On Tuesday, I went to Lancaster to shop at the outlets and to visit assorted small Amish shops that are tradition on a trip to the Dutch country. On my way there, I always stop for breakfast at the Shady Maple Restaurant with my parents. There you will a smorgasbord of Amish delights. You can’t pass up the whoopie pies or the sweet potato pancake when you are there. Also, leave room for all the Amish meats like the smoked turkey sausage or the freshly made scrapple. I only stop twice a year because that’s enough gluttony for one year, trust me! My next post will give you the recipe to my favorite Amish tradition for the fall, pumpkin whoopie pies.
Time for Pumpkin!
I’m sad to put aside the berries of summer, but what could be better than pumpkin in the fall! Apples and pumpkin are definitely my two favorite fall flavor profiles. Since my mom tends to own the apple pie concept in my family, so I’m more likely to go the pumpkin direction when I bake in the fall.
I was recently invited to a dinner party and I, of course, offered to bring dessert. Initially I actually wanted to make a berry crumble, but I thought to myself: get over it Sadie the berry season is over this year (*tear*). Then I reconsidered and thought I might as well get on the pumpkin train so I could start practicing potential recipes for Thanksgiving. It was a good choice.
I decided to try out a pumpkin spice cheesecake, and I have these awesome Temptations individual ramekins, so it turned into individual pumpkin cheesecakes. Sometimes cheesecake is really dense but this one was nicely and fluffy, it’s a really good version.
Pumpkin Spice Cheesecake
Yields one 9 inch cake (even though I made individual portions)
Cake recipe adapted from Annie’s Eats but I used Paula’s crust
Ingredients- Filling
- 1 1/3 cups (10 1/3 oz.) sugar
- 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp. ground ginger
- ¼ tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
- ¼ tsp. ground cloves
- ¼ tsp. ground allspice
- ½ tsp. salt
- 1 (15 oz.) can pumpkin puree
- 3 (8 oz.) packages cream cheese, at room temperature
- 1 tbsp. vanilla extract
- 5 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 cup heavy cream
Crust
- 1 3/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
- 3 tablespoons light brown sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 stick melted salted butter
Garnish
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- splash vanilla extract
- sugar to taste
- pecan halves
Method
- Preheat oven to 325.
- Combine crust ingredients so they are well mixed. Pat crust into bottom on 9 inch spring form pan that has been greased. Bake crust for 15 minutes and set aside to cool.
- Combine dry ingredients: sugar, spices, and salt. Set aside. Heat some water up in a tea kettle for later.
- Using an electric mixer beat the cream cheese until fluffy. Add in pumpkin puree and vanilla, mix. Add in 3 eggs, mix, then 2 eggs, mix. Finally add heavy cream and mix. Make sure to scrape the sides of the bowl between additions, so it is well mixed.
- Add one third of the dry ingredients add at a time, mixing between additions.
- Place the spring form pan with the crust in the middle of a cookie sheet. Pour the batter into the pan and place in the oven. Pour the hot water from the tea kettle into the cookie sheet (not in the cake). The water bath will help the baking process.
- Bake at 325 for 90 minutes (adjust baking time if you use a different size pan).
- Allow to cool for a couple hours before refrigerating.
- For garnish I whipped up some heavy cream with my electric mixer, and I added in some vanilla and sugar. Then I used the pecan halves to decorate.
She said a triscuit a BISCUIT
Sorry about the title, I had to pay homage to one of the Tom Hanks’ classics, BIG. I promised you the recipe to the apple cheddar biscuits that I made with the meal from Wednesday’s post. Here it is as promised. I’ll give you a tip. If you don’t have buttermilk on hand, use one cup of regular milk with a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar in it. Let it sit for ten minutes before use. You can actually use any type of vinegar or lemon juice to make the milk “sour” to a buttermilk like consistency. I did this for the first time because I did not have buttermilk on hand. In the future, I will continue to do this because I can never make use of the remaining buttermilk not used in the recipe. Let’s get right down to it…
Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons cold butter, cut into small bits
1 ¼ cups shredded sharp Cheddar cheese (5 ounces)
1 apple, peeled, cored, and finely chopped
1 cup buttermilk
Directions
1. Mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together with a fork.
2. Cut the butter into the flour mixture until the butter is the size of peas.
3. Mix in cheese, apple, and buttermilk until it is mixed. Do not overmix because it will make the biscuits tough. You want your biscuits to be light and delectable.
4. Scoop the biscuits onto a Silpat or greased parchment paper with an ice cream scoop or spoon. Be sure to make the biscuits the same size in order for the biscuits to bake equally.
5. Bake at 425 for about 15 minutes.
Sadie Dishes 