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Pumpkin Orange Mini Bundt Cakes

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Pumpkin Orange Mini Bundt Cakes
Individual cakes with wonderful pumpkin and orange flavors. These mini Bundt cakes are amazingly delicious and have a surprise pecan topping added for a little crunch in each bite. After baking the cakes are drizzled with an orange glaze.

Tip: If you have just one mini Bundt cake pan with 6 cup molds this recipe may be baked in batches. While the first batch is baking just cover and chill the remaining batter. Then after the first batch is baked wash and dry the pan, re-grease and flour the pan, and bake the second batch.
Recipe type: Dessert | Oil Cakes | Bundt Cakes
Serves: 12 mini Bundt cakes
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Recipe Notes
Pan: One or Two 3½ inch Mini Bundt Cake Pan Pan Prep: Greased, Floured Oven Temp: 350° Storage: Cover and Cool Place

Help: Cake Hints and Tips
Ingredients
Small amount of vegetable shortening and flour for preparing pan
Cake Batter:
  • ¾ cups pecans, fine to medium coarsely chopped
  • 1 large orange
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoon ground ginger
  • ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
  • ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 1 cup buttermilk
  • 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • ¾ cup canned pumpkin
  • ¼ cup vegetable oil
Orange Glaze:
  • 1½ cups confectioners’ (powdered) sugar
  • 1 tablespoon orange zest (reserved from cake batter)
  • 2 to 3 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice (reserved from cake batter)
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare one or two mini Bundt cake pans; grease the pans with shortening and dust with flour.
Pecans: Sprinkle about 1 tablespoon chopped pecans in the bottom of each cup. Set pan aside. Tip: If you are using 1 mini Bundt cake pan with 6 cup molds you will need to bake this recipe in two batches.
Zest the orange: You should have about 2 tablespoons zest. Divide the zest, use half for the cake batter and reserve the other half for the orange glaze. Tip: Don’t worry if there are not quite 2 tablespoons or more than 2 tablespoons of zest, just divide whatever amount you have in half. Set aside.
Set aside the orange and reserved zest for the orange glaze.
Cake Batter:
  1. In a medium mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and nutmeg; sift or whisk together to mix. Set aside.
  2. In a small bowl, stir the buttermilk and vanilla extract together. Set aside.
  3. In a large bowl of an electric mixer, add eggs and beat on medium-high speed for 2 to 3 minutes until the eggs become slightly thickened. With the mixer still on medium-high speed, add the sugar one tablespoon at a time, beating 2 to 4 minutes until the sugar is fully incorporated. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula so the mixture blends evenly.
  4. Add the pumpkin, and beat for 1 minute on medium speed or just until combined. With the mixer still on medium speed, slowly pour the oil into the batter in a slow steady stream, and then beat for 1 minute longer.
  5. With the mixer on low speed, add about one third of the flour mixture, mix just until the flour is almost completely blended. Scrape the bowl down; add the buttermilk mixture, blending just until mixed. Scrape the bowl down again and continue alternating with the flour mixture and buttermilk mixture, ending with the last portion of the flour, and stirring just until blended.
  6. Bake: Spoon about ⅓ cup batter over the pecans in each cup mold. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until a long toothpick, wooden skewer or cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Place pan on a wire cooling rack to cool for 10 to 15 minutes then remove cake from the pan and place the cake on the wire cooling rack to finish cooling. Tip: 23 minutes was the perfect bake time for my oven.

    Pumpkin-Orange Mini Bundt Cakes
Orange Glaze:
  1. In a small bowl, combine powdered sugar and orange zest. Add enough orange juice to make a good drizzling consistency and stir until smooth.
  2. Drizzle glaze over the cooled cakes.

    Pumpkin-Orange Mini Bundt Cakes

Adapted from Better Homes and Gardens Magazine, Fall 2018

 

Brown Sugar Pumpkin Cake

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Brown Sugar Pumpkin Cake
A pumpkin layer cake full of spice and frosted with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting for extra spiciness. This cake is a tasty treat for the fall including Halloween and Thanksgiving holidays. I decorated this cake with marzipan pumpkins but you could also make fondant pumpkins. You can buy pre-made marzipan or fondant but for best flavor make your own.

Tip: The cake can be prepared the day before to make final cake assembly quicker. In fact a chilled cake is easier to work with and there are less crumbs when it is cut or handled. Once the baked cake is completely cooled, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 2 hours or overnight.
Recipe type: Dessert | Pumpkin Cake | Cream Cheese Frosting
Serves: 8 to 10 servings
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Recipe Notes
Pan: Two 8" Round Layers Pan Prep: Greased and floured Oven Temp: 350° Storage: Cover and refrigerate

Help: Cake Hints and Tips | Marzipan | Rolled Fondant

TheBakingPan Recommends: The BEST instant read thermometer I’ve used for cooking and baking; the ThermoWorks Splash-Proof Super-Fast Thermapen Thermometer is incredibly fast, accurate, and well worth the investment. I use my Thermapen Thermometer for checking room temperature ingredients, tempering chocolate, baking bread, making pastry creams, sugar syrup, caramel, and candy, cooking meats and fish, and deep frying. Thermapen Thermometer available here.
Ingredients
Small amount of vegetable shortening and flour for preparing pans
Cake Batter:
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2½ teaspoons baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • ¾ teaspoon ground ginger
  • ¾ teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
  • ½ cup buttermilk (preferably whole buttermilk)
  • 1¼ cups pumpkin puree
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1½ cups dark or light brown sugar. Tip: Either dark or light brown sugar may be used. I prefer dark brown sugar in this cake for its richer taste.
  • 3 large eggs
Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting:
  • 12 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
  • ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 4 cups confectioners’ (powdered) sugar
  • 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
  • ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
Decoration (optional):
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare two 8 inch round layer cake pans; lightly grease the pans with shortening and dust with flour. Tip: to make baked cake easier to remove from pan, lightly grease the pan, line with parchment paper, and then lightly grease the top of the parchment paper and dust with flour.
Cake Batter:
  1. In a medium-size mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves; sift or whisk together to mix. Set aside.
  2. In a medium-size mixing bowl, stir the buttermilk, pumpkin puree, and vanilla together. Set aside.
  3. In a large bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Tip: To cream, start by placing the butter in the bowl, with an electric mixer on medium speed begin by beating the butter about 1 minute until it is smooth and light in color. With the mixer still on medium speed, slowly add the sugar to the butter, one or two tablespoons at a time, taking from 4 to 8 minutes to add all of the sugar, and beating until the butter and sugar are fully incorporated and the mixture is has a light and fluffy texture. While adding the sugar, stop the mixer occasionally to scrape the mixture off the paddle and scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula so the mixture blends evenly.
  4. Add eggs one at a time, beating until thoroughly mixed.
  5. With the mixer on low speed, add about one third of the flour mixture, mix just until the flour is almost completely blended. Scrape the bowl down, and add about one half of the pumpkin mixture, blending just until mixed. Scrape the bowl down again and continue alternating with the flour mixture and pumpkin mixture, ending with the last portion of the flour, and stirring just until blended.
  6. Bake: Spoon the batter into the prepared pans and smooth the surface with a small offset spatula or the back of a large spoon. Bake 30 to 36 minutes or until a long toothpick, wooden skewer, or cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Tip: 36 minutes bake time was just right in my oven.
  7. Remove from oven and place pans on a wire cooling rack to cool for 10 to 15 minutes then remove cake from the pans and place the cake on the wire cooling rack to finish cooling.
Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting:
  1. In a medium mixing bowl, combine cream cheese, butter, and vanilla; use an electric hand mixer or wooden spoon and beat together until mixture is smooth. Add powdered sugar; beat until frosting is smooth and creamy. Add cinnamon and cloves and beat until thoroughly combined.
  2. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.
Assembly:
  1. Using a long serrated kitchen knife, split each cake into 2 horizontal layers.
  2. Place one of the bottom halves of the layers on a cake plate. Using an offset spatula spread a heaping ½ cup frosting over the layer. Repeat with the next two layers. Place the last cake layer on top.
  3. Crumb coat the cake by covering the sides and top of the cake with a thin layer of the frosting. Refrigerate the cake until the crumb coat is firm, about 30 minutes. Tip: the crumb coat is a thin layer. Don’t worry if the cake shows through in places, it will be covered again with the final layer of frosting.
  4. When the crumb coat is set, cover the sides and top of the cake with the remaining frosting.
Decoration:
  1. Frosting Finish: Start with a smoothly frosted cake sitting on top of a turntable. To finish the sides of the cake use the tip of a small offset spatula and make vertical lines. To finish the top of the cake place the tip of a large offset spatula at the outer top edge of the cake. Pressing slightly into the frosting begin spinning the turntable while moving the spatula gradually toward the center of the cake to create a swirl.
  2. Marzipan or Fondant Pumpkins: Plan on making the pumpkins at least a day in advance so they will be ready when time to use. Use Marzipan or Rolled Fondant and tint with orange food coloring for the pumpkins and just a very small amount tinted green for the stems. Shape pieces of orange fondant into small ½ to 1 inch balls. Use a toothpick or back of a butter knife to press creases around the outer edges from top to bottom. Roll a tiny bit of green onto the top for the stem. Set aside to dry.
  3. Place a pumpkins on top of each frosted cake.
  4. Refrigerate cake until ready to serve. Refrigerate leftovers.

Adapted from Porschen, Peggy, Lovely Layer Cakes

 

Buckeye Eyeballs

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Buckeye Eyeballs
Bloodshot Halloween eyes are peering out at everyone from their nest. Spooky good, these buckeye candies are dipped in melted candy melts and decorated with food coloring for the bloodshot and assorted candies to complete the eyes.
Recipe type: Dessert | Halloween | Peanut Butter Candy
Serves: about 3 dozen candies
Prep time: 
Total time: 
Recipe Notes
Pan: One large jelly roll pan Pan Prep: Parchment Lined Equipment: Double Boiler Method: Stovetop Yield: About 3 dozen candies Storage: Cover and Refrigerate
Ingredients
Buckeye Candy:
  • 1 cup creamy peanut butter
  • ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • ¼ teaspoon coarse salt, such as sea salt or coarse kosher salt
  • 2½ cups sifted confectioners’ (powdered) sugar
Coating and Decoration:
  • ½ to ¾ cup vanilla candy melts
  • About 1 teaspoon vegetable shortening
  • Red food coloring
  • Assorted candies, such as flat disc shaped candies for the eyes, cut up black jelly beans for the eyes, string licorice or pieces of black licorice wheels for the eyebrows.
Instructions
Prepare one large jelly roll pan, line with parchment paper.
Buckeye Candy:
  1. In a large mixing bowl combine peanut butter, butter, vanilla, and salt. Using a stand mixer or hand mixer, beat on medium speed until combined. Add the powdered sugar in 2 additions, beating on low speed until the sugar is thoroughly mixed.
  2. Shape peanut butter mixture into small balls, about 1-inch in diameter, using about 1 tablespoon of mixture for each ball. Place balls on prepared pan. Tip: A small ice cream scoop is ideal for making uniform-sized candies. Cover balls and refrigerate until well chilled, 1 to 2 hours or overnight.
Coating and Decoration:
  1. In top of a double boiler over hot water, melt the candy melts and vegetable shortening; stir with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon to combine. Keep the bowl of melted mixture over a pan of hot water to keep the coating a liquid consistency for dipping. Tip: adding a small amount of vegetable shortening to the candy melts helps to make a thinner consistency for easier dipping. Tip: Create a double boiler by filling a saucepan with 2 inches of water and bringing it to a simmer. Turn the heat off and place a glass bowl, stainless steel bowl, or ceramic bowl on top of the hot water; the upper pan should not touch the water.
  2. Dipping: Place one ball at a time in the melted mixture, gently turn it over with a fork or candy dipping fork. Use the fork to lift the ball out of the chocolate and tap the fork on the rim of the bowl to allow excess coating to drip back into the pan, and then draw the underside of the fork over the rim of the pan to remove any drips of coating. Gently place the coated ball on the prepared baking pan, pushing the ball off the fork with another fork. Tip: an alternative method for dipping is to place the balls with a long toothpick or bamboo skewer and dip into the coating. Keep the uncoated balls in the refrigerator until ready to dip as they are easiest to dip if they remain chilled.
  3. Working quickly before the coating sets, dip the tip of a toothpick into red food coloring and gently draw the toothpick through the coating to create the bloodshot eyes effect. Place the coated and bloodshot eyes on the parchment lined sheet to dry. Repeat with remaining balls.
  4. When eyeballs are dry, rewarm any remaining coating to use as “glue.” Affix the flat disc candies onto the eyeballs to make colored eyes, add a small piece of black jelly bean to make the black pupils, and add a piece of licorice for the eyebrows.
  5. Candy may be stored covered at room temperature or frozen.

Candy Decoration inspired by Usher, Julia, Cookie Swap, Gibbs Smith, Utah, 2009

 

Halloween Cake Gone Wild

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Halloween Cake Gone Wild
Halloween Dark Chocolate Cake with Orange Buttercream is wild with scattered twigs and pumpkin candies. It was a dark night and the wind was brisk, scattering twigs and branches everywhere in the pumpkin patch!

This cake was actually inspired by a recent fall wind storm where I live. Wind gusts up to 30mph caused tree branches to fall everywhere. My Halloween cake is a recreation of the chaos and destruction of those winds.

On a tasty note, this is a dense dark chocolate butter cake made with unsweetened cocoa, buttermilk, and sour cream. The chocolate cake recipe is adapted from a recipe by Ina Garten of the Food Network; the only change I made to the recipe was to eliminate 3 tablespoons of brewed coffee. I decided to frost the cake with Swiss Meringue Orange Buttercream since chocolate and orange flavors are always a good pairing. I’m not a fan of using food coloring in food but I thought for Halloween a bit of color would be fun, so I added orange food coloring to the buttercream frosting.
Recipe type: Dessert | Chocolate Cake | Orange Buttercream
Serves: 15 to 20 servings
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Recipe Notes
Pan: one 12 x17 x1 inch Jelly Roll pan Pan Prep: Greased, Parchment Lined, Floured Oven Temp: 350° Storage: Cover and Refrigerate

Help: Cake Hints, Melting Chocolate, Chocolate Types

TheBakingPan Recommends: The BEST instant read thermometer I’ve used for cooking and baking; the ThermoWorks Splash-Proof Super-Fast Thermapen Thermometer is incredibly fast, accurate, and well worth the investment. I use my Thermapen Thermometer for checking room temperature ingredients, tempering chocolate, baking bread, making pastry creams, sugar syrup, caramel, and candy, cooking meats and fish, and deep frying. Thermapen Thermometer available here.
Ingredients
Cake Batter:
  • 2½ cups all purpose flour
  • 1½ cups unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 2¼ teaspoons baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 1½ cups buttermilk
  • ¾ cup sour cream
  • 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
  • 3 large eggs
Swiss Meringue Orange Buttercream:
  • 5 large egg whites
  • 1¼ cups granulated sugar
  • 1/16 teaspoon salt
  • 2 cups (4 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 2 tablespoons freshly grated orange zest (about 1 orange)
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 2 tablespoons orange liqueur, such as Grand Marnier, Cointreau, or Triple Sec
  • Few drops orange food coloring (optional)
Decoration (optional):
  • About ½ cup vanilla candy melts (for twigs)
  • Dark brown food coloring (for twigs)
  • Assorted Halloween candies
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare one 12x17x1 inch Jelly Roll pan; lightly grease the pan with vegetable shortening, line with parchment paper, and then lightly grease the top of the parchment paper and dust with flour.
Cake Batter:
  1. In a large size mixing bowl, combine flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt; sift or whisk together to mix. Set aside.
  2. In a medium size mixing bowl, stir the buttermilk, sour cream, and vanilla together; set aside.
  3. In a large bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Tip: To cream, start by placing the butter in the bowl, with an electric mixer on medium speed begin by beating the butter about 1 minute until it is smooth and light in color. With the mixer still on medium speed, slowly add the granulated sugar to the butter, either one tablespoon at a time, or in a very slow steady stream, taking from 4 to 5 minutes to add all of the sugar, then add the brown sugar, taking an additional 3 to 4 minutes, beating until the butter and sugar are fully incorporated and the mixture is a light, or pale color, with a fluffy texture. While adding the sugars, stop the mixer occasionally to scrape the mixture off the paddle and scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula so the mixture blends evenly.
  4. Add eggs one at a time, beating until thoroughly mixed.
  5. With the mixer on low speed, add about one third of the flour mixture, mix just until the flour is almost completely blended. Scrape the bowl down, and add about one half of the buttermilk mixture, blending just until mixed. Scrape the bowl down again and continue alternating with the flour mixture and buttermilk mixture, ending with the last portion of the flour, and stirring just until blended.
  6. Bake: Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake 30 minutes or until a long toothpick, wooden skewer, or cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from oven and place pan on a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
Swiss Meringue Orange Buttercream:
  1. In a large bowl of an electric stand mixer combine egg whites, sugar, and salt; place the bowl over a pan of simmering water. Using a wire whisk, whisk constantly by hand until the mixture is hot, about 3 to 5 minutes. Tip: the mixture should reach about 130 degrees using a candy or instant read thermometer to gauge the temperature, or feel completely smooth when rubbed between your fingertips. Remove from heat.
  2. Attach the bowl to the electric stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Whisk on medium high speed for 5 to 7 minutes or until the mixture forms a thick fluffy meringue and is cool. Tip: Touch the meringue and make sure it has cooled to room temperature. Also the outside of the bowl should feel cool to the touch.
  3. Stop the mixer, remove the whisk and attach the paddle. With the mixer on medium speed add the butter, about 2 tablespoons at a time and mixing 20 to 30 seconds after each addition. Add the orange zest with the first butter addition. While adding the butter, stop the mixer occasionally to scrape the mixture off the paddle and scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula so the mixture blends evenly. Add the vanilla and orange liqueur and continue beating until the Buttercream is thick and smooth, about another 2 to 3 minutes. Optional: add a few drops of orange food coloring to reach the desired shade of orange color. Beat until color is thoroughly blended.
  4. Buttercream should be used immediately, or refrigerate or freeze until needed.
Decoration (optional):
  1. Twigs: Cover a large baking sheet with a piece of parchment paper. Set aside.
  2. Place the candy melts in top of a double boiler over hot water, stir with a rubber spatula until melted and creamy. Add a few drops of food coloring to reach the desired shade of color for the twigs. Tip: Create a double boiler by filling a saucepan with 2 inches of water and bringing it to a simmer. Turn the heat off and place a stainless steel, ceramic, or glass bowl on top of the simmering water, the upper pan should not touch the water. Tip: if too much color is added the candy melts may seize up and appear grainy. If this happens stir in about 1 teaspoon vegetable shortening to smooth the mixture back out.
  3. Place the melted candy melts in a small sandwich bag and snip a small piece of the corner off the bag. Gently squeeze the bag to form twigs onto the parchment paper lined pan. Set aside to cool and harden. Candy melts will dry and harden quickly at room temperature.
Assembly:
  1. Using a long kitchen knife, slice the cake in half lengthwise. Place one on the cake halves on a serving platter. Use an offset spatula to spread about half of the frosting over the top. Tip: I spread the frosting as evenly as possible over the bottom layer but intentionally kept the edges rough.
  2. Top with the remaining cake layer and use the remaining frosting for the top of the cake. Spread the frosting as evenly as possible over the top, keeping a rough look at the edges.
  3. Place the hardened twigs and Halloween candies randomly over the frosting.

Chocolate cake recipe adapted from Ina Garten Recipes : Food Network

 

Cranberry Orange Biscuits

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Cranberry Orange Biscuits
Oh so yummy! These biscuits are full of bits of dried cranberry and golden raisins and drizzled with an orange glaze when they are hot from the oven.
Recipe type: Dessert | Biscuits | Egg-Free
Serves: 15 to 18 Biscuits
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Recipe Notes
Pan: One Large Baking Sheet Pan Prep: Parchment Lined Oven Temp: 400° Storage: cool place or room temperature
Ingredients
Small amount of flour for the pastry board
Biscuit:
  • 2 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
  • 1 teaspoon freshly grated orange zest
  • ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ¼ cup vegetable shortening
  • ¼ cup cold unsalted butter, cut into ¼ to ½ inch pieces
  • ½ cup dried cranberries
  • ½ cup golden raisins
  • ¾ cup milk (preferably whole milk)
  • ¼ cup freshly squeezed orange juice
Glaze:
  • 1½ cups confectioners’ (powdered) sugar
  • 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice
  • About 1 tablespoon half and half or heavy cream Tip: you can use all orange juice or a combination of orange juice plus cream.
Instructions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Prepare one large baking sheet; line with parchment paper, or line with a non-stick baking mat.
Biscuit:
  1. In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, orange zest, and cinnamon; whisk together to mix.
  2. With a pastry blender or two knives, cut shortening and butter into the flour mixture until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in cranberries and golden raisins.
  3. In a small bowl, stir the milk and orange juice together. Add the liquid mixture to the flour mixture and stir just until mixed.
  4. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured pastry mat or pastry board. Sprinkle the top of the dough lightly with flour to cut down on the stickiness. Shape and pat the dough into a rough circle about ¾ inches thick.
  5. Use a floured 2 inch round cookie cutter Cut into wedges, squares or circles with a floured kitchen knife and place them 1 inch apart on the baking sheet. Tip: Use a drinking glass in place of a cookie cutter to make circles, or cut into squares or wedges with a knife. Dip the edges of the cutter in flour to prevent the dough from sticking. Do not pat the edges of the biscuit down; instead leave the cuts as sharp as possible to allow the biscuit to rise in layers.
  6. Bake: Bake 18 minutes or until the biscuits are very lightly browned. Remove from oven and place pan on a wire cooling rack.
Glaze:
  1. In a small bowl, combine confectioners’ sugar, orange juice, and cream, adding enough juice or cream to make a good drizzling consistency; stir to mix.
  2. Drizzle glaze over the still hot biscuits. Tip: Pour glaze into a small plastic sandwich bag, trim off the corner, and drizzle over the biscuits.

 

Pumpkin Seed Brittle

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Pumpkin Seed Brittle
With cool fall days come bright orange pumpkins, pumpkin seeds, and Pumpkin Seed Brittle. This brittle is good any time of year but seems especially appropriate in the fall. The cinnamon and extra sea salt sprinkled on top perfectly complements this sweet and crunchy brittle.

