Brown Sugar Pumpkin Pie

I have made this pie twice in one week. I had extra pumpkin, yes, but it really is fantastic. It's veering into the 'much too much' category for me-ultra rich, ultra sweet- but my roommate is in love. Maybe you will be too.

The recipe comes from Bon Appetit's Thanksgiving issue from 2009, and I've made no modifications. You can find the recipe here.

It looks much more elaborate than the Sour Cream Pumpkin Pie, but is actually much less involved (no cooking of the filling pre-baking).

Start by making the streusel-y topping (chopped walnuts-though you could definitely swap these for other nuts-pecans, hazelnuts, even almonds would be nice, brown sugar, cinnamon and a touch of salt):

Roll out your pastry and fit into the pie shell, decorating the edges if you like. Compare this shell (made while watching Waitress and drinking beer) with second version, where I was all neat and fancy with triangle cut outs. Remember the risks of distracted baking.

The shell is then blind baked with pie weights/pennies/beans to hold its shape.

You can easily prepare the filling by hand or by mixer, simply by combining the brown sugar, spices, eggs, pumpkin purée and heavy cream.

Fill your shell and bake until filling is jiggly but the top has set. Cover with brown sugar/nut mixture and continue to bake until the filling is puffed and topping has browned.

It can be served at room temperature or cold, and goes best with cinnamon whipped cream.

Sour Cream Pumpkin Pie

Gourds are taking over. They're everywhere-decoratively perched outside of otherwise soulless corporate supermarkets, overflowing at farmer's markets, begging you to pick them at local farms. There's something romantic about making pumpkin pie with the flesh of a pumpkin you picked, roasted, and scooped out its innards with your very own hands. But it is seriously not worth the hassle, get the canned stuff.

For one thing, the giant jack-o-lantern pumpkins that make up the bulk of these kitschy displays do not a good pie make. If you insist on a truly DIY pie, go for the smaller pie pumpkins. But it's messy, inconsistent and time intensive compared to readily available canned or frozen pumpkin purée which will produce better results in most cases.

Canned pumpkin purée served me well in this year's Canadian Thanksgiving pie making endeavor. See last year's here. I went for a sour cream pumpkin pie recipe from Gourmet Today, which nicely cut the sweetness of the pumpkin and gave a bit of welcome tang.

Sour Cream Pumpkin Pie

For the crust:

• 1 1/4 cups flour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, cold and cut into 1/2 inch cubes
• 3-4 tbsp ice water

Mix flour and salt in a large bowl and cut the butter in with a pastry cutter, a couple knives, a food processor or a stand mixer (I've had good results with this, just make sure the butter is really cold). You want small pea sized lumps of butter-the idea is not to cream but to leave these lumps which will turn into glorious flaky pastry. Add in just enough water so your dough comes together, and divide into 4 portions (this next step I hadn't done before and am not sure it made a huge difference, but if Gourmet says so...). On a lightly floured surface, smear each portion forward with the heel of your hand. This helps distribute the fat. Once completed or skipped, gather all the dough into a ball, flatten into a 5-inch disk and wrap and refrigerate at least one hour. I usually make the dough a day ahead to save time. It also freezes well.

When you are ready to roll out your dough, lightly flour your surface or place the dough between two sheets of parchment paper. Preheat the oven to 375˚. Trying to keep it as cool as possible, roll out your dough until it will fit a 9-inch pie plate. Because pumpkin pie has a custard filling, the crust is blind-baked (pre-baked sans filling). Once you fit the dough into the pie plate and decoratively crimp the edges to your liking, prick all over with a fork and fill with pie weights, dried beans or even pennies (make sure you line your pastry shell with foil first).

Using a pyrex pie dish is the best way to check in on browning. Bake your shell approximately 20 minutes with the weights in, and an additional 10 without, until pale golden. Cool completely.

Meanwhile, get to work on your filling:

• 1 1/2 cups sour cream
• 1 1/2 cups pumpkin
• 3 eggs, separated
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 3/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp ginger
• 1/4 tsp salt

Heat 1 cup of the sour cream (reserving 1/2 cup) in a large metal bowl set over a pot of boiling water until warm, stirring occasionally.

In another bowl, whisk together the pumpkin, egg yolks, brown sugar, spices, salt and reserved 1/2 cup of sour cream. Add to hot sour cream and cook over simmering water, stirring occasionally for about 6 minutes to thicken the custard.

