Recipe Swap: Cinnamon Sugar Baked Pumpkin Doughnuts

Who likes pumpkin?  I'm pretty sure it's everyone's favorite Fall treat!  And though Spring is my personal favorite season, there's something very charming about Fall as well.  Pumpkin, Apples, Spices, and Cider are just a few of my favorite flavors from this season.

For this edition of Blogger's Choice What's Cooking Recipe Swap, I received the blog So Tasty, So Yummy again!  Last time I got Katie's blog, I made Oven Baked Sriracha Chicken.  This time, I went seasonal and sweet...but still quite healthy!

I've only used my doughnut pan a few times and I'm realizing just now that this is actually the first baked doughnut that has made it to my blog.  Baked doughnuts rock because they're a real treat without much real guilt.  Sure they're not *exactly* the same as their fried counterpart but flavor for your calories is a nice balance.  These doughnuts were quite moist (love how pumpkin has that effect on baked goods!) and deliciously spiced.  While I enjoy cinnamon sugar dusted doughnuts, I hate the mess they make.  I always find myself eating them while standing over a sink or trash can to catch my mess!  Anyone else do this??  After I made them, I thought how wonderful they'd also be with something like a maple icing glaze or frosting.  Oh my!

One Year Ago: Coconut Basil Curry with Basil and Pecans
Three Years Ago: Christine's Fried Rice

Cinnamon Sugar Baked Pumpkin Doughnuts

Yields: 2 dozen mini- or 1 dozen full-sized doughnuts

Ingredients

For the Doughnuts

• 1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar
• 6 Tbsp milk
• 1/2 cup fresh or canned pumpkin puree
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 3 Tbsp unsweetened applesauce
• 2 Tbsp brown sugar
• 2 Tbsp butter, melted
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ginger
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1 1/2 cups flour

For Finishing

• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease two mini doughnut pans or two regular sized doughnut pans using cooking spray.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together vinegar, milk, pumpkin, sugar, applesauce, brown sugar (sift if clumpy), and melted butter.  Sift in the dry ingredients (baking powder, baking soda, spices, salt, and flours).  Mix until just combined.
3. Spoon batter into a plastic bag and snip off the corner then pipe into the wells of the prepared doughnut pan.  Alternatively, spoon batter directly into the pan, about half full.
4. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until they gently spring back when touched.  Cool in the pan for 10 minutes before carefully using a butter knife to remove doughnuts from the pan.
5. Combine the powdered sugar and cinnamon in a ziplock bag.  Seal and toss to coat.  
6. Transfer several cooled doughnuts at a time into the bag with the cinnamon sugar and shake until thoroughly coated.  Repeat with remaining doughnuts.

Source: So Tasty, So Yummy

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Cheesecake Cake

First, a HUGE thank you for everyone that came and read the story of our angel and/or lit candles on Monday.  Having nearly 700 people be touched by our story was beyond my expectations.  Your kind notes and photos validated to me that "coming out" was worth it and I read so many inspirational stories.  Thank you again for your love and support.

Back to recipe sharing.  I am SO shamefully behind on blogging again.  This has been sitting in "draft" mode for TWO MONTHS and I only know this because that's when my husband's birthday was and that was the occasion for this cake as you'll see below.



Photo Credit: Emily H.

My husband is a peanut butter addict and every single year for his birthday, I give him several cake options to choose from.  Why I bother to include non-peanut butter options I'm never sure because inevitably, the more peanut butter in the recipe, the more likely he is to choose it!

Let's recap previous years, shall we?

• Two Years Ago: Peanut Butter Fudge Cheesecake.  I thought this was decadent back then but in retrospect, this was quite tame!
• One Year Ago: Peanut Butter Cup Chocolate Cheesecake.  This was basically a homemade version of his favorite Cheesecake Factory cheesecake.  It was absurd with its NINE layers of chocolate cake, cheesecake, peanut butter, caramel, ganache.  You name a rich and sinful ingredient and it was packed into this single cake.  Simply looking at it made you gain weight.

