Saturday, January 07, 2012

Sweetness

If I weren't an engineer-writer-decorator-photographer-aesthete, I might have been a baker.

I do love the pursuit of baking but I don't indulge myself as often as I'd like (who needs the calories?).

Over the holidays, I made my first proper Christmas pudding (a resounding success), but I also tried my hand at two pumpkin desserts which appeal to the non-lovers of chocolate in our family.

The first was this Pumpkin Ginger Roulade (a 5-star recipe from the Barefoot Contessa!) - a soft rolled pumpkin cake filled with crystallized ginger finely minced into mascarpone cream:
It was so lovely with vanilla ice cream and coffee, but I warn you, it is very, very rich!

I served it on a darling Limoges platter (one of my favorite things) that I bought at the Vanves flea market in Paris:
You can find the recipe here.
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My next recipe is a definite family favorite:
~ Upside Down Pumpkin Cake with Cranberry & Pecan topping ~
I cannot say enough about this beautiful cake!

The recipe makes a soft moist pumpkin cake with a crunchy tart-sweet topping of beautiful cranberries and toasted pecans in a brown sugar-butter syrup. It is simply delicious served with whipped cream and coffee:
The original recipe calls for a 9x9 square pan, but I use a funnel pan...the wreath-like presentation is much much prettier for Christmas!

You can find the recipe, by pastry chef Emily Luchetti, here. Her book, A Passion for Desserts, is my favorite dessert cookbook.

I served the cake on my lovely pink and gold bone Limoges bird plates, which my mother gave me in October when I was home. Each of the six plates has a different bird, and the plates are very fine and appear to be quite old:
I think these two desserts make a lovely alternative to pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving or Christmas!

12 comments:

  1. Both are beautiful. I'm very impressed with the roll. It looks perfectly done. The upside-down one, though, is the one I'd love to dive in to.

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  2. Anonymous8:08 pm

    Your bird plates are exquisite! And that upside-down pumpkin cake sounds fantastic. I'm going to make that next Christmas for sure!

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  3. Such yummy treats...I made a roll up cake...it was so much fun. Happy baking. xoxo

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  4. They are both gorgeous and I'm sure very delicious!

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  5. They look like works of art, Terri! I had no idea that you'd be a baker if you were not who you are. ??? What kind of sentence is that? Oh I shall never make such delights, though they are delightful to see on your exquisite dishes. Your mother chose so well. I love how the plates are interrelated, but not the same.

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  6. Pumpkin. check. Cranberries. check. Pecans. check. I think the next thing I bake will be that upsidedown cake. Both recipes sound and look delectable.

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  7. Wow they look mouth watering. And I love your plates beautiful. I might have to try those recipes.
    Lisa

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  8. The pumpkin roll sounds fabulous. I keep crystallized ginger around as grown-up candies for my husband and I. I have just discovered the joy of baking in the past few years but is is a once in a while thing as my husband tries to avoid carbs.
    I hope you show us more in the future.

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  9. both desserts look and sound amazing. good work on the roll, yours looks beautiful. and the dessert plates with the birds? to die for! xo

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  10. I love anything with pumpkin or chocolate, but truthfully...I'd eat anything you served off the gorgeous Limoge!It was if the platter was made for the pumpkin roll-exquisite.

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  11. I am in love with these sweet dishes... they are darling!

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  12. Anonymous2:18 pm

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