Pepitas are pumpkin seeds. When seeds are fresh from a pumpkin, each green seed is encased in a beige colored, slightly tough but edible hull. When the hull is removed, the dark green seed is revealed. Pepitas are sold and with or without hulls, salted and unsalted. Look for hulled pepitas in many grocery stores and natural food stores. I recommend buying pepitas already hulled; you can hull the seeds yourself by cracking and peeling off the hulls, but this is a tedious task.
Recipe type: Candy | Caramel
Prep time: 
Total time: 
Recipe Notes
Equipment: Large Heavy Bottom Pan, Candy Thermometer Method: Stove top Pan: One Large Baking Sheet Pan Prep: Buttered or Non Stick Baking Mat Yield: 1 pound Storage: Airtight Container, Cool Place or Refrigerate

Help: Sugar and Caramel Stages

TheBakingPan Recommends: The BEST instant read thermometer I’ve used for cooking and baking; the ThermoWorks Splash-Proof Super-Fast Thermapen Thermometer is incredibly fast, accurate, and well worth the investment. I use my Thermapen Thermometer for checking room temperature ingredients, tempering chocolate, baking bread, making pastry creams, sugar syrup, caramel, and candy, cooking meats and fish, and deep frying. Thermapen Thermometer available here.
Ingredients
Brittle:
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • ½ cup light corn syrup
  • 3 tablespoons water
  • 1 cup unsalted, raw, hulled pepitas
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 1 teaspoon coarse kosher salt or sea salt
  • ⅛ teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ¾ teaspoon baking soda
Topping:
  • About ¼ teaspoon coarse kosher salt or sea salt
Instructions
Lightly butter one large baking sheet or jelly roll pan. Or, line the pan with a non-stick baking mat or lightly buttered parchment paper. Tip: place the baking sheet in the oven at the lowest setting to warm the pan until ready to use. The cooked brittle will be easier to spread on a warm pan.
Tip: Before beginning to make the candy, have all ingredients, equipment and tools prepared and ready to use
Brittle:
  1. In a large, at least 2 quart-size, heavy-bottomed pan, combine granulated sugar, corn syrup, and water. Heat over medium-low heat, stirring constantly with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon, until the sugar is completely dissolved. Stir gently to avoid splashing the mixture onto the sides of the pan. When the mixture begins to simmer, cover the pan tightly with a lid for 3 to 4 minutes to allow condensation to form and run down the inside of the pan to help wash away stray sugar crystals.
  2. Increase the heat to medium high and bring to a boil, without stirring, until the syrup reaches a temperature of 290 degrees F, using a candy or instant read thermometer to gauge the temperature.
  3. When the mixture has reached 290 degrees, immediately add the pepitas, stirring to mix. Continue boiling the mixture, stirring and scraping the pot bottom to avoid scorching, until the mixture reaches a temperature of 300 degrees F, a hard crack stage. Be careful, the sugar is extremely hot and will burn your skin if you touch it. Immediately remove pan from the heat. Tip: Lower the heat when the temperature reaches 290 degrees to slow the cooking because at this point it will quickly reach 300 degrees.
  4. Add the butter, salt, and cinnamon; stir carefully and quickly to thoroughly mix. Be careful, the sugar is extremely hot and will burn your skin if you touch it. Add the baking soda and stir quickly to thoroughly mix, about 20 seconds; the mixture will immediately start foaming and turn lighter in color and increasing in volume.
  5. After you have stirred in the baking soda, and while the mixture is still foaming, immediately pour the brittle onto the prepared baking pan. Do not scrape out the pan as separated ingredients will mar the top of the brittle. Using a lightly buttered heavy spatula (a spatula that is not too flexible) quickly spread the brittle over the pan about ¼ inch thick. Tip: You must work quickly because it takes less than a minute for the brittle to start cooling, once cooled it will be difficult to spread.
  6. Topping: Sprinkle the top of the brittle with kosher salt or sea salt.
  7. Tip: You can stretch the brittle a bit while it is still warm and pliable to make a thinner brittle. Wear rubber gloves so you don’t burn your hands, lightly butter your fingertips, gently lift the edges and pull gently from the middle out to the edges. Pull all around the brittle to stretch to an even thickness. It the brittle is too hot to handle wait about 5 seconds and try again.
  8. Let the brittle cool completely, at least one hour and then break into pieces. Store in a tightly covered container at room temperature or refrigerate.
Source: Bon Appétit, November 2013; epicurious.com

 

Chocolate Pumpkin Spiderweb Tart

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Chocolate Pumpkin Spiderweb Tart
A chocolate spider’s web covers this pumpkin tart and chocolate spiced pastry, a great Halloween party dessert. If you want to serve this tart for other occasions such as Thanksgiving, just replace the spider web design by drizzling the chocolate topping over the top in any pattern you prefer or completely covering the top with chocolate by spreading thinly with an offset spatula.

With some left-over melted chocolate I made a few chocolate spiders decorated with orange and black dragees to add to the web.
Recipe type: Dessert | Custard Tart
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Recipe Notes
Pan: One 10" Tart with Removable Bottom Pastry: Chocolate Spiced Pastry Prep: Baked Oven Temp: 350° Storage: Cover and Refrigerate

Help: Chocolate Types, Melting Chocolate
Ingredients
Chocolate Spiced Pastry:
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
  • ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, chilled, cut into small pieces
  • 1 large egg
  • 4 ounces semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
Pumpkin Filling:
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1 can (15 ounces) pumpkin
  • ¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons firmly packed light brown sugar
  • 1 cup sour cream
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoon ground ginger
  • ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • ⅛ teaspoon ground cloves
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
Chocolate Topping and Chocolate Spiders:
  • 2 ounces semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
  • About 1 tablespoon granulated sugar (optional)
Instructions
Chocolate Spiced Pastry:
  1. In a medium mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, cocoa powder, cinnamon, cloves, and salt; sift or whisk together to mix. Add the butter pieces and gently mix with a fork to coat the pieces of butter with the flour mixture. With a pastry blender or two knives, cut the butter into the flour mixture until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs and some of the pieces of butter are the size of peas.
  2. Add the egg and use a kitchen fork to mix the flour and egg together. When the dough is mixed, it should feel just slightly moist and hold together when pinched with your fingers. Tip: If the dough is crumbly and does not hold together, add 1 to 2 teaspoons ice water, adding one teaspoon of water at a time until the dough is done and holds together.
  3. Form dough into one-6-inch disk. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until chilled, 1 to 2 hours, or refrigerate up to 3 days before using.
  4. Remove the dough disc from refrigerator. If the dough is too cold and difficult to roll, let stand at room temperature for 5 to 15 minutes.
  5. On a lightly floured pastry mat or pastry board, and using a lightly floured rolling pin, roll the chilled pastry to a 12 inch circle and fit into a 10 or 10½ inch tart pan with a removable bottom. Gently press pastry against the sides of the tart pan. Trim excess pastry to ½ inch. Fold the edge of the pastry under and press gently around the rim to seal the edge, allowing pastry to extend ⅛ to ¼ inch above the top of the pan to allow for shrinkage. Lightly prick the bottom and sides with a fork at three-fourth or one inch intervals. Place on a baking sheet, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate tart shell until firm, at least 30 minutes.
  6. While tart shell is refrigerating, preheat oven to 350 degrees F, allowing 15 to 20 minutes for the oven to preheat before baking.
  7. Bake: Leaving the tart shell on the baking sheet, bake 15 minutes. Remove from oven. Tip: If the pastry edges have shrunk during baking, use a small spatula and gently press the hot pastry back up to the top edge of the tart pan, you must do this while the pastry is still hot from the oven.
  8. After removing baked tart shell from the oven, immediately sprinkle the 4 ounces of chopped chocolate evenly over the bottom of the shell. Let the chocolate sit for about 2 minutes to melt and then spread evenly with a small offset spatula. Set tart shell aside while making filling.
Pumpkin Filling:
  1. In a large mixing bowl, beat the eggs with a wire whisk or fork until frothy. Add pumpkin, brown sugar, sour cream, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, and salt, stir well to mix. Pour mixture in the pastry-lined tart shell.
  2. Bake: Leaving the tart shell on the baking sheet, bake 50 to 60 minutes, or until the filling is lightly browned and the tart jiggles slightly if the pan is given a gentle shake.
  3. Remove from oven. Cool on a wire cooling rack at least 1 hour before adding the chocolate topping.
Chocolate Topping and Chocolate Spiders:
  1. Place the chopped semisweet chocolate in a small bowl, place on top of a pan of hot water to create a double boiler, stir until chocolate is melted and smooth. Tip: Create a double boiler by filling a saucepan with 2 inches of water and bringing it to a simmer. Turn the heat off and place a stainless steel, ceramic, or glass bowl on top of the hot water, the upper pan should not touch the water.
  2. Place the melted chocolate in a small paper piping bag, seal the end, and snip off the tip to make a ⅛ inch diameter hole. Tip: Use a pastry bag with a decorating tip for piping. In place of a pastry bag, you can also use a plastic bag with a ziplock top; after the plastic bag is filled, cut a very small piece off one corner to pipe the chocolate out. To fill the pastry or plastic bag, place the bag, tip side down, in a glass, fold the top down over the edge of the glass. Spoon the chocolate into the bag, filling it no more than ⅔ full, unfold the top and secure with the ziplock top or with a twist tie. Keep the tip covered with a damp cloth when not using to prevent it from clogging.
  3. First, pipe about 12 evenly spaced lines (spokes) with the melted chocolate, radiating out from the center of the tart. Second, starting from the outside edge of the tart, pipe curved lines around the perimeter of the tart connecting each spoke. Continue piping the curved lines, spacing them closer together as you near the center.
  4. Let tart set until completely cooled and firm, another 1 to 2 hours, before cutting and serving. Cover and refrigerate within 8 hours.
  5. Chocolate Spiders (Optional): If you have any melted chocolate left-over you can create chocolate spiders to add to the top of the web. On a piece of parchment paper, pipe a small mound of chocolate about ⅜ inches in diameter for the body, and pipe another smaller mound of chocolate touching the first mound for the head. Pipe the spider legs out from the body. If desired, sprinkle dragees on top for decoration and additional color. Let the spiders sit until the chocolate is hardened and then gently remove from the parchment paper and place on the spider web.
  6. Optional: Just before serving, sprinkle the entire top of the tart with granulated sugar to make the spider web glisten
Adapted From: Martha Stewart's Pies & Tarts, Clarkson Potter Publishers, New York, 2011

Pumpkin Bundt Cake

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Pumpkin Bundt Cake
Pumpkin, spices, and maple syrup all combine to make one tasty cake, with orange cream cheese glaze as a nice compliment to this fall-inspired spiced pumpkin cake.
Recipe type: Dessert | Oil Cake | Pumpkin Cake
Serves: 10 to 12
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Recipe Notes
Pan: One 9" Bundt Pan Prep: Greased and Floured Oven Temp: 350° Storage: Cover and Refrigerate

Help: Cake Hints and Tips

TheBakingPan Recommends: The BEST instant read thermometer I’ve used for cooking and baking; the ThermoWorks Splash-Proof Super-Fast Thermapen Thermometer is incredibly fast, accurate, and well worth the investment. I use my Thermapen Thermometer for checking room temperature ingredients, tempering chocolate, baking bread, making pastry creams, sugar syrup, caramel, and candy, cooking meats and fish, and deep frying. Thermapen Thermometer available here.
Ingredients
Batter:
  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon ground allspice
  • ½ teaspoon ground cloves
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
  • ½ cup pure maple syrup, preferably grade B
  • 1 15-ounce can of pumpkin puree
  • ½ cup vegetable oil
Orange Cream Cheese Glaze:
  • 3 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
  • 1 tablespoon grated orange zest
  • 1 cup confectioners (powdered) sugar
  • 3 to 4 teaspoons freshly squeezed orange juice
Garnish:
  • 1 to 2 tablespoons grated orange zest
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare one 9 inch Bundt pan or fluted tube pan; generously grease the pan with shortening and dust with flour.
Batter:
  1. In a medium mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, allspice, and cloves; sift or whisk together to mix. Set aside.
  2. In a large bowl of an electric mixer, add eggs and beat on medium-high speed for 2 minutes. With the mixer still on medium-high speed, add the brown sugar one tablespoon at a time, taking 3 to 4 minutes, and beating until the sugar is fully incorporated. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula so the mixture blends evenly.
  3. Reduce mixer speed to medium; slowly pour the maple syrup into the batter in a slow steady stream. Add the pumpkin puree, and beat for 1 minute. With the mixer still on medium speed, slowly pour the oil into the batter in a slow steady stream, and then beat for 1 minute longer.
  4. Reduce mixer speed to medium-low, and blend in the flour mixture all at once, mixing just until incorporated.
  5. Bake: Spoon the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the surface with the back of a large spoon. Bake 60 to 65 minutes or until a long toothpick, wooden skewer or cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Place pan on a wire cooling rack to cool for 10 to 15 minutes then remove cake from the pan and place the cake on the wire cooling rack to finish cooling.
Orange Cream Cheese Glaze:
  1. In a small bowl, combine cream cheeses, orange zest, and confectioner's sugar. Add 3 teaspoons orange juice and stir until smooth. Add additional teaspoon of orange juice if needed to make a good drizzling consistency. The glaze should be like a soft icing, but thin enough that it will run down over the sides of the cake.
  2. Drizzle glaze over the cake, allowing the glaze to drip down the sides.
  3. Garnish: sprinkle the orange zest over the glaze.

Cornmeal Cookies

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Cornmeal Cookies
The cornmeal in these cookies provides a wonderful crunchy texture and contrasts nicely with the sweetness of the dried fruits. This is a refrigerator cookie that is formed into logs, refrigerated, then sliced and baked. The dough can be made in advance, wrapped well, and refrigerated for 1 to 2 weeks or frozen until ready for baking.
Recipe type: Dessert | Refrigerator Cookies | Icebox Cookies
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Recipe Notes
Pan: Two Large Baking Sheets Pan Prep: Ungreased or Parchment Lined Oven Temp: 350° Yield: 6 Dozen Storage: Airtight Container, Room Temperature

Help: Cookie Hints and Tips

TheBakingPan Recommends: The BEST instant read thermometer I’ve used for cooking and baking; the ThermoWorks Splash-Proof Super-Fast Thermapen Thermometer is incredibly fast, ThermoWorks Splash-Proof Super-Fast Thermapenaccurate, and well worth the investment. I use my Thermapen Thermometer for checking room temperature ingredients, tempering chocolate, baking bread, making pastry creams, sugar syrup, caramel, and candy, cooking meats and fish, and deep frying. Thermapen Thermometer available here.
Ingredients
Dough:
  • 2¼ cups all-purpose flour
  • ½ cup yellow cornmeal, divided
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1 cup confectioners’ (powdered) sugar
  • ½ cup golden raisins
  • ½ cup dried cranberries
  • ¼ cup currants
  • About 2 tablespoons turbinado sugar (for sprinkling)
Instructions
  1. In a medium mixing bowl, combine flour, ¼ cup cornmeal, and salt; sift or whisk together to mix. Set aside.
  2. In a large bowl of an electric mixer, add the butter and beat on medium speed until smooth and creamy, about 1 minute. Gradually add confectioners’ sugar, taking about 1 minute, then beat for about 1 to 2 minutes longer to thoroughly combine. While adding the sugar, stop the mixer if necessary to scrape the mixture off the paddle and scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula so the mixture blends evenly.
  3. Reduce the speed to low, and add the flour mixture in 3 to 4 additions, and mix just until thoroughly incorporated. The dough will be stiff and may seem crumbly.
  4. Add the raisins, cranberries, and currants. Beat on low speed just until incorporated.
  5. Divide dough in half. On a large piece of wax or parchment paper, shape each half into a round or square log, about 10 inches long and 1½ inches in diameter. Sprinkle the remaining ¼ cup cornmeal onto the logs and press the cornmeal gently into the dough, coating the entire outsides with cornmeal.
  6. Wrap each log in plastic wrap and refrigerate until well chilled, at least 4 hours or overnight.
  7. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Baking sheets may be ungreased, lined with parchment paper, or lined with a non-stick baking mat.
  8. Slice chilled dough logs into ¼ inch slices and place 1 inch apart on baking sheets. Sprinkle each cookie with a little turbinado sugar. Return remaining dough to refrigerator until ready to use. Tip: My favorite tool to cut refrigerator cookies is a stainless steel dough scraper; simply push the dough scraper straight down into the cookie for straight cuts. Or use a small kitchen knife to slice the cookies.
  9. Bake: Bake 16 to 18 minutes or until cookies are a light golden brown on the edges, but the centers are barely colored. Remove cookies from baking sheets with a metal spatula and place on a wire cooling rack to cool.

Pumpkin Spice Bread

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Pumpkin Spice Bread
Each piece of this yummy Pumpkin Spice Bread is covered in melted butter, sugar, spices and chopped pecans. It is best when still warm from the oven, or if it’s already cooled try heating briefly in the microwave before serving. This is a monkey-type bread, so you can just pull the pieces off with your fingers to eat, or slice into pieces if you prefer.
Recipe type: Dessert | Yeast Bread
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Recipe Notes
Pan: One 10" Angel Food Pan Prep: Greased Oven Temp: 350° Yield: One Cake Storage: Tightly Wrapped, Room Temperature

TheBakingPan Recommends: The BEST instant read thermometer I’ve used for cooking and baking; the ThermoWorks Splash-Proof Super-Fast Thermapen Thermometer is incredibly fast, accurate, and well worth the investment. I use my Thermapen Thermometer for checking room temperature ingredients, tempering chocolate, baking bread, making pastry creams, sugar syrup, caramel, and candy, cooking meats and fish, and deep frying. Thermapen Thermometer available here.
Ingredients
Dough:
  • 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1 teaspoon ground allspice
  • ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
  • 1 cup warm milk (110 to 115 degrees) (preferably whole milk)
  • 2 packages active dry yeast
  • 1¼ cups granulated sugar, divided
  • ½ cup unsalted butter, melted, divided
  • 1 cup cooked or canned pumpkin
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 5½ cups all-purpose flour, plus additional for work surface
  • ½ cup pecans, finely chopped
Instructions
Dough:
  1. In a small mixing bowl, combine cinnamon, ginger, allspice, and cloves. Set aside.
  2. In a large bowl, combine warm milk and yeast; stir and let sit until yeast is dissolved, about 10 minutes. Add ½ cup sugar, 3 tablespoons melted butter, pumpkin, and salt; beat until mixture is smooth. Add 2 cups flour and 2 teaspoons of the spice mixture; stir until well mixed. Stir in remaining flour to form a soft dough.
  3. Turn dough onto a lightly floured pastry mat or pastry board; knead dough until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes.
  4. Place dough in a well greased bowl; turn dough over once to grease the top. Cover bowl with a small kitchen towel and let dough rise is a warm place until doubled in size, 1½ to 2 hours.
  5. Prepare one 10 inch Angel Food tube cake pan; lightly grease the pan with shortening. Stir the remaining ¾ cup sugar into the remaining spice mixture.
  6. Punch dough down then knead dough briefly, 4 to 5 times. Divide the dough into thirds. Roll each third into an 18 inch long rope. Cut each rope into 18 1 inch pieces, and then roll each piece into a ball.
  7. Roll the balls in the remaining melted butter, then roll in the sugar and spice mixture. Place 18 balls in the bottom of the prepared pan, spacing evenly (place 12 balls around the outer edge and 6 balls around the middle.) Sprinkle ⅓ of the pecans over the top. Place a second row of 18 balls on top, staggering the balls over the empty spaces, then sprinkle ⅓ of the pecans over the top. Add a last row of 18 balls, sprinkle with any remaining sugar and spice mixture and sprinkle the remaining pecans over the top.
  8. Cover and let dough rise is a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
  9. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  10. Bake: Bake 50 to 55 minutes or until golden brown. Remove pan from oven. Place pan on a wire cooling rack to cool. Cool in pan for 20 minutes.
  11. Tip: Use an instant read thermometer to test your bread for doneness. The temperature should be between 200 and 210 degrees F.
  12. Run a thin kitchen knife around the edge of the pan to loosen the sides. Invert the pan to remove the bread; place bread onto a serving plate, right side up. Best served warm. The bread can be pulled apart or sliced into pieces.
Source: Clements, Carole, Baking, Hermes House, New York, 2001

Maple Pumpkin Torte

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Maple Pumpkin Torte
Think of crisp autumn days and fields ripe with orange pumpkins when you bite into this scrumptious torte. The cake layers abound with the flavors of pumpkin and spices and it almost melts in your mouth. Two 9-inch layers are split to make a 4 layer torte, each layer filled with maple cream cheese frosting. This dessert is mouth-watering delicious.
Recipe type: Dessert | Butter Cake | Pumpkin Cake
Serves: 10 to 12
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Recipe Notes
Pan: Two 9" Round Layers Pan Prep: Greased and Floured Oven Temp: 325° Storage: Cover and Refrigerate

Help: Cake Hints and Tips

TheBakingPan Recommends: The BEST instant read thermometer I’ve used for cooking and baking; the ThermoWorks Splash-Proof Super-Fast Thermapen Thermometer is incredibly fast, ThermoWorks Splash-Proof Super-Fast Thermapenaccurate, and well worth the investment. I use my Thermapen Thermometer for checking room temperature ingredients, tempering chocolate, baking bread, making pastry creams, sugar syrup, caramel, and candy, cooking meats and fish, and deep frying. Thermapen Thermometer available here.
Ingredients
Batter:
  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 3½ teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • ¾ teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
  • ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1½ cups canned pumpkin
  • ¾ cup milk (preferably whole milk)
  • 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  • 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1½ cups granulated sugar
  • 3 large eggs
Maple Cream Cheese Frosting:
  • 12 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
  • ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • ¼ cup pure maple syrup, preferably grade B
  • 4 cups confectioners’ (powdered) sugar
Garnish (optional):
  • 12 pecan halves
  • About ¼ cup pecans, toasted, coarsely chopped
Instructions
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Prepare two 9 inch round layer cake pans; lightly grease the bottom and sides of the pans with shortening and dust with flour. Tip: to make baked cake easier to remove from pan, lightly grease the pan, line the bottom with parchment paper, and then lightly grease the top of the parchment paper and dust with flour.
Tip: Use cake strips around the pans to help ensure the cake rises evenly. Make a cake strip with a length of aluminum foil long enough to encircle the pan with a little overlap. Fold the strip lengthwise until it is 2 to 3 inches wide. Wrap the strip around the outside of the pan and secure it with a metal paper clip or tape.
Batter:
  1. In a medium mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and ginger; sift or whisk together to mix. Set aside.
  2. In a medium bowl, combine pumpkin, milk, and vanilla; stir together. Set aside.
  3. In a large bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Tip: To cream, start by placing the butter in the bowl, with an electric mixer on medium speed begin by beating the butter about 1 minute until it is smooth and light in color. With the mixer still on medium speed, slowly add the sugar to the butter, either one tablespoon at a time, or in a very slow steady stream, taking from 4 to 8 minutes to add all of the sugar, and beating until the butter and sugar are fully incorporated and the mixture is a light, or pale yellow color, with a fluffy texture. While adding the sugar, stop the mixer occasionally to scrape the mixture off the paddle and scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula so the mixture blends evenly.
  4. Add eggs one at a time, beating until thoroughly mixed. Tip: For each egg, crack the egg into a small bowl and whisk with a fork to thoroughly break up the egg before adding to the creamed mixture. Start with the mixer on low speed so the liquid from the egg doesn’t splatter, once the egg is partially mixed increase the speed to medium. Each egg should be fully incorporated into the mixture before adding the next egg, taking about one minute to blend in each egg.
  5. With the mixer on low speed, add about one third of the flour mixture, mix just until the flour is almost completely blended. Scrape the bowl down, and add about one half of the pumpkin mixture, blending just until mixed. Scrape the bowl down again and continue alternating with the flour mixture and pumpkin mixture, ending with the last portion of the flour, and stirring just until blended.
  6. Bake: Spoon the batter into the prepared pans and smooth the top of the batter with a small offset spatula or the back of a large spoon. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until a long toothpick, wooden skewer, or cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from oven and place pans on a wire cooling rack to cool for 10 to 15 minutes then remove cake from the pans and place the cake on the wire cooling rack to finish cooling.
Maple Cream Cheese Frosting:
  1. In a medium mixing bowl, combine cream cheese, butter, and maple syrup; use an electric hand mixer or wooden spoon and beat together until mixture is smooth. Add powdered sugar; beat until frosting is smooth and creamy. Tip: If frosting seems too soft, refrigerate 30 minutes or longer for the desired consistency, then re-whip to make fluffy.
Assembly:
  1. Using a long serrated kitchen knife, split each cake into 2 horizontal layers. Maple Pumpkin TorteTip: Cut one of the cake layers so that the bottom half is thicker than the top half, and use the thicker bottom half as the 1st layer to provide a good base to support the upper layers.
  2. Place the thicker bottom half of the layers on a cake plate. Using an offset spatula spread 1 cup of frosting over the layer. Place the next layer on top and spread 1 cup frosting over the layer. Repeat with the next layer. Place the last cake layer on top with the flat side up, and top with remainder of frosting.
Garnish (optional):
  1. Garnish with pecan halves around the top of the cake and sprinkle the top with chopped pecans.
  2. Cover cake and refrigerate until ready to serve. Refrigerate leftovers.