Remove bowl from heat and cool in an ice water bath (in a larger bowl, or if you're out of larger bowls, the sink), stirring occasionally until cool.

Whisk egg whites with an electric mixer (difficult to do without) until they hold stiff peaks. Gently fold 1/3 of the egg whites into the pumpkin mixture and slowly incorporate the remaining whites.

Pour filling into your cooled shell and smooth the top (mine kind of overflowed, but it will all work out). Bake until filling is set and puffed around the edges, 40-50 minutes. Allow to cool to room temperature and serve with whipped cream, dosed with cinnamon if you feel like getting fancy.

Let's go to the Food Building!

Torontonians, you have two weekends left to get yourself to the Ex. The Canadian National Exhibition features scheming carnies, rides of dubious safety, entertainment that ranges from middling to deafening (Air Show anyone?) and a smorgasbord of culinary innovation. Yes, innovation. Ex vendors boldly deep-fry what no one has deep-fried before, and the results are heavenly. Along with gastronomic breakthroughs the CNE features typical carnival fare (for Toronto): neon sno-cones, many varieties of fried dough, fries, burgers, pizzas, shawarma, dim sum, sushi, pho, falafel and more, all under the magnificent roof of the food building.

I crave Tiny Tom's conveyor belt mini donuts year-round, and seek them out at any outdoor Toronto fest, whether Word on the Street or the Weed March. This year marks their 50th anniversary and I got a little festive. My favourites are icing sugar or cinnamon, $5/dozen, or 4 dozen for $15.

Dollar spaghetti doesn't really appeal to me, but it keeps coming back year after year.

It is after all the Canadian National Exhibition and poutine is heavily featured along with other so-called national dishes.

I don't know why I thought this would be a good idea but the take-out dim sum was truly atrocious (Chinatown is cheaper and infinitely better).

The Lemon Ladies.

I admit I am late to the game on this one. I've been hearing tell of the delights of deep-fried chocolate bars for years, but this was my first taste.

And it won't be my last. The crisp batter coating is an excellent balance for the melting chocolate-caramel confection.

It was the same stand's deep-fried butter that's been making headlines. This is not in the Food Building, but rather fairly deep into the midway, near the Canadian Armed Forces display. At first I was a bit reluctant to ask people if they knew where it was fearing judgment, but everyone was happy to point the way, noting that it seemed hugely popular.

Small balls of butter are frozen onto toothpicks, then dipped in the same batter coating as the Mars bars.

After frying they are topped off with a squirt of chocolate, caramel or strawberry sauce.

When ready, the butter has melted inside the donut-like coating and biting in frees the butter from this doughy cage. I don't think I could eat more than four as they are quite rich, but it really is delicious.

Good, unpretentious, possibly fatal treats await you at the Ex! Let's go!

Blueberry Cobbler

It's finally here. After months of waiting, I got the call. If anything was going to shake me out of a sweaty summer cooking hiatus, it was this.

Thanks, Toronto Public Library. Thomas Keller's most recent tome claims to feature accessible and simple food. This is half true-there are some simple dishes to be certain but the majority call for ingredients and tools the average home cook won't have on hand. I can't pick up piment d'Espelette at the nearest grocery and my budget certainly won't allow for a blow torch right now, but I can dream.

In fact, I was so inspired by this beautifully composed book I chose to forgo sleep a few nights

ago for some late night baking. The blueberry cobbler seemed simple enough and I had all the ingredients on hand by some miracle.

Blueberry Cobbler

• 1 3/4 cup + 2 tbsp flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 6 tbsp / 3 oz / 3/4 of a stick/ 1/3 of a cup
• 1 cup + 1 tbsp sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 buttermilk (I substituted yogurt with no problem)
• 4 pints/8 cups blueberries (sacrilege-I used frozen and it worked out alright. But it's wildblueberry season in my lovely home province of Nova Scotia so I urge you to seek out the good stuff)
• 1 tbsp lemon zest
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon sugar

Heat oven to 350˚.

In a medium bowl sift or whisk together 1 3/4 cups flour with the baking powder and baking soda.

In a large bowl cream butter and 3/4 cup sugar (by hand or with stand mixer) until light and creamy-make sure butter has come to room temperature before you begin. Beat in the eggs (also at room temp) one at a time until incorporated. Add the flour mixture in 3 batches,

alternating with the buttermilk/yogurt added in 2 batches. Flour, buttermilk, flour, buttermilk, flour.

