Pumpkin Spice Madeleines

Pumpkin Spice Madeleines

As I have written before, I do have an addiction to those luscious shell-shaped sponge tea cakes known as Madeleines.  I have never strayed far from the David Lebovitz recipe that has always worked so well for me.  However, sometimes you just have to take a walk on the wild side and hope it works!  Here are links for the Lemon-Glazed Madeleines and the Vanilla Bean Madeleines I have made in the past....just in case you want to check them out.

I looked at a lot of blog posts and online recipes, trying to find a recipe very close to Chef Lebovitz's, with the addition of some Autumnal spices...and I was focused on adding pumpkin.  Not much luck.  There were several out there...some with pumpkin, some with just the spices.  None of the recipes were very close though.  So, I got brave and just decided to experiment.  Flop or fabulous?  It's never really wise to mess with a classic recipe...especially when you are hoping to take the goodies to a special occasion (going to take some to author William J. Cobb's The Bird Saviors book signing at Paragraph's on Padre Blvd).  Mehh, I'm doing it anyway....and here's how I did it.

Pumpkin Spice Madeleines
Based on Recipe from David Lebovitz
Makes 24 Madeleines

Ingredients:

3 large eggs, at room temperature (important to be at room temp)
2/3 cup (130g) granulated sugar
rounded 1/8 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cup (175g) flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
9 tablespoons (120g) unsalted butter, melted and cooled to room temperature, plus additional melted butter for preparing the molds
1 teaspoon pure vanilla bean paste
1/4 cup pumpkin puree (I used canned pumpkin)

Glaze:
(this is double the original recipe)
1 1/2 cup (300g) powdered sugar, sifted
1 1/2 tablespoon vanilla bean paste
4-5 tablespoons water (you judge the thickness you like)

Method:

1. Brush the indentations of a Madeleine mold with melted butter. Dust with flour, tap off any excess, and place in the fridge or freezer. (I use a non-stick pan, so I wipe with softened butter instead, using a paper towel...I have found the melted butter pools in the bottom of the non-stick pan causing flour to clump and uneven browning...lesson learned)

2. In the bowl of a standing electric mixer, whip the eggs, granulated sugar, and salt for 5 minutes until frothy and thickened. (it routinely takes me 7 minutes to get to a ribbon stage)

3. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, and dry spices.  Spoon the flour mixture into a sifter or mesh strainer and use a spatula to fold in the flour as you sift it over the batter. (Rest the bowl on a damp towel to help steady it for you.)  Remember to fold gently - you want to keep the air incorporated into the mixture for a light sponge.

4. Add the vanilla bean paste and pumpkin puree to the almost cooled butter and whisk until completely smoothed out (and allow it to cool all the way).  Dribble the butter mixture into the batter, a few spoonfuls at a time, while simultaneously folding to incorporate the butter. Fold just until all the butter is incorporated.  Again, being cautious to fold gently to maintain incorporated air.

I prefer making the pumpkin butter before you need it

Gentle folding is integral

5. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. (Batter can be chilled for up to 12 hours)

6. To bake the Madeleines, preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

7. Plop enough batter in the center of each indentation sufficient to fill it by 3/4's (you'll have to eyeball it, but it's not exact science, don't worry if it's not perfect - mine are never all the same size) Do not spread the batter - let it stay the way it lands.**(See note below)

This is the second batch

8. Bake for 8-9 minutes or until the cakes just feel set when pressed gently with your finger. (These took exactly 8 minutes in my oven)

9. While the cakes are baking, make a glaze in a small mixing bowl by stirring together the sifted powdered sugar, vanilla bean paste, and water until smooth.  Use a bowl suitable for dipping the Madeleines.

I like a thicker glaze so I doubled the original recipe amount.
I ended up with leftovers this time...oh well, rather too
much than not enough!