Pumpkin Pecan Cupcakes

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Pumpkin Pecan Cupcakes
Dress up these Pumpkin Pecan cupcakes with a tiny sugar fondant pumpkin, perfect for the fall holidays when pumpkins are fresh from the pumpkin patch.
Recipe type: Dessert | Cupcakes | Butter Cakes
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Recipe Notes
Pan: Two Standard 12-Cup Muffin Pans Pan Prep: Paper Liners Oven Temp: 350° Yield: 20 Cupcakes Storage: Cover and Refrigerate

Help: Cake Hints and Tips, Toasting Nuts and Seeds, Rolled Fondant Tips

TheBakingPan Recommends: The BEST instant read thermometer I’ve used for cooking and baking; the ThermoWorks Splash-Proof Super-Fast Thermapen Thermometer is incredibly fast, accurate, and well worth the investment. I use my Thermapen Thermometer for checking room temperature ingredients, tempering chocolate, baking bread, making pastry creams, sugar syrup, caramel, and candy, cooking meats and fish, and deep frying. Thermapen Thermometer available here.
Ingredients
Batter:
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • ¼ teaspoon baking powder
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ¼ teaspoon ground allspice
  • ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
  • ½ cup buttermilk
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1½ cups firmly packed light brown sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 cup fresh pumpkin puree or use 1 cup canned pumpkin
  • 1 cup toasted pecans, coarsely chopped
Maple Cream Cheese Frosting:
  • 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, room temperature
  • 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
  • ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons grade B pure maple syrup
  • 2 cup confectioner’s (powdered) sugar
Decoration:
  • Orange and green Rolled Fondant for Pumpkin (or use white fondant tinted with orange Food Coloring for pumpkin and green food coloring for stem)
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare two standard 12-cup muffin pans; line about 20 of the cups with paper cupcake liners.
Batter:
  1. In a medium mixing bowl, combine flour, baking soda, Baking powder, salt, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, and cloves; sift or whisk together to mix. Set aside.
  2. In a small mixing bowl, stir the buttermilk and vanilla together. Set aside.
  3. In a large bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Tip: To cream, start by placing the butter in the bowl, with an electric mixer on medium speed begin by beating the butter about 1 minute until it is smooth and light in color. With the mixer still on medium speed, slowly add the sugar to the butter, either one tablespoon at a time, or in a very slow steady stream, taking from 4 to 8 minutes to add all of the sugar, and beating until the butter and sugar are fully incorporated and the mixture has a fluffy texture. While adding the sugar, stop the mixer occasionally to scrape the mixture off the paddle and scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula so the mixture blends evenly.
  4. Add eggs one at a time, beating until thoroughly mixed. Tip: For each egg, crack the egg into a small bowl and whisk with a fork to thoroughly break up the egg before adding to the creamed mixture. Start with the mixer on low speed so the liquid from the egg doesn’t splatter, once the egg is partially mixed increase the speed to medium. Each egg should be fully incorporated into the mixture before adding the next egg, taking about one minute to blend in each egg.
  5. With the mixer on low speed, add about one third of the flour mixture, mix just until the flour is almost completely blended. Scrape the bowl down, and add about one half of the buttermilk mixture, blending just until mixed. Scrape the bowl down again and continue alternating with the flour mixture and buttermilk mixture, ending with the last portion of the flour, and stirring just until blended.
  6. Remove the bowl from the mixer. Using a large rubber spatula, gently fold the pumpkin and pecans into the batter.
  7. Spoon the batter into the cupcake liners. Fill about ⅔ full, using about ¼ cup of batter per cup. Tip: Avoid over-filling the liners which may cause the batter to run-over the sides when baking. It is better to bake any remaining batter separately after the first pan of cupcakes has finished baking.
  8. Bake: Bake, rotating pan halfway through, 20 minutes, or until the cakes are just firm and spring back when gently pressed, and a toothpick, wooden skewer, or cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool slightly in cupcake pan on a wire cooling rack, and turn out of pan when cool enough to handle. Repeat process with any remaining batter. Cool cupcakes completely on the wire cooling rack before frosting.
Maple Cream Cheese Frosting:
  1. In a medium mixing bowl, combine cream cheese, butter, and maple; use an electric hand mixer or wooden spoon and beat together until mixture is smooth. Add powdered sugar; beat until frosting is smooth and creamy.
  2. Use a small offset spatula to frost the top of each cupcake, or use a pastry bag and decorating tip to pipe the frosting. Tip: If frosting seems too soft for piping, refrigerate 30 minutes or longer for the desired consistency.
Decoration:
  1. Plan on making the pumpkins at least a day in advance so they will be ready when time to use. Use Rolled Fondant and tint the fondant with orange food coloring for the pumpkins and just a very small amount tinted green for the stems. Shape pieces of orange fondant into small ½ to 1 inch balls. Use a toothpick or back of a butter knife to press creases around the outer edges from top to bottom. Roll a tiny bit of green onto the top for the stem. Set aside to dry.
  2. Place a pumpkin on top of each frosted cupcake.

Chocolate Spiderweb Cupcakes

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Chocolate Spiderweb Cupcakes
Irresistible, scrumptious, and spookily charming for Halloween. These Devils Food chocolate cupcakes are topped with a white chocolate Ganache, making every bite full of rich chocolate flavor. Black food coloring mixed with the white chocolate makes a perfect spider web design, perfectly inviting for little Gumdrop Spiders. Use leftover Ganache to make delicious little graham cracker sandwich treats.
Recipe type: Dessert | Cupcakes | Chocolate Butter Cakes
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Recipe Notes
Pan: Two Standard 12-Cup Muffin Pans Pan Prep: Paper Liners Oven Temp: 350° Yield: 20 to 24 Cupcakes Storage: Loosely Cover and Refrigerate

Help: Cake Hints and Tips, Chocolate Types, Melting Chocolate, Gumdrop Spiders

TheBakingPan Recommends: The BEST instant read thermometer I’ve used for cooking and baking; the ThermoWorks Splash-Proof Super-Fast Thermapen Thermometer is incredibly fast, ThermoWorks Splash-Proof Super-Fast Thermapenaccurate, and well worth the investment. I use my Thermapen Thermometer for checking room temperature ingredients, tempering chocolate, baking bread, making pastry creams, sugar syrup, caramel, and candy, cooking meats and fish, and deep frying. Thermapen Thermometer available here.
Ingredients
Batter:
  • ½ cup plus 2 tablespoons Dutch-processed cocoa powder
  • 1¼ cups hot water, heated to simmering
  • 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  • 2¼ cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ¾ cup (1½ sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • ¾ cup firmly packed light brown sugar
  • 3 large eggs
White Chocolate Ganache:
  • 16 ounces white chocolate, chopped into small pieces
  • ½ cup whipping (heavy) cream
  • Black Food Coloring
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare two standard 12-cup muffin pans; line with paper cupcake liners.
Batter:
  1. In a small mixing bowl, combine the cocoa and hot water; stir until blended and smooth. Set aside to cool to room temperature. When chocolate mixture is cooled to room temperature, stir in the vanilla. Set aside.
  2. In a medium mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt; sift or whisk together to mix. Set aside.
  3. In a large bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Tip: To cream, start by placing the butter in the bowl, with an electric mixer on medium speed begin by beating the butter about 1 minute until it is smooth and light in color. With the mixer still on medium speed, slowly add the granulated sugar to the butter, either one tablespoon at a time, or in a very slow steady stream, taking from 4 to 5 minutes to add all of the sugar, then add the brown sugar, taking an additional 3 to 4 minutes, beating until the butter and sugar are fully incorporated and the mixture is a light, or pale yellow color, with a fluffy texture. While adding the sugars, stop the mixer occasionally to scrape the mixture off the paddle and scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula so the mixture blends evenly.
  4. Add eggs one at a time, beating until thoroughly mixed. Tip: For each egg, crack the egg into a small bowl and whisk with a fork to thoroughly break up the egg before adding to the creamed mixture. Start with the mixer on low speed so the liquid from the egg doesn’t splatter, once the egg is partially mixed increase the speed to medium. Each egg should be fully incorporated into the mixture before adding the next egg, taking about one minute to blend in each egg.
  5. With the mixer on low speed, add about one third of the flour mixture, mix just until the flour is almost completely blended. Scrape the bowl down, and add about one half of the chocolate and vanilla mixture, blending just until mixed. Scrape the bowl down again and continue alternating with the flour mixture and chocolate mixture, ending with the last portion of the flour, and stirring just until blended.
  6. Spoon the batter into the cupcake liners. Fill about ⅔ full, using about ¼ cup of batter per cup. Tip: Avoid over-filling the liners which may cause the batter to run-over the sides when baking. It is better to bake any remaining batter separately after the first pan of cupcakes has finished baking.
  7. Bake: Bake, rotating pan halfway through, 15 to 20 minutes, or until the cakes are just firm and spring back when gently pressed, or until a toothpick or cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool slightly in cupcake pan, and turn out of pan when cool enough to handle. Repeat process with any remaining batter. Cool cupcakes completely on a wire cooling rack before frosting.
White Chocolate Ganache:
  1. Place the chopped chocolate in a medium bowl. Set aside.
  2. In a small heavy saucepan over medium low heat, heat the cream until it is hot and just beginning to steam. Remove from heat and pour over the chocolate, stirring until the chocolate is completely melted.
  3. Remove about ½ cup of the white chocolate mixture and place in a small mixing bowl. Add 1 or 2 drops of black food color. This will be used to make the spider web design on top. Set aside to cool and thicken to a piping consistency. For piping the chocolate should be like a thick sour cream.
  4. Pour the remaining white chocolate mixture into a pitcher, or liquid measuring cup with a pouring spout and let set to cool. As the mixture cools it will thicken and become spreadable. Stir as it cools until it reaches a good spreading consistency, like a thick frosting, but that will spread easily over the top of the cakes.
  5. When the black mixture has cooled to the right consistency, spoon into a small plastic freezer bag. Put a little piece of tape on corner to reinforce the tip, and then roll over top of bag to keep neater. (You could also use a plastic squeeze bottle with a tip available in decorating stores), Twist the top of the bag to create some pressure to make easier to squeeze out. Cut a tiny corner off the tip of the bag. Set aside.
Decorating:
  1. Slowly pour a small amount of the white chocolate mixture over one cupcake. It doesn’t have to cover the top completely, or you can let it spread over the top and drip a little over the edges. Tip: Set the cupcakes on a wire cooling rack, with a piece of plastic wrap or paper towel under the rack to catch drips and make cleanup easier.
  2. Pipe the black mixture on top of the white chocolate in circles, starting in the center of the cake with a small circle, and adding 2 larger circles. Use a wooden toothpick or skewer and drag the tip of the toothpick from the center of the cake to the outside edge like a spoke. Continue around the top of the cake. Repeat with remaining cupcakes. Tip: When each cupcake is completed, place in the refrigerator to “set” the spider web design and keep from flowing over the edge of the cake.
  3. Loosely cover to protect the spider web design and refrigerate before serving. Refrigerate leftovers.
Tip: Use leftover chocolate mixture to make delicious little graham cracker sandwich treats. Break a graham cracker into 2 pieces, cover 1 piece with a little of the chocolate mixture and then place the 2nd piece on top to make a cookie sandwich. Refrigerate.

Brownie Bat Cupcakes

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Brownie Bat Cupcakes
Bats are gathering for Halloween night, and they’re deliciously scary. Bake these brownie cupcakes with chocolate frosting, and then decorate with chocolate candy kisses for the head, cinnamon candy eyes, almond ears, and cookie bat wings
Recipe type: Dessert | Chocolate Cupcakes
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Recipe Notes
Pan: Two Standard 12-Cup Muffin Pans Pan Prep: Paper Liners Oven Temp: 350o Yield: 16 Cupcakes Storage: Covered, Room Temperature

Help: Cake Hints and Tips, Chocolate Types, Melting Chocolate

TheBakingPan Recommends: The BEST instant read thermometer I’ve used for cooking and baking; the ThermoWorks Splash-Proof Super-Fast Thermapen Thermometer is incredibly fast, accurate, and well worth the investment. I use my Thermapen Thermometer for checking room temperature ingredients, tempering chocolate, baking bread, making pastry creams, sugar syrup, caramel, and candy, cooking meats and fish, and deep frying. Thermapen Thermometer available here.
Ingredients
Batter:
  • 1½ cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 4 1-ounce squares unsweetened baking chocolate
  • ¾ cup unsalted butter
  • 2 cups granulated sugar
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Chocolate Frosting:
  • ½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 3 cups confectioners' (powdered) sugar
  • ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 2 tablespoons light corn syrup
  • 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  • 4 to 5 tablespoons milk (preferably whole milk)
Bat Decorations:
  • Chocolate wafer cookies, such as Nabisco Famous Chocolate Wafers (for the wings)
  • ¼ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (to ‘glue’ the nonpareils)
  • Orange nonpareils, or use an orange-black combination (for the wing decoration)
  • Chocolate Hershey Kiss candies, unwrapped (for the head)
  • Red or Black Decorating Gel (to ‘glue’ the eyes)
  • Red Cinnamon Candies (for the eyes)
  • Sliced unblanched almonds (for the ears)
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare two standard 12-cup muffin pans; line with paper cupcake liners.
Batter:
  1. In a small mixing bowl, combine flour and baking powder; sift or whisk together to mix. Set aside.
  2. In top of a double boiler over hot water, Melt chocolate and butter; stir with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula to combine. Remove from heat. Tip: Create a double boiler by filling a saucepan with 2 inches of water and bringing it to a simmer. Turn the heat off and place a stainless steel, ceramic, or glass bowl on top of the simmering water, the upper pan should not touch the water.
  3. Transfer chocolate mixture to a large bowl of an electric mixer or use a hand mixer. Add sugar; beat on medium speed until mixed. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat until thoroughly combined, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the flour mixture; beat until well blended, about 1 more minute.
  4. Spoon the batter into the cupcake liners. Fill about ⅔ full, using about ¼ cup of batter per cup. Tip: Avoid over-filling the liners which may cause the batter to run-over the sides when baking. It is better to bake any remaining batter separately after the first pan of cupcakes has finished baking.
  5. Bake: Bake, rotating pan halfway through, 20 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick, wooden skewer, or cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool slightly in cupcake pan, and turn out of pan when cool enough to handle. Cool cupcakes completely on a wire cooling rack before frosting.
Chocolate Frosting:
  1. In a medium mixing bowl add the butter, use an electric hand mixer or wooden spoon and beat the butter until smooth. Add the powdered sugar and cocoa; beat until smooth. Add the corn syrup, vanilla, and 4 tablespoons milk; beat until frosting is smooth and creamy. Add additional 1 tablespoon of milk if necessary to make a good spreading consistency, soft enough to spread easily.
  2. Use a small offset spatula to frost the top of each cupcake, creating at least ½ inch of frosting to accommodate the bat decorations.
Bat Decorations:
  1. For the wings: Cut chocolate cookies in half with a sharp knife. Tip: The cookies tend to break easily. Use a sharp knife and gently ‘saw’ the cookie to help prevent breakage. If the corners break don’t worry as these can be covered with the nonpareils or insert the broken end into the frosting.
  2. In top of a double boiler over hot water, melt chocolate. Or, place the chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl, use 50% power and stir frequently just until the chocolate is melted; do not overheat as mixture will burn easily.
  3. Use a small knife or rubber spatula and spread a small amount of the melted chocolate over the top edge of the cut end of each cookie half, covering about ¼ inch from the cut end. Sprinkle the nonpareils over the chocolate. Place on a baking sheet covered with wax paper and place in the refrigerator to harden the chocolate.
  4. For the head and eyes: On each candy kiss, Place 2 drops of decorating gel where the eyes will be, and press a cinnamon candy onto the gel. Tip: in place of decorating gel you can also use a small amount of the melted chocolate from the wing decoration.
  5. Bat Assembly: On each frosted cupcake, place one candy kiss at an angle, press lightly into the frosting. Press two sliced almonds into the frosting on each side of the head for the ears. Press 2 cookies halves in back of the head for the wings. Tip: Add the cookie wings just before serving; the moisture from the cupcakes and frosting will make the cookies soft and the wings will start to droop if added too far in advance.
Inspired From: Land O Lakes

Salted Caramel Cupcakes

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Salted Caramel Cupcakes
The perfect balance of sweet and salty is what a Salted Caramel Cupcake is all about. This cupcake recipe uses one-half recipe of a luscious yellow cake, the same recipe used for my Caramel Cake. After cooled, the cupcakes are filled with an amazing Salted Caramel filling that uses fleur de sel sea salt. Fleur de sel, meaning “flower of salt” in French, is found in most specialty food stores and natural food stores; it is a sea salt with a fresh smooth flavor that is hand-harvested off the coast of France. A portion of the Salted Caramel filling is also used to create the rich Salted Caramel Frosting. The finishing adornment on these cupcakes is a sweet Caramel Spiral sprinkled with decorative sugar crystals, resembling webs of sparkling light.

The Salted Caramel Filling makes about 2 cups. You will have leftover filling which is absolutely perfect to pour over your favorite ice cream or other desserts. The filling can be made in advance and stored tightly covered in the refrigerator. When ready to use heat in the microwave for about 30 seconds to re-warm and make spoonable.
Recipe type: Dessert | Cupcakes | Caramel | Butter Cakes
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Recipe Notes
Pan: Two Standard 12-Cup Muffin Pans Pan Prep: Paper Liners Oven Temp: 350° Yield: 15 Cupcakes Storage: Covered, Room Temperature

Help: Cake Hints and Tips, Sugar and Caramel Stages

TheBakingPan Recommends: The BEST instant read thermometer I’ve used for cooking and baking; the ThermoWorks Splash-Proof Super-Fast Thermapen Thermometer is incredibly fast, ThermoWorks Splash-Proof Super-Fast Thermapenaccurate, and well worth the investment. I use my Thermapen Thermometer for checking room temperature ingredients, tempering chocolate, baking bread, making pastry creams, sugar syrup, caramel, and candy, cooking meats and fish, and deep frying. Thermapen Thermometer available here.
Ingredients
Batter:
  • 1½ cups all purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ½ cup sour cream, room temperature
  • 2 tablespoons milk, room temperature (preferably whole milk)
  • ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 2 large eggs
Salted Caramel filling (for filling and frosting, makes about 2 cups):
  • 2½ cups granulated sugar
  • ⅔ cup water
  • 1 tablespoon light corn syrup
  • ¾ cup heavy (whipping) cream
  • 2½ teaspoons sea salt, preferably fleur de sel
Salted Caramel Frosting (makes about 3 cups):
  • 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 3 cups confectioners’ (powdered) sugar
  • ¼ cup Salted Caramel Filling
Caramel Spirals (optional):
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • ¼ cup water
  • 2 tablespoons light corn syrup
  • 2 to 4 tablespoons large-crystal coarse or decorative sugar
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare two standard 12-cup muffin pans; line with about 15 paper cupcake liners.
Batter:
  1. In a medium mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt; sift or whisk together to mix. Set aside.
  2. In a small mixing bowl, stir the sour cream, milk, and vanilla together. Set aside.
  3. In a large bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Tip: To cream, start by placing the butter in the bowl, with an electric mixer on medium speed begin by beating the butter about 1 minute until it is smooth and light in color. With the mixer still on medium speed, slowly add the sugar to the butter, either one tablespoon at a time, or in a very slow steady stream, taking from 4 to 8 minutes to add all of the sugar, and beating until the butter and sugar are fully incorporated and the mixture is a light, or pale yellow color, with a fluffy texture. While adding the sugar, stop the mixer occasionally to scrape the mixture off the paddle and scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula so the mixture blends evenly.
  4. Add eggs one at a time, beating until thoroughly mixed. Tip: For each egg, crack the egg into a small bowl and whisk with a fork to thoroughly break up the egg before adding to the creamed mixture. Start with the mixer on low speed so the liquid from the egg doesn’t splatter, once the egg is partially mixed increase the speed to medium. Each egg should be fully incorporated into the mixture before adding the next egg, taking about one minute to blend in each egg.
  5. With the mixer on low speed, add about one third of the flour mixture, mix just until the flour is almost completely blended. Scrape the bowl down, and add about one half of the milk mixture, blending just until mixed. Scrape the bowl down again and continue alternating with the flour mixture and milk mixture, ending with the last portion of the flour, and stirring just until blended.
  6. Spoon the batter into the cupcake liners. Fill ⅔ full, using about ¼ cup of batter per cup. Tip: Avoid over-filling the liners which may cause the batter to run-over the sides when baking. It is better to bake any remaining batter separately after the first pan of cupcakes has finished baking.
  7. Bake: Bake, rotating pan halfway through, 20 to 22 minutes, or until the cakes are just firm and spring back when gently pressed, and a toothpick, wooden skewer, or cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool slightly in cupcake pan, and turn out of pan when cool enough to handle. Repeat process with any remaining batter. Cool cupcakes completely on a wire cooling rack before filling and frosting.
Salted Caramel Filling:
  1. In a medium size heavy saucepan; preferably non-stick, combine sugar, water, and corn syrup. Heat over medium heat, stirring constantly with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon, until the sugar is completely dissolved. Stir gently to avoid splashing the mixture onto the sides of the pan. Use a pastry brush to wash down the sides of the pan to remove any stray granules of sugar. Increase the heat to medium high and bring to a boil, without stirring, until the syrup reaches a temperature of 325 degrees F, a light caramel stage, using a candy or instant read thermometer to gauge the temperature. While the syrup is cooking, wash away any sugar crystals that form on the sides of the pan by wiping upwards with a damp pastry brush so the sugar crystals don’t fall back into the syrup. Immediately remove pan from the heat. Let stand about 1 minute to let the bubbling subside. Be careful, the caramel is extremely hot and will cause serious burns if you touch it.
  2. Slowly add the whipping cream (the mixture will spatter) and stir with a wooden spoon until combined. Stir in the sea salt and let cool. Tip: if any caramel mixture is stuck to the bottom of the pan, place the pan on low heat and stir until the caramel liquefies.
Filling the Cupcakes:
  1. Using a small sharp kitchen knife, hold the knife at a 45 degree angle, and cut out a cone-shaped piece from the top of each cupcake, cutting about ¼ inch from the outside edge and about ½ inch deep. Tip: Discard the cutout pieces or save for another use.
  2. Re-warm the Salted Caramel Filling in the microwave for a few seconds if necessary to make spoonable. Spoon 1 to 2 teaspoons warm filling into each cutout cupcake. Set filled cupcakes aside while making frosting and to let the caramel filling cool before frosting.
Salted Caramel Frosting:
  1. In a large bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter and confectioners’ sugar until light and fluffy.
  2. Add ¼ cup of the cooled Salted Caramel filling, continue beating until the frosting is thick and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes. Tip: Re-warm the Salted Caramel Filling in the microwave for a few seconds if necessary to make spoonable.
  3. Frosting should be used immediately, or cover and refrigerate until needed. After refrigeration, return to room temperature and re-whip with an electric mixer before using.
  4. Use a pastry bag and decorating tip to pipe the frosting. Tip: I used a #18 open-star tip. Pipe frosting onto each cupcake, piping the frosting around the top of the cupcake and gradually forming a peak creating a swirled look.
Caramel Spirals (optional):
  1. Line two large baking sheets with a non-stick baking mat or parchment paper. Set aside.
  2. In a medium heavy saucepan, preferably non-stick, combine sugar, water, and corn syrup. Heat over medium heat, stirring constantly with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon, until the sugar is completely dissolved. Stir gently to avoid splashing the mixture onto the sides of the pan. Increase the heat to medium high and bring to a boil, without stirring, until the syrup reaches a temperature of 320 degrees F, a light caramel stage, using a candy or instant read thermometer to gauge the temperature. While the syrup is cooking, wash away any sugar crystals that form on the sides of the pan by wiping upwards with a damp pastry brush so the sugar crystals don’t fall back into the syrup. Immediately remove pan from the heat. Tip: Lower the heat when the temperature reaches 300 degrees to slow the cooking because at this point it will quickly reach 320 degrees. In addition, remove the pan from the heat just before the syrup reaches 320 degrees to prevent it from going over 320 degrees. F.
  3. Let the hot caramel sit and cool to 300 degrees F, about 5 minutes. The caramel should be thick like molasses.
  4. Carefully scoop out the caramel using a tablespoon and pour the caramel off the spoon onto the prepared baking sheets, forming swirls about 3-inches in diameter. The caramel will start to harden immediately. Be careful, the caramel is extremely hot and will burn your skin if you touch it. Repeat with the remaining caramel. While the caramel is still soft, sprinkle with large-crystal coarse or decorative sugar. Tip: If the caramel becomes too cool and hardened before you finish making all the swirls, place the pan over low heat to reheat it.
  5. When cooled and set, the swirls can be gently lifted away from the parchment paper or non-stick mat. Gently press one caramel spiral onto the top of each frosted cupcake. Store at room temperature, preferably in airtight containers until ready to serve; do not refrigerate as the caramel swirls will become sticky. Cupcakes are best eaten the day they are filled and frosted.
Adapted From: Classic Southern Desserts, Oxmoor House, Iowa, 2010
Baggett, Nancy, The All-American Dessert Book, Houghton Mifflin Co, New York, 2005
Yard, Sherry, The Secrets of Baking, Houghton Mifflin Company, New York, 2003
Martha Stewart's Cupcakes, Clarkson Potter Publishers, New York, 2009
Cairns, Fiona, Bake & Decorate, Quadrille Publishing Limited, London, 2010