This year?  Originally after tasting last year's cake he told me that was the end-all-be-all-mother-of-all-cakes that he wanted to have each year for the rest of his life.  It was indeed a contender in this year's cake selections.  But then I think he felt bad at how labor intensive and caloric it was.  And so came this year's simplified version.  Peanut butter?  Check.  Peanut Butter Cups?  With modifications, check.  Chocolate?  Check.  Cheesecake layers (which I didn't realize was a criteria until recapping just now)?  Check.

What's laughable about this recipe was that as originally written, it "didn't have enough peanut butter".  So, I threw some peanut butter cups into the cheesecake layer and then spread straight peanut butter between the cheesecake and cake layers.  Suddenly, we were in business.

This cake had many of the same flavors as last year's cake but with much less effort.  It had peanut butter frosting instead of chocolate, which I think might have made it better for in my husband's eyes.  (Remember what I said about more peanut butter = better, right?)  It got the approval of all of our friends and the wait staff who couldn't believe it was homemade.  Win!

Here's the very happy Birthday Boy! Photo Credit: Emily H.

One Year Ago: Pan-Fried Okra
Three Years Ago: Chicken Pot Pie

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Cheesecake Cake

Photo Credit: Emily H.

Ingredients

For the Cheesecake

• 1 1/4 pounds (20 oz) cream cheese, room temperature
• 3/4 cups sugar
• 1/2 Tbsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp coarse salt
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 8 peanut butter cups, roughly chopped

For the Cake:

• Butter, for greasing the pans
• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting the pans
• 2 cups sugar
• 3/4 cups good-quality cocoa powder
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1 cup buttermilk, shaken
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup freshly brewed hot coffee

For the Frosting:

• 8 oz cream cheese, softened
• 3 cups powdered sugar
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 2 1/4 cups creamy peanut butter (not natural), divided
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup heavy cream

Directions

For the Cheesecake:
(Can be made in advance)

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Set a kettle of water to boil.
2. Using an electric mixer, beat cream cheese on medium speed until fluffy, scraping down the bowl as necessary.  Gradually add sugar, beating until fluffy.  Beat in vanilla extract and salt.  Beat in eggs, one at a time, scraping down the bowl after each addition.  Beat in sour cream.  Gently fold in chopped peanut butter cups.
3. Cut parchment paper in a circle and line the bottom of a springform pan.  Wrap the bottom half of the pan in foil.  Pour in the cheesecake filling.  Place springform pan in a roasting pan.  Pour boiling water to come halfway up the sides of the springform.
4. Bake until just set in the center, about 45 minutes.  Remove pan from water and allow to cool for 20 minutes.  Run a paring knife around the edge and let cool completely.  Cover and chill overnight.  Then, wrap in plastic wrap and freeze.

For the Cake:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Butter 2 9-inch round cake pans.  Line with parchment paper then butter and flour the pans.
2. Sift together the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in the bowl of a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment.  Mix on low until combined.
3. In another bowl, combine the buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla.  
4. With the mixer on low, slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry.  With the mixer still on low, add the coffee and stir just to combine.  Scrap the bottom of the bowl as necessary.
5. Pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.  Cool in the pans for 30 minutes then turn them out on a cooling rack to finish cooling completely.

For the Frosting:

1. Beat cream cheese and 1 1/2 cups peanut butter with a mixer on medium speed.    Reserve the remaining 3/4 cups peanut butter for assembly.  
2. Add salt and then vanilla.  Alternating, add powdered sugar and heavy cream.  Use immediately or cover and refrigerate until needed.

