsch factor makes this bar a San Francisco institution. Besides, after a few Singapore Slings it doesn't much matter anyway!

4/22/07

Sticky Toffee Goodness

When I lived in New York,one of my favorite indulgences was a slice of gooey, dark chocolate cake fromBlue Smoke at 27^th Street at Park Avenue.Blue Smoke is an all-American barbeque joint and an unlikely haunt for adessert obsessed person like me, but it just so happened that this restauranthad a very talented pastry chef named Jennifer Giblin working in the kitchen.Jennifer’s dessert menu was all about home-style sweets, like green tomato pie,apple cheddar crisp, sticky toffee pudding and of course chocolate cake. So,when I heard that she would be giving a demonstration the French CulinaryInstitute’s Sweet Success Conference in 2004, I immediately signed up to attend.Perched on folding chairs inside the pastry kitchen at the FCI, a dozen of uswatched as Jennifer prepared an assortment of desserts with an American flare,passed around samples on paper plates and a handout that included a few of herrecipes. I was elated.

This past weekend, three years later, I was looking throughmy recipes for a dessert that would match a Wisconsin-themed dinner that I washosting when I came across the handout containing Jennifer’s recipes. I hadwritten the word “good!” in the margin of the Sticky Toffee Pudding recipe, andthough couldn’t recall precisely how it tasted I decided to give it a tryanyway. Her Sticky Toffee Pudding recipe is prepared using the Creaming Method,the same way many cakes, cookies and quick breads are made. Dates and stoutbeer are added to the batter, and then the fully baked pudding is drenched in asweet, buttery, caramel sauce. When I made this recipe, I could not find dates,so I used figs instead. I also substituted vanilla beanfor vanilla paste and topped the dessert with kirsch whipped cream instead ofJennifer’s recommended crème fraîche. The finished pudding was rich andsatisfying, but mostly it just reminded me of being in New York City. Below is Jennifer’s recipe.

Sticky Toffee Pudding
From Jennifer Giblin of Blue Smoke
(Makes about 8servings)

8 oz dates
1 cup stout beer (such as Guinness)
1 teaspoon baking soda
3 oz butter
8 oz sugar
3 medium eggs
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
8 oz flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon nutmeg

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter and line with parchmenta 9 x 13” baking pan.

2. In a food processor, blend the dates until they cometogether in a ball. Transfer to a medium bowl.

3. Heat the beer until it begins to boil then add the bakingsoda and mix. Pour the beer mixture into the dates and whisk together. Setaside to cool.

4. Cream together the butter, sugar and vanilla extractuntil light and fluffy. Whisk together the eggs, and gradually add them to thebutter mixture. Make sure the scrape down the sides of the bowl after eachaddition of egg.

5. Sift together the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamonand nutmeg. Add 1/3 of the flour mixture to the butter and beat untilincorporated, add one half of the date mixture and combine. Repeat with remainingflour and date mixture, ending with the dry ingredients.

6. Spread the batter evenly into the prepared pan and bakefor 15 minutes. Rotate the pan and continue to bake for another 5 minutes oruntil a tester comes out clean and the cake is set on top.

Toffee Sauce

8 oz butter
8 oz dark brown sugar
1 vanilla bean (pulp scraped out of inside)
4 oz heavy cream
Pinch of salt
Dash of lemon juice

1. Place the butter, brown sugar and vanilla bean in asaucepan and cook over medium heat. Stir and continue cooking until mixture issmooth and just begins to boil.

2. Remove from heat and stir in the heavy cream, salt andlemon juice.

To Plate

Cut the cake into squares and cover each portion with warmtoffee sauce (about 2 oz of sauce per piece). Top each piece with toastedpecans and whipped crème fraîche.

4/18/07

Deliciously Metamorphic

As my site has matured, I have decided to reorganize it to better showcase both my writing and my specialty cakes. You will see that I have added the "My Cakes" page and updated "About Me". I will continue to add content to this blog and update the site with more pictures from my adventures. Stay tuned ...


4/1/07

Speaking of Cake

Driving a multi-tiered cake up and down the hills in San Francisco can be a pretty nerve wracking experience, but after safely delivering one to a party in the Castro this weekend, it occurred to me that I should post pictures of specialty cakes that I have been asked to design in the past. Here is a selection of a few of my favorites.

