Gingerbread Muffins

As much as I love gingerbread cookies, I have to admit that I like actual gingerbread even more. I used to use a wonderful old recipe from Nathalie Dupree to make pans of gingerbread in the fall. Based on that recipe, I developed a perfect muffin that features all the richness and flavor of a classic old-fashioned gingerbread.

Gingerbread Muffins
adapted from Nathalie Dupree's recipe for Old-Fashioned Gingerbread

1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter
1 egg
1 cup molasses
2 cups flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 teaspoons ginger
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup coca cola, apple cider or apple juice
1 teaspoon brandy flavoring or vanilla extract

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Line or grease well a muffin tin, and set aside.

In a large bowl of an electric mixer, beat the sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Add the egg and the molasses and mix well.

In a separate bowl, sift together the dry ingredients. In another bowl, mix together the buttermilk, the coke or juice, and the brandy or vanilla flavoring. Add these two mixtures to the molasses mixture alternately, beginning and ending with the dry mixture. Beat until the batter is smooth.

Fill each muffin cup about 3/4 of the way full. Bake for approximately 18-20 minutes, or until the muffins spring back when lightly touched with a finger. Yield about 18 muffins.

To turn this muffin into a lucious dessert, top with creamy Peach Sauce . . .

Peach Sauce
based on Nathalie Dupree's recipe

4 egg yolks
1/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup peach juice, peach brandy, or peach schnapps
1 cup heavy cream, whipped
1 teaspoon almond extract

In a heavy saucepan, combine the egg yolks and sugar.

In a separate, smaller saucepan, heat the peach juice/brandy/schnapps. (You can also do this in the microwave if you prefer).

Pour the hot peach juice gradually into the egg-yolk mixture, whisking constantly. Turn on low heat, and continue whisking until mixture thickens. This could take up to 15 minutes (trust me, it's worth it). Remove from ehat and cool for about 10 minutes, then fold in the whipped cream and vanilla. You may wish to make this ahead of time - if so, chill the sauce until you are ready to serve.

Pumpkin Cheesecake Muffins

Okay, dear readers, I'm coming out of the closet, so to speak. My posting may have become a bit less frequent these past few months. That's because I've started an exciting new project. My friends here in town own a small coffee shop, and they have let me come in and do some of the baking for them - homemade breads, delicious muffins, and fresh pastries and desserts. It's been so much fun! Here is one of the recipes that I tried out at our little café this week. They are pretty much the ultimate fall muffin!!

Pumpkin Cheesecake Muffins
adapted from BakeSpace via Annie's Eats

3 cups flour
3 teaspoons cinnamon
2 teaspoons nutmeg
1 ½ teaspoons ground cloves
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
4 eggs
1 ¼ cups vegetable oil
2 cups sugar
2 cups pumpkin puree

4 ounces cream cheese, softened
4 ounces marscapone cheese, softened
½ cup powdered sugar

½ cup brown sugar
½ cup flour
4 tablespoons cold butter, cubed
1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 cup finely chopped pecans

First, prepare the filling. Combine the cream cheese, marscapone cheese, and powdered sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer until smooth and fluffy. Form into a log on plastic wrap or foil, making sure that the diameter is small enough to fit into the well of a muffin pan. Wrap the log up tightly and freeze for at least one hour.

Preheat the oven to 350°. Line muffin pans with paper liners for 24 muffins.

To make the muffin batter, combine the flour, spices, salt and baking soda in a medium bowl. Whisk together and set aside. In the bowl of your electric mixer, combine the eggs, the oil, the sugar and the pumpkin. Beat until well combined. Add the dry ingredients and mix on low speed until just the flour is moistened.

To make the streusel topping, combine all ingredients in a small bowl. Mix together with a pastry blender or your fingers until crumbly.

Next, fill each muffin cup halfway with batter. Remove the cheesecake log from the freezer and slice into 24 pieces. Place a slice in each muffin well. Divide the remaining muffin batter evenly among the muffin cups, covering up the cheesecake pieces. Sprinkle the streusel topping over the top of each muffin. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Cool completely on racks before serving.