10. Remove from the oven and tilt the Madeleines out onto a cooling rack.

The moment they're cool enough to handle, dip each cake in the glaze, turning them over to make sure both sides are coated and scrape off any excess with a dull knife (or the side of the bowl)  After dipping, rest each one back on a cooling rack, scalloped side up, until the cakes are cool and the glaze has firmed up. (Put a baking sheet under your cooling rack to catch any stray drips). 

Storage: glazed Madeleines are best left uncovered, or not tightly-wrapped; they're best eaten the day they're made. They can be kept in a container for up to three days after baking, if necessary. Freezing a glazed Madeleine doesn't really work - the glaze melts.

Have I mentioned how much I adore Madeleines?  To me, they are the ultimate bite-sized treat (okay, 3 bites).  A happy middle ground between a cookie and a cupcake; glazed not frosted.  They are, in my humble opinion, one of the absolute best treats you can have with a cup of good coffee or hot tea.  I will admit, also, that I love the traditional lemon-glazed the best.  I'm a lemon lover.  The rest of my household, not so much.  Thus, the "always thinking about it" search for different ways to make a favorite treat and make it family-friendly.  I think they are going to love the Pumpkin Spice Madeleines.  They are really tasty and the recipe tweaking worked out mostly okay.

What's different?  Well, they are much more dense, although still spongy.  They only vaguely taste of pumpkin because there was not much in it.  The spices are just right in my opinion, but it could handle a touch more to enhance the pumpkin pie flavor I was going for.  The mixing of the pumpkin and butter is, I believe, the reason they did not spread as much as usual.  **They didn't make it to the top or bottom of the mold shape.  They puffed up more than usual...they are supposed to have a "bump" - but these were completely round on the bottom.  Probably the mixing of the pumpkin butter instead of straight up melted butter is again the blame...I believe anyway.  The batter was "tighter" than usual - again the density result of adding pumpkin?  More "air holes" in the Madeleines as well.  I even tried give the pan a good bang after filling the second pan - but that did nothing - in fact there were more air holes in the second batch than the first.  I tried to fill the holes with glaze with my fingers...that didn't particularly work.  If I make them again, I am going to try skipping the pumpkin to keep the texture more true to traditional...and maybe bump up the spices a tad.  I like the little bump on traditional Madeleines and that was totally missing on these...a fully rounded bottom instead.

Still, the shape looks okay because it had all the mandatory scallops.  They taste delicious and pretty much how I imagined.  I give them a thumbs up for a nice Fall version of a traditional French cakelet.  I suspect purists would NOT agree.  I've never claimed to be pure, now have I? (batting my eyes)

Bon Appetit, Y'all!!!

Shared With:

Ali Bee's Bake Shop Pumpkin Linky Party

Sweet Treats and Swanky Stuff Linky Party





 

 

 

Halloween Cookies

As previously reported, life is rather hectic right now and baking and blogging are still on a back burner.  I did, however, find time to bake off some Halloween cut-outs using LilaLoa's chocolate sugar cookie recipe and popped them into the freezer for later decorating.  It's taken me over a week, off and on, to get this first batch decorated.  The stress of life-at-the-moment is unfortunately evident in shaky hands!  I made myself have fun with these instead of getting all worked up over imperfections.  I delivered a couple of the first batch (pumpkins) to local friends.  The rest of these will be for the hubs and teen...and a box will be delivered to my grand kids in Austin.  I am having my first foray into freezing decorated cookies.  Fingers crossed.

I've never used this much black royal icing before...I am envisioning black teeth on everyone eating them...but that's all in the Halloween spirit, right???



Creepy spiders and huge spider webs
 

Fall pumpkins

Poor bats - some of their wings don't match right and left...but
I didn't notice until I was finished...oh well!

Bristle-tailed cats - I wasn't sure if they were mean or scared once
I got finished with them!

Ever wonder what the difference in plastic and metal cookie cutters is?
Look at the not-so-crisp edges of the owl (plastic and shallow cutter)
vs the edges of the spider and web below (metal and deep cutter).  It really
does make a difference.
 

