My 15 Minutes of Fame - Redux

Last year around this time, I was featured in a commercial on the Food Network as a play on Chopped! and posted about it here.

And finally, you can see me in all my televised glory here:

My 15 Minutes of Fame

Remember a month ago I posted about my upcoming 15-minutes of fame? Well, the day has arrived, my friends, for when the world gets to see my shenanigans in a kitchen.

So, what exactly happened? Well, the commercial for Breville Toaster Ovens was filmed at Brooklyn Kitchen and it was done in the style of Chopped!, where my fellow contestants and me were given a basket with the following secret ingredients: quick cook tapioca, organic canned pumpkin, organic apple cider and organic quick cook oatmeal. Believe it or not, I was pretty nonplussed by the quick cook tapioca – mainly because I am not a fan of the substance and have never really cooked with it.

But we had 90 mins, which gave me more than enough time to burn one batch of tapioca (oh yes, I think I burned the most things out of anyone there – I was so unlike myself; this is what live action does
to me) and still make another batch that turned into a filling for a layered-concoction.

The end result of 90 minutes of me hyperventilating was:

Sage Pumpkin Apple Cider Shortbread layered with Pumpkin Tapioca Custard, topped with an Oatmeal Brown Sugar Crisp and then served with a side of Apple Cider Whipped Cream.

I have to admit, I was pretty proud of my Apple Cider Whipped Cream because it tasted fresh like apple cider, but it was still smooth and creamy like a good whipped cream. But according to the commercial, which aired last night - the judges were more impressed with my Oatmeal Brown Sugar Crisp - who knew!

So...that's the story of my 15 minutes of fame. Just keep your eye out when watching Chopped! and you just might see me looking all "professional" in the kitchen!

More about the Bake-Off

While I do know I have a bake-off page here, I did want to share the winning items here individually. And they are:

Apricot Pine Nut Squares, made by Sandy Cheung - winner for Sweet

Puff Pastry filled with Duck, Apples and Pumpkin, made by Isabelle Nguyen - winner for Savory!

Chocolate Croissant Bread Pudding made by Anna Miller-Bailer, winner for Crowd Favorite!

















The event was a complete and utter success and everyone had such a good time! No diabetes reports at all, so I'm happy. I can't wait for next year! And if you want to check out the fun - see the pictures here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bakingbrunette/

Let's Make Whoopie Tonight - Pumpkin Style

As kinky as the title sounds, making whoopie...pies is pretty straightforward. No kinks to be found.

Since I had leftover pumpkin puree from my Pumpkin Swirl Brownie recipe I figured why not find a simple recipe that really shows off the combination of pumpkin and spice. Enter whoopie pies.

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 tablespoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon freshly grated ginger

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cups dark brown sugar

1 large egg, room temperature

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

8 ounces pumpkin puree

Vanilla Filling

1/4 cup vegetable shortening

1/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup confectioners' sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup light corn syrup

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and lightly grease two cookie sheets.

Mix all dry ingredients, minus sugar, in a bowl. In another bowl, beat together butter and dark brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg and beat well. Add ginger, vanilla and pumpkin puree and beat well. Add flour mixture, and yes, beat well.

Drop heaping tablespoons of the batter on to the greased cookie sheets and flatten out a little.

Bake for 12-14 mins or until the tops of the "cakes" are springy to the touch.

Let cool completely and in the meanwhile, make the filling!

Beat the shortening and butter until soft and creamy. With the mixer on its lowest speed, gradually beat in the confectioners' sugar. Increase the speed to high, and beat until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Then, with the mixer on low speed, beat in the vanilla extract and slowly drizzle in the corn syrup. Continue to beat until the filling looks like soft mayonnaise.

Assembly

When cakes are completely cooled, place a heaping tablespoon of the filling on one cake (flat side) and top with another.

And that's how you make whoopie...pie. Pumpkin Style.

Pumpkins Are a Girls Best Friend!

Well, they are when said girl needs a break from writing her god-awful thesis. Tis the season for all things orange-y, so when I was doing my food shopping the other day, I decided to pick up a can of pureed pumpkin. I know I could have bought one fresh, roasted it and made some homemade puree, but pumpkin from a can is easier. And if my favorite cooking blogger smittenkitchen uses it, then why the heck can't I?

That being said, I remember seeing on her blog a lovely marbled pumpkin and chocolate brownie recipe. So, off I went in between writing bibliographies and found the recipe (which was incidentally modified from Martha Stewart's - don't you love baking? It's all about the mods).

I decided to go with my own modifications and ended up with these.



They taste as good as they look.

Pumpkin Swirl Brownies (adapted from smittenkitchen.com adapted from Martha Stewart Living)

Ingredients

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, plus more for pan
6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cups sugar (the original recipe calls for the larger amount; I think it could be dialed down a bit)
3 extra large eggs
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups solid-pack pumpkin
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
dash of allspice
dash of mace

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8 x 8" brownie pan.

Melt butter and chocolate over a double boiler. Let cool.

Mix together flour, salt and baking powder in a bowl. Set aside.

In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs and sugar. Add vanilla and beat until light and fluffy. Add the flour mixture and mix well.

Separate the batter into two halves (approx 1.5 cups of batter each). Add chocolate mixture to one half and mix well. To the remaining batter, add vegetable oil, pumpkin puree, and spices and beat well.

Into your greased brownie pan, pour the majority of the chocolate mixture and spread evenly with a spatula. Top that with the pumpkin mixture and spread evenly. Add the last bit of chocolate batter and swirl the mixtures together to create that lovely marbled effect.

Bake for 45-50 mins (I know!) until toothpick comes clean when inserted into the brownies.

Let cool before cutting and serving. And let me tell ya, they taste as good as they look!