Happy Birthday, hubby! Pumpkin Cheesecake with Gingersnap Crust

It's my husband's birthday today!  He finally caught up with me (for a few months).  He LOVES pumpkin pie, so when I offered to make a pumpkin cheesecake for him tonight, he enthusiastically said YESYESYES!

I found a recipe on Once Upon a Chef that looked promising...

Ingredients:

• Crust
• 7-1/2 ounces gingersnaps (or 1-1/2 cups finely ground gingersnap crumbs)
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 5 tablespoons butter, melted
• I doubled it because I wanted to go up the sides a bit.  It was too much! I'll probably toast the left over crumbs to use as a crumble for something...

• Filling
• 1 15-ounce can pumpkin purée
• Not pumpkin pie filling, or it'll be too sweet and too spiced!
• 1-1/3 cups granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup heavy cream
• Three 8-ounce packages cream cheese, room temperature
• 5 large eggs, room temperature

• Caramel sauce
• There is a recipe on the original above, but I'm opting to use the Apple Cider Caramel I made last week.  Yummmmmy!!

Instructions:

1.  Mise en place the crust:
   
2. Preheat oven to 325°F.
3. Wrap a 10" springform pan in several layers of aluminum foil (heavy duty is best) and spray the inside with non-stick cooking spray.
    
• This step is to keep the water out when you do the water bath.  We discovered later that I didn't have a roasting pan the right size, so really didn't need to do this step. Oh well.
4. Blitz the cookies and brown sugar in a food processor until a fine dust.
5. Stream in melted butter while pulsing until combined
6. Press the crumbs into the bottom of the springform pan and up the sides a bit, as desired.
7. Bake crust @ 325° for 15 minutes.
8. Remove and set on a cooling rack while you make the filling.
9. Bring 4 quarts of water to a boil to use for the water bath.
10. Mise en place the filling:
    
11. In a sauce pan, combine pumpkin, sugar, spices, and salt.
12. Bring to a "sputter" (this mixture is too thick to really boil), stirring constantly.
13. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook for 5 minutes until it is thick, dark, and shiny.  Stir constantly!
    
14. Put the hot mixture into the bowl of your stand mixer (you can use a large food processor if you have an 11-12C one).
15. Beat for a minute or so to release steam and smooth out the texture.
16. Add the cream and cream cheese and process for 30 seconds to a minute.  Scrape the sides of the bowl, as needed.
     
17. Add the eggs and lightly mix until just combined (15 seconds at most).  Do not over-mix this!
     
18. Put the foil-wrapped springform pan and crust into a larger roasting pan with high edges. Pour the batter into the cooled crust.
    
19. Pour enough boiling water (step 9) into the roasting pan to reach 1/2 way up the springform pan.
• I didn't have a roasting pan (ooooops), so I put a cake tin filled with water into the oven to at least introduce some moisture.  My cheesecake cracked a little, but not enough to worry about.
20. Bake at 325° until just set - about 1 1/2 hours.
21. Remove and put the entire roasting pan on a wire rack to cool for 45 minutes.
22. Remove the springform pan from the water bath, discard the foil, and put on a wire rack to continue to cool for 3 hours.
23. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours (and up to overnight).

Here it is all ready to go - we just have to wait 7 hours for it to cool!

Baked Apple Cider Doughnuts

Last night I posted a recipe I tried for Apple Cider Caramel.  Yummmmmm

Now today, the recipe I made to go with it:  Baked Apple Cider Doughnuts (based off the recipe from King Arthur's Flour)!  I don't have a doughnut pan (yet), so made them in my mini-muffin pans to resemble doughnut holes.  It worked pretty well, I think!

Ingredients
1/3 cup vegetable oil
3 large eggs
1 1/4 cups brown sugar
1 cup applesauce, unsweetened
2 tablespoons orange juice
2 tablespoons boiled cider
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg*
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger*
1/8 teaspoon ground clove*
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
2 cups all-purpose flour

* The original calls for just cinnamon; I added more for the flavors I like.

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. Put 1/2 C cider into a sauce pan, bring to a boil, and reduce until just a few Tbsps are left.  Set aside to cool.
3. In the stand of a mixer, combine all the ingredients except the flour and mix until well combined.
4. Add the flour and fold in gently until just mixed.  Lumps are ok; overmixing is bad.  Overmixing = tough nuggets that resemble doughnut holes but are no fun to eat.
5. Spray mini muffin pans (for doughnut holes) or doughnut tins with non-stick cooking spray.
6. Fill pans.
   
