Tastes of Autumn, Part 3: Hot Fudge Pudding Cake

People joke about how autumn online and autumn in real life are completely different, but in the Pioneer Valley, there's no difference. The place is so idyllic I sometimes wonder if I'm living on a movie set.

Yesterday was jacketless weather, so Alice and Rebecca and I went for a walk in residential Northampton and went house-spotting. (There's no point in leaf-spotting when your current town is so ridiculously gorgeous.) I have previously mentioned how I like to imagine my own life in certain houses, and Alice and I share similar tastes. I like a wraparound porch, a screened-in porch in the back or on the side, and I'm very partial to yellow houses. We strolled through the nicest little area with cozy houses that had lazy fat cats and children in abundance and a neighborhood park. It was beautiful and happy and I wanted to pick a house and start having babies right there.

Then on a whim, we went up the hill and the houses suddenly got very swank. People gave us funny looks, and there were three or four cars per driveway. It was simply too fancy. We couldn't take it and left as soon as we could.

This recipe is a relic from 1950's housewife-y cookbooks, but I love it the most. Cooks Illustrated makes a big deal about how its humble appearance doesn't make it any less delicious, but I think it's perfect. Here is an unpretentious dessert that smells and tastes incredible. You get a moist, chewy brownie with fudge sauce on the bottom, perfect with ice cream and a snap to make (although it uses hella dishes, jsyk).

Enjoy!

Hot Fudge Pudding Cake

Source: Baking Illustrated

Ingredients: 

2 tsp instant coffee

1 1/2 c water

2/3 c Dutch-process cocoa* 

1/3 c packed brown sugar

1 c granulated sugar

6 T unsalted butter

2 oz bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped

3/4 c unbleached all-purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 T vanilla 

1/3 c milk

1/4 tsp salt

1 large egg yolk

Directions: 

1. Adjust an oven rack to the lower-middle position and preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Lightly spray an 8-inch glass or ceramic baking dish with nonstick cooking spray**. Stir the instant coffee into the water; set aside to dissolve. Stir together 1/3 c of the cocoa, the brown sugar, and 1/3 c of the granulated sugar in a small bowl, breaking up any large clumps with your fingers. Set aside. Melt the butter, chocolate, and the remaining 1/3 c of cocoa in a small bowl set over a saucepan of barely simmering water (or in a saucepan set over low heat. Who needs another dish to wash?); whisk until smooth and set aside to cool slightly. Whisk the flour and baking powder in a small bowl to combine; set aside. Whisk the remaining 2/3 c granulated sugar with the vanilla, milk, and salt in a medium bowl until combined; whisk in the yolk. Add the chocolate mixture and whisk to combine. Add the flour mixture and whisk until the batter is evenly moistened. 
2. Pour the batter into the prepared baking dish and spread evenly to the sides and corners. Sprinkle the cocoa mixture evenly over the batter (the cocoa mixture should cover the entire surface of the batter); pour the coffee mixture gently over the cocoa mixture. It will look super weird but just roll with it. Bake until the cake is puffed and bubbling and just beginning to pull away from the sides of the baking dish, about 45 minutes. (Do not overbake.) Cool the cake in the dish on a wire rack about 25 minutes before serving. 

*The recipe says Dutch-process makes all the difference, but the cake was still mind-blowing with Hershey's. Use what you have. 

**I love parchment paper as much as the next baker, but you want your cake to have direct contact with the pan or it won't bake as thoroughly. 

Tastes of Autumn, Part 2: Mountain Day

Mountain Day Pumpkin Pie

Very slightly adapted from Cooks Illustrated

Ingredients

1 prebaked pie shell, whatever recipe you prefer

2 c plain canned pumpkin puree

1 cup packed light brown sugar (original recipe says dark, but the molasses flavor was a little too overpowering for my taste)

2 tsp ground ginger

2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp grated nutmeg

1/4 tsp ground cloves

1/2 tsp salt

2/3 c heavy cream

2/3 c milk

4 large eggs

Directions:

1. FOR THE PIE SHELL: Partially bake the crust until light golden brown. 
2. FOR THE FILLING: Meanwhile, process the pumpkin puree, brown sugar, spices and salt in a food processor for 1 minute until combined. Transfer the pumpkin mixture to a 3-quart heavy-bottomed saucepan; bring it to a sputtering simmer over medium-high heat. Cook the pumpkin, stirring constantly, until thick and shiny, about 5 minutes. 
3. As soon as the pie shell comes out of the oven, adjust an oven rack to the lowest position and increase the oven temperature to 400 degrees. Whisk the heavy cream and milk into the pumpkin and bring to a bare simmer. Process the eggs in a food processor until the whites and yolks are combined, about 5 seconds. With the motor running, slowly pour about half of the hot pumpkin mixture through the feed tube. Stop the machine and add remaining pumpkin mixture. Process 30 seconds longer. 
4. Immediately pour the warm filling into the hot pie shell. (Ladle any excess filling into the pie after it has baked 5 minutes or so--by this time the filling will have settled.) Bake the pie until the filling is puffed, dry-looking, and lightly cracked around the edges, and the center still wiggles like gelatin when the pie is gently shaken, about 25 minutes. Cool on wire rack for at least 1 hour.