Dessert | I Can Cook That

Pumpkin Pie Milkshakes & Making Your Own Pumpkin Puree

After visiting several supermarkets in search of pumpkin puree only to find they were sold out, I decided to take matters into my own hands. Amy’s Cooking Adventure had instructions on how to make my own puree using pie pumpkins so I tried it out. To test out my finished product (and as a nice pat on the back) I made pumpkin pie milkshakes to celebrate.

Godiva Coffee – Pumpkin Spice & Caramel Pecan Bark

I am in love with fall, it is by far my favorite time of year. It is the only time of year I can give into my love of all things pumpkins and not get funny looks. Sadly, I feel like the autumn season seems to be getting shorter and shorter, so I need to get as much “fall” food and drinks as I can. As a member of Foodbuzz’s Tastemaker Program, I was lucky enough to receive two different limited edition fall coffees from Godiva: Pumpkin Spice and Caramel Pecan Bark.

The coffees are based off of Godiva’s Pumpkin Spice Truffles and their signature Caramel Pecan Bark. The Pumpkin Spice coffee has a wonderful pumpkin pie taste, with hints of nutmeg and cinnamon. The Caramel Pecan Bark has notes of toasted pecan and caramel. I couldn’t wait to try them!

I decided to make two different recipes for each coffee to really test out their flavor. The weather in Philadelphia has continued to be pretty darn humid, so I made a few chilled coffee drinks. I also decided to use some of the coffee grounds to make my own Caramel Pecan Bark.

First to make the Caramel Pecan Bark. Making bark is really simple and makes a great gift or easy party dessert. I incorporated some of the coffee grinds to enhance the flavor of the chocolate.

Ingredients:
16 oz dark chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup sugar
3 tablespoons butter
2 teaspoons whipping cream
1/2 cup pecans, chopped

Begin by chopping your chocolate. I was feeling particularly lazy so I just used my food processor.

Preheat your oven to 250 degrees. Line a pan with parchment paper and spread the chopped chocolate evenly on top. Bake for 5 minutes or until melted. Using a spatula, spread the melted chocolate evenly so that it is the same thickness throughout.

While the chocolate is melting, make the caramel. Add the sugar to a pan over medium high heat. As soon as it begins to melt, begin to whisk vigorously until mostly melted. (see photo) Take care not to burn the sugar!

Add the butter and whisk to combine. Be careful, it will bubble!

Remove from heat. Wait 10 seconds and add the cream, whisking to combine.

If you’re not feeling particularly gutsy, feel free to just purchase caramel sauce. Making the caramel can be tricky, it took me two tries. I burnt the first one so badly that my entire condo filled with smoke! Oops.

Chop the pecans. I used raw pecans; for extra flavor use toasted.

Sprinkle the pecans over the melted chocolate.

Sprinkle on the coffee grounds and top with the caramel.

Refrigerate for at least 2 hours to allow to harden.

Break into uneven pieces, so as to resemble bark.

Yum! I think next time I make this, I think I would add just a bit of sea salt to finish it off. However, this was delicious on its own!

On to the drinks. First up is a Pumpkin Spice Martini, adapted from a recipe sent to me by Food Jaunts. She was nice enough to let me post it on here, so thank you very much! If you have a minute, be sure to check out her blog, it’s fabulous!

Ingredients:
3 oz brewed Pumpkin Spice coffee, cooled
1 oz vanilla vodka
1 oz Godiva chocolate liqueur
Ice

Begin by brewing your coffee. Set it aside and allow it to cool to room temperature.

Add ice to a shaker. Pour in the vanilla vodka, Godiva liqueur, and coffee. Shake and strain into a martini glass.

If you don’t have a shaker, you can use anything that has a secure lid. Just be sure to use a strainer over the martini glass so that no ice enters the glass.

I absolutely loved this drink, I wish more martinis tasted this good! The vanilla, chocolate and pumpkin spice flavors delivered a smooth and tasty drink.

You can add whole coffee beans to the martini glass for some extra flair if you’d like. They’ll float to the top!

In my attempt to be creative, I’m pretty sure I ended up making a chilled Caramel Pecan Bark Vietnamese Coffee. Either way, it was tasty!

