Pumpkin Bread Pudding with Caramel Sauce

When one thinks of bread pudding, one usually thinks of a very heavy, sweet and dense dessert---not this one! This bread pudding has an almost "souffle-like" texture - so light and not too sweet! Fresh pumpkin puree is so easy to make - just skip the canned stuff! Great combination with the caramel sauce, which I adapted from Thomas Keller's "Ad Hoc" cookbook.

For the pumpkin bread pudding:

• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 cup half & half
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3 large organic eggs
• 3 large organic egg yolks
• 2 cups cooked pumpkin puree, fresh
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon allspice
• 6 1-inch-thick slices of brioche http://www.grouprecipes.com/65955/simple-brioche-loaf.html or challah, cut into cubes

For caramel:

• 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons light corn syrup
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream, warmed
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
• pinch of fleur de sel

For bread pudding:
Preheat oven to 350. Lightly butter a 9x11 baking pan.
Combine creams, eggs, sugars, pumpkin and spices in a large mixing bowl with a whisk. Place the brioche cubes in another large bowl and pour pumpkin mixture over tham, tossing gently to combine until almost all liguid is absorbed. Pour into prepared baking pan and place into a larger roasting pan, with enough boiling water to come up halfway sides of the baking pan. Bake for 35-45 minutes, or until custard is set.

For caramel:
Combine the sugar and corn syrup in a medium saucepan and stir in the water. Set over medium-high heat and bring to a simmer. Then adjust the heat as necessary to continue simmering. Cook without stirring, for 30 to 35 minutes, until the caramel is a rich amber color. If you want to check the color, use a small spoon to drop a small amount on a white plate. (You want a dark caramel so the finished sauce will be a rich color.) Remove from the heat and slowly whisk in the cream, being careful because the mixture will bubble up. If the sauce seizes, stir it over the heat to slowly remelt any hardened caramel. Whisk in the butter.

To serve: cut bread pudding into cubes and spoon warm caramel sauce over each serving. We also served ours with vanilla bean ice cream.

Posted by Luisa

Chocolate Hazelnut Torte: Guest Blogger Regina, Queen of the Chennaults!

Please welcome guest blogger Regina Chennault of Queen of the Chennaults who brings us a little taste of her amazing baking skills!  ~Luisa

I got my inspiration from Martha Stewart's chocolate macadamia nut tart. I love hazelnut with chocolate, so I thought why not use hazelnut instead? Chocolate and hazelnut can never go wrong! The first time I made this tart it wasn't pretty, because I had a very hard time removing hazelnut skin, finally I just gave up. Also, I followed the filling recipe from Martha Stewart (except skipping bourbon and changing macadamia nut to hazelnut), and the tart turned out too greasy because of too much butter used.

This time, I searched online first before getting my hands on the skinning hazelnut-- and... ta da! The trick worked like a charm! If you are trying this recipe, be sure to check out my notes at the bottom on removing hazelnut skin. For the filling, I also cut down sugar and butter.

If you like Nutella, you'll love this tart. My whole family is loving it; we have to control ourselves not to eat too much at one serving. The crust is flaky, and the filling is not oily at all. In my opinion, the tart tastes best when it's chilled, but don't let me stop you! After all, who can resist the temptation of chocolate and hazelnut?

Chocolate Hazelnut Tart (makes one 9 inch tart)

Ingredients:

for tart shell:
1 cup cake flour
5 tbsp ground hazelnut (with skin)– toasted
3 tbsp sugar
5 tbsp unsalted butter (room temp.)
2 tbsp beaten egg-- see note below

for filling:
7 tbsp unsalted butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tbsp golden rum
1/4 tsp salt
2 eggs-- beaten-- see note below
6 oz (about 1 cup) bittersweet chocolate chip
1/2 cup flour
2 cups toasted whole hazelnuts (skin off)-- see note below

Method:

To make tart shell:

1. Combine cake flour and ground hazelnut then set aside. Using a whisk, cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Slowly add beaten egg, whisk to combine.
2. Sift in 1/3 of flour mixture. Using a spatula gently mix the flour on the top, then press down the flour to the bottom of the bowl to combine. Repeat with the remaining flour in 2 batches. When all mixture starts to form a dough, take it out and shape it to a ball with both hands (avoid kneading the dough!).
3. Put the round dough between 2 pieces of plastic wrap, roll it out large enough to fit tart pan. Remove plastic wrap and transfer the dough to tart pan and fold inwards any extra dough so all sides have same thickness. Prick the bottom of tart, then chill the tart for at least 30 minutes.
4. Preheat oven to 350°F. Blind bake tart for 15 minutes. Cool the tart in the tart pan slightly before pouring in filling.

