Gluten-Free Pumpkin Cheesecake

Gluten-Free vegan pumpkin cheesecake- creamy and dairy-free.

Darling. It's Monday. Post Boxing Day. And yes, I'm going to be bad. I'm not going to write about Hoppin' John or some healthy New Year's bean soup with kale.  I am going to tease you. I am going to tempt you. I am going to revel in one more dessert recipe before the final eve of 2010 -- a rich and creamy pumpkin cheesecake recipe that is worthy of a party. One last hurrah before the pale glare of January dawns in all her cold and sober glory. One last indulgent dessert before I gingerly step on the reality check scale. And sigh.

Because I've noticed my jeans have shrunk again. That familiar jolly pie roll affectionately known as Doris is rolling her merry way up and out of my favorite roomy cargo pants. But is this the week to start counting calories? Is this the week to shun dessert in favor of lettuce? I can answer that. The answer is no. As in N. As in O. No. Nope. Not gonna happen.

If you've got your own alarming version of Doris making her annual appearance around your middle, don't worry. There will be plenty of time in 2011 for detoxing and courting virtue with cabbage soup, recipes that will encourage our collective Doris's -- or would the plural be Dori? -- to skedaddle. I promise. I'll be first in line with smoothie and cleansing soup recipes come January. But this week? Well. Not so much.

Because there's one more cake to share in 2010. And it's cheesecake. And no one will suspect it is vegan and gluten-free. (I won't tell, if you won't.)


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Gluten-Free Pumpkin Pie with Praline and Coconut-Pecan Crust

A slice of sweet vegan heaven. Chill this pie overnight for best texture.

I feel like I'm cheating. No, not cheating on my gluten-free diet. Cheating on my faithful Pumpkin Pie recipe. The one I've loved for years. It's so easy, after all. And reliable. And tasty. But you know how it is. You get that itch. You start to daydream. You flirt with a taste of vegan pumpkin pie at the West Hollywood Hugo's, and you start to fantasize about coconut crust. You imagine the buttery caramel taste of praline. And as always, in these matters, one thing leads to another. Next thing you know?

You've got a new love.

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I don't mean to be bossy, but . . .

....you really should make this pie for Thanksgiving.

This Cranberry Apple Pie is my very favorite Thanksgiving pie (don't tell Pumpkin).

It's tart & sweet with a *perfect* flaky and buttery crust.  I think you're going to like it.

Yes, the crust is homemade.  Don't be scared. If *I* can you it, *you* can do it. And really, nothing makes me feel like more of a domestic goddess than making my man a pie with homemade crust.  He'll thank you. 

One thing, though.  Please remember to place the pie on a cookie sheet, or place a cookie sheet below it in the oven.  Someone forgot this time...

For the crust:
(modified from The King Arthur Flour Baker's Companion)

2 & 1/2 c. unbleached, all-purpose flour
1 tsp. salt
1/2 c. cold shortening (Crisco)
1 stick unsalted butter
1/4 to 1/2 c. ice water
1 egg white, lightly beaten

Reserve a few tablespoons of flour, set aside. Whisk together remaining flour and salt. Cut in the shortening until it is crumbly.

Place the reserved flour on work surface and coat butter in it. Use a rolling pin or your hand to flatten the butter until it is about 1/2 inch thick. Break the flour-coated butter into 1 inch pieces and mix into the dough until it is evenly distributed.

Sprinkle water over the dough while tossing with a fork just until it is easily squeezed into a ball. Flatten into 2 disks, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate 30 minutes.

On a floured surface, roll each disk into a 12 x 9" rectangle (approx). Fold into thirds, like a letter, then fold again in thirds to form a square. (A bench scraper REALLY helps here!) Wrap both pieces again and refrigerate 30 more minutes.

After 30 minutes, let rest at room temperature for 5 minutes, then roll one out for the bottom crust.  (I can never get mine round...oh, well.)