I got this set FREE as a winner in a contest on Facebook.
Sweet Art Factory and Karen's Cookies are my favorite
online product providers for my baking needs!  They
also have great tutorials and YouTube videos to help
me along!!!

I have another batch of dough in the fridge - just regular sugar cookies.  I realized I didn't have good cookie cutters for Halloween - mostly plastic.  I like crisp edges.  So, I am expecting a delivery today of 18 new Halloween cutters...all metal!  I sure hope my next batch pays off with sharp edging (and a less shaky hand!)

Bon Appetit, Y'all!!!

SHARED WITH:

BLUEBERRY CREAM CHEESE BREAD

I have been away for quite a while - my Mom is in the hospital, and has been since mid-September.  Baking and doing fun things has really been placed on the back-burner.  This has been one of the first cooking/baking endeavors in weeks.  It is a worthy project for a return to blogging!

I found this recipe online several months ago and pinned it on my Pinterest Board of recipes I'd like to try.  It just looked so yummy and I finally got around to making it.  Despite it taking a boatload of mixing bowls, spatulas, measuring cups, and measuring spoons - I'm definitely happy with the outcome.  Being a first try, I didn't change the recipe.  I did have to bake it longer.  It simply was not done at the recommended time.  So, the recipe I've typed below includes that note...and a few other of my thoughts and additional instructions (in italics usually).

I found the recipe at Tasty Kitchen and encourage you to link back to the site and scope out their many yummy recipes.  This one was posted by Savannah in the Breads section.  In my opinion, it is more like a cake - and was eaten with a fork by my family.  We also liked it after it was at room temperature...everything firmed up nicely and it was easier to slice.  The recipe said prep time was 20 minutes...well, she's a better cook than me.  It took me over 50 minutes to pull this together and get it in the oven.  Of course, I had to stop for many photos...maybe that was the problem.

So, here it is...lots of effort, but worth it for a special breakfast or brunch.

Blueberry Cream Cheese Bread
by Savannah at Tasty Kitchen: A Happy Recipe Community

INGREDIENTS:

For the Bread Batter:

1/2 cup butter (I used salted)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 egg yolks
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup milk
1 1/2 cups Blueberries (up to 2 cups she said - I used a pint)
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
2 egg whites
1/4 cup white granulated sugar

For the Filling:

8 ounces, weight, Cream Cheese (softened)
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon flour
1 whole egg
1 tablespoon Orange zest

For the Glaze:

2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon water

METHOD:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Filling:
In a medium bowl, combine cream cheese, sugar, 1 tablespoon flour, whole egg, and orange zest; beat until smooth.  Set aside.

Glaze:
Stir together the glaze ingredients (2 Tbsp sugar, 1/2 tsp vanilla, 1 tsp water) and set aside.

Bread:
Cream butter and 1/2 cup sugar until fluffy.  Add salt and vanilla.  Add egg yolks (be sure to save the egg whites for later) to the sugar mixture; beat until creamy.  Set aside.
In another bowl, combine 1 1/2 cups flour and 1 tsp baking powder.  Add this to the butter and sugar mixture, alternating with milk (1/3 four, 1/2 milk, 1/3 flour, 1/2 milk, last third of flour.  Very stiff batter.)
In another bowl, coat blueberries with 1 tablespoon flour and add them to the batter. (Note - when I do this again, I'm changing this to the last addition - I squished many berries by adding them to such a dense batter - which is lightened in the next step with egg whites...it makes sense to me to add them at the end.  However, I followed recipe and added them at this point).
In a separate bowl, beat egg whites until soft peaks form.  Add 1/4 cup sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, and beat until stiff peaks form.  Fold egg whites into batter.