 

Ghost Cupcakes

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Ghost Cupcakes
Ghoulishly spooky Ghost Cupcakes make a sweet edible treat for Halloween, or feature them as a Halloween centerpiece. Each ghost is a stack of 2 standard size cupcakes and 1 mini cupcake that is covered in rolled fondant. I made Applesauce Spice Cupcakes to fit in with the fall theme; however you could use any cupcake recipe you prefer.

Cakes covered and decorated with rolled fondant take some planning and preparation; you will probably want to allow up to 2 days for making and assembling these Ghost Cupcakes so that is an enjoyable and stress-free project. See the decorating list and timeline at the end of the recipe for assembling and decorating the Ghost Cupcakes.
Recipe type: Dessert | Cupcakes | Butter Cakes | Rolled Fondant
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Recipe Notes
Pan: Two Standard 12-Cup Muffin Pans and One Mini Muffin Pan Pan Prep: Paper Liners or Greased and Floured Oven Temp: 350° Yield: 30 Cupcakes Storage: Loosely Covered, Room Temperature

Help: Cake Hints and Tips, Rolled Fondant Tips

TheBakingPan Recommends: The BEST instant read thermometer I’ve used for cooking and baking; the ThermoWorks Splash-Proof Super-Fast Thermapen Thermometer is incredibly fast, accurate, and well worth the investment. I use my Thermapen Thermometer for checking room temperature ingredients, tempering chocolate, baking bread, making pastry creams, sugar syrup, caramel, and candy, cooking meats and fish, and deep frying. Thermapen Thermometer available here.
Ingredients
Applesauce Spice Batter:
  • ½ cup raisins
  • 2½ cups all-purpose flour
  • 1½ teaspoons baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ¼ teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoon ground allspice
  • ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
  • ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • ¾ cup (1½ sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1½ cups sweetened applesauce
Vanilla Butter Frosting (for crumb coat):
  • ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • ½ cup vegetable shortening
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 4 cups confectioner's (powdered) sugar
  • 2 tablespoons milk, plus additional if needed
Ghost Decoration:
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare two standard 12-cup muffin pans and one mini muffin pan; line with paper cupcake liners, or lightly grease the pans with shortening and dust with flour.
Batter:
  1. Plump the raisins by steaming with a double boiler; steam the raisins about 1 minute or until softened. Thoroughly drain, or spread the raisins on paper toweling to dry. Tip: Create a double boiler by filling a saucepan with 2 inches of water and bringing it to a simmer. Place a steamer or plastic or wire mesh colander on top of the simmering water, the upper pan should not touch the water. Set aside.
  2. In a medium mixing bowl, combine flour, baking soda, salt, baking powder, cinnamon, allspice, cloves, and nutmeg; sift or whisk together to mix. Set aside.
  3. In a large bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Tip: To cream, start by placing the butter in the bowl, with an electric mixer on medium speed begin by beating the butter about 1 minute until it is smooth and light in color. With the mixer still on medium speed, slowly add the granulated sugar to the butter, either one tablespoon at a time, or in a very slow steady stream, taking from 4 to 5 minutes to add all of the sugar, then add the brown sugar, taking an additional 3 to 4 minutes, beating until the butter and sugar are fully incorporated and the mixture is a light, or pale color, with a fluffy texture. While adding the sugars, stop the mixer occasionally to scrape the mixture off the paddle and scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula so the mixture blends evenly.
  4. Add eggs one at a time, beating until thoroughly mixed. Tip: For each egg, crack the egg into a small bowl and whisk with a fork to thoroughly break up the egg before adding to the creamed mixture. Start with the mixer on low speed so the liquid from the egg doesn’t splatter, once the egg is partially mixed increase the speed to medium. Each egg should be fully incorporated into the mixture before adding the next egg, taking about one minute to blend in each egg.
  5. With the mixer on low speed, add about one third of the flour mixture, mix just until the flour is almost completely blended. Scrape the bowl down, and add about one half of the applesauce, blending just until mixed. Scrape the bowl down again and continue alternating with the flour mixture and applesauce, ending with the last portion of the flour, and stirring just until blended.
  6. Remove the bowl from the mixer. Using a large rubber spatula, fold in the raisins.
  7. Spoon the batter into the cupcake liners. Fill ⅔ full, using about ¼ cup of batter per cup. Tip: Avoid over-filling the liners which may cause the batter to run-over the sides when baking. It is better to bake any remaining batter separately after the first pan of cupcakes has finished baking.
  8. Bake: Bake standard size cupcakes, rotating pan halfway through, 18 to 20 minutes, or until the cakes are just firm and spring back when gently pressed, and a toothpick, wooden skewer, or cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Mini cupcakes will take 10 to 12 minutes to bake. Cool slightly in cupcake pan, and turn out of pan when cool enough to handle. Repeat process with any remaining batter. Cool cupcakes completely on a wire cooling rack before frosting.
Vanilla Butter Frosting (for crumb coat):
  1. In a medium mixing bowl, use an electric hand mixer or wooden spoon and beat the butter and shortening until smooth. Add vanilla and beat until well mixed. Gradually add the sugar, one cup at a time, beating well after each addition. The mixture will appear dry after all the sugar has been added. Add milk and beat until frosting is smooth, creamy, and fluffy. Add additional milk if necessary to make a good spreading consistency.
Assemble Layers and First Crumb Coat:
  1. Each ghost is made with 2 standard size cupcakes and one mini cupcake stacked on top of each other. Place one standard size cupcake, upside down, on a small cake board. Secure the cupcake to the cake board; place about a teaspoon of frosting in the middle of the board, center the cupcake and press the cake lightly into the frosting to adhere.
  2. Using an offset spatula spread a small amount of frosting on top of the cupcake. Place a second standard size cupcake, upside down, on top of the 1st cake. Spread a small amount of frosting on top and place a mini cupcake, right side up, on top. Crumb coat the cakes by covering the sides and top of the cupcake stack with a thin layer of frosting. Use the frosting to fill in the gaps between the cupcake layers. Let the cupcake stack sit until the crumb coat is dried to the touch. At this point you can cover the cake in plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. Tip: the crumb coat is a thin layer. Don’t worry Ghost-Cupcakes-crumbcoatif the cake shows through in places, it will be covered again with another crumb coat layer.
  3. Cover remaining frosting tightly with plastic wrap until ready to continue with cake, or cover tightly and refrigerate if completing the following day.
Second Crumb Coat:
  1. The second crumb coat should be applied just prior to covering the cake with rolled fondant. Re-whip frosting to bring it back to a fluffy texture, adding a small amount of milk if necessary. Apply a second crumb coat by covering the sides and top of the cupcake stack with a thin layer of frosting over the first crumb coat. The second crumb coat will provide a sticky surface for the fondant to stick to.
Rolled Fondant:
  1. While the second crumb coat is still fresh and soft, cover the cupcake stack with rolled fondant. Use about 6 ounces of rolled fondant for each ghost. Roll the fondant into an 8 inch circle. Drape the fondant over the cupcake stack, creating folds in the fondant for a ghost appearance. Place raisin eyes with a small dab of frosting. Complete one ghost at a time, keeping the remaining fondant covered until ready to use.
Decorating List and Timeline:
I used the following decorating items and timeline to assemble and decorate the Ghost Cupcakes:
Decorating:
Small Cake boards, cut to about 3 inches in diameter
72 ounces rolled fondant
Raisins (for eyes)
Day one:
  1. Make the fondant. Shape the fondant into a thick disk and rub a thin coating of shortening over the entire surface to keep the fondant from drying out. Wrap the fondant disc tightly in at least two layers of plastic wrap and then place in a resealable plastic bag or airtight container and store at room temperature to cure overnight.
  2. I made two batches, about 6 pounds, of Classic Rolled Fondant for these cupcake ghosts. I used about 6 ounces for each ghost.
  3. Leftover fondant can be wrapped tightly and stored for a future project.
  4. Bake the cupcakes. After the cupcakes are cooled, cover and refrigerate overnight to tighten the crumb and firm up the cake.
Day two:
  1. Prepare the frosting. Assemble the cupcake stacks and apply the first frosting crumb coat. Let the crumb coat sit until dry and firm to the touch, at least 30 minutes, or place in the refrigerator to speed up the drying. Cover remaining frosting tightly with plastic wrap or place in an airtight container until ready to continue with cake.
  2. Remove the cured fondant from the plastic and knead for several minutes to warm the fondant until it is pliable and smooth. You probably won’t need any vegetable shortening on the rolling surface for this kneading, however if it starts to stick use a little shortening on the rolling surface and your hands. If the fondant is stiff and difficult to knead, microwave for about 15 seconds to warm it up. If the fondant seems too dry you can knead a small amount of vegetable shortening in, or if it seems too sticky knead a small amount of powdered sugar or cornstarch in. Cover until ready to use.
  3. Apply the second crumb coat just prior to covering with fondant.
  4. Complete one ghost at a time, keeping the remaining fondant covered until ready to use. Roll about 6 ounces of fondant into an 8 inch circle for each ghost.

Witches Hat Cupcakes

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Witches Hat Cupcakes
These wickedly witchy chocolate spice cupcakes are topped with frightfully delicious Fudge Frosting. Gummy spaghetti scraggly hair peeks out from a chocolate covered sugar cone hat and chocolate wafer hat. Add a little black edible glitter and black sugar pearls to complete these cupcakes, just in time for Halloween.
Recipe type: Dessert | Cupcakes | Chocolate Butter Cakes
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Recipe Notes
Pan: Two Standard 12-Cup Muffin Pans Pan Prep: Paper Liners Oven Temp: 350o Yield: 20 Cupcakes Storage: Covered, Room Temperature

Help: Cake Hints and Tips, Chocolate Types, Melting Chocolate

TheBakingPan Recommends: The BEST instant read thermometer I’ve used for cooking and baking; the ThermoWorks Splash-Proof Super-Fast Thermapen Thermometer is incredibly fast, accurate, and well worth the investment. I use my Thermapen Thermometer for checking room temperature ingredients, tempering chocolate, baking bread, making pastry creams, sugar syrup, caramel, and candy, cooking meats and fish, and deep frying. Thermapen Thermometer available here.
Ingredients
Chocolate Spice Batter:
  • ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • ½ cup hot water
  • 2¼ cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ¾ cup milk (preferably whole milk)
  • 1½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  • ¾ cup (1½ stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1½ cups granulated sugar
  • 2 large eggs
Fudge Frosting:
  • 12 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped into small pieces
  • ¼ cup unsalted butter
  • 1 cup whipping (heavy) cream
  • ¼ cup granulated sugar
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Cupcake Decoration:
  • 8 to 16 ounces dark chocolate (depending on the number of sugar cones you use), chopped into small pieces
  • Sugar Cones
  • Black edible glitter
  • Chocolate wafer cookies, such as Nabisco Famous Chocolate Wafers
  • Black sugar pearls
  • Gummy Spaghetti Candy
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare two standard 12-cup muffin pans; line with paper cupcake liners.
Chocolate Spice Batter:
  1. In a medium mixing bowl, combine the cocoa powder and hot water. Stir until smooth. Set aside to cool.
  2. In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon; sift or whisk together to mix. Set aside.
  3. In a small bowl, stir the milk and vanilla extract together. Set aside.
  4. In a large bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Tip: To cream, start by placing the butter in the bowl, with an electric mixer on medium speed begin by beating the butter about 1 minute until it is smooth and light in color. With the mixer still on medium speed, slowly add the sugar to the butter, either one tablespoon at a time, or in a very slow steady stream, taking from 4 to 8 minutes to add all of the sugar, and beating until the butter and sugar are fully incorporated and the mixture is a light, or pale yellow color, with a fluffy texture. While adding the sugar, stop the mixer occasionally to scrape the mixture off the paddle and scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula so the mixture blends evenly.
  5. Add eggs one at a time, beating until thoroughly mixed. Tip: For each egg, crack the egg into a small bowl and whisk with a fork to thoroughly break up the egg before adding to the creamed mixture. Start with the mixer on low speed so the liquid from the egg doesn’t splatter, once the egg is partially mixed increase the speed to medium. Each egg should be fully incorporated into the mixture before adding the next egg, taking about one minute to blend in each egg.
  6. With the mixer on low speed, add the chocolate mixture, mix about 1 minute until well blended.
  7. With the mixer on low speed, add about one third of the flour mixture, mix just until the flour is almost completely blended. Scrape the bowl down, and add about one half of the milk mixture, blending just until mixed. Scrape the bowl down again and continue alternating with the flour mixture and milk mixture, ending with the last portion of the flour, and stirring just until blended.
  8. Spoon the batter into the cupcake liners. Fill ⅔ full, using about ¼ cup of batter per cup. Tip: Avoid over-filling the liners which may cause the batter to run-over the sides when baking. It is better to bake any remaining batter separately after the first pan of cupcakes has finished baking.
  9. Bake: Bake, rotating pan halfway through, 18 to 20 minutes, or until the cakes are just firm and spring back when gently pressed, and a toothpick, wooden skewer, or cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool slightly in cupcake pan, and turn out of pan when cool enough to handle. Repeat process with any remaining batter. Cool cupcakes completely on a wire cooling rack before frosting.
Cupcake Decoration:
  1. Line a baking pan with a nonstick baking mat, parchment paper, or wax paper. Set aside.
  2. In top of a double boiler over hot water, melt chocolate. Or, place the chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl, use 50% power and stir frequently just until the chocolate is melted; do not overheat as chocolate will burn easily. Set aside to cool slightly. Tip: Create a double boiler by filling a saucepan with 2 inches of water and bringing it to a simmer. Turn the heat off and place a stainless steel, ceramic, or glass bowl on top of the hot water, the upper pan should not touch the water.
  3. Holding a sugar cone over the bowl of melted chocolate, spoon the chocolate over the cone until completely covered. Sprinkle cones with black edible glitter.
  4. Stand the chocolate covered cones on the baking sheet. Let set until the chocolate is cooled and firm.
  5. When chocolate is firm, re-melt any leftover chocolate, dip the round end of the cone in the chocolate, and gently press onto a chocolate wafer. Press black sugar pearls around the edge.
Fudge Frosting:
  1. Place the chopped chocolate in a large heatproof mixing bowl.
  2. In a heavy, medium-size saucepan over medium heat, combine the butter, whipping cream, and sugar. Heat until the butter is melted and sugar dissolves, stirring constantly with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon so mixture does not burn. Increase the heat to medium-high and bring the mixture to a simmer, stirring constantly. Remove pan from heat.
  3. Immediately pour the hot sugar mixture over the chocolate. Let stand for about 2 minutes, and then stir until smooth. Stir in the vanilla. Set aside to cool for about 30 minutes.
  4. Set the bowl of frosting in a larger bowl of ice water. Using an electric hand mixer beat the frosting on medium speed until it thickens and turns lighter in color. This may take from 15 to 20 minutes. The frosting is ready when it no longer drips of the beaters when they are lifted; don’t over-beat or the frosting will turn grainy.
Assembly:
  1. Use an offset spatula to frost the top of each cupcake with frosting.
  2. Place a completed hat on top of frosting. Insert pieces of gummy spaghetti under hat, sticking out like hair.

Pumpkin Carrot Cake

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Pumpkin Carrot Cake
Viewing this 6-layer masterpiece cake created on MasterChef, I knew it would be delicious and a must-try recipe and the cake certainly proves to be a winner. However, with 6 layers to fill and frost I felt it needed a larger recipe of frosting; therefore I used my own recipe for the Cream Cheese Frosting. Otherwise no changes have been made to the original recipe or ingredients.

This cake provides an abundance of flavors and textures, a wonderful treat any time of year, but it seems especially perfect in the fall when pumpkins and nuts are at their peak of flavor. The candied and spiced nuts around the top and sides of the frosted cake are optional but provide extra crunch and sweet goodness.
Recipe type: Dessert | Layer Cake
Serves: 10 to 12
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Recipe Notes
Pan: Three 8" Round Layers Pan Prep: Greased and Floured Oven Temp: 350° Storage: Cover and Refrigerate

Help: Cake Hints and Tips

TheBakingPan Recommends: The BEST instant read thermometer I’ve used for cooking and baking; the ThermoWorks Splash-Proof Super-Fast Thermapen Thermometer is incredibly fast, accurate, and well worth the investment. I use my Thermapen Thermometer for checking room temperature ingredients, tempering chocolate, baking bread, making pastry creams, sugar syrup, caramel, and candy, cooking meats and fish, and deep frying. Thermapen Thermometer available here.
Ingredients
Candied Nuts (optional):
  • ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoon ground ginger
  • ¼ teaspoon ground cardamom
  • 1/16 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 1 cup hazelnuts, pecans, walnuts, or almonds, coarsely chopped (or use a combination of nuts)
  • ¾ cup granulated sugar
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 1 tablespoon water
  • ½ teaspoon salt
Batter:
  • 2½ cups all-purpose flour
  • 1½ teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon ground ginger
  • 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
  • ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1½ cups granulated sugar
  • ½ cup firmly packed light brown sugar
  • 3 large eggs, separated
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1¼ cups fresh pumpkin puree or canned pumpkin
  • 2 cups grated raw carrots
Cream Cheese Frosting:
  • 2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, room temperature
  • ¾ cup (1½ sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  • 6 cups confectioners’ (powdered) sugar
Instructions
Candied Nuts (optional):
  1. Lightly butter a baking sheet or line with a nonstick baking mat. Set aside.
  2. In a small bowl, combine the cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, and nutmeg; stir together to mix. Set aside.
  3. In a large skillet, toast the nuts over medium heat until golden brown and fragrant, stirring frequently. Remove from heat. Set aside.
  4. In a medium heavy-bottomed pan over medium low heat, combine sugar, butter, water, and salt. Heat and stir until the butter is melted. Increase heat to medium and bring mixture to a boil, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula. Raise the heat to medium-high, and continue to boil without stirring until the sugar mixture turns a caramel color or reaches a temperature of 325 degrees F., taking from 10 to 12 minutes, using a candy or instant read thermometer to gauge the temperature. Immediately remove pan from heat. Stir in the spice mixture, and then add the nuts, stirring until the nuts are evenly coated.
  5. Immediately pour nut mixture onto the baking sheet, spreading the mixture with the spoon as best as you can. The mixture hardens quickly so you need to work fast. Be careful, the sugar is extremely hot and will burn your skin if you touch it.
  6. As soon as the nuts are cool enough to handle break apart with your hands. Set aside to cool completely.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare three 8 inch round layer cake pans; lightly grease the pans with shortening and dust with flour. Tip: to make baked cake easier to remove from pan, lightly grease the pan, line the bottom with parchment paper, and then lightly grease the top of the parchment paper and dust the pan with flour.
Tip: Use cake strips around the pans to help ensure the cake rises evenly. Make a cake strip with a length of aluminum foil long enough to encircle the pan with a little overlap. Fold the strip lengthwise until it is 2 to 3 inches wide. Wrap the strip around the outside of the pan and secure it with a metal paper clip or tape.
Batter:
  1. In a medium mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon, cardamom, and nutmeg; sift or whisk together to mix. Set aside.
  2. In a large bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Tip: To cream, start by placing the butter in the bowl, with an electric mixer on medium speed begin by beating the butter about 1 minute until it is smooth and light in color. With the mixer still on medium speed, slowly add the granulated sugar to the butter, either one tablespoon at a time, or in a very slow steady stream, taking from 4 to 5 minutes to add all of the sugar, then add the brown sugar, taking an additional 3 to 4 minutes, beating until the butter and sugar are fully incorporated and the mixture is a light, or pale color, with a fluffy texture. While adding the sugars, stop the mixer occasionally to scrape the mixture off the paddle and scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula so the mixture blends evenly.
  3. Add egg yolks one at a time, beating until thoroughly mixed. Add the vanilla along with the last egg yolk.
  4. With the mixer on low speed, add about one third of the flour mixture, mix just until the flour is almost completely blended. Scrape the bowl down, and add about one half of the pumpkin, blending just until mixed. Scrape the bowl down again and continue alternating with the flour mixture and pumpkin, ending with the last portion of the flour, and stirring just until blended.
  5. Remove the bowl from the mixer. Using a balloon type whisk or large rubber spatula, fold in the grated carrots.
  6. In a medium mixing bowl and using clean beaters, beat egg whites with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form. Using a balloon type whisk or large rubber spatula, gently fold the beaten egg whites into the batter.
  7. Bake: Spoon the batter into the prepared pans and smooth the surface with the back of a large spoon. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until a long toothpick, wooden skewer, or cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from oven and place pans on a wire cooling rack to cool for 10 to 15 minutes then remove cake from the pans and place the cake on the wire cooling rack to finish cooling.
Cream Cheese Frosting:
  1. In a medium mixing bowl, combine cream cheese, butter, and vanilla; use an electric hand mixer or wooden spoon and beat together until mixture is smooth. Add powdered sugar; beat until frosting is smooth and creamy.
  2. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve. Using an offset spatula, spread frosting between layers and over top and sides of cake. Decorate cake as desired.
Assembly:
  1. Using a long serrated kitchen knife, split each cake into 2 horizontal layers. Tip: Cut one of the cake layers so that the bottom half is thicker than the top half, and use the thicker bottom half as the 1st layer to provide a good Pumpkin Carrot Cakebase to support the upper layers.
  2. Place the thicker bottom half of the layers on a cake plate. Using an offset spatula spread about ¾ cup frosting over the layer. Repeat with the next four layers. Place the last cake layer on top. Cover the sides and top of the cake with the remaining frosting.
  3. Sprinkle the candied nuts around the top and sides of the cake, pressing lightly into the frosting.
  4. Refrigerate cake 1 to 4 hours before serving. Refrigerate leftovers.
Source: MasterChef Magazine, Ben Starr, October 2011