To Assemble:

1. Place one layer of cake on a cake stand or cardboard cake round.  
2. Heat the remaining 3/4 cups of peanut butter in the microwave for about 30 seconds or until it gets melted and easy to spread.  Take 1/2 of the remaining peanut butter and spread it over the cake layer.
3. Remove the cheesecake from the freezer, unwrap, and remove the metal bottom of the pan then peel off the parchment paper.  Place the cheesecake layer on top of the cake layer.  If necessary, wait approximately 10 minutes for the cheesecake to soften and trim it with a knife to ensure it is the same width as the cake layer.  Spread remaining peanut butter over the cheesecake layer.
4. Place the top layer of the cake on top of the cheesecake.  Spread a thin layer of peanut butter frosting over the entire cake to form a crumb coat.  Be careful not to get any crumbs into your frosting bowl! 
5. Refrigerate for 30 minutes then frost with remaining frosting.  Top with shaved chocolate, chocolate chips, peanut butter cups, or other decoration of your choosing.  Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Source: Slightly modified from Erin's Food Files as originally the Cheesecake adapted from Martha Stewart, Cake from Ina Garten "Beatty's Chocolate Cake" and Frosting from Martha Stewart

I Am The Face, I Am 1 In 4: National Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Day

"A wife who loses a husband is called a widow. 
A husband who loses a wife is called a widower.
A child who loses his parents is called an orphan.
There is no word for a parent who loses a child.
That’s how awful the loss is."

 - Ronald Reagan

October 15th is National Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Day.  Today I take a stance to help break the silence.  Instead of being able to share the wonderful news of Chris and my pregnancy, we've mourned in silence and with the support of a few close family and friends these past few months because I am the face of an early missed miscarriage.

On July 1, this summer began as the happiest of my life when I saw those two lines on the home pregnancy test appear and then just a short month later it ended as the worst when I saw our baby's tiny heart, which we saw flickering on the ultrasound monitor just a week prior, had stopped beating for no apparent reason.  These are key moments that have undoubtedly changed my life and view on life forever.

Pregnancy announcements on Facebook and in real life happen every day but for some reason, talking about a pregnancy loss is considered taboo.  People are starting to talk about cancer, domestic violence, suicide, and other uncomfortable topics so why is this any different?  This is not a taboo subject nor is it as rare as you'd think.  Miscarriage and Loss don't discriminate.  Pregnancy/infant loss happens every day to ALL kinds of women–young, old, black, white, thin, obese.  It happens to 2,000 US women EACH DAY or 700,000 in a year (1 in 4).

How can you help?

Please don't close your minds and hearts to those who have suffered child loss.  More often than not they may be keeping the news private because of this unfortunate taboo.  However, they're out there and I guarantee that you know at least one woman who has suffered a loss.  She may want to talk about her experience or she may not.  But the common desire whether a couple has opened up to you or not is that their baby's memory lives on.  There is no foot too small that it cannot leave an imprint on this world.  Also remember, the father and grandparents have lost, too.  Be considerate and think before you act or say things that could be considered hurtful.  A probably well-intentioned comment or picture can trigger memories and emotions that need to be masked which carries a huge emotional toll on that person. Sometimes, the simplest things you can do to help are non-verbal - A listening ear, a hug, a thought or prayer.  If you yourself have lost, know that you're not alone, too.

Another way you can help?  

I ask that you please light a candle for at least one hour on October 15th beginning at 7PM local time in remembrance of our angel, SH's angels, AP's angels, LW's angel, JK's angel, CO's angel, MF's angels, AS's angel, SF's angel, and all the other unspoken angel babies and infants taken too soon.  This will create a continuous wave of candlelight around the world for a full 24 hours.  It will allow us to remember and to start the conversation.

To read more about this day, please see Remembering our Babies, the official site for Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness.  Another good resource with survivor stories, badges, and status updates for both survivors and supporters if you choose to help spread the word on Facebook, Twitter, etc. is I Am The Face.  Last, I put together a list of resources and memorial items here.

Please feel free to share the memory of your angel (or someone else's angel that you know) in the comments below.