This was a two-tiered red velvet cake for a friend’s baby shower. It was filled with sweetened cream cheese, frosted with vanilla buttercream and finished with fresh flowers. On the top was a yellow rubber ducky that I sculpted out of sugar paste several weeks beforehand. As I was serving the cake, someone at the party asked me why vinegar was added to the traditional red velvet recipe. I didn’t know the answer at the time, but I have since learned that vinegar reacts with buttermilk and cocoa to produce a reddish hue. That said, you still need to add a bottle of fire-engine red food coloring to give this cake its’ characteristic tint.

This four-tiered cake was designed for a Manhattan advertising agency’s 2004 Christmas party. The agency, Wieden + Kennedy/NY, gave me free reign to create whatever I wanted. I decided to test my skills and make a different cake for each tier. The top tier was marbled cake, the second tier was vanilla flavored, the third was carrot cake and the bottom was chocolate. The party was a formal event, so I gave the gateau a sophisticated look by covering it in mint green fondant and decorating with gold painted royal icing.  

I got the idea for this simple, elegant dessert from a book called THE PERFECT WEDDING CAKE by Kate Manchester. The gateau was for a casual, summer, wedding rehearsal dinner in a suburb of Chicago. I decorated it with locally grown berries and mint leaves to create a cool, fresh look on what would inevitably be a warm day. The cake is chocolate, filled with raspberry jam and frosted with my absolute favorite icing - white chocolate buttercream. If I could frost every cake in white chocolate buttercream, I would. The texture is incredibly velvety.

The first wedding cake I ever made was in pastry school at the French Culinary Institute in New York. This cake was covered in blue fondant and topped with yellow sugar paste roses that I spent many hours sculpting. My class ended at 10:00pm and by the time I had cleaned up and changed, I was way too exhausted to drag the whole thing home on the 6 train. In my weary state of mind, I made the unwise decision to throw all of it away except for the top tier which I carried home wrapped in aluminum foil. What a waste of cake!

2/11/07

Black Cakes for Black Hearts

Let me start by saying that I don’t hate Valentine’s Day, but when given the opportunity to design a black wedding cake with a friend for the Black Hearts Party in Manhattan, I couldn’t refuse. With high ambitions and a small budget, we created a three-tiered chocolate gateau filled with milk chocolate buttercream and covered in rolled, black fondant. We then decorated the cake with fresh, organic blackberries, grapes and sprigs of thyme. For a final touch, we added a bride and groom wedding topper. Predictably, the groom was sans tête; a serrated knife makes a suitable saw in a pinch. Check out our cake in Time Out/NY, issue 593 (February 8-14, 2007).

When making this recipe, always use good quality cocoa powder such as the Drost or Sharffenberger. Additionally, choose a premium milk chocolate for the frosting. I buy Callebut or Guittard, but will opt for Ghirardelli in a pinch.  

 Chocolate Black Tea Cake
(For one 8” x 3”round cake)

2 bags of strong black tea, preferably English or Irish breakfast
1 cup boiling water
1 ½ cups granulated sugar
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour, sifted
1 ½ cups cocoa powder, sifted
1 ½ teaspoon baking soda
2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk
3 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste
6 (3 oz) tablespoons butter, melted

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter an 8” x 3” cake pan and place an 8” round piece of parchment paper into the bottom. Flour the pan.

2. Steep the tea in boiling water for at least three minutes, remove the tea bags and set aside.

3. In a large mixing bowl, combine the sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Mix with the paddle attachment on low until ingredients are thoroughly combined.

4. In a separate bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, eggs and vanilla bean paste. Add this to the dry ingredients in two additions. Scrape the bowl with a spatula.

5. Add the hot tea and butter in two additions. Mix on medium speed for 2-3 minutes or until just combined. The batter will be runny.

6. Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan. Bake for 40-50 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. 

7. Immediately unmold the cake onto a rack and let cool completely. Slice into three layers then fill and frost with Milk Chocolate Buttercream.