In yet another large bowl, mix the blueberries with 1/4 cup of sugar, 2 tbsp flour and the lemon zest. If using frozen berries there is no need to thaw before using. Spread berries evenly in an 11 inch square or 13 by 9 inch baking pan.

Spoon batter over the berries in clumps, leaving some space in between. Combine the

remaining 1 tbsp of sugar with the cinnamon and sprinkle over top.

Bake approximately 40 minutes, until berries are bubbling and the topping is golden brown.

Let stand at least 10 minutes before serving. For best results serve with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream. It will keep for several days.

Sandwiches: More than fine

With the heat in Toronto this summer, I'm actually kind of grateful for my basement living situation. I will take cool and damp and dark over hot and sticky any day. I'm mostly living off of popsicles right now, but sandwiches offer a little more sustenance and so I offer you a round-up of Toronto sandwich news and a sandwich of my very own.

First of all, Sandwich Box is opening a new location at Bay and Bloor which I am thrilled about, because since the Queen St. W location shut down over a year ago, I've had to find excuses to visit the Financial District. Although in a cruel twist of fate, I will likely be graduated by the time it opens and actually work near the Financial District locations. As long as I have regular access to this gourmet Subway with excellent packaging, I'm happy. No opening date posted yet but renovations have been going on for a couple months now. Soon, I hope!

Sky Blue Sky Sandwich has been open for months but I was late to the game and have only started going this summer. They have a huge customizable sandwich menu, all named after Wilco songs (if you're into that kind of thing) with lots of vegetarian choices (if you're into that kind of thing). So far I've tried the Casino Queen (turkey with a balsamic onion marmalade, bacon, and avocado) and the We're Just Friends (chicken with roasted red peppers, Swiss cheese and red onions), both of which have been stellar though in the future I will ask for them to be buttered before grilled as they were a shade dry. The bread is craving-worthy, with several varieties (three cheese, honey-nut whole wheat, cranberry cream cheese) baked in house daily. I also tried the avocado-cucumber soup which was the perfect choice for a sweltering afternoon. The owner is incredibly friendly and happy to chat. Best of all, all sandwiches are under five dollars. There can be a bit of a wait if you come at a peak time, but there is the option of emailing your order so it's ready for pick-up. The future.

Lastly in sandwich news, two of my favourite restaurants are facing off this Sunday at Deli Duel, as a fundraiser for The Stop Community Food Centre. Caplansky's, The Stockyards and Goldin's are the names, smoked meat's the game. Sandwiches are three dollars and admission is free. Caplansky's has never failed to impress in the smoked meat department (I'm partial to the smoked meat poutine) and other deli fare. I wouldn't call The Stockyards a deli, but I would bet that their smoked meat is a contender, after having tried their barbecue options. Goldin's I have never heard of before, so I'm looking forward to tasting what they have on offer. Deli Duel is tomorrow at 1pm at Wychwood Barns, on Christie at St. Clair.

Finally, I leave you with a fancy BLT that was just the thing on a night too hot to turn on the oven. Bacon, spinach, tomato and fresh mozzarella grilled until crisp and melty. Simple and delicious.

Freedom Pie

Inspired by the patriotic pies on the cover of the Martha Stewart Living and my American heritage, I pillaged the remaining rhubarb in the garden and I got baking.


The pastry is made just like this and with the help of some star-shaped cookie cutters. I know a lot of people are strawberry-rhubarb pie-hards but to me it is just too cliché and sickly sweet. The entire point of rhubarb is its tartness, in my opinion. It might not be to everyone's taste, but I have fond memories of dipping stalks into some sugar and gnawing away. This pie is that memory, grown-up and elevated.

Rhubarb Pie (adapted from Joy of Cooking)

• 2 lbs rhubarb stalks, trimmed and cut into 1-inch lengths, which should measure 5 cups (no metric for you on this 4th of July)
• 1 1/2 cups sugar + 2 tsp
  
• 1/4 cup tapioca or cornstarch (I generally use cornstarch but both work great)
• 2 tsp orange zest (optional but highly recommended)
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp butter
• Milk or cream

Preheat oven to 425˚.
Combine rhubarb with 1 1/2 cups of sugar, tapioca or cornstarch, zest and salt in a large bowl and let sit for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

It should go from this:


to this:


Spoon this filling into your prepared pie crust (again, see this post) and dot with butter before covering with a basic lattice, or this festive variation. You can even do a double crust with vents if you don't want to bother with the occasional frustration of lattice tops, although I think they are worth it. I'm including some photos of a previous plain-old lattice top rhubarb pie which in my mind also screams 'America', if that's what you're going for. Not such a bad idea to double the recipe as it keeps well and makes a nice breakfast.