Ingredients:

6 oz brewed Caramel Pecan Bark coffee, cooled

2 tablespoons condensed milk

2 tablespoons milk

A few ice cubes

Whipped cream

Extra coffee grinds or chopped pecans for garnish

Begin by brewing your coffee and allowing it to cool.

Add the coffee, condensed milk, and milk to a blender.

Add ice and blend until pureed. Pour into coffee mugs and top with whipped cream, coffee grounds, or pecans if desired.

Condensed milk is already sweetened with sugar, so I personally don’t think you need any more sweeteners in this. If you have a big sweet tooth, sub out the milk with more condensed milk.

I love how this tasted! It was more of a dessert drink than a coffee drink but I’m ok with that. The caramel and pecan flavors still shown through, making a really delicious treat.

No coffee post would be complete without Iced Coffee. This recipe takes some make ahead time, but is so worth it, so that your coffee isn’t watered down. I found this recipe on The Pioneer Woman and was really impressed with the results!

Ingredients:
1/2 cup Caramel Pecan Bark coffee grounds
2 cups cold water
Ice
Milk, cream, or half & half (whatever you prefer)
Sweetener, if desired

Note: you will need a cheesecloth for this recipe.

Add the coffee grounds to a container that has a lid.

Pour in the cold coffee and mix to combine.

Allow to “brew” for at least 8 hours. Place a fine mesh strainer over a medium bowl. Place a few layers of cheese cloth over the strainer and pour the coffee mixture into the strainer. Give it a while to strain through. Use a spoon to press through the remaining liquid.

Add ice to a glass.

Pour the coffee into the glass, filling it just over half full.

Add your milk/cream/half & half. Stir to combine.

Sweeten the iced coffee if desired. (Note: the Caramel Pecan Bark coffee has some sweetness to it, so I didn’t think it needed any sugar)

This is perfect to serve with the bark!

I don’t think I will ever make iced coffee another way again. The flavor of this was amazing, not even a little bit watered down!

Last but not least, I decided to try a recipe for a Pumpkin Spice Latte, right off of the GodivaCoffee.com website.

Ingredients:
6 oz brewed Pumpkin Spice coffee
3 teaspoons pure maple syrup, divided
4 oz warm milk
Whipped cream, if desired

Begin by brewing your coffee. Add the coffee to a mug of your choice and keep warm.

Heat the milk over medium heat until warm. If you’re feeling fancy, use a whisk to whip the milk until frothy. Add 2 teaspoons maple syrup and the milk to the coffee. Stir to combine.

Top with whipped cream and drizzle with the remaining 1 teaspoon of maple syrup.

This is a great “fancy” coffee drink to make at home when, like me, you don’t own an espresso machine. The flavors are very similar to popular pumpkin spice lattes out there and is so simple to make!

I hope some of my experimentation will inspire you to come up with some of your own recipes. The Godiva fall coffees make for a great base. I am so excited to enjoy this coffee for the rest of the season!

Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes

I am so excited that pumpkin season is back, and to share this recipe for Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting! I eat/drink pumpkin flavored things all year, but September through December are when I can truly indulge in my pumpkin obsession.

To kick off the season in style, I decided to make pumpkin cupcakes.

The cupcake recipe is adapted slightly from Annie’s Eats recipe for Spiced Pumpkin Cupcakes and the icing is an adaptation of a Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting from Kraft.

Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes:

2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin spice
1/8 teaspoon grated nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon salt
2 Green Mountain Pumpkin Spice K-Cups (about 3 tablespoons?)
1 15 oz can pumpkin puree
1 cup sugar
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 cup canola oil
4 large eggs, at room temperature

Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting:

1 8 oz. package of Cream Cheese, softened
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 16 oz package of powdered sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Continue reading Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes

Salted Caramel Brownies

Hurricane Irene has forced me to stay indoors for most of today, which means I’ve resorted to cooking/baking to keep me occupied. Today’s creation is another Cooking Light recipe for Salted Caramel Brownies.