Milk Chocolate Buttercream
(Makes enough to fill & frost one 8”x3” round cake)

5 egg whites
1 2/3 cups granulated sugar
1/3 cup water
2 tablespoons corn syrup
4 sticks (1 lb) butter, cold and cut into small pieces
3 bars (10.5 oz) milk chocolate, cut into small pieces

1. Whisk the egg whites, sugar, water and corn syrup together in a medium, heatproof bowl. Set the bowl over a saucepan filled with 1-2 inches of simmering water. Do not let the bowl touch the water.

2. Whisking gently, cook over medium heat until a thermometer registers 160°F.

3. Remove the bowl from the heat and whip on high until medium peaks form. Let the meringue cool to room temperature.

4. Using the whisk attachment and mixing on medium-low, add the butter slowly. Make sure to let each piece of butter fully incorporate before adding the next. Scrape down the sides of the bowl at least once. Note: If the frosting is loose, the meringue was too warm when the butter was added. To correct this, simply chill the frosting in the fridge then whip until fluffy.

5. Melt the chocolate carefully in the microwave by heating it on high in 30 second intervals. Stir after each interval to ensure that it is not burning. The chocolate should be about body temperature (98°F).

6. Quickly fold the melted chocolate into the rest of the mixture.

1/15/07

Chakra and the Cookie

I once thought about taking a job in Amsterdam, but reconsidered after I’d heard that there are no chocolate chip cookies to be found there. What is life without this ubiquitous treat? To ponder this question with more resolve, I spent a couple hours this weekend making my favorite recipe that a friend and I procured from a little known food shop in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn called Tuller Premium Foods. What I like about this recipe is that the cookie is baked just enough to be cooked, but not so much that its gooey, chewy center is lost. The secret to this perfect consistency is the addition of more flour than usual and the spherical shape of the dough during baking. I’ll admit that I made a few minor tweaks to the recipe, but never more than that; the flavors are so well-balanced that this cookie is almost transcendental.

Chocolate Chip Cookies
(Makes approximately 1 ½ dozen cookies)

1/2 cup white sugar
1 large whole egg
1 large egg yolk
1 cup dark brown sugar
1 stick (4 oz) unsalted butter, melted
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla bean paste
2 cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 ¼ cups (approximately 5 oz) chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350°F and line a sheet pan with a non-stick baking mat or parchment paper.

2. In an electric mixer combine the white sugar and eggs. Mix on medium until pale yellow and fluffy.

3. Add the brown sugar, melted butter and vanilla bean paste then scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula. Continue to mix.

4. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt. Add these dry ingredients and mix until just combined.

5. Stir in the chocolate chips.

6. Shape the cookies into two-inch balls by rolling them between the palms of your hands. Arrange them on the cookie sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes, or until light golden brown. Once the cookies have cooled, store them in an airtight container.

7. Alternatively, you can freeze the two-inch balls for up to two months by placing them on a plate or in a container and wrapping with plastic wrap. If using this method, let the cookies thaw for about 10 minutes before baking.  

1/1/07

Connaissez-Vous Mumbai?

Though cardamom is typically associated with Indian dishes, it is one of my favorite spices for baking. Its subtle, unusual flavor pairs well with orange for an updated twist on the classic icebox cookie. However, cardamom is not just an adult flavor; children will love it too. The flavors complement each other so well that kids will never suspect anything out of the ordinary, yet grown-ups will appreciate the sophisticated taste.

Orange-Cardamom Icebox Cookies
Makes 1-2 dozen depending on the size of the cookie cutter

For cookies:
2 sticks (1/2 lb) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup confectioner’s sugar
Zest of 1 orange
1 ½ teaspoons orange extract
2 large eggs
2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cardamom

For icing:
4 cups powdered sugar
4 tablespoons hot water
1 teaspoon orange extract

1. Cream the butter, sugar, zest and orange extract until pale and fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula.

2. Whisk eggs gently with a fork then pour them slowly into the sugar mixture in three stages, letting the eggs fully incorporate before adding more.

3. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, salt and ground cardamom.

4. Add the flour mixture in three stages, stopping the machine when all ingredients are just combined and taking care not to over-mix.

5. Divide the dough into two patties and chill covered in plastic wrap for at least one hour. Alternatively, you can freeze one or both of the patties to use later.