Line a glass pie pan with the crust and brush with beaten egg white.

Fill with pie filling and add the top crust, venting as desired.  Brush with egg white.

For the Cranberry Apple Pie:
{modified from an old Williams-Sonoma Pies & Tarts cookbook}

1 c. sugar
2 TBSP flour
1/4 tsp salt
4 Granny Smith apples, not the JUMBO ones
2 c. fresh cranberries
zest of one orange
2 TBSP unsalted butter, cubed

Preheat the oven to 425.  Line the bottom of a glass pie pan with pie crust as directed above.  Brush with lightly beaten egg white.

Stir together the sugar, flour and salt. 

Peel, core and slice the apples.

{Do you have one of these contraptions?  I LOVE mine!}

Add the apple slices, cranberries and orange zest to the sugar mixture and toss well. Pile into the prepared pie pan.  Top with bits of butter.

Cover the pie with the top crust and vent as desired.  Brush with the beaten egg white.

Bake for 20 minutes, then reduce heat to 350 and bake 40-50 minutes more, until the fruit is tender when pierced with a knife.  (Check the crust periodically and tent with foil if it browns before cooking through.)

Cool on a cooling rack.

Serve with ice cream (I recommend Haagen Dazs 5-ingredient Vanilla...heaven!)

You want pie, you got it!  TidyMom is hosting a Love the Pie Party today!

Guest Post from my 10-year-old Neighbor :) *Mini Pecan Pies*

You guys may remember I live next door to a real-life blogger and all-around wonderful person, Kristen from We Are THAT Family. Her precious 10-year-old daughter is guest posting here today.

One day, she mentioned that she loves cooking shows and LOVES Paula Deen & Rachael Ray. So, I loaned her my Paula Deen's Lady & Sons Cookbook.

I kid you not, two hours later she was on my doorstep with warm snickerdoodles. You guys, I got a little teary-eyed.

Here she is...my super sweet in every way, 10-year-old neighbor...

Hey Yall!

I'm Wearethatfamily's  oldest daughter!

 

My wonderful neighbor Bridget and I both love to cook. I made a yummy dessert (Mini Pecan Pies) from a Paula Deen cook book she let me borrow.

I served it  at my mom's jewelry party and it was a huge hit! They tasted just like real pecan pies!

Here's the recipe so you can make it too:

Mini Pecan Pies crust

8 tablespoons butter

1 cup all purpose flour

1 3-ounce package of cream cheese

Preheat your oven to 325.  Soften the cream cheese and butter in the microwave

and then blend it well. Now stir in the flour until you have a dough like mixture.

Let your dough chill for an hour.

While your dough is chilling, use this recipe to make the filling for your pies.

Mini Pecan Pies filling

1 egg
 3/4 c. brown sugar
1 tablespoon of butter

1 teaspoon of vanilla

a dash of salt 

2 thirds of a cup of pecans

First beat your egg, sugar, vanilla, and salt until  it's smooth.  Once your 

dough is chilled,  roll  it into pecan size balls and squish them in the cupcake tins to cover the bottom. Pour your filling in the tins and top with pecans.

Bake for 25 minutes and enjoy!  They will make about twenty four!

I hope yours taste as good as mine did!

Isn't she adorable?!? I was lucky enough to sample a few, ok SEVERAL, of these and they were delicious!

Thank you, sweet neighbor, for guest posting at Bake at 350! I hope you'll come back soon!!!

Mr. E 's Not-So-Key Lime Pie

Mr. E's birthday was last week.  He's not a fan of cake...he'll eat it, but he'd never request it.  He wanted PIE...Key Lime Pie.

I waited until the night before his birthday to run to my favorite grocery store.  My favorite grocery that stocks EVERYTHING....espresso powder, dutch-process cocoa, Marcona almonds, vanilla bean paste...and they had no.Key.Limes.

So, here's what you do when your store is out of Key Limes...you make LIME PIE.  And it is sweet and creamy and tangy....I'll never cry over Key Limes again!