Meringue Ghosts

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Meringue Ghosts
Sweet Meringue Ghosts with chocolate eyes make light treats for a Halloween party. Meringue is a sweet, slightly crunchy, cloudlike confection made with egg whites and sugar. Make sure there is no trace of egg yolk in the whites, as the yolks will prevent the whites from whipping into a fluffy mass.
Recipe type: Dessert | Meringue Candy
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Recipe Notes
Equipment: Medium Saucepan, Candy Thermometer Method: Stovetop Pan: One Large Baking Pan Pan Prep: Parchment Lined Oven Temp: 200° Yield: 2 Dozen Storage: Airtight Container, Room Temperature

Help: Making Meringue

TheBakingPan Recommends: The BEST instant read thermometer I’ve used for cooking and baking; the ThermoWorks Splash-Proof Super-Fast Thermapen Thermometer is incredibly fast, accurate, and well worth the investment. I use my Thermapen Thermometer for checking room temperature ingredients, tempering chocolate, baking bread, making pastry creams, sugar syrup, caramel, and candy, cooking meats and fish, and deep frying. Thermapen Thermometer available here.
Ingredients
Meringue:
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • ½ cup water
  • 4 large egg whites
  • ½ teaspoon cream of tartar
  • ⅛ teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Decoration:
  • About 48 Mini Chocolate Chips, for eyes
Instructions
Preheat oven to 200 degrees F. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
Meringue:
  1. In a small-size heavy-bottomed pan, stir together the sugar and water. Heat, stirring constantly, until the sugar dissolves and the syrup is bubbling. Turn down the heat to the lowest setting on a gas stove or remove from the heat on an electric stove to stop the cooking while egg whites are prepared.
  2. In a large bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites until foamy. Add the cream of tartar and salt and beat until stiff peaks form. Set aside.
  3. Raise the heat to medium-high under the saucepan with the sugar mixture, and continue to cook the sugar mixture, without stirring, until it reaches a temperature of 236 degrees, a soft ball stage, using a candy or instant read thermometer to gauge the temperature. While the syrup is cooking, wash away any sugar crystals that form on the sides of the pan by wiping upwards with a damp pastry brush so the sugar crystals don’t fall back into the syrup.
  4. When the sugar mixture reaches 236 degrees F, Immediately remove pan from the heat. Immediately start pouring the hot sugar mixture, in a thin steady stream, into the beaten egg whites, while beating with an electric mixer at high speed. Be careful, the sugar is extremely hot and will burn your skin if you touch it. Continue beating the egg whites about 2 minutes. Reduce the mixer speed to medium, slowly add the vanilla. Increase the speed to high and continue beating until the egg whites are cooled, shiny, and stiff, about 5 to 10 minutes.
  5. Spoon meringue into a pastry bag with a large star decorating tip with an opening about ¾ inches to pipe the meringue. Hold the pastry bag close to the parchment paper-lined pan and pipe ghosts 2 to 3 inches high.
  6. Decoration: Gently press 2 mini chocolate chips, flat side out, towards the top of each ghost for the eyes.
  7. Place pans in oven and bake 2 hours. At the end of the baking time, turn off the heat and leave the meringue ghosts in the oven at least 2 hours to cool and finish drying out.
  8. Meringue ghosts are best served the day they are made as meringue attracts moisture and becomes sticky the longer it sits. If you want make the ghosts in advance, store in an airtight container at room temperature.

Gumdrop Spiders

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Gumdrop Spiders
EEEK Spiders! Add a few Gumdrop Spiders to your Halloween party, they’re completely edible, and look so cute on top of cookies or cake. I used a few Gumdrop Spiders to crawl around Chocolate Spiderweb Cupcakes.
Recipe type: Dessert | Candy
Prep time: 
Total time: 
Recipe Notes
Yield: Several Storage: Airtight Container, Room Temperature
Ingredients
Spiders:
  • Large Gumdrops
  • Thin Black Licorice
  • Jelly Belly candies for the eyes (or use any candy such as Red Cinnamon Candies)
  • Black Decorating Gel (to ‘glue’ the eyes)
Instructions
Spiders:
  1. Use a wooden skewer, or toothpick to poke holes around the bottom edge of each gumdrop. These spiders have 3 legs on each side, however since real spiders have 8 legs you can also have 4 legs on each side. Tip: Black gumdrops make perfect Halloween spiders, but use any color you like. I added in a few orange and red.
  2. Cut licorice legs about 1½ inches long. Push the ends of the licorice into the holes. Tip: Licorice wheels are perfect for the legs. I used Haribo Licorice Wheels. Carefully unroll the licorice wheel and cut pieces about 1½ inches long, and then carefully pull apart the 2 halves.
  3. Use one Jelly Belly for each spider to make the eyes. Cut each Jelly Belly in half with a small knife. Tip: I found that ½ of a Jelly Belly is a little too big for the eyes. Instead, I cut the ends off each Jelly Belly and discarded (or ate) the middle.
  4. Squeeze 2 drops of black decorating gel where the eyes will be, and press the end of a Jelly Belly candy onto the gel. Tip: in place of decorating gel you can also melt a small amount of chocolate to use for the ‘glue.’

Soft Caramels

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Soft Caramels
Rich, buttery and chewy, these vanilla flavored caramel candies will almost melt in your mouth. Soft caramels are a reminder of timeless old-school candies, unwrap a piece and treat yourself.
Recipe type: Dessert | Candy | Caramel
Prep time: 
Total time: 
Recipe Notes
Equipment: Heavy Bottom Pan, Candy Thermometer Method: Stovetop Pan: 9x13 inch Rectangle Pan Prep: Parchment Lined Yield: About 70 Pieces Storage: Airtight Container, Room Temperature or Refrigerate

Help: Sugar and Caramel Stages

TheBakingPan Recommends: The BEST instant read thermometer I’ve used for cooking and baking; the ThermoWorks Splash-Proof Super-Fast Thermapen Thermometer is incredibly fast, ThermoWorks Splash-Proof Super-Fast Thermapenaccurate, and well worth the investment. I use my Thermapen Thermometer for checking room temperature ingredients, tempering chocolate, baking bread, making pastry creams, sugar syrup, caramel, and candy, cooking meats and fish, and deep frying. Thermapen Thermometer available here.
Ingredients
Caramels:
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
  • 1 cup light corn syrup
  • 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1 inch pieces
  • 1 teaspoon sea salt or fleur de sel
  • 2 cups whipping (heavy) cream
  • 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
Tip: Sea salt normally has a mixture of large and small granules. Finely crush the sea salt so it distributes more evenly in the caramel. Crush with a salt grinder, or mortar and pestle, or rolling pin, or in a small food grinder.
Instructions
Prepare one 9x13 inch oblong pan. Line the pan with parchment paper, allowing overhang on all sides. Tip: rub a bit of vegetable shortening or butter in the bottom of the pan corners and well as the pan sides to help the parchment paper to stay in place. Lightly grease the top of the parchment paper. Place the pan on a wire rack to protect your countertop from the hot caramel.
Caramels:
  1. In a large, at least 4 quart-size, heavy-bottomed saucepan, combine granulated sugar, brown sugar, corn syrup, butter, and salt. Heat over medium-low heat, stirring constantly with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon, until the sugar is completely dissolved and the butter is melted. Stir in the whipping cream. Stir gently to avoid splashing the mixture onto the sides of the pan. Increase the heat to medium high and bring to a boil, stirring frequently and scraping the pan bottom to avoid scorching, until the mixture reaches a temperature of 247 degrees F, a firm ball stage, using a candy or instant read thermometer to gauge the temperature. Immediately remove pan from the heat. Tip: Lower the heat when the temperature reaches about 240 degrees to slow the cooking because at this point it will quickly reach 247 degrees.
  2. Let the hot mixture sit about 30 seconds to let the bubbling subside. Working carefully to prevent splattering, add the vanilla and stir just until mixed.
  3. Carefully pour the mixture into the prepared pan and spread it evenly with the rubber spatula or wooden spoon. Do not scrape out the pan as separated ingredients will mar the top of the caramel. Be careful, the caramel is extremely hot and will burn your skin if you touch it.
  4. Let the caramel sit undisturbed until cool and thoroughly set, 6 to 8 hours or overnight.
  5. When caramel is firm, remove from the pan by grabbing the edge of the parchment paper and lifting out of the pan. Use a sharp kitchen knife or bench scraper to cut into 1½ by 1-inch rectangles; cut the caramel lengthwise into 1½ inch strips, and then cut each strip into 1 inch pieces. Tip: Rub a tiny bit of vegetable oil or vegetable shortening on the knife blade if necessary to prevent sticking.
  6. Wrap each caramel in a piece of wax paper cut about 5 inches by 6 inches, and then twist the ends to keep closed.

Salted Milk Chocolate Caramels

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Salted Milk Chocolate Caramels
Amazing and delicious, an elegant candy! Salted caramels are a popular confection and proof that sweet and salty were always meant for each other. My daughter Jessica asked me to make these candies, one of her favorites when made with milk chocolate. Salted caramels are just as wonderful when made with a dark chocolate such as semisweet or bittersweet.
Recipe type: Dessert | Candy | Caramel | Chocolate
Prep time: 
Total time: 
Recipe Notes
Equipment: Double Boiler, Heavy Bottom Pan, Candy Thermometer Method: Stove top Pan: 9 inch square Pan Prep: Parchment Lined Yield: About 60 Pieces Storage: Airtight Container, Room Temperature or Refrigerate

Help: Chocolate Types, Melting Chocolate, Tempering Chocolate, Sugar and Caramel Stages

TheBakingPan Recommends: The BEST instant read thermometer I’ve used for cooking and baking; the ThermoWorks Splash-Proof Super-Fast Thermapen Thermometer is incredibly fast, ThermoWorks Splash-Proof Super-Fast Thermapenaccurate, and well worth the investment. I use my Thermapen Thermometer for checking room temperature ingredients, tempering chocolate, baking bread, making pastry creams, sugar syrup, caramel, and candy, cooking meats and fish, and deep frying. Thermapen Thermometer available here.
Ingredients
Caramels:
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
  • 1 cup dark corn syrup
  • 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1 inch pieces
  • 2 teaspoon sea salt or, fleur de sel, divided
  • 2 cups whipping (heavy) cream
  • 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
Tip: Sea salt normally has a mixture of large and small granules. Finely crush the sea salt so it distributes more evenly in the caramel. Crush with a salt grinder, or mortar and pestle, or rolling pin, or in a small food grinder.
Chocolate Coating:
  • 12 ounces milk chocolate or, semisweet or, bittersweet chocolate
  • 2 tablespoons shortening
Garnish:
  • About 1 teaspoon sea salt, preferably fleur de sel, finely crush the large pieces
Instructions
Prepare one 9x9x2 inch square pan. Line the pan with parchment paper, allowing overhang on all sides. Tip: rub a bit of vegetable shortening or butter in the bottom of the pan corners and well as the pan sides to help the parchment paper to stay in place. Lightly grease the top of the parchment paper. Place the pan on a wire rack to protect your countertop from the hot caramel.
Caramels:
  1. In a large, at least 4 quart-size, heavy-bottomed saucepan, combine granulated sugar, brown sugar, corn syrup, butter, and 1 teaspoon salt. Heat over medium-low heat, stirring constantly with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon, until the sugar is completely dissolved and the butter is melted. Stir in the whipping cream. Stir gently to avoid splashing the mixture onto the sides of the pan. Increase the heat to medium high and bring to a boil, stirring frequently and scraping the pan bottom to avoid scorching, until the mixture reaches a temperature of 247 degrees F, a firm ball stage, using a candy or instant read thermometer to gauge the temperature. Immediately remove pan from the heat. Tip: Lower the heat when the temperature reaches about 240 degrees to slow the cooking because at this point it will quickly reach 247 degrees.
  2. Let the hot mixture sit about 30 seconds to let the bubbling subside. Working carefully to prevent splattering, add the vanilla and remaining 1 teaspoon salt and stir just until mixed.
  3. Carefully pour the mixture into the prepared pan and spread it evenly with the rubber spatula or wooden spoon. Do not scrape out the pan as separated ingredients will mar the top of the caramel. Be careful, the caramel is extremely hot and will burn your skin if you touch it.
  4. Let the caramel sit undisturbed until cool and thoroughly set, 6 to 8 hours or overnight.
  5. When caramel is firm, remove from the pan by grabbing the edge of the parchment paper and lifting out of the pan. Use a sharp kitchen knife or bench scraper to cut into 1-inch pieces. Tip: Rub a tiny bit of vegetable oil or vegetable shortening on the knife blade if necessary to prevent sticking.
Chocolate Coating:
Tip: It is always preferable to temper chocolate when the chocolate is used for dipping candies. In place of step 9 below, See Tempering Chocolate for information about how to temper the chocolate to be used for dipping these candies.

If you don’t want to go through the steps of tempering the chocolate, the following directions are for melting chocolate (not tempering.)
  1. Line 2 large baking pans with waxed paper or parchment paper.
  2. In top of a double boiler over hot water, melt chocolate. Stir in the shortening. Set aside to cool. Or, place the chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl, use 50% power and stir frequently just until the chocolate is melted; do not overheat as chocolate will burn easily. Stir in the shortening. Set aside to cool.
  3. Tip: Create a double boiler by filling a saucepan with 2 inches of water and bringing it to a simmer. Turn the heat off and place a glass bowl, stainless steel bowl, or ceramic bowl on top of the hot water; the upper pan should not touch the water.
  4. Place the cooled bowl of chocolate over a pan of hot water to keep the chocolate a liquid consistency for dipping.
Dipping and Garnish:
  1. Place one caramel at a time in the chocolate, gently turn it over with a fork or candy dipping fork. Tap the fork on the rim of the bowl to allow excess chocolate to drip back into the pan, and then draw the underside of the fork over the rim of the pan to remove any drips of chocolate. Gently place the chocolate coated caramels on the prepared baking pans, pushing the caramel off the fork with another fork. Sprinkle with a touch of fleur de sel sea salt on top of each caramel. Let caramels sit until the chocolate is dry and firm. Tip: refrigerate chocolate coated caramels about 30 minutes for the chocolate to become firm. However, if the chocolate has been tempered the balls do not need to be refrigerated as the chocolate should set quickly.
  2. Store in an airtight container so they won’t dry out. Candies dipped with tempered chocolate can generally be stored in a cool place or at room temperature. Candies dipped with melted (untempered chocolate) should generally be stored in the refrigerator.

Pecan Caramels

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Pecan Caramels
These chocolate dipped pecan caramels are rich and buttery with a chewy soft texture. Caramels don’t get much better than this. These caramels are yummy plain, and outstanding when dipped in chocolate.
Recipe type: Dessert | Candy | Caramel | Chocolate
Prep time: 
Total time: 
Recipe Notes
Equipment: Small Heavy-Bottomed Saucepan, Double Boiler, Candy Thermometer Method: Stovetop Pan: Large Rimmed Baking Sheets Pan Prep: Parchment Lined Yield: 9 Dozen Pieces Storage: Airtight Container, Room Temperature

Help: Chocolate Types, Melting Chocolate, Tempering Chocolate, Sugar and Caramel Stages

TheBakingPan Recommends: The BEST instant read thermometer I’ve used for cooking and baking; the ThermoWorks Splash-Proof Super-Fast Thermapen Thermometer is incredibly fast, accurate, and well worth the investment. I use my Thermapen Thermometer for checking room temperature ingredients, tempering chocolate, baking bread, making pastry creams, sugar syrup, caramel, and candy, cooking meats and fish, and deep frying. Thermapen Thermometer available here.
Ingredients
Caramels:
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
  • 1 cup dark corn syrup
  • 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1 inch pieces
  • ⅛ teaspoon salt
  • 2 cups whipping (heavy) cream
  • 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
  • 2½ cups (10 ounces) coarsely chopped pecans (¼ to ½ inch pieces)
Chocolate Coating:
  • 4 ounces semisweet or, bittersweet chocolate
  • 2 tablespoons shortening (optional, not used if tempering chocolate)
Instructions
Prepare one 9x13 inch oblong pan. Line the pan with parchment paper, allowing overhang on all sides. Tip: rub a bit of vegetable shortening or butter in the bottom of the pan corners and well as the pan sides to help the parchment paper to stay in place. Lightly grease the top of the parchment paper. Place the pan on a wire rack to protect your countertop from the hot caramel.
Caramels:
  1. In a large, at least 4 quart-size, heavy-bottomed pan, combine granulated sugar, brown sugar, corn syrup, butter, and salt. Heat over medium-low heat, stirring constantly with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon, until the sugar is completely dissolved and the butter is melted. Stir in the whipping cream. Stir gently to avoid splashing the mixture onto the sides of the pan. Increase the heat to medium high and bring to a boil, stirring frequently and scraping the pan bottom to avoid scorching, until the mixture reaches a temperature of 247 degrees F, a firm ball stage, using a candy or instant read thermometer to gauge the temperature. Immediately remove pan from the heat. Tip: Lower the heat when the temperature reaches about 240 degrees to slow the cooking because at this point it will quickly reach 247 degrees.
  2. Let the hot mixture sit about 30 seconds to let the bubbling subside. Working carefully to prevent splattering, add the vanilla and pecans and stir just until mixed.
  3. Carefully pour the mixture into the prepared pan and spread it evenly with the rubber spatula or wooden spoon. Do not scrape out the pan as separated ingredients will mar the top of the caramel. Be careful, the caramel is extremely hot and will burn your skin if you touch it.
  4. Let the caramel sit undisturbed until cool and thoroughly set, 6 to 8 hours or overnight.
  5. When caramel is firm, remove from the pan by grabbing the edge of the parchment paper and lifting out of the pan. Use a sharp kitchen knife or bench scraper to cut into 1-inch pieces. Tip: Rub a tiny bit of vegetable oil or vegetable shortening on the knife blade if necessary to prevent sticking.
Chocolate Coating:
Tip: It is always preferable to temper chocolate when the chocolate is used for dipping candies. In place of step 9 below, See Tempering Chocolate for information about how to temper the chocolate to be used for dipping these candies.