6. When dough is sufficiently chilled, heat the oven to 350°F then cut a patty in half and roll it out between two sheets of plastic wrap to ¼ inch thickness. The dough should remain very cold, so work in smaller batches if need be. Using a cookie cutter of your choice, cut the dough into shapes and bake on a parchment lined sheet pan for 10 – 12 minutes or until lightly golden around the edges.

7. You can decorate these cookies with colored sprinkles, sugar or icing. If decorating with sprinkles or sugar, press them gently into the raw, cut-out cookie dough and bake. If decorating with icing let the baked cookies cool completely then combine the powdered sugar with very hot water and orange extract in an electric mixer. Add dye if you wish. The icing dries really quickly, so cover the icing with plastic wrap right away. Pipe the icing onto the cookie using a pastry bag and small, round tip. You can halve the icing recipe if you only need a little bit.

12/25/06

Kugelhopf’in Around

One of my favorite holiday cakes is called the Alsatian Kugelhopf. It’s similar to Panettone, but baked in a bunt pan and decorated with toasted almonds and powdered sugar. Kugelhopf is perfect for breakfast; however, it goes stale quickly so don’t plan on keeping it for longer than a couple days.

After working on this recipe for the past few weeks, the final version remains true to traditional Kugelhopf, although it is modified slightly to suit my own tastes. This includes a lighter texture and yeasty flavor. I also prefer cognac soaked golden raisins and lemon zest, although you could really use any kind of flavoring that you like.

Alsatian Kugelhopf                                      
1 heaping tablespoon sliced almonds
1 package of active dry yeast
1 ¼ cup all-purpose flour
¾ cup milk, warm (105-115°F)
½ cup golden raisins
¼ cup cognac or brandy
½ cup water
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 ½ cup powdered sugar
10 tablespoons butter (1 ¼ sticks)
Zest of 1 lemon
2 eggs
1 egg yolk
2 cups bread flour
Pinch of fresh nutmeg
1 teaspoon kosher salt
Extra melted butter for glazing
Powdered sugar

1. Butter and flour a bunt pan. Sprinkle bottom of mold with sliced almonds.

2. Prepare the starter by dissolving the yeast into the warm milk. Add the all-purpose flour and let rest in a warm area until nearly doubled in volume.

3. Meanwhile, reconstitute the raisins by heating them in a small saucepan with the cognac and water. When the liquid comes to a rolling boil, remove the pan from the heat and let the raisins rest, submerged in the liquid, for 20 minutes. Drain and cool.

4. In a large bowl, cream the granulated sugar, powdered sugar, butter and zest until pale and fluffy.

5. Crack eggs into a small bowl and whisk loosely with a fork. With the mixer on low, pour the eggs into the whipped sugar in a slow, steady stream, letting the eggs fully incorporate before adding more.

6. Add the starter in a single addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and continue mixing on low speed.

7. In a separate bowl, combine the bread flour, salt and nutmeg. Add these dry ingredients in three additions. Mix on medium speed until dough is smooth and elastic, 10-12 minutes. Note that the dough will be extremely sticky.

8. Reduce mixer to low and add the raisins. Be careful not to mix the dough too much in this step, otherwise the raisins will break open.

9. Place the dough in an oiled bowl, cover with oiled plastic wrap, set in a warm place and let rise until doubled in volume, about 1 ½ hours*.

10. Dust your hands with flour and punch the dough down. Form it into a very loose ball then place it into the bunt cake mold by gently stretching it into the proper shape. Cover with more oiled plastic wrap and let rise again until the dough reaches the top of the mold, 2-3 hours*.

11. Bake at 350°F for 35-40 minutes. Unmold immediately and brush the entire cake with melted butter.

12. Let cool, then sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve.

*The rise time will depend on the temperature of your kitchen. The warmer it is, the faster the dough will rise.

 

11/20/06                                               

Not So Serious, Cyrus

This past weekend, in the Sonoma County town of Healdsburg, I single-handedly had the most bizarre plated dessert of my life.  If you’ve ever been to Healdsburg, you would know that this quaint, wine country village is home to numerous top-notch restaurants and wine tasting rooms, all of which epitomize what the Russian River Valley has to offer.