Pork Tenderloin with Sweet Potatoes and Apples

Here is a super retro recipe that I found in one of my vintage cookbooks. I was so excited to find The Meats Cookbook by Southern Living at a book fair I visited several months ago. What could be more exciting for a southern gal than a whole cookbook of meats?

This recipe captures some of my favorite fall flavors - absolutely delicious! The pork is tender and juicy, sweet with the flavors of the apple juice and cinnamon. The sweet potatoes melt in your mouth. And the apples? Let's just say it's like having dessert built-in to your meal!

Pork Tenderloin with Sweet Potatoes and Apples
Adapted from The Meats Cookbook by Southern Living

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large pork tenderloin
2 cups milk
1/2 cup flour
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
4 medium apples, peeled and cored
4 tablespoons brown sugar
4 tablespoons raisins
2 large sweet potatoes, quartered
4 large marshmallows

Heat the olive oil in a heavy skillet on the stove. Meanwhile, dip the pork in the milk. Mix the flour with the salt and pepper and cinnamon, and dredge the pork with the flour mixture. Brown the pork in the skillet over medium-high heat.

Meanwhile, fill the center of the cored apples with the brown sugar and raisins, and place the sweet potatoes and the apples in your crock pot. Add the pork and any drippings. Pour over the remaining milk and cover.

Cook on low for about 6-8 hours or on high for about 4 hours. Place a marshmallow on each apple just before serving (optional).

Tip: You could easily adapt this recipe for a dutch oven by adding all your ingredients to the pot after browning the meat. Cover and cook over low heat for 1 hour and 15 minutes.

Pumpkin Bread

I couldn't say it better than my mom did: It's fall!! It's time for Pumpkin Bread!!

Here is what she wrote to me in an email when I asked her about the history behind her delicious pumpkin bread.

Yes it is definitely time for pumpkin bread! This is the recipe from the mother (Rose) of a very good friend of Nanny's. Nanny would make this and send it to me when I was in college back in the sixties. I think it is the only pumpkin bread recipe I've ever seen that does not include cinnamon. Although cinnamon makes for a great pumpkin experience, leaving it out seems to allow the pumpkin to shine.

Rose's Pumpkin Bread

3 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable or canola oil
4 eggs
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon nutmeg (fresh grated nutmeg is best!)
2/3 cup water
2 cups pumpkin (1 15-ounce can pumpkin will work)
3 1/2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 cup chopped pecans (optional)

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and grease 2 large loaf pans (9" by 5") and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, mix all ingredients together and beat for 2 minutes with electric mixer until smooth. Divide into the loaf pans. Each pan will be about 2/3 full.

Bake for 50-60 minutes. Make sure center is done - a toothpick inserted into the center should come out clean.

Note: This bread freezes very well.

Note: For muffins, bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

Note: We have added chocolate chips to this recipe, and it was delicious!

Pumpkin Heaven!

One of my favorite tips is to use fresh, pure ingredients when you can. After Halloween, we slice open the pumpkins that we don't carve, clean out all the stringy junky stuff and the seeds, cut the flesh into chunks, and put it in a pot! Add a little bit of water to the bottom and cook on low for about 45 minutes, or until the pumpkin is fork-tender. Drain well and smash with a potato-smasher (or a food processor, depending on what texture you like). Voila! You have a great, fresh ingredient to put in your pies, breads, and soups! Also, cooked pumpkin freezes well. I put mine in ziplock freezer bags so that I can thaw-and-snip.

Here is one of my very favorite things to make with fresh cooked pumpkin: pie! We usually leave some lumps in the pumpkin to give the pie more texture and body, but you can puree it, too.

Fresh Pumpkin Pie

2 cups fresh pumpkin (see above for tips)
3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 12-ounce can evaporated milk
2 uncooked pie crusts (use your favorite recipe or - gasp - a store-bought crust)
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. ginger
1/4 tsp. cloves
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. salt

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Gently roll each pie crust onto two pie dishes. In a large bowl, mix well pumpkin, evaporated milk, eggs, brown sugar, spices, and salt. Pour half of the mixture into one of the prepared crusts, and pour the other half into the second prepared crust. Cover the exposed edges of the crust with strips of aluminum foil, and bake for 40 minutes or until a knife inserted into the filling comes out clean. Yield 2 pies.