If you don’t want to go through the steps of tempering the chocolate, the following directions are for melting chocolate (not tempering.)
  1. Refrigerate caramels until cool, about 30 minutes.
  2. Line 2 large baking pans or jelly roll pans with parchment paper or waxed paper.
  3. In top of a double boiler over hot water, melt chocolate. Or, melt chocolate in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan over low heat; stir constantly until melted so chocolate does not burn. Remove pan from heat. Or, place the chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl, use 50% power and stir frequently just until the chocolate is melted; do not overheat as chocolate will burn easily. Stir in the shortening. Set aside to cool. Tip: Create a double boiler by filling a saucepan with 2 inches of water and bringing it to a simmer. Turn the heat off and place a glass bowl, stainless steel bowl, or ceramic bowl on top of the hot water; the upper pan should not touch the water.
  4. Place the cooled bowl of chocolate over a pan of hot water to keep the chocolate a liquid consistency for dipping. Work with 6 to 8 caramels at a time, keeping the remaining caramels refrigerated until ready to dip.
Dipping:
  1. Holding the top of a caramel with your fingers, dip the bottom half of each caramel into the melted chocolate; allow any excess chocolate to drip back into the pan. Place caramels on baking pans, chocolate side down; let sit until the chocolate is set. Tip: refrigerate chocolate coated caramels about 30 minutes for the chocolate to become firm. Makes about nine dozen caramels.
Recipe Adapted From: Baggett, Nancy, The All-American Dessert Book, Houghton Mifflin Co, New York, 2005

White Chocolate Pumpkin Cheesecake

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White Chocolate Pumpkin Cheesecake
When the fall weather turns cool this is my favorite pumpkin cheesecake, and makes an ideal choice for Halloween and Thanksgiving entertaining. The taste of pumpkin is mild with just a hint of warm spices, and the melted white chocolate adds a smooth sweetness and creaminess that is divine. The crunchy chocolate cookie crust supports the creamy cake, and is so easy to make when you just throw them into a food processor or small grinder. Top the cake with white chocolate curls and shavings to delight the eye as much as the palate.
Recipe type: Dessert | Cheesecake
Serves: 10 to 12
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Recipe Notes
Pan: 9" Springform Pan Prep: Buttered Oven Temp: 325° Method: bain marie Storage: Cover and Refrigerate

Help: Cheesecake Hints and Tips, Chocolate Types, Melting Chocolate

TheBakingPan Recommends: The BEST instant read thermometer I’ve used for cooking and baking; the ThermoWorks Splash-Proof Super-Fast Thermapen Thermometer is incredibly fast, accurate, and well worth the investment. I use my Thermapen Thermometer for checking room temperature ingredients, tempering chocolate, baking bread, making pastry creams, sugar syrup, caramel, and candy, cooking meats and fish, and deep frying. Thermapen Thermometer available here.
Ingredients
Chocolate Cookie Crust:
  • 1½ cups cream-filled chocolate sandwich crumbs (About 18 sandwich cookies, Such as Oreo Cookies)
Filling:
  • 12 ounces white chocolate, chopped into small pieces
  • 3 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, room temperature
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • ½ cup whipping (heavy) cream
  • ¾ cup pumpkin puree
  • 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
  • ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
  • ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 4 large eggs, room temperature
Garnish:
  • About 6 ounces White chocolate for curls and shavings
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare one 9-inch round cheesecake pan or springform pan with 3-inch sides; use a pastry brush to butter the sides and bottom of pan with 1 tablespoon of melted butter.
Chocolate Cookie Crust:
  1. Crush or grind the whole cookies, including the cream filling, to make crumbs. Tip: place whole cookies in a food processor or small grinder.
  2. Pour the chocolate crumb mixture into the springform pan. Using the back of a large spoon or the flat bottom of a measuring cup or drinking glass, press the crumb mixture firmly and evenly across the bottom of the pan. Place the pan on a baking sheet.
  3. Bake: Bake 10 minutes. Remove from oven and place on a wire cooling rack to cool.
  4. When cooled, wrap bottom and sides of pan in a double layer of heavy duty aluminum foil to prepare for the bain marie water bath. The foil is to prevent any water from seeping into the cheesecake through the pan seams.
  5. Reduce oven to 325 degrees F.
Filling:
  1. In top of a double boiler over hot water, melt the white chocolate. Set aside to cool slightly. Tip: Create a double boiler by filling a saucepan with 2 inches of water and bringing it to a simmer. Turn the heat off and place a stainless steel, ceramic, or glass bowl on top of the simmering water, the upper pan should not touch the water.
  2. In a large bowl, add the cream cheese and sugar; mix on medium low speed with an electric mixer until smooth and creamy, 1 to 2 minutes. Scrape the mixture off the paddle and scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula so the mixture blends evenly and there are no lumps.
  3. Add the melted chocolate, whipping cream, pumpkin, vanilla, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg; continue beating on medium low speed until thoroughly combined, about 1 minute.
  4. Add the eggs 2 at a time, beating until thoroughly combined, about 1 minute, scraping the bowl between additions. Tip: crack the eggs into a small bowl and whisk with a fork to thoroughly break up the egg before adding to the cheese mixture. Tip: Do not overbeat the cheesecake batter. Blend the ingredients quickly to add as few air bubbles as possible. The ingredients must be well blended, but excessive beating creates too many air pockets which can cause the cheesecake to puff up too much during baking, and then crack during the cooling process.
  5. Let the filling rest about 5 minutes to allow air bubbles to rise to the surface.
  6. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to boil to use for the bain marie water bath.
  7. Pour the cheesecake filling into the graham cracker crust.
  8. Bake: Set the foil wrapped springform pan in a larger pan or roasting pan and transfer to the oven. Carefully pour boiling water into the roasting pan to come halfway up the sides of the springform pan, and close the oven door. Bake 60 to 80 minutes. Tip: The Cheesecake is done when the edges are set but the center 2 to 3 inches are still a pool of liquid batter. The cake should look as though it has puffed a little and just barely beginning to brown. The center will still be soft and jiggly when the pan is lightly jarred or tapped with a spoon.
  9. Remove from oven, place springform pan on a wire cooling rack to cool. Immediately run a thin knife around the edge of the pan, gently pressing into the side of the pan to avoid gouging the cake. This allows the cake to contract away from the sides of the pan as it cools, helping to prevent cracks.
  10. When cheesecake is completely cooled, cover the pan and refrigerate for 12 to 24 hours before serving. Try to avoid having the covering touch the top of the cheesecake as this may mar the surface.
Garnish:
  1. When ready to serve, decorate with white chocolate curls.
  2. Melt about 6 ounces of white chocolate. Spread the melted chocolate in a thin layer on a cool flat surface such as a marble slab or wooden board. Work quickly so the chocolate can be spread evenly before it begins to set. When the chocolate is set but not hard, hold a wide spatula at a slight angle to the chocolate and push along the top of the chocolate for 1 to 2 inches to form a thin roll of chocolate. Don’t worry if they don’t all curl. The broken shavings look just as nice on top of the cake.

Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls

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Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls
When the mornings have frost on the ground, the pumpkins are getting ready. With a little pumpkin and spice you can bake some wonderfully delicious, fragrant, and sticky pumpkin cinnamon rolls. In case you can’t decide between a cream cheese or caramel icing, I’ve included a recipe for both.
Recipe type: Dessert | Yeast Bread | Pumpkin
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Recipe Notes
Pan: One 13"x9"x2" inch oblong or Rimmed Baking Sheet Pan Prep: Greased Oven Temp: 375° Yield: 12 Rolls Storage: Tightly Wrapped, Room Temperature

TheBakingPan Recommends: The BEST instant read thermometer I’ve used for cooking and baking; the ThermoWorks Splash-Proof Super-Fast Thermapen Thermometer is incredibly fast, ThermoWorks Splash-Proof Super-Fast Thermapenaccurate, and well worth the investment. I use my Thermapen Thermometer for checking room temperature ingredients, tempering chocolate, baking bread, making pastry creams, sugar syrup, caramel, and candy, cooking meats and fish, and deep frying. Thermapen Thermometer available here.
Ingredients
Dough:
  • ½ cup warm milk (110 to 115 degrees) (preferably whole milk)
  • 1 package active dry yeast
  • ¼ cup firmly packed light brown sugar
  • 2 large eggs, beaten
  • ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
  • 1 cup canned pumpkin
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoon ground ginger
  • ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
  • 4 to 4¼ cups all-purpose flour
Filling:
  • ¼ cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
  • ¾ cup granulated sugar
  • 5 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • ¼ cup raisins (optional)
  • ¼ cup chopped pecans (optional)
Caramel Icing:
  • 1½ cups confectioners’ (powdered) sugar
  • ½ cup firmly packed light brown sugar
  • ¼ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 2 to 4 tablespoons milk (preferably whole milk)
Or
Cream Cheese Icing:
  • 2 cups confectioner’s (powdered) sugar
  • ¼ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
  • ¼ cup cream cheese, room temperature
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 2 to 4 tablespoons milk (preferably whole milk)
Instructions
Dough:
  1. In a large mixing bowl, combine warm milk and yeast; stir and let sit until yeast is dissolved, about 10 minutes. Add brown sugar, eggs, melted butter, pumpkin, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves; beat until mixture is smooth. Add 2 cups flour; stir until well mixed. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough.
  2. Turn dough onto a lightly floured pastry mat or pastry board; knead dough until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes, adding additional flour 1 tablespoon at a time if dough is too sticky.
  3. Place dough in a well greased bowl; turn dough over once to grease the top. Cover bowl with a small kitchen towel and let dough rise is a warm place until doubled in size, 1 to 2 hours.
  4. Prepare one 13x9x2 inch oblong pan, or large rimmed baking pan; lightly grease the pan with shortening.
  5. Punch dough down then turn onto a lightly floured pastry mat or pastry board; knead dough briefly, 4 to 5 times. Roll the dough into a large rectangle, about 18 inches by 14 inches.
Filling:
  1. Using a pastry brush, brush the top of the dough with melted butter to within ½ inch of the edges.
  2. In a small bowl, stir together sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle sugar cinnamon mixture evenly over buttered dough to within ½ inch of the edges. Sprinkle with raisins and pecans (optional). Roll-up dough jelly-roll style, starting with a long side; pinch the seams together to seal. Slice dough into 1½ inch pieces and place about 1 inch apart in baking pan.
  3. Cover and let rolls rise is a warm place until doubled in size, 1 to 2 hours.
  4. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
  5. Bake: Bake rolls 25 to 30 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove rolls from oven. Place pan on a wire cooling rack to cool.
Caramel Icing:
  1. In a small bowl, combine confectioner’s sugar, brown sugar, butter, vanilla, and enough milk to make a good spreading consistency. Spread icing onto still warm rolls.
Or
Cream Cheese Frosting:
  1. Make this icing instead of the caramel icing if you prefer. In a small bowl, combine confectioner’s sugar, butter, cream cheese, vanilla, and enough milk to make a good spreading consistency. Spread icing onto still warm rolls.

Pumpkin Spice Cookies

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Pumpkin Spice Cookies
Transform Pumpkin Spice Cookies into festive jack-o-lanterns by decorating with some colorful royal icing. These lightly ginger spiced cookies are just as delicious un-frosted.

For these cookies I used royal icing. I used a pastry bag with a #2 tip to pipe around the edge of the cookie with a thick piping icing, (You could also use a plastic squeeze bottle with a tip available in decorating stores), then filled in the cookie using a thinner flooding icing. To make thicker icing add more confectioners’s sugar, to make the icing thinner add more egg white or small amount of warm water. For the pumpkin I used orange food coloring with a drop of red and black. For the stem I used leaf green food coloring with a bit of juniper green added and sprinkled a little sour apple colored edible glitter to add some sparkle (available in decorating stores.)

I have included a basic recipe for confectioner’s sugar icing along with recipes for Royal Icing. Royal Icing made with egg whites is generally not consumed but is great for non-edible decorations such as gingerbread houses or tree ornaments. Since the egg whites are not cooked there is a greater risk of salmonella. Royal Icing made with meringue powder is safe to eat. For more information, see my Royal Icing page.
Recipe type: Dessert | Rolled and Cutout Cookies
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Recipe Notes
Pan: Two Large Baking Sheets Pan Prep: Ungreased or Parchment Lined Oven Temp: 375° Storage: Airtight Container, Room Temperature

Help: Cookie Hints and Tips, Royal Icing

TheBakingPan Recommends: The BEST instant read thermometer I’ve used for cooking and baking; the ThermoWorks Splash-Proof Super-Fast Thermapen Thermometer is incredibly fast, accurate, and well worth the investment. I use my Thermapen Thermometer for checking room temperature ingredients, tempering chocolate, baking bread, making pastry creams, sugar syrup, caramel, and candy, cooking meats and fish, and deep frying. Thermapen Thermometer available here.
Ingredients
Dough:
  • 4¾ cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • ¾ teaspoon salt
  • 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 1½ teaspoons ground ginger
  • 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1¾ cups granulated sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • ½ cup light or dark molasses
Confectioner’s Sugar Icing:
  • 3 cups confectioner’s (powdered) sugar
  • 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 2 to 4 tablespoons milk (preferably whole milk)
  • Food coloring (optional)
  • Sugar sprinkles (optional)
Or
Royal Icing Made with Meringue Powder (edible):
  • 4 cups confectioners’ (powdered) sugar
  • 3 tablespoons meringue powder
  • Approximately ¼ to ½ cup warm water (or more if needed)
  • Flavoring (optional)
  • Food coloring (optional)
  • Sugar sprinkles (optional)
Tip: If using an extract for flavoring, use one that is clear so it does not add unwanted color to the finished icing, such as orange, lemon, mint, almond, and clear vanilla.
Or
Royal Icing Made with Egg Whites (non-edible):
  • 2 large egg whites
  • 3 cups confectioners (powdered) sugar
  • Approximately 2 or 3 teaspoons warm water (or more if needed)
  • Food coloring (optional)
  • Sugar sprinkles (optional)
Instructions
Dough:
  1. In a medium mixing bowl, combine flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and ginger; whisk together to mix. Set aside.
  2. In a large bowl of an electric mixer, combine butter and sugar; cream together until mixture appears light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula so the mixture blends evenly. Add eggs, vanilla, and molasses; beat until thoroughly mixed. Add flour mixture, stir until well mixed.
  3. Form dough into two 6 inch flattened disks and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate until well chilled, at least 2 hours. Tip: The dough may be refrigerated at this point for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 1 month.
  4. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Baking sheets may be ungreased, lined with parchment paper, or lined with a non-stick baking mat.
  5. On a lightly floured pastry mat or pastry board, and using a lightly floured rolling pin, roll the dough to a ¼ inch thickness. Cut dough into desired shapes using a cookie cutter that has been dipped in flour (to help prevent dough from sticking to the cutter.)
  6. Bake: Place cutout dough 2 inches apart on baking sheets. Bake 11 minutes or until cookies are set. Remove cookies from baking sheets with a metal spatula and place on a wire cooling rack to cool.
Make icing of your choice to frost and decorate cookies. Choose from either the Confectioners’ Sugar Icing, or the Royal Icing made with Meringue Powder (edible), or the Royal Icing made with egg whites (non-edible.)
Confectioner’s Sugar Icing:
  1. In a medium mixing bowl, combine confectioner’s sugar, butter, and vanilla extract. Use an electric hand mixer or wooden spoon and beat together until mixture is smooth, adding enough milk to make a good spreading consistency. Add food coloring if desired.
  2. Frost cooled cookies, sprinkle with sugar sprinkles if desired. Set aside until frosting is set.
Or
Royal Icing Made with Meringue Powder (edible):
  1. In a medium bowl, and using an electric mixer or hand mixer, combine meringue powder and powdered sugar. Add water in small quantities, start with tablespoons of water, then when it’s getting close to the right consistency add water in teaspoonfuls or just drops of water at a time, until it is the desired consistency; for piping and outlining, the icing should be like a thick sour cream. Add food coloring and flavoring (optional.)
  2. Use immediately. Keep unused portions covered with plastic wrap, as exposed icing will start to thicken and harden. If the icing starts to become too thick, add a few drops of water and beat until the water is thoroughly combined.
  3. Place unused icing in an airtight container or sealable plastic bag and store in the refrigerator or at room temperature.
Or
Royal Icing Made with Egg Whites (non-edible):
  1. In a medium bowl, and using an electric mixer or hand mixer, beat egg whites until frothy. Add the powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time, beating after each cup until smooth. Add water, a few drops at a time, until it is the desired consistency; for piping and outlining, the icing should be like a thick sour cream. Add food coloring (optional.)
  2. Use icing immediately, keeping unused portions covered with plastic wrap, as exposed icing will start to thicken and harden. If the icing starts to become too thick, add a few drops of water and beat until water is thoroughly combined.
  3. Place unused icing in an airtight container or sealable plastic bag and store in the refrigerator.

Molasses Spice Cookies

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Molasses Spice Cookies
Molasses Spice Cookies, called Pepparkakar in Sweden, are a lightly spiced molasses cookie with a crinkly, sugary top. These cookies are delicious any time of year, but there’s something about the cool days of fall and cold days of winter when this cookie seem very appealing. Enjoy with a steaming mug of hot chocolate or coffee or glass of cold milk; Molasses Spice cookies will warm you from head to toe
Recipe type: Dessert | Shaped Cookies
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Recipe Notes
Pan: Two Large Baking Sheets Pan Prep: Lightly Greased or Parchment Lined Oven Temp: 375° Yield: 4½ Dozen Storage: Airtight Container, Room Temperature

Help: Cookie Hints and Tips
Ingredients
Dough:
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon ground ginger
  • ½ teaspoon ground cloves
  • ¾ cup (1½ sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
  • 1½ cups granulated sugar
  • ¼ cup molasses
  • 1 large egg
Topping:
  • ½ cup granulated sugar
Instructions
Dough:
  1. In a medium mixing bowl, combine flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves; whisk together to mix. Set aside.
  2. In a large mixing bowl, combine melted and cooled butter, sugar, molasses, and egg. Using a wooden spoon, stir until the mixture is combined and smooth. Add the flour mixture and still until thoroughly blended.
  3. Cover dough and refrigerate until well chilled, at least 2 hours or overnight.
  4. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Prepare 2 large baking sheets; lightly grease with shortening, or line with parchment paper, or line with a non-stick baking mat.
  5. Remove dough from refrigerator and shape all the dough into small balls, about 1” in diameter. Use enough balls to bake one pan of cookies (about 12) and keep remainder of balls in the refrigerator until ready to use. Tip: An ice cream scoop with a release mechanism is ideal for making uniform-sized cookies.
Topping:
  1. Place granulated sugar in a low, flat dish, such as a pie plate. Roll the balls in granulated sugar until completely coated.
  2. Bake: Place balls 2 inches apart onto baking sheets. Bake 8 to 9 minutes or until the cookies are puffed and the tops are just beginning to crack. Remove from oven and let cookies cool on baking sheet 2 to 3 minutes, the cookies will flatten and larger cracks will form as they cool. Remove cookies from baking sheets with a metal spatula and place on a wire cooling rack to finish cooling.

Mini Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

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Mini Pumpkin Whoopie Pies
Soft pumpkin cookies, fluffy cream cheese filling, and a sprinkling of cinnamon spiced powdered sugar complete these Mini Pumpkin Whoopie Pies. This mini version is just the right size, and the pumpkin and cream cheese combination is scrumptious.

Of course these are not really a pie at all, but a cookie. Whoopie Pies are essentially two cake-like cookies sandwiched with a generous helping of fluffy creamy filling.

Original Whoopie Pies, believed to have originated in the 1920s in either Maine, Pennsylvania, or by the Amish are large affairs, about 4 inches in diameter, and made with a soft chocolate cookie and marshmallow filling. The clever name is possibly from children that would squeal with delight and yell “whoopie” whenever they were getting one of these delicious treats. Modern versions include a cookie made with chocolate or other flavors such as pumpkin and red velvet, and fluffy fillings with all flavors imaginable.
Recipe type: Dessert | Sandwich Cookie | Pumpkin
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Recipe Notes
Pan: Two Large Baking Sheets Pan Prep: Ungreased or Parchment Lined Oven Temp: 350° Yield: 2 Dozen Storage: Cover and Refrigerate

Help: Cookie Hints and Tips

TheBakingPan Recommends: The BEST instant read thermometer I’ve used for cooking and baking; the ThermoWorks Splash-Proof Super-Fast Thermapen Thermometer is incredibly fast, accurate, and well worth the investment. I use my Thermapen Thermometer for checking room temperature ingredients, tempering chocolate, baking bread, making pastry creams, sugar syrup, caramel, and candy, cooking meats and fish, and deep frying. Thermapen Thermometer available here.
Ingredients
Dough:
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
  • ⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • ⅛ teaspoon ground cloves
  • ½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • ½ cup pumpkin
  • ¼ cup milk (preferably whole milk)
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Spiced Cream Cheese Filling:
  • 4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
  • ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ⅛ teaspoon ground cloves
  • 2 cups confectioners' (powdered) sugar
Topping:
  • 1 tablespoon confectioners' (powdered) sugar
  • ⅛ teaspoon ground cinnamon
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Baking sheets may be ungreased, lined with parchment paper, or lined with a non-stick baking mat.
Dough:
  1. In a medium mixing bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves; whisk together to mix. Set aside.
  2. In a large bowl of an electric mixer, combine butter and brown sugar; beat on medium speed until mixture is creamy, 1 to 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula so the mixture blends evenly. Add egg, pumpkin, milk, and vanilla; beat until thoroughly mixed, mixture may appear curdled. Reduce speed to low, add flour mixture, beat together until well mixed.
  3. Bake: Drop batter by level tablespoonfuls onto cookie sheet about 1 inch apart. Bake for 10 to 11 minutes or until set and a toothpick inserted into the center of a cookie comes out clean. Tip: Use a measuring tablespoon, fill the spoon with dough and level off with a knife. Use a spoon or knife to scrape the dough out of the measuring spoon and onto the pan, keeping the dough formed in as round a shape as possible.
  4. Remove cookies from the oven and let cool on the baking sheet 2 to 3 minutes. When they seem firm enough, remove cookies from baking sheets with a metal spatula and place on a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
Spiced Cream Cheese Filling:
  1. In a medium mixing bowl, combine cream cheese, butter, vanilla, cinnamon, and cloves; use an electric hand mixer or wooden spoon and beat together until mixture is smooth. Add powdered sugar; beat until filling is smooth and creamy.
  2. Assembly: Spoon about two teaspoons of filling onto the bottom flat side of one cookie. Place another cookie, flat side down, on top of the filling. Press down slightly so that the filling spreads to the edges of the cookie. Repeat with remaining cookies and filling.
Topping:
  1. Combine powdered sugar and cinnamon. Using a fine-mesh sieve, dust the tops of the cookies with the sugar mixture.
  2. Place the whoopie pies on a baking sheet in a single layer and refrigerate for about 30 minutes to firm up the filling before serving.
  3. The whoopie pies will keep for up to 3 days in the refrigerator. Place on a baking sheet in a single layer and cover tightly with plastic wrap.
Source: Land O’ Lakes
Lewis, Matt and Renato Poliafito, Baked Explorations, Stewart, Tabori & Chang, New York, 2010

Witches Fingers

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Witches Fingers
Wickedly witchy, and a little creepy. Halloween is the time to let your imagination go wild, and these cookies can be made not-too scary, or as gory as you want. These Halloween cookies are actually a delicious almond shortbread-like cookie, with a blanched almond for the 'fingernail' and a bit of red decorating gel for the ‘blood.'
Recipe type: Dessert | Shaped Cookies
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Recipe Notes
Pan: Two Large Baking Sheets Pan Prep: Lightly Greased or Parchment Lined Oven Temp: 375° Yield: 4 Dozen Storage: Airtight Container, Room Temperature

Help: Cookie Hints and Tips, Blanching Almonds

TheBakingPan Recommends: The BEST instant read thermometer I’ve used for cooking and baking; the ThermoWorks Splash-Proof Super-Fast Thermapen Thermometer is incredibly fast, ThermoWorks Splash-Proof Super-Fast Thermapenaccurate, and well worth the investment. I use my Thermapen Thermometer for checking room temperature ingredients, tempering chocolate, baking bread, making pastry creams, sugar syrup, caramel, and candy, cooking meats and fish, and deep frying. Thermapen Thermometer available here.
Ingredients
Dough:
  • ½ cup blanched almonds, finely ground
  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • ⅔ cup granulated sugar
  • 1 cup confectioners’ (powdered) sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 large egg yolks
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • ½ teaspoon pure almond extract
Decoration:
  • ½ cup whole blanched almonds
  • Red Decorating Gel
Instructions
Dough:
  1. In a medium bowl, combine ground almonds, flour, and salt; whisk together to mix. Set aside.
  2. In a large bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter, granulated sugar, and confectioners’ sugar together until well mixed. Add eggs, egg yolks, vanilla, and almond; beat until well mixed. Add the flour mixture, beat just until thoroughly mixed.
  3. Divide dough in half; place each half on a piece of plastic wrap. Form dough into two 6 inch flattened disks and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate until well chilled, at least 2 hours.
  4. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Prepare 2 large baking sheets, lightly grease with shortening, or line with parchment paper, or line with a non-stick baking mat.
  5. Remove one of the dough halves from the refrigerator, keeping remainder refrigerated. Roll heaping teaspoons of dough into a finger shape. Place one blanched almond into one end of cookie to form a nail and squeeze in the center of the dough to create a knuckle shape. Use a small knife to cut a few small ridges in the knuckles. Return unused dough to the refrigerator. Tip: Because the dough puffs while baking, make the fingers skinnier than you want the final cookie to be. The fingers and placement of the almonds don't have to be perfect, the more imperfect and crooked ones will often look the creepiest.
  6. Bake: Bake for about 8 minutes, and then check on them. If the fingers have spread too much you can pull them out of the oven and press and reshape the partially baked cookie. Use the end of a wooden spoon, or a rubber spatula, to push the cookie dough back into a ‘finger’ shape. Careful though, the cookie dough is hot! Return to the oven to finish baking another 8 minutes or until lightly browned.
  7. Remove cookies from the oven and let cool on the baking sheet 2 to 3 minutes. Lift up almond, squeeze red decorator gel around the edge of the nail bed, (also a drop of gel on the nail bed to ‘glue’ the almond back) and press almond back into place, so gel oozes out from around the edges. When they seem firm enough, remove cookies from baking sheets with a metal spatula and place on a wire cooling rack to cool. The cookies will be fragile until cool. Repeat with remaining dough.

