While learning about the Mama’s Kitchen Pie in the Sky fundraiser, I had the opportunity to watch Chef Matt Gordon of Urban Solace and Sea and Smoke demonstrate his recipe for Sweet Potato Pecan Pie. He gave me permission to share the recipe below. Chef Gordon also dropped lots of pie knowledge and tips during the demonstration. Fortunately, I took furious notes and share his best tricks and tips for making pie here.
Don’t forget that you can save yourself the time and trouble of baking by having Chef Gordon and other top San Diego restaurants and bakeries make a pie for you. Purchasing a pie for $25 will provide over 8 healthy meals to neighbors in need. That’s a win-win-win. You can also donate a pie to clients as well.
Chef matt Gordon’s advanced Pie making Tips
A cold kitchen and cold hands are best for pastry. The butter should never melt. The chef said that he sometimes goes into their walk-in refrigerator on hot days. Interestingly, he shared that the best pastry chefs often have naturally cold hands.
Use parchment paper between the dough and your rolling pin to roll out the dough more easily.
Adding egg yolks to the dough (as this recipe does) is called an “enriched” recipe. It is great for wet batters (such as pumpkin pie and pecan pie) when you don’t want to pre bake the crust. Although this recipe calls for brushing the crust with egg white before putting the filling in, he says it isn’t necessary for an enriched crust.
Citrus zest adds great flavor to any baked goods, such as this crust.
Wet finger can band aid together a tear in the crust. As you want to handle the dough as little as possible, never ball it up to roll out a second time.
Many home cooks have spices in the cupboards for ages. Fresh spices make a huge difference. (I love grating fresh nutmeg with a microplane.)
Use raw pecans. (I had always wondered which was better for pie!)
Setting the oven to 325ºF (instead of hotter) can prevent over browning the crust. You can use a bit of foil, too. (I use a pie shield.)
Don’t use the fan if you have a convection oven. A conventional oven is actually better.
As promised, here is the recipe for cinnamon cream cheese frosting, the perfect topping to the gluten-free Pumpkin Smash Cake and gluten-free pumpkin cup cakes shared yesterday. Both the cake and the frosting have greatly reduced sugar. I think our tastes must be changing, because I used a quarter of the sugar others use in this frosting and it still tasted sweet to us. I do not like to use sugar substitutes, but prefer to just add less sugar.
I’m very excited to share the recipe I developed for a healthy and delicious pumpkin smash cake! Baby Bird’s Banana Smash Cake is one of my most popular posts on Pinterest and in search engines. It is a healthy cake with no refined sugar or artificial coloring. This year we went pumpkin picking to celebrate both our youngest Baby Bird turning 1 and Little Bird turning 3. So of course we had to have a PUMPKIN smash cake and pumpkin cup cakes. I kept the sugar low by using just half a cup of maple sugar. Although we are not gluten-free, so many of our friends are. To be perfectly honest: these came out BETTER than the traditional cup cakes I made for the guests.
The cinnamon frosting is mostly cream cheese with a little grass-fed butter. I wanted to use maple syrup to sweeten it, but we were out. I ended up using a little organic powdered sugar, but less than a quarter of what most recipes call for. Our pumpkin picking party fell on an unseasonably hot 100° day… the candy pumpkins on top of the smash cakes started melting. But the cake was delicious and I can’t wait to make it again! Maybe as a full-sized layer cake.
Gluten-Free Pumpkin Smash Cake Recipe
Prep: Let all ingredients for the pumpkin smash cake sit out at room temperature. Cut a circle of parchment paper to line the bottom of 1 or 2 ramekins. Grease well with butter. Line a muffin tin with a dozen cupcake liners for the rest of the batter. Preheat oven to 350° F.
Mix on slowest speed until just incorporated, then add
2 cups of pureed, cooked pumpkin OR 1 (15 oz) can of pumpkin (follow the instructions here if you want to cook the pumpkin from scratch – but I won’t tell anyone if you use the can…)
Scoop into the ramekins and any remaining batter into the muffin tin. Bake the muffin/cupcakes for about 15-20 minutes and the ramekins for about 40 minutes. Cool completely or even overnight before frosting with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting.
This gluten free version (on the left) came out better than traditional pumpkin cupcakes (on the right)
Our girls are at the stage where we have to have two of everything! So the 3-year-old got a smash cake, too.
The pumpkin smash cake is sophisticated enough that a grown up can enjoy it with a cup of espresso
Notes:
If you follow this blog, you will know that I am all about making things from scratch. They only time I have mentioned using a mix for anything was when I made my own pancake mix to take camping! But I have to say, I loved using this gluten-free mix! I have had so many not so great gluten free baked goods, and tend to avoid them. This mix is a household staple as Papa Bird uses it at least weekly for his special pancakes. It was nearly a year before I realized it was gluten-free! I am not affiliated with Pamela’s, although maybe I should be! I am an Amazon Affiliate, though, and do receive advertising fees for qualifying purchases made through links on this site. Thank you for your support!
