In an effort to get caught up with my Tuesdays with Dorie baking group posts here is what should have been up on Aug. 25th. I am sticking with the “summer holiday” story to explain my tardiness. It could also be that I was seriously distracted from all of life by this pie.

 The Meringue topping is a nice balance to the oh- so-rich-and-creamy filling. Just because it’s smooth and rich does not mean it’s a subtle cream pie. The lovely texture is bursting with tangy sweetness and a hint of ginger. The lime flavor is a delightful change from the more common lemon cream version. This filling uses an interesting technique Dorie learned from Pierre Hermé. The filling is cooked like any curd, but without the butter. The butter is added to the curd as it is blended in a blender so the fat and emulsifies with the mixture creating a lusciously smooth creamy texture.

The one lesson I learned with this pie, is to crush the graham crackers finer than I did. My graham crust didn’t want to hold together, but the structural integrity of the crust did improve once the pie was refrigerated overnight. The only made two small changes to the recipe, adding a pinch of salt to the filling and a pinch of  ginger powder to the crust. Linda of Tender Crumb was the recipe picker this time and you can find the recipe posted on her blog.

Over 350 baking bloggers are baking our way thorough Dorie Greenspan’s book, Baking: From My Home to Yours. 88 recipes completed 133 to go!

Looking at the recipe, Chocolate Gingerbread didn’t strike me, which is a little puzzling because I love the individual components. It’s a recipe I have  flipped right past for no good reason, but thanks to my Tuesdays with Dorie weekly baking group I am once again challenged to evaluate a baseless presumption, in this case, that chocolate and gingerbread are anything less than a perfect match. Maybe it’s that gingerbread is so darn good it seems pointless to muddle it up with chocolate.  The reality is there is no muddling going on with this gingerbread. It is rich, moist, and not overly sweet and delivers a bold gingerbread flavor that is beautifully complemented by chocolate.

photo by David Peterman

I really love the texture of this cake. It is dense, but not heavy, and really moist. In addition to the chocolate frosting, there are chocolate pieces mixed throughout the cake that add a lovely gooey factor to the texture. The only change I made to the recipe is I added 1/2 teaspoon of salt. I think most desserts are improved by a touch of salt and with all the spices in this cake, I was really surprised it didn’t call for salt, so I tossed in a bit for good measure. The frosting is good, but a nice dollop of whipped cream in its place would be equally good.

I bought a huge piece of gorgeous fresh ginger when shopping for this recipe and after mincing up the 2 tablespoons I needed for the gingerbread; I had plenty left to play with. I made a big batch of Spiced Crystallized Ginger by adding a vanilla bean, cardamom, and cinnamon to the process. It was a successful experiment that will probably become my standard. Click here for the recipe along with my tip on the best way to peel such an oddly shaped item as ginger.

photo by David Peterman

Continuing my ginger binge, I made ginger-flavored seltzer water. (That is actually a piece of crystallized ginger on the glass, not a shrimp.) Get ready for the recipe: place a couple of hunks of fresh ginger in seltzer water and let it infuse for 24 hours in the refrigerator. It’s that easy and it makes a lovely beverage.

Over the summer we bought a Soda Club machine to make our own seltzer and I have been experimenting with all kinds of interesting flavors. The best thing is you don’t need to make your own seltzer to play with the infusions. I will post some of the successful combinations I have come up with separately at some point, but for now give the ginger a try. I like to skewer the ginger so I can remove it easily once the flavor is strong enough.

If you are now craving chocolate gingerbread, you can visit Heather, who selected this week’s recipe, at Sherry Trifle where she has it posted. Even better, pick up a copy of Dorie Greenspans’s Baking: From My Home to Yours and you will have this recipe along with whole book of great things to bake.

Fresh cranberries are showing up at the market, so it is the perfect time to share my cranberry sauce recipe with you. Freshly made cranberry sauce is such a world away from the canned version. Granted it won’t have the lovely can shape and can ridge texture on the sides, but the taste of freshly made cranberry sauce easily outweighs the nostalgia of cranberry sauce shaped like a can. If you have never made cranberry sauce, you need to know it is a snap to make. I have been making versions of this recipe for my entire adult life. Over the years it has evolved into what is now my favorite version.

photo by David Peterman

Warm exotic spice flavors play between the sweet and tart flavors of this sauce. It is perfect for the Thanksgiving table, but I enjoy this cranberry sauce on turkey sandwiches all year long.

Spiced Cranberry Sauce

Makes about 3 cups

16 oz. fresh or frozen whole cranberries
¾ cup water
½ cup red wine vinegar or raspberry vinegar
1 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
2 cups sugar
zest of one medium orange
2 star anise, whole
1 ½ tsp. cinnamon, ground
½ tsp. clove, ground
½ tsp. allspice, ground
½ tsp. cardamom, ground
1” piece of fresh ginger, juiced in garlic press

Clean and de-stem cranberries. In a medium saucepan combine cranberries, vinegars, water, sugar, orange zest, and star anise pods. Cook over medium heat until cranberries begin to pop. Stir and mash the berries with the back of a spoon.

Add the spices and the ginger juice. Cook at a medium-low boil for 8 minutes, stirring occasionally.
If you prefer less pulp, press a quarter to half of the sauce through a sieve to strain. Taste the sauce and adjust spices as desired*. Once the sauce cools it will thicken.