Not-So-Key LIME Pie
{modified from Betty Crocker Cookbook (Bridal Edition)}

graham cracker crust for a 9" pie pan
3 eggs
1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk
1 and 1/2 tsp. lime zest
1/2 c. lime juice
sweetened whipped cream

Make and pre-bake the graham cracker crust (here is the one I used, oh how I love it...a little salty, sweet, perfect).  Let cool.

Preheat oven to 350.

Beat the eggs, condensed milk, zest and juice until well-blended.  Pour into the prepared pie crust.

Bake 30 minutes, or until set.

Cool on a wire rack for 30 minutes to 1 hour.  Transfer to the refrigerator and let chill at least 2 hours.

Dollop on sweetened whipped cream or pipe on using a large star tip.

The birthday boy was happy....and never missed those Key Limes!

Perfecto Graham Cracker Crust . . . Works for Me Wednesday

Here is my recently discovered trick for making perfect graham cracker crusts....use a measuring cup to press the crust mixture into the pie pan!

Using a measuring cup helps keep the crust even, makes the sides pretty and keeps your fingers from getting buttery.  (Not that buttery fingers were ever a BAD thing.)

{If you're so inclined, you can even lick the bottom of the measuring cup when you're finished. I'm not saying I did that.}

This is a great recipe for graham cracker crust...I used it again this week for Mr. E's birthday pie.  More on that later....

Graham Cracker Crust
{source: Betty Crocker Cookbook (Bridal Edition) }

1 and 1/2 cup finely crushed graham cracker crumbs
1/3 c. butter, melted (I used salted)
3 TBSP sugar

Preheat oven to 350.

Combine all of the ingredients.  Press into the bottom and sides of a 9" pie pan. 

Bake 10 minutes.  Let cool completely before filling.

So simple and utterly yummy!  Graham Cracker Crust works for me!  What's working for YOU this week?

I know what boys like, I know what guys want . . .

...well, not really. But, I am dedicating the month of June on the blog to MEN! That's right....it's time for:

Desserts for Dudes!

We do a lot of cute around here and I thought the month of Fathers' Day was the perfect time to go macho and honor our dads, husbands, sons, brothers, uncles with sugar. On the blog and twitter, I asked what your dad's favorite dessert is. Turns out, dads have a lot of favorites. But, there was a winner.....PIE, and not just any pie, pecan pie!

This recipe I cut out of a magazine years ago. There isn't a magazine name at the bottom, but just "October/November 2004." I knew I was hanging on to this baby for a reason!

Caramel Pecan Pie
{adapted from unknown magazine 2004 :)}

crust:
1 c. unbleached, all-purpose flour
1/2 c. cake flour
1 TBSP sugar
1/2 tsp. coarse salt
6 TBSP unsalted butter, cut into pieces
3 TBSP shortening, chilled
3-4 TBSP ice water

filling:
1 c. heavy whipping cream
2 TBSP unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 & 1/3 c. sugar
1/2 c. water
1 TBSP corn syrup
2 & 1/2 c. pecan halves
2 tsp. vanilla

Line a baking sheet with parchment. Place pecans on a baking sheet in a single layer and bake at 350 for 5 minutes. Set aside to cool.

In a food processor, pulse the flours, sugar and salt until combined. Add the butter and cold shortening; pulse until the mixture looks like coarse crumbs with a few pea-sized clumps. Add 3 TBSP water and pulse until a dough just begins to form. Add more water, 1 teaspoon at a time if needed.

Dump the dough onto a lightly floured surface and roll into a 12" circle. Place in a 10" (9" is ok) pie tin. Trim and flute the edges. Place in the freezer for 30 minutes, or until firm.

Preheat the oven to 375. Line the crust with foil and fill with dried beans or pie weights. Bake in the lower half of the oven 15 minutes; remove foil and beans and bake an additional 20 minutes, until the crust is golden brown. Cool on a wire rack.