Chocolate Nut Cobweb Cookies

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Chocolate Nut Cobweb Cookies
Vanilla icing cobwebs cover these chewy Chocolate Nut cookies, making them chocolaty, nutty, and spidery creepy all in one delicious bite.
Recipe type: Dessert | Shaped Cookies | Glazed Cookies
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Recipe Notes
Pan: Two Large Baking Sheets Pan Prep: Parchment Lined or Lightly Greased Oven Temp: 375° Yield: 2 Dozen Storage: Airtight Container, Room Temperature

Help: Cookie Hints and Tips, Toasting Nuts and Seeds, Melting Chocolate, Chocolate Types

TheBakingPan Recommends: The BEST instant read thermometer I’ve used for cooking and baking; the ThermoWorks Splash-Proof Super-Fast Thermapen Thermometer is incredibly fast, accurate, and well worth the investment. I use my Thermapen Thermometer for checking room temperature ingredients, tempering chocolate, baking bread, making pastry creams, sugar syrup, caramel, and candy, cooking meats and fish, and deep frying. Thermapen Thermometer available here.
Ingredients
Dough:
  • ¾ cup all-purpose flour
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted and cooled
  • 1 cup toasted walnuts, finely chopped
Vanilla Glaze:
  • 1 cup confectioners' (powdered) sugar
  • 1 tablespoon corn syrup
  • ¼ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 3 to 4 teaspoons warm milk (preferably whole milk)
Topping:
  • About ½ cup granulated sugar for pressing and sprinkling
Instructions
Dough:
  1. In a small mixing bowl, combine flour and salt, sift or whisk together to mix. Set aside.
  2. In a large bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter on medium speed about 1 minute until it is smooth and light in color. Add sugar; cream together until mixture appears light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula so the mixture blends evenly. Add egg and vanilla; beat until thoroughly mixed. Add the melted and cooled chocolate and continue to beat until thoroughly mixed.
  3. Remove the bowl from the mixer. Using a large rubber spatula, fold in the walnuts.
  4. Cover dough and refrigerate until well chilled, at least 2 hours or overnight.
  5. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Prepare 2 large baking sheets; lightly grease with shortening, or line with parchment paper, or line with a non-stick baking mat.
  6. Remove dough from refrigerator and shape all the dough into small balls, about 1” in diameter. Use enough balls to bake one pan of cookies (about 12) and keep remainder of balls in the refrigerator until ready to use. Tip: A small ice cream scoop with a release mechanism is ideal for making uniform-sized cookies.
  7. Flatten the balls into rounds from 2¼ to 2½ inches in diameter. Tip: the easiest way to flatten the balls is to use a drinking glass with the bottom of the glass lightly moistened and dipped in granulated sugar. Re-dip the glass in sugar for each cookie.
  8. Bake: Bake 8 to 10 minutes, or until the top is dry and firm to the touch. Remove from oven and let cookies cool on baking sheet 2 to 3 minutes, then remove cookies from baking sheets with a metal spatula and place on a wire cooling rack to finish cooling.
Vanilla Glaze:
  1. In a medium bowl, and using an electric mixer or hand mixer, combine powdered sugar, corn syrup, vanilla. Add warm milk in small quantities, start with 2 teaspoons of milk, then when it’s getting close to the right consistency add milk in teaspoonfuls or just drops of milk at a time, until it is the desired consistency; for piping, the icing should be like a thick sour cream.
  2. When the glaze is the right consistency, spoon into a small plastic freezer bag. Put a little piece of tape on corner to reinforce the tip, and then roll over top of bag to keep neater. (You could also use a plastic squeeze bottle with a tip available in decorating stores or a pastry bag and decorating tip), Twist the top of the bag to create some pressure to make easier to squeeze out. Cut a tiny corner off the tip of the bag.
Topping:
  1. Pipe a cobweb design on the top of each cookie, and then sprinkle granulated sugar over the top. Shake off the excess sugar into a bowl to reuse the excess sugar on the other cookies. Let the glaze dry 20 to 30 minutes before serving.
Adapted from: Usher, Julia, Cookie Swap, Gibbs Smith, Utah, 2009

Candy Corn Cookies

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Candy Corn Cookies
For those with a candy corn addiction at Halloween, these Candy Corn Cookies will fit right in with your other Halloween goodies. The cookies have a hint of orange flavor and are made sparkly with a sprinkling of turbinado sugar before baking.
Recipe type: Dessert | Refrigerator Cookies
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Recipe Notes
Pan: Two Large Baking Sheets Pan Prep: Ungreased or Parchment Lined Oven Temp: 375° Yield: 7 Dozen Storage: Airtight Container, Room Temperature

Help: Cookie Hints and Tips

TheBakingPan Recommends: The BEST instant read thermometer I’ve used for cooking and baking; the ThermoWorks Splash-Proof Super-Fast Thermapen Thermometer is incredibly fast, accurate, and well worth the investment. I use my Thermapen Thermometer for checking room temperature ingredients, tempering chocolate, baking bread, making pastry creams, sugar syrup, caramel, and candy, cooking meats and fish, and deep frying. Thermapen Thermometer available here.
Ingredients
Dough:
  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice
  • ¼ teaspoon pure orange extract
  • 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1 tablespoon freshly grated orange zest (about ½ orange)
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • Orange Food Coloring
  • Yellow Food Coloring
  • About ½ cup Turbinado Sugar
Instructions
Prepare one 9x5x2¾ inch loaf pan or one 8x4x2¼ inch loaf pan; lightly grease with shortening and then line with parchment paper or wax paper. Tip: Greasing the pan before lining with paper helps the paper adhere to the side of the pan better. Cut a large enough piece of parchment or wax paper so there is overhang, making it easier to remove from the pan. Use either the larger pan which will make smaller sized cookies, or the smaller pan which will make larger sized cookies.
Dough:
  1. In a medium mixing bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt together, sift or whisk together to mix. Set aside.
  2. In a small bowl, stir the orange juice and orange extract together. Set aside.
  3. In a large bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter and orange zest on medium speed about 1 minute until it is smooth and light in color. Add sugar; cream together until mixture appears light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula so the mixture blends evenly. Add egg; beat until thoroughly mixed.
  4. With the mixer on low speed, add about one third of the flour mixture, mix just until the flour is almost completely blended. Scrape the bowl down, and add ½ of the orange juice mixture, blending just until mixed. Scrape the bowl down again and continue alternating with the flour mixture and remaining orange juice mixture, ending with the last portion of the flour, and stirring just until blended.
  5. Divide the dough into thirds. Place one-third or the white dough in the bottom of the loaf pan, packing it down evenly.
  6. Add orange food color to make the desired shade of orange to one of the remaining one-third portions of dough. Place the orange dough over the white dough in the pan, packing it evenly over the white dough.
  7. Add yellow food color to make the desired shade of yellow to the remaining one-third portion of dough. Place the yellow dough over the orange dough in the pan, packing it evenly over the orange dough.
  8. Cover the pan with plastic wrap and refrigerate until the dough is well chilled, at least 4 hours or overnight.
  9. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Baking sheets may be ungreased, lined with parchment paper, or lined with a non-stick baking mat.
  10. Grabbing the top edges of the parchment or wax paper, lift dough from loaf pan, remove paper and discard. Using a sharp kitchen knife, cut dough crosswise into ¼ inch slices. Cut each slice into 5 or 6 triangle shaped wedges, trimming edges to make even if necessary.
  11. Sprinkle the top of each cookie with turbinado sugar. Place the cookies 2 inches apart on baking sheets. Return remaining dough to refrigerator until ready to use.
  12. Bake: Bake 9 minutes or until cookies are set and the edges are just barely browned. Remove cookies from baking sheets with a metal spatula and place on a wire cooling rack to cool.

Black and Orange Cookies

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Black and Orange Cookies
Just like the original New York Black and White cookies, but dressed for fall or Halloween in orange and black. I love this smaller size, it’s easier to eat and easier to share than the large 4 inch size. The icings, one half tinted orange, and the ‘black’ half made with melted unsweetened chocolate, provide just the right amount of shine and hardness found in any good Black and White.
Recipe type: Dessert | Drop Cookies | Frosted Cookies
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Recipe Notes
Pan: Two Large Baking Sheets Pan Prep: Baking Mat or Parchment Lined Oven Temp: 375° Yield: 2 Dozen Storage: Airtight Container, Room Temperature

Help: Cookie Hints and Tips, Chocolate Types, Melting Chocolate

TheBakingPan Recommends: The BEST instant read thermometer I’ve used for cooking and baking; the ThermoWorks Splash-Proof Super-Fast Thermapen Thermometer is incredibly fast, accurate, and well worth the investment. I use my Thermapen Thermometer for checking room temperature ingredients, tempering chocolate, baking bread, making pastry creams, sugar syrup, caramel, and candy, cooking meats and fish, and deep frying. Thermapen Thermometer available here.
Ingredients
Dough:
  • 2 cups cake flour
  • ¼ teaspoon baking powder
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • ½ cup milk (preferably whole milk)
  • ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • ¼ teaspoon pure lemon extract
  • ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 large egg
Icings:
  • 4 cups confectioner’s (powdered) sugar
  • ¼ cup light corn syrup, plus additional if needed for thinning
  • ¼ cup water
  • ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • Orange food coloring
  • 2 ounces unsweetened baking chocolate, melted
Instructions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Prepare 2 large baking sheets; lightly grease with shortening, or line with parchment paper, or line with a non-stick baking mat.
Dough:
  1. In a medium mixing bowl, combine cake flour, baking powder, and salt; sift or whisk together to mix. Set aside.
  2. In a small bowl, stir the milk, vanilla extract, and lemon extract together. Set aside.
  3. In a large bowl of an electric mixer, combine butter and sugar; cream together until mixture appears light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula so the mixture blends evenly. Add egg; beat until thoroughly mixed.
  4. With the mixer on low speed, add about one third of the flour mixture, mix just until the flour is almost completely blended. Scrape the bowl down, and add about one half of the milk mixture, blending just until mixed. Scrape the bowl down again and continue alternating with the flour mixture and milk mixture, ending with the last portion of the flour, and stirring just until blended.
  5. Bake: Drop mounds of dough, about 1½ to 2 tablespoonfuls, and spacing dough 3 to 4 inches apart onto baking sheets. Bake 15 to 18 minutes or until cookies are set and the edges are very lightly browned. Remove cookies from baking sheets with a metal spatula and place on a wire cooling rack to cool. Tip: A #40 ice cream scoop holds 1½ tablespoons, and makes a nice size cookie.
Orange Icing:
  1. Sift the powdered sugar into a large mixing bowl. Set aside.
  2. In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine the corn syrup and water and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat and pour the hot syrup mixture into the powdered sugar. Add vanilla and stir until completely combined and icing is smooth and free of lumps.
  3. Transfer half of the icing, about ¾ cup, to another bowl to reserve for the ‘black’ icing. Set aside.
  4. With the remaining icing, add orange food color to make the desired shade of orange. Stir until completely combined. The icing should be thin enough to easily spread over the cookies.
  5. Icing the Orange Half of the Cookies: Place a large wire rack on top of parchment paper or wax paper to catch drips and make clean up easier.
  6. Use a small offset spatula to spread the orange icing over ½ of each cookie. Run the spatula around the edge of the iced half of the cookie to scrape off any excess. Place the iced cookie on the wire rack to allow the icing to partially harden, 15 to 30 minutes. If the orange icing gets too thick to spread easily, stir in a few drops of water until the icing is fluid enough to spread easily.
Black Icing:
  1. In top of a double boiler over hot water, melt unsweetened chocolate. Or, place the chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl, use 50% power and stir frequently just until the chocolate is melted; do not overheat as chocolate will burn easily. Set aside to cool slightly. Tip: Create a double boiler by filling a saucepan with 2 inches of water and bringing it to a simmer. Turn the heat off and place a stainless steel, ceramic, or glass bowl on top of the hot water, the upper pan should not touch the water.
  2. Stir the melted chocolate into the reserved icing. If the icing is too thick to spread, place the bowl over a saucepan of hot water and stir until reheated and thinned. If the icing still seems too thick stir in additional corn syrup about 1 tablespoon at a time until the icing becomes fluid enough to spread easily.
  3. Icing the Black Half of the Cookies: Using an offset spatula spread the black icing on the other half of each cookie. Run the spatula around the edge of the cookie to scrape off any excess. Place the iced cookie on the wire rack to allow the icings to completely set and harden, at least 1 hour. Tip: Keep the black icing over the pan of hot water while icing the cookies to keep the icing spreadable, adding more corn syrup if necessary.

Great Pumpkin Cookies

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Great Pumpkin Cookies
These cookies have the great taste of pumpkin and spice, and are loaded with crunchy toasted walnuts and sweet raisins. You may choose to bake these great cookies and just eat them as is, without the decoration. Or, add the orange glaze and decoration to make them look like they are just picked from your pumpkin patch.
Recipe type: Dessert | Drop Cookie | Glazed Cookies | Rolled Fondant
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Recipe Notes
Pan: Two Large Baking Sheets Pan Prep: Parchment Lined or Lightly Greased Oven Temp: 350° Yield: 3 Dozen Storage: Airtight Container, Room Temperature

Help: Cookie Hints and Tips, Rolled Fondant Tips, Toasting Nuts and Seeds

TheBakingPan Recommends: The BEST instant read thermometer I’ve used for cooking and baking; the ThermoWorks Splash-Proof Super-Fast Thermapen Thermometer is incredibly fast, accurate, and well worth the investment. I use my Thermapen Thermometer for checking room temperature ingredients, tempering chocolate, baking bread, making pastry creams, sugar syrup, caramel, and candy, cooking meats and fish, and deep frying. Thermapen Thermometer available here.
Ingredients
Dough:
  • 2½ cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • ¾ teaspoon salt
  • 2½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • ¾ teaspoon ground ginger
  • ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • ¾ cup firmly packed light brown sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  • 1¼ cups canned pumpkin
  • 1½ cups toasted walnuts, coarsely chopped
  • 1½ cups raisins
Orange Glaze:
  • 6 cups confectioner's (powdered) sugar
  • ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons corn syrup
  • ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice, plus more if needed for thinning
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • ¼ teaspoon pure orange extract
  • Orange food coloring
  • Black food coloring, optional
Decoration:
  • About 8 ounces Rolled Fondant for pumpkin leaves
  • Green Food Coloring
  • Pepperidge Farm Cream Filled Pirouette Rolled Wafer Cookies, for pumpkin stems, cut into 1 inch pieces
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare 2 large baking sheets; lightly grease with shortening, or line with parchment paper, or line with a non-stick baking mat.
Dough:
  1. In a medium mixing bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and ginger; sift or whisk together to mix. Set aside.
  2. In a large bowl of an electric mixer, combine butter and granulated sugar; beat together until thoroughly combined. Add brown sugar and continue beating until mixture appears light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula so the mixture blends evenly. Add egg and vanilla; beat until thoroughly mixed.
  3. With the mixer on low speed, add about one third of the flour mixture, mix just until the flour is almost completely blended. Scrape the bowl down, and add about one half of the pumpkin, blending just until mixed. Scrape the bowl down again and continue alternating with the flour mixture and pumpkin, ending with the last portion of the flour, and stirring just until blended.
  4. Remove the bowl from the mixer. Using a large rubber spatula, fold in the walnuts and raisins.
  5. Bake: Drop mounds of dough, about 2 heaping tablespoonfuls, and spacing dough 3 to 4 inches apart onto baking sheets. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until cookies are set and the edges are very lightly browned. Remove cookies from baking sheets with a metal spatula and place on a wire cooling rackto cool. Tip: Try to keep the dough mounded like a pumpkin shape. The cookies will spread some while baking. An ice cream scoop is ideal for making uniform-sized cookies.
Decoration:
  1. Plan on making the pumpkin leaves and vines at least a day in advance so they will be ready when time to use. Knead the green food coloring into the fondant to make the desired shade of green.
  2. Roll the fondant out to about ⅛ or 1/16 inch thick on a pastry mat or pastry board lightly sprinkled with confectioners’ sugar or cornstarch, or lightly greased with vegetable shortening. Cut out leaves using a 1 inch leaf cookie cutter. Use the back of a knife to press veins into each leaf. Roll small pieces of scraps into skinny logs and loosely spiral wrap them around a ¼ thick dowel to form spiral vines; set aside for about 10 minutes to slightly dry. Slide the vines off the dowel. Let the leaves and vines dry several hours or overnight.
Orange Glaze:
  1. Sift the powdered sugar into a large mixing bowl. Set aside.
  2. In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine the corn syrup and orange juice and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat and pour the hot syrup mixture into the powdered sugar. Add vanilla extract and orange extract and stir until completely combined and glaze is smooth and free of lumps.
  3. Transfer about ⅓ cup to another bowl to make the pumpkin ribs. Add orange food color to make a light color orange. Cover tightly with plastic wrap to keep from drying out. Set aside.
  4. With the remaining glaze, add orange food color to make the desired shade of pumpkin orange. Stir until completely combined. The glaze should be thin enough to easily spread over the cookies. Tip: Stir in a drop of black food color to make a richer color of orange for the main pumpkin color.
Glazing and Decorating Cookies:
  1. Place a large wire rack on top of parchment paper or wax paper to catch drips and make clean up easier.
  2. Place one cookie at a time on a fork and hold over the bowl of pumpkin colored orange glaze. Spoon glaze over cookie until completely covered.
  3. Run a small spatula under the cookie to scrape off any excess. Place the glazed cookie on the wire rack and insert a wafer cookie in the middle of the glazed cookie for the pumpkin stem. Let the glazed cookie sit to allow the glaze to partially harden, 15 to 30 minutes. If the glaze gets too thick to spread easily, stir in a few drops of orange juice until the glaze is fluid enough to spread easily. Repeat with remaining cookies.
  4. Spoon the reserved light orange glaze into a small plastic freezer bag. Put a little piece of tape on corner to reinforce the tip, and then roll over top of bag to keep neater. (You could also use a plastic squeeze bottle with a tip available in decorating stores or a pastry bag and decorating tip), Twist the top of the bag to create some pressure to make easier to squeeze out. Cut a tiny corner off the tip of the bag.
  5. Pipe 6 to 8 ribs over the top of each cookie.
  6. For each glazed cookie, put a dab of leftover glaze on the bottom of one fondant leaf and one spiral curl and place on the glazed cookie next to the stem.
  7. Let the glaze dry at least 30 minutes before serving.
Adapted From: Usher, Julia, Cookie Swap, Gibbs Smith, Utah, 2009

Gingerbread Mummies

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Gingerbread Mummies
Delicious gingerbread cookies are the perfect start of these Halloween mummies with googley eyes. Vanilla glaze is used to make the “linen wrappings.
Recipe type: Dessert | Rolled and Cutout Cookies
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Recipe Notes
Pan: Two Large Baking Sheets Pan Prep: Ungreased or Parchment Lined Oven Temp: 375° Yield: 2 Dozen Storage: Airtight Container, Room Temperature

Help: Cookie Hints and Tips, Royal Icing

TheBakingPan Recommends: The BEST instant read thermometer I’ve used for cooking and baking; the ThermoWorks Splash-Proof Super-Fast Thermapen Thermometer is incredibly fast, accurate, and well worth the investment. I use my Thermapen Thermometer for checking room temperature ingredients, tempering chocolate, baking bread, making pastry creams, sugar syrup, caramel, and candy, cooking meats and fish, and deep frying. Thermapen Thermometer available here.
Ingredients
Dough:
  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 2 teaspoons ground ginger
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
  • ¾ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
  • ¾ cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • ½ cup molasses
Vanilla Glaze:
  • 3 cups confectioners' (powdered) sugar
  • 2 tablespoons corn syrup
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 3 to 4 tablespoons warm milk (preferably whole milk)
Decoration:
  • Jelly Belly candies for the eyes (or use any candy such as Red Hots)
  • Black Decorating Gel
Instructions
Dough:
  1. In a medium mixing bowl, combine flour, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves; whisk together to mix. Set aside.
  2. In a large bowl of an electric mixer, combine butter and brown sugar; cream together until mixture appears light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula so the mixture blends evenly. Add egg and molasses; beat until thoroughly mixed. Add flour mixture, stir until well mixed. The dough will be soft.
  3. Divide dough in half; place each half on a piece of plastic wrap. Form dough into two 6 inch flattened disks and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate until well chilled, at least 2 hours. Tip: The dough may be refrigerated at this point for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 1 month.
  4. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Baking sheets may be ungreased, lined with parchment paper, or lined with a non-stick baking mat.
  5. On a lightly floured pastry mat or pastry board, and using a lightly floured rolling pin, roll the dough to a ¼ inch thickness. Cut dough using a gingerbread people cookie cutter that has been dipped in flour (to help prevent dough from sticking to the cutter.)
  6. Bake: Place cutout dough 2 inches apart on baking sheets. Move the arms, legs, and head a little to give them a little personality and “attitude.” Bake 11 minutes or until cookies are set. Remove cookies from the oven and let cool on the baking sheets 2 to 3 minutes. When they seem firm enough, remove cookies from baking sheets with a metal spatula and place on a wire cooling rack to cool.
Vanilla Glaze:
  1. In a medium bowl, and using an electric mixer or hand mixer, combine powdered sugar, corn syrup, vanilla. Add warm milk in small quantities, start with 2 tablespoons of milk, then when it’s getting close to the right consistency add milk in teaspoonfuls or just drops of milk at a time, until it is the desired consistency; for piping, the icing should be like a thick sour cream.
  2. When the glaze is the right consistency, spoon into a small plastic freezer bag. Put a little piece of tape on corner to reinforce the tip, and then roll over top of bag to keep neater. (You could also use a plastic squeeze bottle with a tip available in decorating stores), Twist the top of the bag to create some pressure to make easier to squeeze out. Cut a tiny corner off the tip of the bag.
Decorating:
  1. Start at the feet and pipe the glaze onto the cookies, going back in forth with a zigzag pattern. Pipe zigzags in an opposite direction for arms, then fill in body and head. You can go back and fill in areas if necessary.
  2. Use one Jelly Belly for each mummy to make the eyes. Cut each Jelly Belly in half with a small knife and press onto the glaze.
  3. Squeeze a drop of black decorating gel on each eye to make the eyes “googley.” Tip: in place of decorating gel you can also melt a small amount of melted chocolate and dab on top of the Jelly Belly with a toothpick.
  4. Place unused icing in an airtight container or sealable plastic bag and store in the refrigerator.
Use leftover glaze to make delicious little graham cracker sandwich treats. Break a graham cracker into 2 pieces, cover 1 piece with a little of the glaze and then place the 2nd piece on top to make a cookie sandwich.

Caramel Apple Cake

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Caramel Apple Cake
Think cool autumn days with the leaves turning color, bushels of crisp ripe apples, warm spices, and sweet caramel, and you have all the ingredients for a fantastic Caramel Apple Cake. Frost the cake with Caramel Flour Buttercream and this is truly a stunning and delicious cake. Make your own applesauce when apples are at their peak in the fall, or use commercial applesauce – either way this cake won’t disappoint you.

