Dernière Chance for Pumpkin Crème Brûlée

Right now, I'm sure that two thoughts are swirling around in your heads.  One: I've started my New Year's resolution to get in better shape, but I really miss those holiday sweets.  Two: What am I going to do with this leftover 15-ounce can of puréed pumpkin?  Boy, do I have the answer for you.  Give yourself a night of indulgence and say au revoir to that pesky pumpkin by whisking up one of my favorite dishes with a twist: Pumpkin Crème Brûlée.

If you haven't figured it out, crème brûlée is a French dessert.  And if someone knows dessert, it is the French.  The first known version of crème brûlée can be found in French chef François Massialot's 1691 cookbook.  The English translation literally means "burnt cream," which is what people called it for some time in the 18th century.  Let's be honest, though - it sounds MUCH tastier in French (what doesn't?).

Speaking of burnt - this is a dish that allows for those pyro desires to shine through.  Get yourself a kitchen torch!  Or you can use a boring broiler...

Ingredients:

- 1 15-ounce can of puréed pumpkin

- 1/2 cup white sugar

- 1/2 cup brown sugar

- 5 large egg yolks

- 2 tsp. vanilla extract

- 1 tsp. ground cinnamon

- 1/4 tsp. ground allspice

- 1/4 tsp. ground cloves

- 1/4 tsp. salt

- 3 cups heavy whipping cream

- Several tablespoons of white sugar (or brown sugar, for that matter)

- Optional fruit for garnish (think berries)

Preheat your oven to 325°F.  In a medium saucepan, bring the heavy whipping cream just to a boil.  

While the cream is heating, whisk the pumpkin, 1/2 cup white sugar, and 1/2 cup brown sugar together in a large bowl.  Then whisk in the egg yolks, vanilla, spices, and salt.

Once the cream is barely boiling, gradually add the cream to the pumpkin mixture while whisking.  Then add the mixture to as many ramekins as you own/can fit it in!  Bake these guys in a hot water bath (grab a baking sheet with high sides and add enough water to the sheet to come halfway up the ramekins) until they are just set in the center or about 30-35 minutes.  My ramekins were different sizes, so some took longer to bake than others.  Just give them a shake to see if they are set.

When they are done, pull them out and let them cool on a rack for a few minutes.  Then you'll want to cover them with some plastic wrap and let them cool in the fridge overnight.

On your eating day, pull these guys out of the fridge and grab some white (or brown) sugar.  Gently spread sugar so that it coats the top of each crème brûlée.

Now for the fun part - fire!  Grab that kitchen torch and melt that sugar on top.  (Alternatively you can spread brown sugar on top and put these guys in that boring broiler for about 15 minutes).

You'll want to serve these crème brûlées very quickly after you torch them, but you do have a moment to prep your optional fruit for a garnish.  Take a strawberry and cut several times starting at the tip and almost cutting through to the green top.  This adds a little flare to your already scrumptious-looking dessert!

Now arrange your fruit and serve.  We celebrated my mother's birthday, so note the candle (this post should have occurred in the fall, but it definitely works in time for Valentine's Day, as well!)  Bon appétit!

Before long, I expect your dessert to look like this!

Credits: My Pumpkin Crème Brûlée recipe is adapted from a recipe from Bon Appétit, which I found online.   The photos were taken by yours truly.

Decadent Banana Bread

I LOVE Banana Bread. And anyone who doesn't love banana bread must be allergic to gluten. Let me rephrase that--they probably still love banana bread, but after eating it one glorious time, they got really sick and, therefore, could no longer eat it. Unbelievably sad.

According to the all-knowing Wikipedia, banana bread emerged as a standard American cookbook feature once baking soda and powder became popular in the 1930s. No one knows from whence the first loaf of banana bread came, but some speculate that it originated from housewife experimentations with pearlash (aka potassium carbonate) in the 18th century. Who are these "some"? Where did they get their information? I guess we will never know...but for all intents and purposes, banana bread is clearly an American favorite. Who knew it had such a strange and mysterious history? I could delve into the history of the banana, but I don't want to get too political.

Most banana breads contain nuts, chocolate chips, or neither. But I put a bit of a spin on mine, which makes my recipe more dessert-worthy (and decadent breakfast-/brunch-worthy): I add chocolate chips and butterscotch chips. Feel free to substitute nuts or different chip combos--but I doubt you'll find a better combination than mine.

Loaf of Decadent Banana Bread:

- 2 1/2 cups of flour
- 1 cup of sugar
- 3 1/2 tsp. of baking powder
- 1 tsp. of salt
- 3 tbs. of vegetable oil
- 3/4 cup milk
- 1 egg
- 2 ripe bananas
- 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1/2 cup butterscotch chips


Preheat your oven to 350°. In a large mixing bowl, add the flour, sugar, baking powder, vegetable oil, milk, and egg. Now add your chips.

Peel your bananas and add them to the bowl.

Take out a potato masher and use it to mash the bananas and mix together the ingredients.

Once the bananas have been sufficiently mashed, you may want to switch to a mixing spoon. Make sure that the mixture is well-mixed, but small lumps/chunks of bananas are okay. I like the lumps!

Grease one of your typical-sized loaf pans (approximately 8.5"x4.5"x2.75"H). Pour the mixture into the pan and make sure that it is spread out evenly.

Once the oven is preheated, bake for about an hour. I will sometimes check the loaf at 50 minutes just to make sure it doesn't become overcooked.

To make sure you have made the perfect loaf, stick a knife into the middle and a little bit of batter should coat the knife--it shouldn't be cooked all the way through (you don't want it to be too dry), but the knife shouldn't come out with a bunch of batter all over it. It's not an exact science by any stretch. But trust me--you want it on the gooey side more than you'd want it on the dry side. Gooey is delicious. Wait a few minutes for the bread to cool down a bit, then slice it up and serve!