For the filling, heat the cream and 2 TBSP butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. When butter melts and the mixture is hot, remove from heat and cover to keep warm.

Combine sugar, water and corn syrup in a medium saucepan. Cover and cook over medium heat, without stirring, until sugar dissolves.

Dip a pastry brush in water. Uncover the pan and brush the sides with the wet pastry brush to brush down any stray sugar crystals. Increase heat to med-high and boil until sugar becomes a golden brown (about 5 minutes).

Remove from heat. Slowly add the cream, the mixture WILL bubble up, and stir until the boiling stops and the mixture is smooth. Stir in the pecans and vanilla.

Let sit 15 minutes (I forgot to do this...oh, no! This may be why mine was a little runny.)

Pour into baked crust and let sit at least 3 hours until cooled and set. (You can stick in the the fridge once cooled.)

---

Now, *I* thought a brown sugar whipped cream would be delicious with this. Mr. E assured me that ice cream is much more manly, soooooooo, top this pie with ice cream.
If you don't have time to (or interest in) making ice cream, let me suggest Haagen-Dazs 5-ingredient ice cream, Vanilla Bean. I am not a big fan of plain ol' vanilla ice cream. This ice cream, though, with its flecks of vanilla bean, I could eat in one sitting. It's creamy, vanilla-y and decadent! Trust me.

The pie is delicious...the caramel with the pecans all tucked into a buttery crust...but I'll admit, it is a bit soupy. Now, Mr. E assures me this is not a problem...it tastes good and that's what counts. Hey, it's Desserts for Dudes, who am I to argue?

Well, I hope during this month, you'll see one of your dude's favorite desserts! We'll be back to pink and sprinkles next month, not to worry. :)

{Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a 2nd piece of pie to eat!}

And, thank you, thank you to MutheringHeight who helped in the naming of this month! Duuude, you rock!

Kiddo in the Kitchen: Milk Chocolate Pretzel Tart

Kiddo would live on pretzels if I would let him. I've leaned down to kiss him good-night only to hear a crinkling sound and find the bag under his pillow.

But, I'm a mean mom and make him vary up his menu a little with fruit and protein, veggies, and well, cookies.

For this edition of Kiddo in the Kitchen, kiddo chose from my stack of recipes torn from magazines. I'm not sure where this one came from, but I'm going to guess it was Food & Wine.

(This recipe has a lot of waiting time...chilling the dough, rolling and re-chilling, cooling the crust, cooling the ganache and finally time for the tart to set-up. That said, I don't think it's the best recipe to make with a 4-year-old. Not much instant gratification. :))

Milk Chocolate Pretzel Tart

1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1 & 1/2 c. thin pretzels, coarsely crushed
3/4 c. powdered sugar
1/2 c. flour
1 egg
2 oz. bittersweet chocolate, melted
1 & 1/2 c. heavy cream
3/4 lb. milk chocolate, chopped
Sea Salt (Maldon or Fleur de Sel)
crushed pretzels

Beat the butter with 3/4 c. crushed pretzels and powdered sugar at low speed until creamy. Beat in the flour and egg. Stir in the remaining 1/2 c. pretzels.

Flatten the dough between 2 sheets of waxed paper and refrigerate at least 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350. Roll out the dough between the waxed paper to 12" round. Peel off the top sheet and invert over a 10" tart pan. Press dough into the corners and patch any tears. Trim dough and refrigerate 30 minutes.

{Kiddo wants you to know he did not CHOOSE the heart-shaped pan...it's the only one I have. Whew...crisis averted.}

Line the shell with parchment and fill with pie weights.

{Or dried black-eyed peas in our case.}

Bake for 30 minutes. Remove the parchment and weights and bake for another 10 minutes. Cover the edges with foil if needed. Let cool completely.

Brush the crust with melted bittersweet chocolate. Refrigerate 10 minutes.