The caramel sauce used in the Caramel Flour Buttercream can also be drizzled over the top of the cake to make a pretty presentation. And there will be plenty of caramel sauce left over to use as a topping with other cakes, sweet breads, and ice cream.
Recipe type: Dessert | Butter Layer Cake
Serves: 10 to 12
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Recipe Notes
Pan: Three 8" Round Layers Pan Prep: Greased and Floured Oven Temp: 325° Storage: Cover and Refrigerate

Help: Cake Hints and Tips, Sugar and Caramel Stages

TheBakingPan Recommends: The BEST instant read thermometer I’ve used for cooking and baking; the ThermoWorks Splash-Proof Super-Fast Thermapen Thermometer is incredibly fast, accurate, and well worth the investment. I use my Thermapen Thermometer for checking room temperature ingredients, tempering chocolate, baking bread, making pastry creams, sugar syrup, caramel, and candy, cooking meats and fish, and deep frying. Thermapen Thermometer available here.
Ingredients
Batter:
  • 4 cups all purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon ground allspice
  • 1 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 1½ cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 2½ cups granulated sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 4 cups sweetened applesauce
Caramel Sauce:
  • 1½ cups granulated sugar
  • ½ cup water
  • ¼ cup light corn syrup
  • ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1½ cups whipping (heavy) cream, room temperature
Caramel Flour Buttercream:
  • 1½ cups granulated sugar
  • ⅓ cup all-purpose flour
  • 1½ cups milk (preferably whole milk)
  • ⅓ cup Whipping (heavy) cream
  • 1½ cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • ⅓ cup caramel sauce
Instructions
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Prepare three 8 inch round layer cake pans; lightly grease the pans with shortening and dust with flour. Tip: to make baked cake easier to remove from pan, lightly grease the pan, line the bottom with parchment paper, and then lightly grease the top of the parchment paper and dust the pan with flour.
Batter:
  1. In a medium mixing bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, allspice, and cloves; sift or whisk together to mix. Set aside.
  2. In a large bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Tip: To cream, start by placing the butter in the bowl, with an electric mixer on medium speed begin by beating the butter about 1 minute until it is smooth and light in color. With the mixer still on medium speed, slowly add the sugar to the butter, either one tablespoon at a time, or in a very slow steady stream, taking from 4 to 8 minutes to add all of the sugar, and beating until the butter and sugar are fully incorporated and the mixture is a light, or pale yellow color, with a fluffy texture. While adding the sugar, stop the mixer occasionally to scrape the mixture off the paddle and scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula so the mixture blends evenly.
  3. Add eggs one at a time, beating until thoroughly mixed. Tip: For each egg, crack the egg into a small bowl and whisk with a fork to thoroughly break up the egg before adding to the creamed mixture. Start with the mixer on low speed so the liquid from the egg doesn’t splatter, once the egg is partially mixed increase the speed to medium. Each egg should be fully incorporated into the mixture before adding the next egg, taking about one minute to blend in each egg.
  4. With the mixer on low speed, add about one third of the flour mixture, mix just until the flour is almost completely blended. Scrape the bowl down, and add about one half of the applesauce, blending just until mixed. Scrape the bowl down again and continue alternating with the flour mixture and applesauce, ending with the last portion of the flour, and stirring just until blended.
  5. Bake: Spoon the batter into the prepared pans and smooth the surface with the back of a large spoon. Bake 40 to 45 minutes or until a long toothpick, wooden skewer, or cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from oven and place pans on a wire cooling rack to cool for 10 to 15 minutes then remove cake from the pans and place the cake on the wire cooling rack to finish cooling.
Caramel Sauce:
  1. In a medium size heavy-bottomed pan combine sugar, water, and corn syrup. Heat over medium heat, stirring constantly with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon, until the sugar is completely dissolved. Stir gently to avoid splashing the mixture onto the sides of the pan. Use a pastry brush to wash down the sides of the pan to remove any stray granules of sugar. Increase the heat to medium high and bring to a boil, without stirring, until the syrup reaches a temperature of 300 degrees F, a hard crack stage, using a candy thermometer to gauge the temperature. While the syrup is cooking, wash away any sugar crystals that form on the sides of the pan by wiping upwards with a damp pastry brush so the sugar crystals don’t fall back into the syrup. Immediately remove pan from the heat. Let stand about 1 minute to let the bubbling subside. Be careful, the caramel is extremely hot and will cause serious burns if you touch it.
  2. Add the butter and whipping cream and stir until combined. Tip: if any caramel mixture is stuck to the bottom of the pan, place the pan on low heat and stir until the caramel liquefies and blends with the butter and cream. Remove from the heat.
  3. Let cool completely. Store tightly covered in the refrigerator until ready to use.
Caramel Flour Buttercream:
  1. In a medium size heavy-bottomed pan add sugar and flour; whisk together to mix. Add the milk and whipping cream and whisk together until thoroughly combined. Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until the mixture comes to a boil; boil and whisk for another minute. Remove from pan from the heat.
  2. Transfer the hot sugar mixture to a large bowl of an electric mixer. Using the paddle attachment, beat the mixture at high speed, about 5 to 8 minutes, or until the mixture is cool. Tip: Touch the mixture and make sure it has cooled to room temperature. Also the outside of the bowl should feel cool to the touch.
  3. Reduce the mixer to medium speed and add the butter, about 2 tablespoons at a time and mixing 20 to 30 seconds after each addition. While adding the butter, stop the mixer occasionally to scrape the mixture off the paddle and scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula so the mixture blends evenly. The Buttercream may look curdled after the butter is added, but it will become smooth as you continue to beat it. Add the vanilla and continue beating until the Buttercream is thick and smooth, about another 3 to 5 minutes. Slowly drizzle in the caramel sauce and continue beating another minute.
Assembly:
  1. Place one of the layers on a cake plate. Using an offset spatula spread about 1 cup of the frosting on top. Repeat with the second layer. Place the last cake layer on top. Cover the sides and top of the cake with the remaining frosting.
  2. Place 2 to 3 tablespoons of caramel sauce in a small plastic freezer bag. Put a little piece of tape on corner to reinforce the tip, and then roll over top of bag to keep neater. (You could also use a plastic squeeze bottle with a tip available in decorating stores or a pastry bag with a small decorating tip), Twist the top of the bag to create some pressure to make easier to squeeze out. Cut a tiny corner off the tip of the bag.
  3. Drizzle the caramel sauce over the top of the cake. To make the web design, drizzle the caramel in circles, starting in the center of the cake and moving to the outside edge of the cake. Use a wooden toothpick and drag the tip of the toothpick from the center of the cake to the outside edge like a spoke.
  4. Refrigerate the cake 30 minutes before serving to firm the frosting and caramel before serving. Refrigerate leftovers.
Source: Lewis, Matt and Renato Poliafito, Baked Explorations, Stewart, Tabori & Chang, New York, 2010

Chocolate Brownie Cake

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Chocolate Brownie Cake
This cake is dense and chocolaty, just like a brownie should taste, with a sweetened whipped cream filling between the layers. A smooth and delicious white Ganache topping is spread over the top layer of the cake, with semisweet chocolate piped in rings then feathered with a toothpick or wooden skewer. The beautiful feather design is reminiscent of a spider’s web, a fitting dessert for Halloween.
Recipe type: Dessert | Cake
Serves: 10 to 12
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Recipe Notes
Pan: Two 9" Round Layers Pan Prep: Greased, Parchment Paper Oven Temp: 350° Storage: Cover and Refrigerate

Help: Cake Hints and Tips, Melting Chocolate, Chocolate Types

TheBakingPan Recommends: The BEST instant read thermometer I’ve used for cooking and baking; the ThermoWorks Splash-Proof Super-Fast Thermapen Thermometer is incredibly fast, ThermoWorks Splash-Proof Super-Fast Thermapenaccurate, and well worth the investment. I use my Thermapen Thermometer for checking room temperature ingredients, tempering chocolate, baking bread, making pastry creams, sugar syrup, caramel, and candy, cooking meats and fish, and deep frying. Thermapen Thermometer available here.
Ingredients
Batter:
  • 1½ cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 4 1-ounce squares unsweetened baking chocolate, chopped into small pieces
  • ¾ cup unsalted butter
  • 2 cups granulated sugar
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Whipped Cream Filling:
  • 1 cup whipping (heavy) cream
  • 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
  • ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Topping:
  • 8 ounces white chocolate chips, chopped into small pieces
  • ⅓ cup whipping (heavy) cream
  • 2 to 3 ounces semisweet chocolate
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare two 9-inch round layer cake pans; lightly grease the pans, line the bottom with parchment paper, and then lightly grease the top of the parchment paper.
Batter:
  1. In a small mixing bowl, combine flour and baking powder; sift or whisk together to mix. Set aside.
  2. In top of a double boiler over hot water, Melt chocolate and butter; stir with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula to combine. Remove from heat. Tip: Create a double boiler by filling a saucepan with 2 inches of water and bringing it to a simmer. Turn the heat off and place a stainless steel, ceramic, or glass bowl on top of the simmering water, the upper pan should not touch the water.
  3. Transfer chocolate mixture to a large bowl of an electric mixer, or use a hand mixer. Add sugar; beat on medium speed until mixed. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat until thoroughly combined, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the flour mixture; beat until well blended, about 1 more minute.
  4. Bake: Spoon the batter into the prepared pans and smooth the surface with the back of a large spoon. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until a long toothpick, wooden skewer, or cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from oven and place pans on a wire cooling rack to cool for 10 to 15 minutes then remove cake from the pans and place the cake on the wire cooling rack to finish cooling.
Whipped Cream Filling:
  1. In a medium mixing bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the whipping cream until soft mounds form; gradually add the sugar and vanilla, continue beating until thick and stiff. Tip: the cream will whip easier if the mixing bowl and beaters are first chilled; place in the refrigerator to chill until ready to whip the cream.
  2. Place whipped cream in the refrigerator until you are ready to assemble the cake.
Topping:
  1. In top of a double boiler over hot water, combine white chocolate and cream; stir until chocolate has melted and mixture is smooth. Remove from heat. Set aside to cool to room temperature. As the mixture cools it will thicken and become spreadable. Tip: to cool and thicken faster, place the bowl in a larger bowl filled with ice water. Stir as it cools until it reaches a good spreading consistency. It should be like a thick frosting. If not thick enough it will run off the top of the cake.
  2. Place the semisweet chocolate in another small bowl, place on top of a double boiler over hot water, stir until chocolate has melted and mixture is smooth. Place the melted chocolate in a small paper piping bag, seal the end, and snip off the tip to make a ⅛ inch diameter hole. Set aside.
  3. Tip: Use a pastry bag with a decorating tip for piping. In place of a pastry bag, you can also use a plastic bag with a ziplock top; after the plastic bag is filled, cut a very small piece off one corner to pipe the chocolate out. To fill the pastry or plastic bag, place the bag, tip side down, in a glass, fold the top down over the edge of the glass. Spoon the chocolate into the bag, filling it no more than ⅔ full, unfold the top and secure with the ziplock top or with a twist tie. Keep the tip covered with a damp cloth when not using to prevent it from clogging.
Assembly:
  1. Place one cake layer on a serving plate, and spread the whipped cream filling over the top. Place the second cake layer on top of the whipped cream filling.
  2. Spread the cooled white chocolate topping over the top cake layer.
  3. Pipe the semisweet chocolate on top of the white chocolate in circles, starting in the center of the cake and moving to the outside edge of the cake. Working quickly before the chocolate hardens, use a wooden toothpick or skewer and drag the tip of the toothpick from the center of the cake to the outside edge like a spoke. Alternate the direction of each spoke, first from the edge to the center of the cake, then from the center to the edge. Continue around the top of the cake, alternating the direction of each spoke to make a feather design.
  4. Loosely cover to protect the feather design and refrigerate before serving. Refrigerate leftovers.
Source: Clements, Carole, Baking, Hermes House, New York, 2001
Crazy for Chocolate, Bay Books, Australia, 2008
The Good Housekeeping Illustrated Book of Desserts, Hearst Corporation, New York, 1991

Chocolate Pumpkin Cake

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Chocolate Pumpkin Cake
Chocolate and pumpkin are teamed up to make a striking autumn centerpiece cake. The frosting is a scrumptious blend of cream cheese, whipped cream and a little cocoa and spice, then covered with a dark Ganache glaze. This is one dessert that you don’t want to miss
Recipe type: Dessert | Butter Cake
Serves: 12 to 14
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Recipe Notes
Pan: Two 8" Round Layers Pan Prep: Greased and Floured Oven Temp: 350° Storage: Cover and Refrigerate

Help: Cake Hints and Tips, Chocolate Types

TheBakingPan Recommends: The BEST instant read thermometer I’ve used for cooking and baking; the ThermoWorks Splash-Proof Super-Fast Thermapen Thermometer is incredibly fast, accurate, and well worth the investment. I use my Thermapen Thermometer for checking room temperature ingredients, tempering chocolate, baking bread, making pastry creams, sugar syrup, caramel, and candy, cooking meats and fish, and deep frying. Thermapen Thermometer available here.
Ingredients
Batter:
  • 1½ cups all-purpose flour
  • ⅔ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ½ cup buttermilk
  • 1 cup canned pumpkin
  • 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  • ¾ cup (1½ sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1 large egg yolk
Spiced Cocoa Frosting:
  • 6 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
  • 2¼ cups confectioners' (powdered) sugar, divided
  • 2¼ teaspoons unsweetened cocoa powder
  • ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ¾ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1½ cups whipping (heavy) cream
  • ¼ teaspoon orange food color
Chocolate Glaze:
  • 4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped into small pieces
  • 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
  • ½ cup whipping (heavy) cream
  • 3 tablespoons light corn syrup
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare two 8 inch round layer cake pans; lightly grease the bottom and sides of the pans with shortening and dust with flour. Tip: to make baked cake easier to remove from pan, lightly grease the pan, line the bottom with parchment paper, and then lightly grease the top of the parchment paper and dust the pan with flour.
Batter:
  1. In a medium mixing bowl, combine flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; sift or whisk together to mix. Set aside.
  2. In a small bowl, combine buttermilk, pumpkin, and vanilla; stir together. Set aside.
  3. In a large bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Tip: To cream, start by placing the butter in the bowl, with an electric mixer on medium speed begin by beating the butter about 1 minute until it is smooth and light in color. With the mixer still on medium speed, slowly add the granulated sugar to the butter, either one tablespoon at a time, or in a very slow steady stream, taking from 4 to 5 minutes to add all of the sugar, then add the brown sugar, taking an additional 3 to 4 minutes, beating until the butter and sugar are fully incorporated and the mixture is a light, or pale yellow color, with a fluffy texture. While adding the sugars, stop the mixer occasionally to scrape the mixture off the paddle and scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula so the mixture blends evenly.
  4. Add eggs and egg yolk one at a time, beating until thoroughly mixed. Tip: For each egg, crack the egg into a small bowl and whisk with a fork to thoroughly break up the egg before adding to the creamed mixture. Start with the mixer on low speed so the liquid from the egg doesn’t splatter, once the egg is partially mixed increase the speed to medium. Each egg should be fully incorporated into the mixture before adding the next egg, taking about one minute to blend in each egg.
  5. With the mixer on low speed, add about one third of the flour mixture, mix just until the flour is almost completely blended. Scrape the bowl down, and add about one half of the buttermilk mixture, blending just until mixed. Scrape the bowl down again and continue alternating with the flour mixture and buttermilk mixture, ending with the last portion of the flour, and stirring just until blended.
  6. Bake: Spoon the batter into the prepared pans and smooth the surface with the back of a large spoon. Bake 35 minutes or until a long toothpick, wooden skewer, or cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from oven and place pans on a wire cooling rack to cool for 10 to 15 minutes then remove cake from the pans and place the cake on the wire cooling rack to finish cooling.
Spiced Cocoa Frosting:
  1. In a medium size bowl, add cream cheese, beat with an electric hand mixer or wooden spoon until smooth and fluffy. Add 1½ cups powdered sugar, cocoa, cinnamon, and vanilla; beat until well mixed.
  2. In another medium bowl, using an electric mixer with clean beaters, beat the whipping cream until soft mounds form; add ¾ cup powdered sugar and orange food coloring, continue beating until thick and stiff.
  3. Using a balloon type whisk or large rubber spatula, gently fold the whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture.
  4. Place one cooled cake layer on a cake plate. Use an offset spatula to spread about 1½ cups frosting over the top. Top with the remaining cake layer and use the remaining frosting for the top and sides of cake. Spread the frosting as smooth as possible over the top and sides.
  5. Refrigerate the cake at least one hour to stabilize the whipped cream before glazing.
Chocolate Glaze:
  1. Place the chopped chocolate and butter in a medium bowl. Set aside.
  2. In a small heavy saucepan over medium low heat, heat the cream until it is hot and just beginning to steam. Remove from heat and pour over the chocolate, stirring until the chocolate and butter is completely melted. Add corn syrup, stirring until completely mixed.
  3. Pour the chocolate mixture into a pitcher, or liquid measuring cup with a pouring spout and let chocolate glaze cool for 10 minutes. Do not let the glaze sit longer than 10 minutes because it will thicken and become difficult to pour over the cake.
  4. Slowly pour the glaze over the cake. Cover the top of the cake entirely, letting some of the glaze drizzle down the sides, and allowing some of the frosting to show through the drizzles around the side of the cake. Tip: If the glaze doesn’t flow easily it means it has cooled and thickened too much. Either slightly reheat the glaze in a saucepan over low heat, or add an extra one or two tablespoons of corn Syrup.
  5. Refrigerate the cake until the glaze is set and the frosting is firm, at least one hour.
  6. To serve, slice the cake with a long serrated knife, cleaning the knife between each slice. Refrigerate leftovers.
Source: Country Living, October 2007

Pumpkin Spice Cake

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Pumpkin Spice Cake
This charming cake is a delicious spiced pumpkin cake with brown butter frosting. I first saw this cake in Country Home magazine and realized it was a winner and a perfect Halloween dessert. I have slightly adapted the original recipe, but used the jack-o-lantern stencil from Country Home. After frosting the cake, lay the stencil on top and sprinkle a cinnamon-sugar mixture over the cake top to create the friendly pumpkin face.
Recipe type: Dessert | Butter Layer Cake
Serves: 8 to 10
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Recipe Notes
Pan: Two 8" Round Layers Pan Prep: Greased and Floured Oven Temp: 350° Storage: Covered, Room Temperature

Help: Cake Hints and Tips

TheBakingPan Recommends: The BEST instant read thermometer I’ve used for cooking and baking; the ThermoWorks Splash-Proof Super-Fast Thermapen Thermometer is incredibly fast, accurate, and well worth the investment. I use my Thermapen Thermometer for checking room temperature ingredients, tempering chocolate, baking bread, making pastry creams, sugar syrup, caramel, and candy, cooking meats and fish, and deep frying. Thermapen Thermometer available here.
Ingredients
Batter:
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1½ teaspoons baking powder
  • ½ teaspoons baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoons ground ginger
  • ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
  • 1 cup canned pumpkin
  • ½ cup milk (preferably whole milk)
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1½ cups granulated sugar
  • 2 large eggs
Brown Butter Frosting:
  • 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
  • 4 cups confectioners’ (powdered) sugar
  • ¼ cup milk (preferably whole milk)
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Garnish:
  • About ½ cup pecans, toasted, coarsely chopped
  • 1 teaspoon superfine sugar
  • ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare two 8 inch round layer cake pans; lightly grease the bottom and sides of the pans with shortening and dust with flour. Tip: to make baked cake easier to remove from pan, lightly grease the pan, line the bottom with parchment paper, and then lightly grease the top of the parchment paper and dust with flour.
Optional: Use cake strips around the pans to help ensure the cake rises evenly. Tip: Make a cake strip with a length of aluminum foil long enough to encircle the pan with a little overlap. Fold the strip lengthwise until it is 2 to 3 inches wide. Wrap the strip around the outside of the pan and secure it with a metal paper clip or tape.
Batter:
  1. In a medium mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves; sift or whisk together to mix. Set aside.
  2. In a small bowl, combine pumpkin, milk, and vanilla; stir together. Set aside.
  3. In a large bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Tip: To cream, start by placing the butter in the bowl, with an electric mixer on medium speed begin by beating the butter about 1 minute until it is smooth and light in color. With the mixer still on medium speed, slowly add the sugar to the butter, either one tablespoon at a time, or in a very slow steady stream, taking from 4 to 8 minutes to add all of the sugar, and beating until the butter and sugar are fully incorporated and the mixture is a light, or pale yellow color, with a fluffy texture. While adding the sugar, stop the mixer occasionally to scrape the mixture off the paddle and scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula so the mixture blends evenly.
  4. Add eggs one at a time, beating until thoroughly mixed. Tip: For each egg, crack the egg into a small bowl and whisk with a fork to thoroughly break up the egg before adding to the creamed mixture. Start with the mixer on low speed so the liquid from the egg doesn’t splatter, once the egg is partially mixed increase the speed to medium. Each egg should be fully incorporated into the mixture before adding the next egg, taking about one minute to blend in each egg.
  5. With the mixer on low speed, add about one third of the flour mixture, mix just until the flour is almost completely blended. Scrape the bowl down, and add about one half of the pumpkin mixture, blending just until mixed. Scrape the bowl down again and continue alternating with the flour mixture and pumpkin mixture, ending with the last portion of the flour, and stirring just until blended.
  6. Bake: Spoon the batter into the prepared pans and smooth the top of the batter with a small offset spatula or the back of a large spoon. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until a long toothpick, wooden skewer, or cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from oven and place pans on a wire cooling rack to cool for 10 to 15 minutes then remove cake from the pans and place the cake on the wire cooling rack to finish cooling.
Brown Butter Frosting:
  1. In a small heavy bottomed pan, melt the butter over medium heat until golden brown, stirring frequently, about 10 minutes. Remove pan from heat. Pour the hot butter through a fine-mesh sieve to strain out the burned sediment. Discard burned sediment.
  2. Let butter sit until it is cooled, reaches room temperature and solidifies, or cover and chill about 1 hour until it begins to solidify, remove from refrigerator and let sit until it is room temperature and solidified.
  3. Beat the butter with an electric mixer on medium speed until it is light and fluffy. Gradually add powdered sugar alternately with the milk, beginning and ending with the powdered sugar. Add the vanilla and continue beating another 1 to 2 minutes until the frosting is light and fluffy. Tip: The frosting should be used immediately as it will set up while standing. If frosting becomes too firm to spread add a few drops of milk and re-whip to reach spreading consistency.
  4. Using an offset spatula, spread frosting between layers and over top and sides of cake. Spread the frosting as smooth as possible over the top and sides.
Garnish:
  1. As soon as cake is frosted, gently press the chopped pecans into the frosting around the sides of the cake. Tip: the frosting sets up fairly quickly; add the pecans while the frosting is still soft so the pecans will adhere to the frosting.
  2. Let the cake sit until the frosting is set or cover and refrigerate for about 30 minutes until the frosting is set.Pumpkin Spice Cake
  3. In a small bowl, combine superfine sugar and cinnamon. Place the cutout pumpkin stencil on top of the frosted cake. Place the cinnamon mixture in a fine mesh sieve and sprinkle over the top of the cake and stencil; carefully lift off the stencil.
Adapted from: http://www.countryhome.com