Sweet Potato Pie

Today I share with you an other fall recipe. Sweet potato pie is a traditional dish from the United States, usually served during the celebration of the Thanksgiving. It is extremely sweet but with a layer of the cream cheese gives a perfect balance of flavours. Actually it is a variety of the pumpkin pie, so you can perfectly substitute the sweet potato for pumpkin, that would be a nice idea for Halloween.

Cream Cheese Sweet Potato Pie

Makes 24 cm bundt cake tin
Crust
340 g flour
200 g cold butter
2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt

Cream cheese filling

400 g cream cheese
90 g white sugar
1 large egg

Sweet potato filling

375 g sweet potato puree
125 g golden caster sugar
125 ml heavy cream
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon fresh grated ginger
1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg
a pinch of ground cloves
2 eggs
a pinch of salt

Topping

50 g flour
25 g golden caster sugar
25 g unsalted cold butter
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
a pinch of salt
40 g hazelnut, crushed

Clean and peal the sweet potato, cube it and place it in a pan covered with boiling water, heat until is soft. Remove the water and process in a food processor until smooth. Alow to cool down and place it in the fridge.

In the meanwhile make the crust. Combine all the ingredients for the crust, better if you use your hands. Shape the dough into a ball, and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate 1 hour.

Roll out the pastry on a light floured surface and line a buttered tin. Trim and pierce bottoms with a fork. Put it back in the fridge.

Mix the cream cheese with the sugar and the beaten egg. Place this mixture in over the crust of the tin and place it in the fridge. Do not overmix otherwise the mixture will turn too liquid and the sweet potato mixture will go into the cream cheese. You can also put it in the freezer while you preapare the other mixture. It is very important that the cream cheese is very cold.

In a separate bowl make the sweet potato filling. Put the sweet potato puree, add all the spices, the sugar and the salt and mix well. Add the cream and the beaten eggs an combine.

Add the sweet potato mixture over the cream chesse, level with a spatula. Place it in the oven for 30 minutes.

For the crumble combine the flour, crushed hazelnuts, the sugar, the cinnamon and a pinch of salt in a large bowl and mix well. Add the butter and blend with your fingertips until the mixture turns to breadcrumbs.

After 30 minutes in the oven sprinkle the crumble and bake for 20 minutes more or until an inserted skewer comes out clean and the crust is golden brown. Let it cool and refrigerate for 4 hours to seto

You can top with some whipped cream and ground cinnamon before serving.

For more fall recipes check here.

Have a nice week.

Pumpkin Soup

This rich and tasty soup is perfect for the fall season and any cold day. It is extremly easy to make. There are a large of varieties to make this soup. Before I used to make pumpkin soup with heavy whipped cream, but a friend of mine suggested me to use coconut cream instead and she was right, it's delicious! 

This is perfect to serve for Halloween in an empty small pumpkin as a bowl. 

Pumpkin Soup

Serves 4-6
800 g pumpkin puree (I used a whole pumpkin about 1 kg)
200 ml coconut milk
vegetable stock
2 garlic cloves
1 medium onion
a pinch of grated ginger
a pinch of grated nutmeg
salt and white pepper, to taste
pumpkin seeds for garnish, optional

For the pumpkin puree you will need about 1 kg of pumpkin to get 800 g of puree. Put the peeled and cubed pumpkin in a medium saucepan covered with the stock and heat it until the pumpkin is slightly soft. 

In the meanwhile heat the chopped onion in a pan with some oil for few minutes on a low heat. After add the garlic and let it slowly simmer. 

Once the pumpkin is done remove some of the stock and keep aside, maybe we will need it later. Add the ginger, the nutmeg, some salt. pepper, the onion mixture and make the puree using a blender. 

Finally stir in the coconut milk and bring it to heat for a while without boiling. If it's think you can add some extra stock. Adjust the seasoning if necessary. 

Garnish with some pumpkin seeds 

The quantity of the stok it will depend of the thickness you like your cream.

If you like pumpkin check out this quiche, or this spiced jam or the loaf.