My husband and I had driven up to Healdsburg by way of West Dry Creek Road to celebrate our fifth year anniversary at Cyrus, a reputed eatery that has been called the French Laundry of Sonoma. We had read several articles on it and knew by studying the menu online that it served playful, French-California cuisine. What we didn’t know was that it was a decidedly white-glove annex of the outrageously expensive Le Mars Hotel with waiters who, like used car salesmen, tried to up-sell patrons on every expensive supplement imaginable, such as a $95 caviar add-on and $50 for truffles.

Seated comfortably at a corner table, we waived off the caviar supplement and asked for the menu. After our waiter painstakingly explained that portion sizes are adjusted depending on the number of courses you order (duh), we chose the five-course tasting menu with a foie gras sampler and a half bottle of Riesling.

As the meal progressed, I started to worry. The food teetered on the edge of experimental and classic, the experimental side being interesting conceptually, but missing the mark on taste. It was really the foie gras “torchon” with peanut butter, pomegranate jelly and peanut brittle that was cause for alarm. Without going into the nitty-gritty, let’s just say I was glad I ordered the fois gras sampler because I would have missed out on another amazing seared foie gras dish with spiced pears in cider sauce and a pistachio “doughnut”. Other notable plates were the grouper in red curry froth and the surreally tender rack of lamb with beans and rapini.

On the brink of the final course, we both realized that our palates were numb from an overload of butter, demi-glace, and fois gras. Nevertheless, I anxiously awaited dessert. I had ordered the most unusual sounding dessert on the menu, Caramel Soup with Kettle Corn Sorbet and Chocolate Filigree. My dessert arrived in a soup bowl with a quenelle of kettle corn sorbet surrounded by a handful of popped kettle corn. The filigree was actually chocolate piped into a flat, amorphous design resting like a spider's web on top of the bowl. Before I had a chance to raise an eyebrow, a young, female server ceremoniously poured the warm “soup” from a small, silver pitcher over the chocolate filigree, whereupon it and the kettle corn sorbet melted into a runny mass of liquid spotted with buoyant popcorn. As I sipped my soup and chewed on a piece of popcorn, I suddenly felt like I was ten years old again at the county fair eating sweets in the same vein as funnel cake and cotton candy. Unfortunately, this was not the emotion I desired when going out for this decidedly grown-up dinner.

I put down my spoon and eyed my husband’s. He had ordered Chocolate Rum Mousse with Bananas Foster and Macadamia Streusel. “Do you want to trade?” he asked. “This one is really good.” We exchanged plates. He pushed the popcorn around with the tip of his spoon and furrowed his eyebrows. I’d like to say that the chocolate rum mousse was really delicious; but quite frankly, my palate was way too deadened to tell for sure. “Wow,” he said after tasting my caramel soup, “this is definitely the weirdest dessert I’ve ever had.” These were my thoughts exactly.

Although Cyrus will certainly occupy a small corner of fond memories simply because it was my anniversary, and though I respect the chefs’ attempts to feature cutting edge cuisine intermingled with familiar French-inspired dishes, I will not return to this restaurant. The formality of Cyrus detracts from the food and the white-glove service just feels unnecessary and overdone. Who really needs half a dozen servers catering to your every whim? I don’t. Besides, Healdsburg has a lot to offer in terms of cuisine and good food doesn’t need to come with a $325 price tag.

11/6/06

Chinatown Express: Hing Lung Restaurant

 

Living in San Francisco means that I can take my time exploring every nook and cranny of the city’s eclectic neighborhoods. With temperatures well into the 70s, this past Sunday was the perfect day to wander around Chinatown.