Putting it into pan:
Pour 1/2 of the blueberry batter (or a little less) into a floured and greased pan.  Smooth it with a spatula.
Layer the filling over the batter - smooth it with a spatula.
Finish with the remainder of batter - carefully smoothing to the edge of the pan.  This will create a layer of "cheesecake" between the blueberry bread layers.
Pour glaze over top of UNBAKED loaf and place in preheated 350 degree oven for 55-60 minutes.
(As stated above, mine took longer to bake - a total of 1 hour 15 minutes and it was perfect)

I allowed the bread to cool 20 minutes in the pan on a rack.  I turned it out onto a tray and allowed it to firm up for another 15-20 minutes or so...then we couldn't wait any longer to try it. 

It was still crumbly (and firmed up much more within a few hours).  Very, very delicious!  We had large slabs with our coffee.  Not overly sweet but, a bit more cake-like than bread-like to me.  I just had another piece with coffee while I wrote this post.  Excellent the next day as well!!!

Bon Appetit, Y'all!!!

SHARED WITH:

Chef House - South Padre Island!

UPDATE MAY 2015 - REPORTED CLOSED AT SOUTH PADRE ISLAND LOCATION

UPDATE NOVEMBER 2013:

Chef's House Restaurant is now on the island! At the south end, at 1500 Gulf Blvd in former Padre Bar near the Padre South Hotel. Same owners; same fantastic food. Check it out.

I have been wanting to try this small intimate restaurant that gets such great raves on the various review web sites...and I always seem to be wandering that way on a day or time they are closed.  They are open for breakfast and lunch only and are closed on Monday.  Today, however, my sister and I were "on" for lunch following a mani/pedi at our favorite Venus Nails and Spa on the island.  I suggested The Chef House and she was game.  We are soooo glad we made it.  It has lived up to the raves and every table was filled by the time we departed (there are not a lot of tables mind you, it is a small venue).  We started with glasses of iced tea and they served a complimentary basket of freshly made tortilla chips and 3 delicious salsas.  All were very good - and unusual - and not overly spicy!  Excellent start to the meal.

The have a menu of both Mexican and American cuisine and I have heard everyone say "get the daily special" if you are there for lunch.  My sister opted for a grilled chicken breast with some unknown spice and the waitress offered an alternate of a mushroom sauce if she preferred...which she did.  She was not disappointed.  Beautifully plated with refried beans, an amarillo rice, and a grated cabbage salad, she said it was very delicious.  I tasted a bite and concur! The only thing she didn't care for was the cabbage salad - not dressed, it was bland. Everything else on the plate was outstanding.

I opted for the special of the day.  The special includes a main entree, soup of the day, dessert, and iced tea.  Today it was a pork loin with some unknown, yet delectable, spices and a rich creamy sauce...and the soup of the day was cream of asparagus.  I couldn't have been more pleased.

The soup was creamy deliciousity.  I ate every single drop of a very generous bowl.  Then, out came my stylishly plated pork loin leaning against one of the best mashed potatoes I've ever eaten, topped with fresh greens, lightly sauteed red onions, and a marvelous cream sauce.  The loin was so tender it was easily cut with a standard table knife.  It was simply to die for!  Happy, happy tummy :-)

Feeling full at the halfway point, we boxed up the leftovers for my sister's husband and we were both served the perfect small bite of dessert.  I love to have dessert, but rarely order it out...because it is too much.  This was the perfect little mini sponge chocolate cakelet topped with a sprinkling of finely diced fresh fruit and light sauce on top of chocolate sauce....yummmmm I nearly wanted to lick the plate.  It was "just right" as Goldie Locks would say!

I can't wait to go back - I want to try it for breakfast.  It is likely a spot you have driven by many times and didn't even know it existed.  I learned about it via word of mouth.  I almost didn't want to blog about it - I want to keep the perfect ambiance of unrushed personalized dining that really makes it one of my new favorite places to dine!

Oh yes... one of the best parts...our check was under $25 for all of the above.  WOW!

Bon Appetit, Y'all!!!