Sticky Toffee Pudding

He did it again! Jaime suprised us with a new book, just one year after he published his last one here we have a new book with 100 recipes more. Of course I didn't want to miss this one on my collection and I order it. So I totally recomend you if you are doubting to buy or not. I did already some of his recipes and today I wanted to share with you this sticky toffee version which appears in this new book I can just say it is absolutly amazing, I ate several versions, I have to say I'm a big fan of sticky toffee. But defently this turned my favorite. Sticky toffee pudding is one of the classics of the british cuisine, which it has a very moist cake made from dates and served with warm toffee sauce.

Sticky Toffee Pudding

Makes 24 cm bundt cake tin
Cake
4 Earl Greay tea bags
450 g fresh dates
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 nutmeg for grating
170  unsalted butter at room temperature
340 g self-raising flour
170 g golden caster sugar
170 g dark muscovado sugar
4 large eggs
Maldon salt for dusting

Preheat the oven to 180º
Pit the dates and finley chop them. Place the tea bags in a jug and cover with 300 ml of boiling water for 3 ½ minutes. Remove the bags, add the copped dates and the cinnamon and leave it for 10 minutes. After blend this mixture and set aside.

Cream the butter and the sugars in a large bowl, add the eggs one by one. Add the flour and finally the date mixture. Pour this mixture into the tin, level with a spatula. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes, or until an inserted skewer comes out clean.

Toffee sauce

125 g unsalted butter
60 g dark muscovado sugar
60 g golden caster sugar
150 ml heavy cream
25 ml dark rum (optional) I didn't use it

When your cake is almost ready start doing the caramel sauce. Melt the cubbed butter in a pan in a medium heat. Add the sugars, once disolved add the double cream and if desired the rum. Bring it to boil, and simmer for 5 minutes.

As soon as de cake is done, allow to coold down in the tin on a wire rack and transfer to a plate and brush it with the caramel sauce. Sprinkle with the Maldon sea and serve with a jug of caramel sauce.

Serve it warm but also possible to keep up to 2 days covered at room temperarute. This cake is normally also served with ice cream or custrad, but you don't really anything else to enjoy this lovely and tasty cake.

Have a nice week.

Salmon and Spinach Quiche

The filling of this quiche as you can see is a classic, Salmon and spinach, what a perfect combination don't you think so? Before I mixed all the ingredients in the same mixture, but now I rather make two layers and the combination of tastes and texture is extremely much better.
Also the base has a special taste since I added almond flour. Once the dough is into the mold instead of removing the leftover I fit and fold it inside the mold to get a thicker and more crunchy crust.
Both as a single dish or accompanied by a simple salad, do you mean you want a piece?

Salmon and Spinach Quiche

Makes 24 cm pan
Pastry
150 g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
50 g almond flour, plus extra to set the bottom
125 g cold butter, cubed
1 large egg
a pinch of salt

Mix all the ingredients in a food processor until well combined. Use your hands and knead. Shape the dough into a ball and wrap in ciling firm. Refrigerate at least for 30 minutes.

Filling

400 g fresh salmon
400 g fresh spinach
4 large eggs
150 g creme fraiche
1 large onion finely chopped
1 clove fresh garlic minced
fresh oregano and fresh thyme
fresh nutmeg
salt, pepper and olive oil
50 g rosted pine nuts

Grease the mold. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough and cover the mold and press into the bottoms and sides and pierce the bottoms of the bottom with a fork. Refrigerate it for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 180°.
Toast the nuts in a pan until lightly roasted, without oil, be careful because they are done very quick. Keep them aside.
In the same pan cook the onion gently in a pan with olive oil, add the garlic and cook for few minutes. Add some salt and pepper, oregano and thyme. Put the spinach and cook them until are reduced, let all the liquid evaporate. Remove from the heat and set aside.

Cut some more thyme and oregano and mix them with the salmon in a big bowl, add some salt and pepper, grated nutmeg, the creme fraiche and the eggs.

Sprinkle the bottom of the mold with some almod flour, top with the spinach mixture, after the salmon and eggs mixture, and finally sprinkle the pine nuts all over.

Bake for 50 minutes with the tray in the center of the oven, until set and lighlty golden. Allow to cool down for a while before serving. Best eaten on the day it is made, but can be refrigerated overnight.

You can use as much as herbs you consider, I can not tell you the exactly amount but I tell you I used a lot, I like the taste of the herbs.

Check out here more suggestions for quiche and savory tats.

Have a nice week.