Once your lattice or top of choice is affixed, brush with cream or milk and dust with sugar. You can crimp the edges with a fork or more creatively.

Bake at 425˚ for 30 minutes, then lower the heat to 350˚ and bake 25-30 more minutes until crust is nicely browned and juices are bubbling. Cool completely on a wire rack.

Cherry Jícama Crostini

I escaped the riot city that was Toronto this weekend and am home in Halifax enjoying the sea, the rain, the fully equipped kitchen of my parents' house. Gadgetry like cherry pitters, mango splitters, various styles of cheese slicers do make me covetous, but it's the digital scale that I wish for most of all. One day.

Anyways, my bff (she of wollstonecraft) came to visit and we whipped up some seasonal crostini before dinner tonight.


Cherry Jícama Crostini (adapted just barely from Fine Cooking June/July 2010)

• 1 cup sweet cherries (or 5 1/2 oz if you are blessed with a scale), pitted and coarsely chopped
• 1/2 cup diced jícama (Mexican root vegetable, mostly here for crunch rather than taste-you could substitute a crisp apple if you can't find it. Use your leftover jícama to make this lovely summer salad)
• 1 scallion (green onion), thinly sliced
• 1 tsp chopped mint
• 1/2 tsp red wine vinegar
• Pinch of cayenne, salt and pepper
• 1/3 cup goat cheese (or 2 1/2 oz)
• 1/3 cup ricotta (or 2 1/2 oz)
• 1 baguette

Mix cherries, jícama, scallion, mint and vinegar in a medium bowl. Season with cayenne, salt and pepper to taste.

In another bowl mix goat cheese and ricotta and season with salt and pepper.

When ready to assemble, cut your baguette into 1/2 inch slices and toast. Spread with cheese and top with cherry mixture.

Tunnel of Fudge Cake

Recently I made a birthday cake for a good friend with the fairly limited palate of a 10 year old boy. He wanted chocolate, and I wasn't going to mess around. I knew that getting fancy with flavours would not be appreciated-no wacky fruit filling or liqueur infusions; some nuts would be okay, maybe.

Still, I hadn't made a cake for a while and wanted to test my baking muscles. Browsing through Cooking with Les Dames D'Escoffier, I found a winner. Shirley Corriher, biochemist and cookbook writer, and her update on a Pillsbury classic, the Tunnel of Fudge Cake. A runner-up in the Bake-Off contest in the 1960s, this recipe helped popularize the bundt pan and developed a cult following. A simple chocolate cake with walnuts, its secret is an inner ring of fudge within the baked cake. This was originally achieved with a Pillsbury frosting mix, now discontinued, but Corriher re-worked the recipe without. Published in the NYTimes Science section, it is extremely detailed and Corriher explains exactly why it works. All baking demands precision, but I was careful to follow to the seemingly minute detail (natural cocoa, as she insists the more commonly found Dutch-processed will cause the cake to fail). She explains it much better than I could, so I am linking to her recipe and the accompanying article.

The method is fairly standard, beginning with creaming butter and sugar (usually a pain by hand, a greater pain with flimsy forks). Make sure butter and eggs are at room temperature, both for ease of creaming and the benefit of your end result.

School was briefly out for me and I re-purposed my book stand into a cookbook stand.

The finished product, dusted with confectioner's sugar. You could do a frosting or glaze, but the cake itself is so rich and sweet that it isn't necessary and may be too much.

The birthday boy and cake in action.

A terrible attempt to show the inside tunnel of the cake.

I was a bit nervous about the tunnel effect and the consistency of the cake-you can't check for doneness with a thermometer, but rather must trust your oven temperature's accuracy, or use an oven thermometer if you lack this trust. All in all, the cake was a huge success and great for chocolate lovers. I will definitely be making it again.