Baby Birds' Pumpkin Smash Cake with Cinnamon Frosting - Gluten Free and Low Sugar
Author: Abby Burd
Recipe type: Dessert
Cuisine: Gluten-Free
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
A low-sugar, gluten-free pumpkin cake or cup cake recipe, perfect for a healthy 1st birthday party "smash cake."
Ingredients
12 tablespoons of softened butter
½ cup of maple sugar (brown sugar would also be nice)
3 eggs, ideally at room temperature
½ cup of milk
½ cup of yogurt
2 cups of Pamela’s Baking and Pancake Mix
1 tablespoon of pumpkin pie spice blend
2 cups of pureed, cooked pumpkin OR 1 (15 oz) can of pumpkin
Instructions
Let all ingredients for the pumpkin smash cake sit out at room temperature. Cut a circle of parchment paper to line the bottom of 1 or 2 ramekins. Grease well with butter. Line a muffin tin with a dozen cupcake liners for the rest of the batter. Preheat oven to 350° F.
In the bowl of a good mixer, add butter and maple sugar. Beat on high until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, mixing after each until well combined. Add milk and yogurt and mix well.
Add 1 cup of Pamela’s Baking and Pancake Mix and the pumpkin pie spice blend. Mix on slowest speed until just incorporated, then add the pureed, cooked pumpkin. Mix until incorporated, then add 1 more cup of Pamela’s Baking and Pancake Mix.
Scoop into the ramekins and any remaining batter into the muffin tin. Bake the muffin/cupcakes for about 15-20 minutes and the ramekins for about 40 minutes. Cool completely or even overnight before frosting with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting.
Ta da! Banana Brûlée Bread Pudding! Made with challah, a toddler and love. I haven’t shared many recipe posts since Baby Bird #2 joined us. Baby is actually very easy tempered. It’s Little Bird that keeps me busy! Fortunately, she loves cooking and is legitimately a big help in making our bread pudding/french toast combo (you may remember the Pumpkin Bread Pudding French Toast or the Zucchini Bread Pudding.) This morning she buttered the pan, beat the eggs and milk, and ripped up the challah and added it to the pan (only stealing a few bites!)
Bananas are a common addition in our house, but the brûlée topping is something I have been playing with since seeing a friend on Google+ share her Panettone Pudding which she brûlées to make it all that more. Lin uses a blow torch, but since that is one of the few gadgets my kitchen lacks, I finish the bread pudding under the broiler (or the “bread and butter pudding” under the “grill” as she says) to get that crisp brûlée top. The first go got a little too burnt, so check it frequently!
My mom texted a picture of her homemade challah last night. (Yes, she texts now, crazy.) I did not make challah from scratch. But I did remember that I had half a loaf in the freezer. For those in San Diego, Charlie’s Best Bread makes a great challah, very light, eggy and sweet. And for those not in the know, challah is simply the best bread for french toast and bread pudding. Add a little vanilla ice cream, and take the Banana Brûlée Bread Pudding into dessert!
Banana Brûlée Bread Pudding Recipe
2 Tablespoons of butter
1/3 to 1/2 loaf of challah or other bread (at least one day old)
6-8 eggs
1 1/2 cups of milk (any milk or milk substitute will do but I like whole milk)
1 teaspoon of vanilla
1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon
(optional) 1 Tablespoon of sweetener of choice
1 banana, thinly sliced
1-2 Tablespoons of sugar
Preheat oven to 350°F. Take a stick of butter and liberally rub the bottom and sides of a large baking dish. Tear challah into small chunks and scatter in the dish.
Beat the eggs, and then mix in milk, vanilla and cinnamon. You may not need much sweetener if you are topping with the sugar crust. Mix well, then pour over the bread. Top with the banana slices. Bake about 20-30 minutes until just completely set in the center (by set I mean it looks solid vs. liquidy.) Remove from the oven and liberally sprinkle with the sugar.
Melt the sugar with a blow torch OR turn the broiler up to max, and put the pan on the closest rack. After 2 minutes, check every minute until the sugar melts and turns brown and then take out and let cool slightly. Enjoy!
Happy Thanksgiving week! Here is a round up of all of my favorite Thanksgiving dessert recipes: pies, pie crust and toppings, holiday cakes and cheesecake, all in one place.
Tip: pie crust can be made ahead and refrigerated for three days, or frozen a month, before using. You could make a double recipe now and be set for pies and quiches through Christmas.
Hi! I started Baby Birds Farm after the birth of my first daughter. I started sharing seasonal recipes featuring produce from our garden, eggs from our chicken, and homemade cheeses from our goat milk co-op. Fast forward a few years, another daughter, another business, and now we are just surviving and enjoying our busy life and food as much as we can. Join our journey of good food, farm-to-table restaurants in San Diego and healthy living!
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My Day Job
Abigail Burd, Licensed Clinical Social Worker and Psychotherapist, provides women's mental health in San Diego, CA. Specialities include managing anxiety and depression during pregnancy, postpartum and parenting. Learn more about my practice, Burd Psychotherapy, in Clairemont (San Diego) at www.burdtherapy.com.
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