 

As my husband and I walked along Stockton Street from Union Square, we zigzagged through throngs of shoppers gathered in front of medicinal herb shops, jade jewelry stores and small markets overflowing with produce, dried shrimp and odoriferous fish. The destination was Hing Lung at 674 Broadway, a restaurant known for cheap prices, large portions and late night dining. We settled at a small table along the wall where specials penned in Chinese were affixed neatly above our heads. After eyeing the sticky menu, I dared to wash my hands in the ladies room. If the bathroom is any indication of a restaurant’s cleanliness, then I should have run screaming. Fortunately for my hungry husband, I am not squeamish. Upon ordering pork over a sautéed chow mein, calamari with vegetables and roasted duck with cabbage over a bed of rice, I noticed that most of the patrons were eating congee and Chinese doughnuts. The congee, a viscous, grayish mixture that looked a lot like oatmeal, arrived at a neighboring table in an oversized bowl. It was then ladled into small cups and topped with something that looked like cilantro. I worried that we’d misordered.

 

Our dishes arrived one by one, presumably in the order they came out of the kitchen. The first was the pork; it was surprisingly delicious. Thin strips of pork were served over a bed of warm, sautéed chow mien mixed with caramelized onions and bean sprouts. As I shoveled it compulsively onto my chopsticks, I had sinking feeling it might be loaded with MSG. The second dish was the calamari, and although it was not what we expected, it was still quite good. The super tender squid was tossed with green peppers in a black bean sauce and served over rice. I thought I detected a faint fishy taste, but that could have been residual stench still clogging my nostrils from our walk to the restaurant. The final dish, Chinese roast duck, was disappointing. It consisted of ribs, cartilage and greasy joints seasoned with fennel over a bed of white rice. I wondered if these were the leftovers from the Peking duck dish advertised for $9.99 on a long, golden banner near the fish tank.

 

The diners seemed genuinely excited to be there. Kids, elderly people and families chattered enthusiastically as they dipped Chinese doughnuts into congee and picked at rice plates and fried seafood. My husband said it best, “This is a place where they have something like 30 dishes on the menu and only five of them are good. But, if you can find those five, you’ll eat here all the time.” I agree. I’ll give it a second chance, but next time I’ll try the congee.

10/31/06

A Pumpkin in Sheep's Clothing

Faced with a plethora of pumpkin products for the fall season and the challenge of preparing a dessert for a small dinner party over Halloween weekend, I decided to create a riff on pumpkin cheesecake in the form of an ice cream sundae. However, like any good horror movie, there is more than one plot twist. Instead of making just ice cream, I whipped up Cream Cheese Ice Cream from Claudia Flemming's book THE LAST COURSE and paired it with a simple, unadorned Pumpkin Sorbet. I topped off the sundae with a golden tuile sprinkled with a bit of powdered sugar. Use a shortbread cookie in place of the tuile if you don't have a good recipe.


Pumpkin Sorbet
(adapted from www.pacojet.com)
I modified this recipe slightly to accomodate using organic pumpkin puree from Trader Joe's.

11fl. oz water
3 oz sugar
2 oz glucose (you can buy glucose at Sur La Table)
0.5 fl oz lemon juice
14 oz can of organic pumpkin puree

1. Heat the water, sugar and glucose together over high flame until sugar dissolves completely.
2. Let this mixture cool.
3. Add lemon juice and pumpkin puree. Whisk until fully incorporated.
4. Chill completely.
5. Turn in ice cream maker until thickened and frozen.


Cream Cheese Ice Cream
(adapted from THE LAST COURSE by Claudia Fleming)
I reduced the number of eggs from 12 to nine. Trust me, nine eggs is plenty! I also replaced vanilla extract with vanilla bean paste only because I prefer the taste of vanilla bean paste.

2 cups milk
1 1/4 cups sugar
9 egg yolks
1 1/2 cups sour cream
12 oz cream cheese
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
A pinch of salt

1. Heat the milk and 1 cup of sugar over high flame. After sugar has dissolved, bring mixture to a low boil.
2. While milk is heating, whisk egg yolks with remaining 1/4 cup sugar in a separate bowl.
3. Temper the milk mixture into the egg mixture by slowly pouring the milk into the eggs while whisking vigorously.
4. Place the milk-egg mixture into a medium pot and heat over medium-low heat. Stir with a wooden spoon in a figure eight pattern until it has thickened enough to coat the back of the spoon, about 7 minutes.
5. Remove custard from stovetop. Whisk in sour cream, cream cheese, vanilla bean paste and salt until smooth.
6. Strain the mixture and chill completely.
7. Turn in ice cream maker until thickened and frozen.