UPDATE 10/25/2012:

Went to Chef's House for Brunch on 10/23/2012.  I had the Migas with Eggs and Salsa - side of bacon - side of corn tortillas.  OUTSTANDING.  Mr. Flip Flop had the Florentino Omelet with a tasty potato cake.  He said it was absolutely delicious.  Complimentary small-bite dessert again - awesome!

Then, went to lunch with my lady friends today.  I had the beef enchiladas with red sauce. OMG - the beef was roasted and tender, not ground beef.  The tortillas were tender, the sauce appropriate to my please-don't-burn-me palate and coated with delicious melty cheese.  One of my friends had the carnitas - she said they were delicious.  The dessert was slightly different - still the perfect bite - and so very nicely presented.

Rating remains unchanged from the original visit!  Small venue - patience pays off!

SPI FLIP FLOP FOODIE RATING:

5 – OMG – that was an outstanding meal!  I can’t wait to go back J

The Cafe on the Beach for Lunch

Sister Sheryl is on the island and we decided to lunch together somewhere she has never gone before.  I had told her about how much I enjoyed the location and food at the Cafe on the Beach at Palms Resort...and she said she was "in".  We had a nice 15 minute stroll down the beach from her temporary island home to arrive at the beach access in front of the cafe.  She immediately started commenting how cute it was and wondering how had they missed it all of these years.  I told her I didn't really find it until we moved here in 2008, so it wasn't really surprising.

When we arrived, there were plenty of tables open...by the time we left it was completely full!  I admit I was a bit surprised at a full restaurant, at lunch on a week day, off season!  One waiter handled it all...and did an excellent job.

We started with both of us ordering the Tropical Tea - sister loved it.  We spent a lot of time perusing the menu and I finally decided on my "regular" - a delicious Beachfront Salad with grilled chicken.  While certainly delicious, I was greatly disappointed that it was missing the Parmesan crisps and caramelized pecans that really go towards "making" this salad extra special.  I guess for a $19 salad ($13.95 plus $5 for the chicken addition), I expect to get all that is advertised.  But, as I said, still delicious.

As described on the Menu:  Beachfront Salad
"Fresh spring mix lettuce using  organic greens
from local organic farms with tomato, kalamata
olives, pears, hearts of palm, Maytag bleu cheese,
and mandarin oranges with tangerine  balsamic
vinaigrette dressing.  Topped with Parmesan crisps
and caramelized pecans."

Sissie ordered the Spinning "Crispy" Chef Salad as a tryout for her husband, Rob.  He likes the chef salads apparently and she was hoping to lure him back down there because she knew he would enjoy the beachfront location....but only if the food was as equally delicious as the view!

As described on menu:  Spinning "Crispy" Chef Salad
Julienne ham, turkey, provolone,  Kalamata olives,
boiled eggs, organic greens from local organic farms,
hearts of palm, tomatoes, and Maytag bleu cheese tossed
with honey mustard dressing..  Served in a crispy
fresh made flour tortilla shell. 

I will likely get that salad the next time I come - I tasted hers and it was delicious.  I do love honey mustard and have gotten kind of stuck in the awesome rut of their Beachfront Salad...but that chef salad was a new contender in my game!  A good buy for $12.95.

Mostly we enjoyed the cool breeze, the gorgeous flowers bloomed up in the low dunes in front of the restaurant (due to a couple of days of good rain) and the beauty of the Gulf Coast.

It's a small place, very personal, and I've never had a bad meal there.  Fingers crossed it never changes!  I haven't talked to my sister yet, but last night when the teen and I joined her family for a delicious lobster dinner, she was encouraging her husband to walk down with her for breakfast (she'd checked out the breakfast menu while we waited for our food).  I hope, if she went, that her second trip was as enjoyable as the first!

Bon Appetit, Y'all!!!

SPI FLIP FLOP FOODIE RATING:

4 – Lip smackin’ - good quality – flip flops will definitely be parked under their table again!