Ingredients:

3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
6 tablespoons butter
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon bakery emulsion
Cooking spray

Topping:

1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
3 1/2 tablespoons evaporated fat-free milk, divided
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 ounce dark chocolate, coarsely chopped
1/4 teaspoon espresso powder
1/8 teaspoon coarse sea salt

Strawberry Prosecco Pops

Coming back to the Philadelphia heat after nearly two weeks in Ireland was a bit of a shock to my system. I was in desperate need for a way to cool down, and what better way than through a cool dessert? Cooking Light‘s Sparkling Strawberry Pops seemed to be the perfect choice. (Please excuse the quality of these photos. I managed to lose the battery charger for my new camera, and am waiting for the replacement to be delivered so these were taken on a pretty crummy alternative.)

Ingredients:

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup water

3 cups sliced fresh strawberries (1 pound) or a 1 lb mixture of berries

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

2/3 cups chilled Sparkling Wine (I used Prosecco)

I had to change the original recipe (linked above) a bit because I realized I didn’t have any corn syrup and was just too darn lazy to go out and buy some. This recipe is also halved from the original. You will need to have a Popsicle mold to make these. If you don’t have one, this might also work just as a “water ice” type treat; try just freezing the mixture in a bowl (if anyone tries this, please let me know how it turns out).

To make, combine the sugar and water in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave for 3 minutes or until it begins to boil. Remove from the microwave and stir until the sugar dissolves. It will have almost a corn syrup-like texture. Let cool.

Chop your berries.

Combine the berries, lemon juice, and half of the sugar-water mixture in a food processor and process until smooth.

Using a fine mesh strainer, strain the mixture over a bowl.

Use a spoon to press down on the strainer to help push all the juices through.

This will remove all seeds and any parts of the strawberries that didn’t fully blend.

Discard the solids left behind.

Add the rest of the sugar syrup and the sparkling wine to the strawberry mixture. Mix to combine.

Divide among 4 ice-pop molds.

Cover with tin foil. Using a knife, carefully make a small slit in the tin foil on top of each Popsicle.

Insert a Popsicle stick into each slit (this helps to keep the sticks centered).

Freeze for 4 hours or until frozen.

To remove from the molds, run under hot water for a few seconds to loosen the pops.

These pops were really refreshing. I was never a fan of Popsicles growing up because of that fake fruit taste that they all seemed to have, so the fresh strawberries really added a nice natural taste that I appreciated. This recipe can be adapted to use any berries you prefer, or even a mixture of a few types of berries. I hope these help beat the heat!

Dark Chocolate ROOT Cake

I have wanted to try to incorporate ROOT into my cooking for a while now. ROOT is basically the alcoholic version of root beer. For the history/back-story, check out their website. Here is also a video on the stuff:

The spirit contains birch bark, smoked black tea, cinnamon, wintergreen, spearmint, clove, anise, orange, lemon, nutmeg, allspice, cardamom and pure cane sugar so I thought it would go really well in a chocolate cake. I used this rum cake recipeas a starting point, and substituted in ROOT and dark chocolate, as well as a little instant espresso coffee to enhance the chocolate flavor.

Ingredients for the cake:
6 ounces coarsely chopped dark chocolate
1/2 teaspoon instant espresso coffee
5 ounces (1-1/4 sticks) unsalted butter
2/3 cup ROOT
4 large eggs, separated
1-1/4 cups sugar
1 cup flour
Pinch saltIngredients for the chocolate glaze:
1 cup heavy whipping cream
8 ounces roughly chopped dark chocolate
1/2 teaspoon espresso powderIngredients for Chantilly cream (optional):
1/2 cup plus 1 Tablespoon heavy whipping cream
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 teaspoon sugar or to taste
Small pinch salt

Grilled Watermelon

We kind of went on a grilling spree this week. (And by “we” I mean my boyfriend and his roommate. I only did the prep work.)

We were throwing basically anything on there. Burgers, chicken, asparagus, salmon… and watermelon. So. Here’s a super simple recipe for grilled watermelon!

Ingredients:
Honey
Sliced watermelon

Spread a little bit of honey on each piece of watermelon.

Place on a grill for about 2 minutes on each side.

Or until grill marks appear on the watermelon.

It’s amazing that grilling watermelon for a few minutes completely changes the taste of the watermelon. It’s quite tasty! The sugars in the watermelon and honey caramelize, making a new taste to the fruit. Yum!

