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| Harvest pumpkin bars, full tilt |
After a bit of recovery from Orlando, it was time to get back into the thick of things. I realized that I hadn’t yet made any pumpkin baked creations which meant that it was time for a batch of the pumpkin harvest bars! Perennially popular with folks, these are particularly well-suited for ultimate games. They bars are baked up in a Pyrex and the covered in a swathe of cream cheese frosting (I like to throw in some maple here, and fully support gilding the lily with pecans and candied ginger). The bars are sturdy enough to slice up pieces at the sidelines, and the Fall temperatures are typically just about right to ensure the right level of frosting gloopiness. I will say that I would classify this as a cake, but the original recipe is located in the King Arthur Cookie Companion book.
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| Tahini and white chocolate babka |
I also had been rethinking the tahini and white chocolate babka, and decided that I needed to give this another go. This time, I would bake the babka in a loaf pan rather than the free form knot in order to try and contain the oozy filling. I also decided to try it with some black tahini that I had sitting around (initially obtained for ambitions of zebra striped halvah), I have to say, the loaves turned out beautifully. I had opted out of a post-bake soak in sugar syrup since it seemed just a bit too sweet for my tastes. In hindsight, the syrup may have kept things a bit more moist for just a couple days longer, I really liked the extra earthy flavor from the black sesame - it reminded me of a hot drink/soup that we used to have as kids made up of black sesame paste. I also really enjoyed the striping effect when the loaves were cut into - looked like a chocolate babka, but with a totally different flavor profile. Even the babka was getting ready for Halloween.....
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| Babka is ready to roll |
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| Babka cross-section |
And last, but certainly not least, I wanted to have another go at the canelés. I figured I might have a decent shot if I dedicated adequate time for it, and really focused on technique: proper beeswax coating, freezing, and watchful baking. So I did. It was hot, my fingers got somewhat burned, and I spent a lot of time either perched on the mat in front of the oven or releasing steam pockets with toothpicks. But overall, they turned out pretty nicely. Nice enough to send as a “congratulations for getting tenure” sort of care package. If you ever find yourself on the receiving end of some canelés, just remember that whomever made those for you must think you’re pretty all right.
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| Much better batch this time |
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| Even the clean-up is fancy |
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