Authors: Tanya Steel

The Epicurious Cookbook (49 page)

BOOK: The Epicurious Cookbook

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chocolate
pumpkin brownies

Rich
chocolate brownies get jazzed up with fresh or canned pumpkin. Epicurious member
Sharon Perry Murphy
of Fort Knox, Kentucky, often bakes hers with fresh pumpkin, which is runnier. (To achieve the desired consistency with fresh pumpkin, Murphy recommends adding a little extra flour, 1 tablespoon at a time, or substituting 1 egg for ¼ cup pumpkin.)

YIELD: MAKE 16 BROWNIES

6 tablespoons coconut oil, melted

1 (15-ounce) can solid-pack pumpkin (not pie filling)

2½ cups sugar

½ teaspoon kosher salt

1½ cups all-purpose flour

1½ cups unsweetened cocoa powder

¼ teaspoon baking soda

Special equipment: 9-inch square baking pan

1.
Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat the pan to 350°F. Using coconut oil, grease a 9-inch square baking pan.

2.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the remaining coconut oil, the pumpkin, sugar, and salt. In a second medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, and baking soda. Add the dry ingredients to the wet in 3 batches, folding the mixture to thoroughly incorporate the ingredients in each addition. (The batter will be thicker than traditional brownie batter.)

3.
Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and bake until the top is dry and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out mostly clean, 45 to 50 minutes. Cool the brownies completely in the pan before cutting and serving.

My husband and I were stationed in Germany, and there was a local farm selling pumpkins and squash of all kinds. I went by to pick up a few to use for baby food and decided to save some for baking. Add in my love for chocolate and desire to make foods that are healthy and (almost) vegan, and you have this lovely recipe!

—Sharon Perry Murphy

cook’s note:

The
BROWNIES
can be baked in advance and stored, in an airtight container, at room temperature, and will keep for about 3 days.

gianduia mousse cake

Chocolate and hazelnut: Consider this combination the “Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks” of flavor profiles—sweet, nutty, and guaranteed to produce a blockbuster. Baking expert Carole Bloom’s indulgent cake recipe calls for an easy homemade hazelnut butter, but store-bought will do just as well. Top it off with some crushed hazelnuts for added texture, and then serve it with a glass of Sauternes or port, or a shot of espresso.

YIELD: MAKES 12 TO 14 SERVINGS

9 ounces fine-quality bittersweet chocolate (not unsweetened)

7 ounces fine-quality milk chocolate

1 cup Nutella (chocolate-hazelnut spread; from a 13-ounce jar)

¾ cup Unsweetened Hazelnut Butter (recipe follows)

6 large eggs

½ cup superfine granulated sugar

1 cup well-chilled heavy cream

Whipped cream

Special equipment: 10-inch springform pan

1.
Preheat the oven to 350°F and butter a 10-inch springform pan. Wrap the bottom and side of the pan with a large piece of heavy-duty foil to waterproof.

2.
Chop the chocolates into small pieces and melt in a double boiler or a metal bowl set over a saucepan of barely simmering water, stirring until smooth. Remove the top of the double boiler or bowl from the heat and stir in the Nutella and hazelnut butter until combined well.

3.
In a large bowl of a standing electric mixer or in a large bowl with a handheld mixer, beat the eggs until frothy, about 1 minute. Gradually add the sugar, beating the mixture at high speed until thick and pale and until it holds a slowly dissolving ribbon when the beaters are lifted, about 4 minutes if using a standing mixer and about 8 minutes if using a handheld mixer. Pour the chocolate mixture into the egg mixture and stir until combined well. In a chilled bowl, beat the cream until it holds soft peaks and fold into the batter gently but thoroughly.

4.
Pour the batter into the springform pan and put springform pan in a larger roasting pan. Add enough hot water to the roasting pan to reach halfway up the side of the springform pan. Bake the cake in the middle of the oven 1 hour and 10 minutes. Turn off the oven and let the cake stand in the oven 40 minutes. Remove the springform pan from the water and cool cake in pan on a rack 30 minutes. Remove the side of the pan from cake. Let cake cool completely before serving. Serve with whipped cream.

“Serve with fresh fruit (I recommend light fruits like mangos, plums, nectarines, etc.), and you can’t get a better, more sophisticated dessert.”