It keeps well for a few months in the refrigerator. If you like to can, preserve this sauce following proper canning proceedures. Leave ¼ inch headspace and process in a water bath for 10 minutes, if using half-pint jars or smaller. If you pack in larger jars, or live at an altitude above 1000 feet, refer to a trusted canning resource to adjust the processing time.

* Spice Note: I use whole spices and grind them as I need them. Once I made the switch to buying whole spices I dialed back the amount of spice in the recipe because freshly ground spices are so much more powerful. If you are using pre-ground spices and feel like the flavors aren’t as prominent as you would like, add a bit more of each to suit your taste.

This week’s Tuesday’s With Dorie activity of baking Pumpkin Muffins led to a pancake and cranberry maple syrup creation all because the grocery store only had large cans of pumpkin. Leftovers generate such creativity!

photo by David Peterman

Muffins first. Dorie’s recipe for pumpkin muffins in Baking: From My Home to Yours, is very good. As usual, my taste preferences drove me to fiddle with it a bit. I substituted half the all-purpose flour with whole wheat pastry flour, which is a very finely ground flour made from soft wheat that has a low protein level and thus has less gluten forming ability, which results in tender baked goods. Whole wheat pastry flour is a great way to add a touch of whole wheat goodness while avoiding the heavy dense texture that can result with some whole wheat baked goods.

Protein content in flour
Low protein flour is sold as pastry flour or cake flour and is a good choice when baking goods where tenderness is the goal, for example, biscuits, muffins, cakes, and pie crusts. Often a combination of all-purpose flour and pastry flour works nicely. On the other end of the spectrum is bread flour which is high in protein and great for forming the strong gluten bonds necessary for bread to rise and hold its shape. The tricky element is the protein content of flour ranges depending on where the wheat is grown. In the southern region of the U.S, all-purpose flour has much lower protein content than flour in other parts of the country. National brands of all-purpose flour have a protein content of 11-12, but all-purpose flour in the South, such as White Lily brand, has a protein content of only 8-9. Pastry flour generally has a protein level of 8-9 with cake flour at 7-8.  Whole wheat pastry flour has a protein content of 9 vs. anywhere from 11-15 for whole wheat flour. Just for reference, bread flour is in the 12-13 range. So if a recipe works great at home, but bombs when making the same recipe while visiting a different part of the country, it could be the flour, not you!

Ref: McGee, Harold. On Food and Cooking. New York, Scribner, 2004.
Corriher, Shirley. CookWise. New York, HarperCollins, 1997.
Wing, Daniel and Alan Scott. The Bread Builders Hearth Loaves and Masonry Ovens. White River Jct., VT, Chelsea Green, 1999.

I added half a cup of fresh cranberries because I had them on hand, and cranberries with pumpkin, well, you just can’t go wrong. Dorie suggests topping the muffins with sunflower seeds, but I stayed true to the pumpkin theme and when with pumpkin seeds (pepitas) then gilded the lily with a sprinkling of ginger sugar to add a nice crunch to the top. I increased the amount of salt to 1/2 tsp. from 1/4, which just didn’t seem like enough for the volume of batter and all the other spices. There were many comments in the group that the 400 degree F oven temperature was too hot; I choose to bake at 350 degrees F with a convection fan, and my muffins baked beautifully in about 22 minutes.

Overall, I love the results. They are flavorful, tender, and most importantly, not greasy. The cranberries add a nice tart zing and great color. A big thank you to Kelly of Sounding My Barbaric Gulp for selecting a recipe to get us all in the mood for fall and one that inspired some great pancake improvisation – read on…

photo by David Peterman

Pumpkin Pancakes with Cranberry Maple Syrup

These deliciously dressed up pancakes are the result of leftover pumpkin after making pumpkin muffins. The Cranberry Maple Syrup walks the line between a beautiful jam and syrup, with the whole cranberries offering textural interest and the perfect tartness to play against the sweet maple syrup. The pecans in the pancakes blend seamlessly with the syrup, like a perfect match. This would be a very festive start to Thanksgiving or Christmas day. Leftover pancakes freeze well and reheat nicely in the toaster for a quick mid-week breakfast. 

Makes about 10 six-inch pancakes.

Cranberry Maple Syrup
1 cup whole cranberries, fresh or frozen
1 cup maple syrup
1 Tbsp. dark rum or bourbon
zest of one orange
2 star anise pods, or a cinnamon stick

Combine all the ingredients in a small saucepan over medium heat. Once the cranberries begin to pop, cook at a low boil for 5 minutes stirring and mashing the berries occasionally. Remove from heat and set aside. When ready to serve, remove the star anise pods or cinnamon stick and re-warm if necessary.

Pumpkin Pancakes
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. sea salt
3 Tbsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ginger powder
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. clove
1/2 cup pecans, toasted and chopped

2 cups buttermilk
3 eggs
3/4 cup pumpkin puree
2 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted

Preheat griddle to 375 degrees F.

In a medium bowl combine the flours, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, spices, and nuts. Mix well to incorporate the dry ingredients together. In a separate bowl, combine the buttermilk, eggs, pumpkin, and melted butter. Pour the liquid ingredients into the flour mixture and stir just enough to combine. A few lumps and dusty spots are better than over mixed batter.

Ladle batter onto hot oiled griddle or frying pan and cook until golden brown on both sides. Serve with Cranberry Maple Syrup.