Asparagus, chorizo and bean salad

I am settling into my summer routine, balancing work, 2 courses and some light yachting (go ahead, be jealous). I am still cooking, but the majority of the time I am looking for recipes that are quick, inexpensive, yield lots of leftovers to be packed up for lunch (and dinner on my long days) and use a minimum of dishes. This gem from the smitten kitchen archive meets all the criteria and looks and tastes like spring, a great way to use up in-season asparagus.

Asparagus, chorizo and bean salad

• 1 bunch asparagus, tough ends trimmed and chopped into ~2 inch pieces
• 2 chorizo sausages, sliced into 3/4 inch pieces (or other spicy sausage)
• 1/4 cup almonds
• 1 1/2 cups bread cubes
• 1 cup beans (canned is great, I used great northern beans but she uses cranberry beans in the original-whatever you have on hand)
• Olive oil
• Salt & pepper

Heat the oil in a large skillet until very hot, and add all ingredients except beans and salt and pepper. Stir to coat well with oil, and cover and sauté for about 5 minutes, stirring a few times more. Remove from heat, add beans and seasoning and serve.

Hot Docs, get your Hot Docs!

So in the chaos of finishing up papers, exams, starting a new job and moving out of dorms (where I have a real kitchen!), my blogging has fallen by the wayside. But that's all about to change! I seem to have misplaced my camera cord, but I assure you I have been cooking exciting things and will post all about them soon.

In the meantime, I will highlight some of the excellent gastrocentric documentaries on offer at Hot Docs through next Sunday in Toronto.

The Story of Furious Pete follows the title character through his struggle with anorexia and subsequent rise as a competitive eating champion. Check out his youtube channel for a preview. His eating is incredible, revolting, and heartwarming. Yes, heartwarming. It's a really sweet film, a lot of it shot in Toronto and I would definitely recommend it (it's gone rush though, so line up early).

Candyman: The David Klein Story traces the invention of the Jelly Belly, possibly my favourite candy (also Ronald Reagan's).

I cannot wait to see Kings of Pastry (screening with Seltzer Works, which is a neat short about the seltzer industry). 16 world class pastry chefs compete for France's prestigious Meilleur Ouvrier award.

Dish: Women, Waitressing, and the Art of Service tackles gender issues in the service industry, and because it sold out so quickly, a third screening has been added for Sunday the 9th.

These are only a handful of the great films playing over the next week and a half, and if you're in Toronto I urge you to check them out.

Food Tourism

I've just returned from four days in New York, and while I've been slacking on the cooking front lately for a million reasons, I hope some of these treats will tide you over.

First stop was the Chelsea Market, packed with bakeries, butchers, fishmongers, chocolatiers and seemingly every other tasty thing imaginable.

Usually I am not so enthused about seafood-I get a lot of the good stuff at home, but some of these preparations were truly special and inspiring.


I've kvetched about the inferiority of New York bagels, but this spread I would happily eat on anything, from bagels to saltines.

Picked up some chocolates from Jacques Torres as a small Valentine's Day treat.

Giant jar of Nutella-a treat too large for my suitcase and my budget (ringing in at $70 USD).

Now this is just silly.

Don't worry, "Eternal Flame" is our song.

Carrot cupcake at Billy's. I like baked goods plenty, probably more than most people, but am not totally on board with the cupcake craze. Cupcakes are fine, they just aren't anything special (read: hovering around $5) in my books. I guess with all the hype I was expecting something elevating that would dispel my cupcake doubt, and while this was very good, it was overly sweet and not quite everything I think a cupcake could be. I also stopped by Magnolia for an absurdly rich cheesecake/chocolate cookie cupcake hybrid, which again was good but not great.

Cheeseburger, medium-rare, with the works at the Parker Meridien's Burger Joint. It was everything they (friends, guidebooks) told me it would be. Tucked behind a dark curtain in a decidedly upscale hotel, this burger (and excellent fries) was well worth the wait (about 20 minutes on a holiday Monday afternoon). Made to order, juicy but not soggy, tasting strongly of delicious delicious beef above all the prime condiments, it is a serious contender. Atmosphere behind the curtain is like a casual, lively bar-orders are placed at the counter and yelled out when grilled to near carnivorous perfection. $14 USD for cheeseburger, fries and a Coke. I meant to make it to Shake Shack as well but ran out of time. Next trip.

I've just finished Ruth Reichl's Garlic and Sapphires, an account of her adventures as New York Times food critic, and in another life where I am not a student living below the poverty line I would love nothing more than to retrace some of her mouth-watering steps in the city. Really fantastic; highly recommended.