A cook, Salt Lake City, Utah

do ahead:

The
CAKE
keeps, covered and chilled, 3 days.

unsweetened hazelnut butter

YIELD: MAKES ABOUT 1 CUP

1½ cups hazelnuts (about 7 ounces)

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

Toast and skin the hazelnuts, but do not cool. In a food processor, grind the hazelnuts into a fine paste. Add the oil and pulse until combined well.

Prune, Cherry, and Apricot Frangipane Tart

prune, cherry, and apricot frangipane tart

This classic almond-flavored dessert gets a boost from a dried-fruit compote steeped overnight in grappa syrup. Once drained, this compote is coupled with the frangipane filling—an almond paste, not marzipan—to give the beautiful tart its luscious, unforgettable taste. The reserved syrup is brushed over the golden brown tart for a sparkling finish.

YIELD: MAKES 8 SERVINGS

FOR DRIED FRUIT COMPOTE

⅔ cup grappa, preferably Julia brand

3½ tablespoons sugar

½ cup pitted prunes, halved

⅓ cup dried cherries

⅓ cup dried California apricots

FOR PASTRY DOUGH

1¼ cups all-purpose flour

½ cup (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch cubes

½ teaspoon salt

2 to 3 tablespoons ice water, or as needed

FOR FRANGIPANE FILLING

7 ounces almond paste (not marzipan; about 1 cup)

½ stick unsalted butter, softened

3 tablespoons sugar

⅛ teaspoon pure almond extract

½ teaspoon salt

2 large eggs

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

Special equipment: 11-inch flan ring or round tart pan with removable bottom; pie weights or dried beans

MAKE DRIED FRUIT COMPOTE

Heat the grappa with the sugar in a medium saucepan over low heat, stirring, until the sugar has dissolved. Add the fruit and gently simmer 1 minute. Remove from the heat and let macerate, stirring occasionally, 24 hours.

MAKE TART SHELL

1.
Blend together the flour, butter, and salt in a bowl with your fingertips or a pastry blender (or pulse in a food processor) just until the mixture resembles coarse meal with some small (roughly pea-size) butter lumps.

2.
Drizzle 2 to 3 tablespoons ice water evenly over mixture. Gently stir with a fork (or pulse) until incorporated. Squeeze a small handful of dough: if it doesn’t hold together, add more water, ½ tablespoon at a time, stirring (or pulsing) until incorporated. Do not overwork dough, or pastry will be tough.

3.
Turn out dough onto a work surface and divide into 4 portions. With the heel of your hand, smear each portion once or twice in a forward motion to help distribute fat. Gather the dough together with a pastry scraper, if you have one. Press into a ball, then flatten into a 5-inch disk and wrap in plastic wrap. Chill until firm, at least 1 hour.

4.
Set an 11-inch flan ring on a parchment-lined baking sheet. (If using a tart pan, parchment is not necessary.) Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface with a lightly floured rolling pin into a 13-inch round, then fit into the flan ring and trim excess dough. Chill until firm, at least 30 minutes.

5.
Preheat the oven to 375°F, with the rack in the middle.

6.
Lightly prick the bottom of the shell all over with a fork, then line with foil and fill with pie weights or dried beans. Bake until the side is set and the edge is pale golden, 18 to 20 minutes. Remove the foil and weights and bake until the bottom is golden, about 10 minutes more. Cool completely in the pan, about 30 minutes. Leave oven on.

MAKE FRANGIPANE FILLING

Beat the almond paste, butter, sugar, extract, and salt in a bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed 3 minutes. Add the eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition, then beat in the flour.

FILL TART AND BAKE

Spread the frangipane filling in the cooled shell. Drain the fruit in a sieve set over a bowl, reserving the syrup, and scatter the fruit over the filling, pressing in slightly. Bake until puffed and golden, 30 to 40 minutes. Transfer the tart on parchment to a rack. Brush the reserved syrup over the tart and cool to warm or room temperature.

“I didn’t think it was a particularly difficult or time-consuming dessert if you spread the work over a few days. Started the fruit three days ahead—that only takes five minutes. Made the tart dough and baked the shell the day before, and made the filling and finished the tart the day of serving.”

do ahead:

The
DRIED FRUIT
can be macerated up to 3 days.

The
TART SHELL
can be baked 1 day ahead and kept (once cool), wrapped in plastic wrap, at room temperature.

The
TART
is best eaten the day it is baked but can be made 1 day ahead, covered with foil, kept at room temperature.

The
DOUGH
can be chilled 2 days or frozen, wrapped well, 3 months.