Berries with Lemon Mint Syrup

I came across this recipe while researching different ways to incorporate mint into my meals. This dish sounds like the perfect summer dessert, so I thought I’d give this one a try.

Ingredients (this made 3 servings):
1 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup mint leaves, or 1/3 cup dried mint
Zest from 1 lemon
A bowl full of mixed berries, such as blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, and quartered strawberries

Prepare your mint (if using fresh mint) by removing the leaves from the stem. I used a cup of loosely packed mint leaves and had plenty of mint flavor in my syrup.

Add the water, sugar, lemon zest, and mint to a pan over medium-high heat.

Bring to a boil.

Remove from the heat and let stand, covered, for 20 minutes. While waiting, prepare your fruit. Wash all fruit in a colander and cut the strawberries into quarters.

After 20 minutes, remove all leaves and lemon zest from the syrup using a slotted spoon or a strainer.

Add the syrup back to the pan and bring to a simmer. Remove from heat and add the berries.

Stir. Transfer to a bowl and allow to cool before serving.

So it goes without saying that berries on their own are delicious. But when you add a syrup that is infused with lemon zest and mint, berries become the absolute perfect warm weather dessert. I can’t even describe how tasty this was!

Chocolate Mint Pudding

Chocolate Mint Pudding. Need I say more? This recipe is actually really easy, and it tastes amazing. I made a few changes to the original recipe depending on what I had on hand.

Ingredients:

3 cups fat-free milk
1/2 cup packed fresh mint leaves
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
1/8 teaspoon salt
3 large egg yolks, lightly beaten
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup dark chocolate chips

Continue reading Chocolate Mint Pudding

Rhubarb Crisp

Another offering in my CSA share this week was rhubarb. I had no idea what rhubarb was, let alone how to cook it. So for those that are in the same boat as me, rhubarb “have large leaves that are somewhat triangular-shaped with long fleshy petioles. Although the leaves are toxic, various parts of the plants have culinary and medicinal uses. Fresh raw stalks are crisp (similar to celery) with a strong tart taste; most commonly the plant’s stalks are cooked and used in pies and other foods for their tart flavour.” (Thanks Wikipedia) Thankfully, the Lancaster Farm Fresh Cooperative must have assumed people would need help, and posted a recipe on their blog for rhubarb crisp.

Ingredients:

6 tablespoons cold butter, cut into small pieces, plus more for greasing pan
5 to 6 cups rhubarb, trimmed and cut into 1½-inch pieces, tough strings removed
¼ cup turbinado sugar (raw sugar) — This is just what I had on hand
1 tablespoon fresh orange juice
1 teaspoon orange zest
¾ cup brown sugar
½ cup all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon cinnamon, or to taste
pinch salt
½ cup rolled oats
½ cup pecans

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray a baking dish with cooking spray, or use some butter to grease the pan. Prepare your rhubarb by cutting it into 1.5 inch pieces.

Toss prepared rhubarb with turbinado sugar (or whatever sugar you have), orange juice, and orange zest. Spread in the baking dish.

Add butter, brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, and salt to a food processor. Pulse for 20 to 30 seconds, or until it begins to clump together. Add oats and pecans and pulse until combined.

Crumble the pecan oat topping over the rhubarb mixture.

Bake for 45 to 50 minutes, or until brown and bubbling.

I dare you to put that much sugar in any dessert and make it taste bad. It was really sweet (obviously), and honestly might have needed a bit more acid. Maybe a squeeze of lemon? The oats and pecans stayed nice and crunchy, while the rhubarb softened so that it could easily be cut with a spoon. Yum!

Yellow Cake with Dark Chocolate Ganache

My little sister is graduating college and her party is next weekend. She asked me to make a cake for her and I couldn’t say no. So I decided to do a test batch this week to make sure I like the recipe (she asked for yellow cake with chocolate icing). I naturally can’t just buy cake in a box, so I’m going to make yellow cake with dark chocolate ganache with raspberries.

Ingredients for cake (this makes enough for 2 9-inch cake pans):

1 cup unsalted butter
2 ½ cups white sugar
3 eggs
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
2 ½ cups buttermilk
3 ¾ cups cake flour (you can use all-purpose flour as a substitute)
2 ¼ teaspoons baking powder
2 ½ teaspoons baking soda
Cooking spray

Ingredients for ganache:

16 ounces chocolate, finely chopped (I used dark chocolate)
2 cups heavy whipping cream

This is a double layer cake, so I also needed icing for in between the two layers. You can just buy chocolate icing in the store and use that, but I only want to deliver the best for the little sister.

