A problem

Part 1

So I lost my id card last night. My id card gives me access to dining halls, and only five times during the year without penalty may I access the dh without it. As of breakfast, I would have only two left.

Part 2

I have had 3 sugar pumpkins and another small uncertain variety in my room for a couple weeks. The rector sent out an e-mail declaring pumpkin season over - all pumpkins must be gone from the dorm rooms by midnight... What to do?

Solution

Pumpkin chili!

I took all the pumpkins and made pumpkin puree, cooked the seeds, and then made the following pumpkin chili (certain ingredients are odd due to having to filch them from a dining hall during breakfast.)

PUMPKIN CHILI

Ingredients

a couple slices of thick-cut deli turkey

1 cup kidney beans

a couple tbs chopped bell pepper

1 tbs chickpeas

1/2 medium-large tomato

2/3 cup (fresh) pumpkin puree

1/4 cup sweet onion

chili powder

salt

pepper

red/cayenne pepper

crushed red pepper flakes

garlic

paprika

cinnamon

cumin

curry powder

sugar

heavy splash of cabernet savignon

water as needed (and it will be needed, at least a couple cups)

Sautee pumpkin, turkey and onion in pan. Add all the other ingredients and cook for 1+ hour(s) on medium (turn down to low 2nd half hour), stirring and adding water as necessary.

Top with crumbled bacon and your choice of cheese. (I used a cheddar/mozz/feta/parm mix...weird, I know, but I wasn't sure which flavor I'd want before I'd decided on seasonings.)

Birthday Cake Week, Episode 2

Deep Dark Chocolate Secrets Cake

This cake has 3 parts: the cake, the filling, and the topping...all made of magic.

Cake Ingredients

1 1/2 sticks butter

1 3/4 cups sugar (I used 1 white, 3/4 light brown)

2 eggs

2 1/3 cups all purpose flour

1 4-serving box of sugar-free cheesecake-flavored pudding mix

heaped 3/4 cup cocoa powder

1 tsp baking soda

2 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp Kahlua

1 cup sour cream

1 cup strong brewed coffee, cooled

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Grease and flour sides and bottoms (or grease and parchment line) 3 8-inch pans.

Beat together butter and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs 1 at a time, beat until thick and lemony.

(Your stand mixer is your friend - let it do the work for you here^!)

In a separate bowl, sift together all the dry ingredients.

In yet another bowl (or your two cup liquid measure), mix the vanilla, Kahlua, sour cream and coffee. (Watch out, if the coffee is not cooled, it will curdle/melt the sour cream.)

Alternately add the flour and sour cream mixtures into the sugar mixture, beating on medium all the while.

Mix together well, not forgetting to scrape down the sides.

Pour into pans - mixture is thick, so you'll have to spread it out.

Bake for ~30 minutes. (May be less/more depending on your oven.)

Remove from pans and cool.

Filling Ingredients

1 lb confectioner's sugar

1/2 cup cream cheese

2-4 tbs fruit preserves (I used sugar-free strawberry...I also recommend raspberry)

a couple tbs of butter/margarine

Blend together all ingredients, adjusting levels as necessary. Do this right after you put the cake in the oven and then pop the mixture in the fridge.

Ganache Topping

1 cup semi-/bitter-sweet chocolate chips/squares

2 tbs whole milk or cream

1 tbs butter

1 tbs cocoa powder

(these measurements are approximates, because I don't measure for this anymore...but it should be pourable/spreadable rather than a rollable-truffle-style...)

Melt all ingredients together in a double-boiler.

Assembly:

Trim two layers flat if necessary.

Spread the two flat layers each with half the filling and stack.

Top with the third, untrimmed layer. Pour the ganache over the top...

Enjoy!

(Warning, if you refrigerate the whole cake before serving, the ganache topping may get hard and make the cake too hard to cut...)

This was the cake I made for my birthday...and it was enjoyed by many. And now you can enjoy it too. :D

Birthday Cake Week

So this week is my birthday, and I will be spending it making up different delectable recipes. And then giving away the results so that I don't eat them all.

First up:

Fluffy Mocha Cupcakes

1 box chocolate cake mix (or how I did it: 1 yellow cake mix and 1/3 to 1/2 cup of cocoa powder)

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

2 ripe bananas, mashed

3/4 cup strong coffee

3 large eggs (or 6 egg whites)

2 Tbs Kahlua

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Spray/line muffin tins.

2) Mash bananas and mix with coffee, set aside.

3) Blend cake mix and other dry ingredients

4) Add the banana mixture to the dry mix, then add the eggs 1 at a time, beating on medium until well mixed.

5) Add the Kahlua and beat for 30 seconds on high.

6) Bake for 18 (15-20) minutes. Remove from tins and let cool.

7) Glaze (see below).

Mocha glaze:

1 cup Confectioner's sugar

1/4 cup Cocoa powder

1/2 tsp Kahlua

1 tbs 2% milk

Mix all ingredients. I'm not sure about the ratios because I don't really measure, but if it's too runny add more sugar or cocoa or both, and if it's too thick, add more milk. Should give you a pretty thick, shiny glaze that spreads well.

I know, I know. Most recipe blogs are exciting and cute and have pictures and snarkiness/sweetness. I'll work up to it. For now, I'm just posting my recipes.