In a medium saucepan, bring the cream to a simmer. Place the chopped chocolate in a bowl. Pour the cream over the chocolate; let stand 5 minutes. Whisk until smooth. Let sit at room temperature for 45 minutes, until it is a room temperature.

Pour the filling into the shell and refrigerate until set, at least 4 hours.

Before serving, sprinkle lightly with sea salt and crushed pretzels.

Kiddo gives it a...drum roll, please...

THE END

In Memory of Marge . . .

When my uncle's call came yesterday, it wasn't a surprise. My grandmother had been sick with Alzheimer's and lung cancer for a while now. Almost ten years after we lost my mom, Nana is joining her and my grandfather....wouldn't that be cool if they greeted her with a Goldie's Hamburger? ;)

{This is Nana with my mom, 1945.}

My Nana's picture just might be in your dictionary under the word "character." She went to mass every morning and her favorite word was "sh@#." {That's the truth.} She was the craziest dancer at every wedding (though, my Uncle Mike & my sister are running neck & neck for that title now).

{This was always the picture I would stare at when I visited. I love this picture!}

She was in the Women's Army Corps in WWII and she and my papa got engaged at Pat O'Briens in New Orleans. {No wonder I like those Hurricanes so much!}


{Here we are in 1979. Nana had that same hair-do for 40 years. I'm on the left. Knee socks & sandals were high fashion apparently.}

Now, to me, Marge wasn't known as a cook or a baker. I remember her with a crochet hook in her hand rather than in the kitchen. But every time we visited, there were always two cream pies in the fridge...always chocolate and either lemon or coconut. She was famous for her "macaroni & meat" (pasta, tomato sauce and ground beef....totally kid heaven) and made a mean whiskey sour.

So, I made a Chocolate Cream Pie in her honor.

Chocolate Cream Pie
{Recipe modified from Food & Wine magazine}

6 ounces, about 1 & 1/2 c. Oreos (just the wafer part), or chocolate wafer cookies
4 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
Pinch of fine sea salt

2 cups whole milk
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
3 egg yolks
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
4 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
1 ounce unsweetened chocolate, chopped
3/4 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

make the crust: Preheat the oven to 350°.

Using a food processor, finely grind the Oreo cookies (not the creamy centers...do with them what you will).

In a medium bowl, mix the cookie crumbs with the sugar and salt. Stir in the melted butter until the crumbs are evenly moistened.

Pour the mixture into a 9-inch glass pie dish and press evenly over the bottom and up the side of the dish to form a crust. Bake for 8 minutes, until the crust is fragrant.

Remove from the oven and, using the bottom of a drinking glass, immediately press the crumbs again to compact the crust. (brilliant idea from F&W!) Let cool completely.

make the filling: In a large bowl, whisk the egg yolks with 1/4 cup of the sugar, the cornstarch and salt. Set aside.

In a medium saucepan, heat the milk with 1/4 cup of the sugar until bubbles form around the edge. Gradually whisk the hot milk mixture into the yolk mixture.

Pour into the saucepan and cook over moderate heat, whisking constantly, until very thick, about 3 minutes.

Remove from the heat and whisk in the semisweet and unsweetened chocolate until smooth. Strain the chocolate filling into the pie crust through a coarse sieve (this does not work with a fine sieve, I tried!) and smooth the surface with a rubber spatula.

Press a piece of plastic wrap directly on the surface of the pie filling and refrigerate for 3 hours, until chilled.

{Nana made this ♥ doily!}

Let the pie stand at room temperature for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, beat the cream with the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar and the vanilla until firm. Spread the whipped cream over the pie, cut into wedges and serve, garnished with chocolate shavings, if desired.


Nana...we will miss you. The dance floor at the next family wedding won't be the same without you. And, I'll think of you the next time I say, "sh@#"...it shouldn't be long.



{Works for Me Wednesday and the "troubleshooting" post will be back next week.}