Ingredients for chocolate frosting:

1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 stick of unsalted butter, cut into ½ inch pieces
1/3 cup sugar
¼ cup water
2 teaspoons instant espresso powder
¼ teaspoon salt
16 oz chocolate, finely chopped
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Continue reading Yellow Cake with Dark Chocolate Ganache

Barbuzzo’s Salted Caramel Budino

Tasting Table posted an adapted recipe of Marcie Turney’s Salted Caramel Budino. If you’ve never been to Barbuzzo in Philadelphia, your taste buds are missing out on one fantastic dessert. So, if my attempt at this adapted recipe is even half as good as the original salted caramel budino, I will consider this a win.

Barbuzzo’s version is described as “dark chocolate crust, vanilla bean caramel, sea salt.” The Salted Caramel Budino version below omits the crust, but maintains the vanilla bean salted caramel poured over a maple flavored custard.

Ingredients

Salted Caramel:
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoons light corn syrup
- 3 tablespoons water
- ¼ cup heavy cream
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 teaspoon flaky sea salt, plus more for garnish
- ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Pudding:
- 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
- ½ cup dark brown sugar, packed
- ¼ cup water
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2½ cups half-and-half
- 1 large egg plus 2 large egg yolks
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch
- Whipped cream, for serving

Continue reading Barbuzzo’s Salted Caramel Budino

Guinness Cupcakes with Baileys Frosting

With St. Patrick’s Day right around the corner, I wanted to test out my recipe for Guinness Cupcakes with Baileys Frosting before the big day to make sure it didn’t need any tweaking.

Guinness cupcakes are chocolate cupcakes that use a dark stout to enhance the flavor.

To keep with the theme, I decided to also make Bailey’s frosting.

Ingredients (makes 24 cupcakes)

Guinness Cupcakes:

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
2 cups sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 12 oz bottle of Guinness (or any other dark stout) – if your bottle is more than this, just measure out 12 oz
1 (4 oz) stick of butter, melted and cooled to room temperature
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3 large eggs
3/4 cup sour cream

Baileys Frosting:

2 (4 oz) sticks of butter, softened
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup Bailey’s Irish Cream
1/4 tsp salt
8 cups powdered (confectioners) sugar

Continue reading Guinness Cupcakes with Baileys Frosting

Cookies Everywhere!

I can’t even begin to know a thing about baking. I still follow recipes to a T. I spent last Saturday making batch after batch of cookies, and all of these were well received.

The recipe for Black and White Chocolate Chip Cookies can be found here. These ended up looking almost like macaroons (shiny, cracked) but were delicious. I used Kahlua, not coffee, but I think the coffee might take some of the sweetness out, in a good way. (I forgot to take a photo! So sorry)

I attempted the Peanut Butter-Fudge Cups, recipe here. Despite following the recipe, I ended up with half of the number of cups and they look NOTHING like the photo with the recipe. But, they were delicious.

The Pecan Bar Cookies were surprisingly delicious. (Recipe here) They stayed chewy days after making, but were also nicely crunchy on top. I mixed the chocolate chips within the batter instead of melting the chocolate down and spreading on top.

My pumpkin obsession continues. These Iced Pumpkin Cookies (recipe here) made me so happy. These are a little more spicy (as in many spices, not hot) than a typical cookie, but the drizzled icing is a great contrast.

pumpkin cookies pre-iced

iced pumpkin cookies

Sugar cookie recipes can be found everywhere, I think you can even pick up sugar cookie mix, or pre-made cookie dough. I honestly doubt there would be much of a difference between the recipe I used here and buying dough from the store. The real fun with sugar cookies is decorating them! I used cookie cutters I picked up from the dollar store. For icing, I mixed confectioners sugar, vanilla extract, and a small amount of milk. I split the icing into different bowls and added food coloring. I also used sprinkles from the local grocery store to add some more pizazz. I know they look like a child made them, but I think that is part of their charm.

Happy cookie making!