7. Bake ~10 minutes for doughnut holes or 15-18 minutes for doughnut pans.  A toothpick inserted at the end should come out clean, like with cake.
8. Loosen doughnuts from pan and let cool for 5 minutes.
9. Turn out onto cooling racks to cool.
10. (Optional) While still warm, but not hot, toss in a bowl of cinnamon-sugar to coat.
11. (Optional) Drizzle/glaze/dunk in the Apple Cider Caramel sauce from last night.

I skipped the sugar coating once I tasted them. SO yummy without the extra sweetness.  The caramel is a nice addition instead.

Apple Cider Caramel

I found the recipe on Cookies and Cups... and knew I wanted to make some to go with the baked doughnuts that are coming up next!

Ingredients
1 cup apple cider
1 cup light brown sugar
½ cup salted butter, cut into cubes and room temperature
¼ cup heavy cream, room temperature
⅛ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon vanilla

Instructions

1. On medium-high heat, bring cider to a boil on the stovetop.
2. Boil for ~12 minutes.  It should be reduced to about 1/4 cup.
3. Add in sugar, butter, cream, cinnamon, and salt.  Stir until combined.
4. Boil for 2-3 more minutes.
5. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla.
6. Cool.

Lake of molten caramel

An apology, a promise, and a teaser for things to come very soon!

So... You've probably noticed that it's been ages since I posted.  Life got a wee bit chaotic for me and work has been intense (in a good way)... so I have had very little time or (if I'm being really honest) energy for baking at all.

But it's October.  It's Autumn.  This is my favorite season (even if Arizona weather isn't cooperating).  So.... an apology for being so absent, in the form of my favorite thing: fresh apple cider and the things we can make with it.

I haven't found good apple cider here yet, so I'm saving my hot spiced cider recipe for later.  For now, I grabbed a gallon of the store brand (after making sure it was really cider and only cider).

Things I'm planning on making:

• Apple Cider Caramel (yes, really)
• Baked Apple Cider Doughnuts (probably doughnut holes since I don't have a doughnut pan at the moment)
• I'm still on the hunt for a molasses cake doughnut recipe - My grandfather used to get us some from somewhere in Maine and, although I haven't had them in years, I still crave them.  (When I say years, I mean like... 20-30 years probably).
• Hot Spiced Cider (with a twist) once I find a local cider
• Maybe I'll entertain the idea of making my own cider...

**Funny side note: I've now written "Cider" so many times, it looks wrong...

Red, White, and Blue Potato Salad

Happy Independence Day to my fellow Americans!

I got this recipe from Bon Appetit magazine and first made it about 2 years ago. I love it - dill and caraway are two of my favorite flavors!  Making it with purple, white/yellow, and red-skinned potatoes gives it a little flair for the weekend cookouts, and tastes amazing, too!

Ingredients
2 lbs potatoes
1 shallot, chopped finely
1/3 C olive oil
S&P
1/4 C vinegar
2 Tbsp fresh dill, chopped
2 tsp toasted caraway seeds

Instructions

1. Cover potatoes with cold salted water, bring to a boil, and cook until tender; drain and transfer to a large bowl.
• I found that my purple potatoes needed more time than the others - I would recommend starting them a bit earlier or cooking the potatoes in color/type batches.
2. In a small, dry skillet, lightly toast the caraway seeds until warm and the aroma begins to fill the air.  Remove and set aside until later.
3. Heat oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chopped shallot and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring often, until soft.
• The original called for 1/2 an onion, chopped.  I'm not a huge fan of onion and find that I prefer the gentler taste of a shallot.  Use what you like.
4. Remove from heat and mix in vinegar.
• The original recipe calls for apple cider vinegar. I'm planning on playing with various vinegars to get a taste that I really love. I might try something more sweet and less abrasive. I love the bite of vinegar, but I don't like when it's all I taste.
5. Add to warm potatoes along with dill and caraway seeds. Toss, crushing potatoes slightly; season with salt and pepper.
• It's important to add the dressing while the potatoes are still warm or hot. They will drink up the dressing and infuse each bite with flavor.

This is wonderful served warm or even room temperature.  It's great for picnics and cookouts because it doesn't have mayonaisse (no need to try to keep it cool).