To make Chocolate Hazelnut Tart:

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Melt butter over a double boiler. Whisk in sugar, rum, salt and beaten eggs. Add in chocolate chips and whisk until chocolate almost melts. Remove from heat. Whisk in flour until smooth.
2. Pour chocolate mixture into tart shell, then layer hazelnut evenly on the top, pressing hazelnuts half way down. Bake for 10 minutes. Turn down heat to 350°F and bake for another 20 minutes, until the crust and hazelnuts are golden brown. Cover the top with foil if it browns too fast. Cool the tart on a rack. Serve at room temperature or chilled.

Regina's Note:

• Beaten eggs: I beat 2 eggs in a bowl, scooped out 2 tbsp for tart shell and used the remaining for filling.
• How to skin hazelnut: boil hazelnuts and 1 tsp of baking soda in a deep pot, covered with enough water, for 2-3 minutes. Be sure to use a deep pot as the water will spill after adding baking soda. Drain hazelnuts. Rub the skin and it should come off easily.  Pat skin-off hazelnuts dry, then toast them in the 350°F oven for 15-20 minutes.

Coconut Crush.

The cooler weather (by that I mean 70-80 degree temps; usually it's smokin' in August) is foreshadowing fall, here in the midwest.  However, I'm revolting and churning out as many ice cream flavors as I can before the leaves start to tinge!  As much as I love fall and the change of seasonal food (soups and stews, hot chocolate and apple anything!), I'm a summer girl through and through.  So in my last ditch effort to celebrate the waning days of summer, I recently made a coconut concoction that really stole our hearts.  And oh, good god my friends...We are besotted!

We coined it 'Cherry Ice Cream Smile' after a line in a Duran Duran's song Rio, because well, I like that song and it makes me think of a tropical kind of summer. And I think I can vouch for Luisa and Lori, we all love Duran Duran (Lori remember you were going to marry Simon-or was it Roger? And I was going to marry John?). To live up to its name, it's loaded with cherries (of course), tropical coconut,  toasted almonds.  And it's every bit as luscious as Simon LeBon...

(Also making a note to use homeade dried mangoes or chopped up almond joys in lieu of cherries next time this is made).


Recipe adapted from David Lebovitz's 'Toasted Coconut Ice Cream'
(from the book The Perfect Scoop):

Coconut Cherry Ice Cream (a.k.a. Cherry Ice Cream Smile)

For custard:
1 cup dried shrededed coconut, preferably unsweetened
1 cup slivered almonds
1 cup whole milk
2 cup heavy cream
3/4 cup sugar
big pinch of salt
1 vanilla bean, split in half lengthwise
5 large egg yolks
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract, or 1 teaspoon rum

For cherries:
recipe here, drain cherries before adding to ice cream machine
or use canned cherries in syrup (not cherry pie filling!)




{the shining stars of the ice cream}


Preheat the oven to 350 degrees farenheit.  Spread the coconut on a baking sheet and bake for 5-8 minutes, stirring so it toasts evenly.  Likewise, toast the almonds at the same temperature for about 10 minutes until lightly toasted.

In a medium saucepan, warm the milk, 1 cup of the heavy cream, sugar and salt and add the toasted coconut.  Use a paring knife, and scrape all the vanilla seeds into the warm milk, then add the pod as well. Cover and remove from the heat.  Seep at room temperature for about 1 hour.



{vanilla bean yumminess}


Rewarm the coconut-infused mixture.  Strain the mixture through a strainer into a saucepan.  Press the coconum down fimrly to exract as much flavor as possible.  Remove the vanilla bean pieces and discard the coconut.

Pour the remaining 1 cup of heavy cream into a large bowl and set strainer on top.  In a separate bowl, whisk egg yolks.  Slowly pour the warm coconut-infused mixture into the egg yolks, whisking constantly.  Place the egg mixture back into the saucepan.



{yolks from eggs via 'the ladies'}


Stir the mixture constantly over medium heat with a heatproof spatula, scraping the bottom as you stir, until the mixture thickens and coats the spatula.  Pour the custard through the strainer and stir into the cream.  Mix in the vanilla or run and stir until cool over an ice bath.

Chll the mixture thoroughly in the refrigerator, then freeze it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions.  Before the mixtures sets (is soft-set), add cherries and almonds.  Place in the freezer for a firmer ice cream.


***I made ice cream cone bowls to accompany the ice cream, but I found them to be a little tricky to make without a waffle cone maker because I had issues with the cone sticking to the pan, despite many attempts. (A waffle cone maker is now on my list of must-haves).  Here's the recipe here if you want to tackle making these; they are tasty!!


Posted by Dawn