Boozy Pumpkin Madeleines

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, and as a last minute dessert, I decided to do something a little different. My husband and I are heading to my mother- and father-in-law's house for dinner, and I hate showing up empty-handed. Instead of the usual cookies or cake, I wanted to go a different direction, and since I'd recently bought a madeleine pan, I figured this was a good opportunity to try it out.

In case you're not familiar with madeleines, they're a spongy French butter cake. They're tiny (about cookie-sized) and look like shells. You need a special pan to make them, here's mine --



...which I assumed would be expensive, but I was able to buy off Amazon for just over $10.

Being that it's autumn and the perfect time of year for pumpkin, I decided to put a little New England fall twist on these, and flavor them with pumpkin. I also put a glaze on them just for a little extra sweetness (hence the "boozy" in the title), which you could skip, especially if you're making them for kids.



Boozy Pumpkin Madeleines
Makes 16

1/2 cup salted butter (1 stick), melted
2 eggs
1 cup flour
2 1/2 tablespoons canned pumpkin
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking powder

For the glaze:
4 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons salted butter
1 tablespoon brandy
1 tablespoon canned pumpkin

Grease pan with butter and flour or Pam cooking spray, preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Melt the butter in a saucepan and set aside until completely cool.

In a mixing bowl, beat sugar, eggs and vanilla together. When combined, add pumpkin, cinnamon and nutmeg and mix until smooth -- there should be no visible chunks/lumps of pumpkin.

Pour in melted butter slowly, and mix to well-incorporate. Add flour 1/2 cup at a time, mixing just to incorporate each time. Do not overmix or the cakes will be too dense.

Spoon a heaping tablespoon of batter into each mold, careful not to overfill.

Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until tops and edges begin to turn golden brown.

Allow pan to cool before attempting to remove the cakes -- which should slide out easily -- or you WILL burn yourself! Set the cakes on a cooling rack.

For the glaze, melt butter and sugar together in a pan on medium-high heat, continually stirring. Once they are melted together, add brandy and pumpkin, and continue to cook until bubbly (about 3 minutes) and frothy. Set aside for 2 minutes for mixture to settle, then drizzle over the cakes.



Enjoy!

Pumpkin Fudge

This is a simple and fun treat to make on a weekend afternoon, especially if you do it on Halloween like I did. You get LOTS of fudge from it, and family and friends will be more than happy to help take it off your hands!

Pumpkin Fudge

Ingredients
1 cup canned pumpkin
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 tablespoons salted butter
1/2 cup brown sugar (light)
2 cups sugar
6 ounces evaporated milk
12 oz. white chocolate chips
7-ounce jar Fluff*

Tools
saucepan
9x9 pan

First, my assistant was working with me for this recipe -- he served as taste-tester later on and I assure you this exceeded his rigorous quality control standards. ;-)



Cover a 9x9 baking dish with foil. Doing a double layer will help make it easier to lift the fudge later. Press the foil into the corners as much as possible without tearing a hole.

Heat milk and sugar until they boil over low-medium heat. Stir from time to time to keep from scalding.

Add pumpkin, nutmeg, salt and cinnamon. Mixture should still be boiling. Carefully add Fluff, butter and vanilla -- be VERY careful, the sugar mixture could burn you if it splatters, and it will if you put spoonfuls of the fluff in from too high up. Try to stay as close to the saucepan as possible during this step. Once Fluff has been added, mix to combine -- this will take a minute or two, as it breaks down. Once smooth, cook, stirring frequently, for 25 minutes. Mixture will darken in color.

Remove from heat and add white chocolate. Stir continuously until all chips have melted. Some small pieces may remain, but most should have broken down.

Pour into 9x9 pan, and allow to set for 2 hours. Do NOT refrigerate or mixture will not set properly. Remove fudge from pan (once set, you should be able to overturn the pan onto a cutting board and have one large solid piece of fudge).



Cut into squares using a sharp knife to prevent crumbling, store between layers of parchment paper to avoid sticking. Fudge should be eaten within 4-5 days.



Notes
*Fluff: Fluff is the name brand of marshmallow creme. It was invented in Massachusetts, and I'm going to be elaborating on its many (delicious) recipe possibilities in a future post. I'm not sure if the brand name is available nationwide, but if it isn't, just look for a jar/container of "marshmallow creme" in the same section as peanut butter and jelly in the supermarket.

Pumpkin ice cream and affogatos

I have a confession to make: As much as I enjoy laying out in the sun and getting (my VERY LIGHT shade of) tan, as much as I enjoy my hair being blonde, as much as I enjoy the heat... I adore the fall.

Having grown up in New England, I was born and bred with an addiction to autumn. I love the sights, the sounds, and the tastes of fall. So naturally once the calendar page flipped to October, I ran right to the store and picked up one of the most classic fall flavors -- pumpkin.



I wanted to do something different with the pumpkin besides the standard pumpkin bread or pumpkin roll, so I decided to go in a different, chillier direction with ice cream. To take the fall flavor even deeper, I went with an affogato, made with cinnamon Starbucks coffee.

Before about two years ago, I'd never heard of an affogato. I tried one on our trip to the Berkshires, and was instantly in love. "Affogato" is Italian for "drowned," and this ice cream treat is literally drowned in espresso. In place of espresso, I used coffee, but trust me -- it may sound odd, but once you combine the raw coffee flavor with the sweet creaminess of the ice cream... yum. You won't regret it.

Enjoy!

Pumpkin Ice Cream and Affogatos
Yields about 10 half-cup servings

Ice cream
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1 cup whole milk
1 vanilla bean (pod and beans)
1 egg
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 15-ounce can of pure pumpkin
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar

Affogato
Starbucks cinnamon coffee
cinnamon stick (garnish)

Tools
Cuisinart ice cream maker
medium saucepan
mixing bowl
glass bowl (for chilling)

In saucepan, combine milk and cream. Cut open vanilla bean, toss seeds into cream mixture. Once seeds are removed, add pod to mixture. Heat cream on medium-low for 30 minutes and remove from heat.



In separate mixing bowl, combine egg, pumpkin, sugars, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and sugars. Beat with whisk until smooth.



Using a ladle or spoon, add a small amount of the heated cream to the pumpkin mixture. Mix until combined, then add another spoonful. This will temper the mixture so the egg doesn't scramble when exposed to heat.



Pour all of the pumpkin mixture into the saucepan with the cream, and mix until smooth. Pour into glass bowl, and allow to cool completely in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours, up to overnight. At the same time, place bowl of ice cream maker into the freezer -- the liquid in the bowl (what chills the ice cream) must freeze before ice cream can be made.



Once bowl is frozen, assemble machine and turn switch to on. Pour cream mixture into bowl and allow to mix for 25-30 minutes or until desired texture is reached.










You can freeze the mixture for longer if you want firmer ice cream.



To create affogatos, scoop some ice cream into a glass, and top with prepared coffee. Garnish with cinnamon stick. Enjoy!







Notes:
Vanilla bean -- This is the first time I've ever actually used a REAL vanilla bean for flavoring. I'm not going to lie, they aren't cheap -- for this ONE in a jar, it was $7.49 at the grocery store -- but they are so worth the flavor.



In case you've never seen a vanilla bean pod cut open, here's what the inside, complete with itty-bitty seeds intact looks like.