Tag: holiday desserts

Maple Pecan Brownies

Posted on by Mari Vasseur
maple pecan brownies

Pecan pie was my mom’s favorite, but she didn’t bake pies, so I always used to bake her one for Thanksgiving. One year, I made a chocolate version. It was delicious, but let’s just say it wasn’t user friendly. It was gooey and hard to serve. Over the years, it eventually morphed into these Maple Pecan Brownies. The brownie version is still delicious, rich and gooey with toasty pecans, but much more user friendly.

Enjoying Maple Pecan Brownies with a glass of milk or a cup of coffee is a must. Thinking of it brings back memories. I can practically smell my dad brewing the coffee to go with these brownies.

Maple Pecan Brownies

Rich, gooey brownies topped with pecan pie filling
Print Recipe
Course Dessert
Servings 16 brownies

Ingredients
  

Brownies

  • ¾ cup (6 ounces) unsalted butter, melted
  • 1 cup (7 ounces) granulated sugar
  • ¾ cup (5 1/4 ounces) brown sugar
  • 3 large eggs
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla bean paste or pure vanilla extract
  • ¾ cup (2 1/4 ounces) unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted preferably Dutch process cocoa
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 1 ¼ cups (5 5/8 ounces) flour

Pecan Topping

  • ¼ cup pure maple syrup
  • 2 tablespoons (1 ounce) unsalted butter, melted
  • ½ cup (3 1/2 ounces) brown sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 teaspoon maple extract
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 2 cups (7 ounces) pecan halves or pieces

Instructions
 

Brownies

  • Preheat oven to 350ºF. Line a 9-inch square baking pan with parchment paper, overlapping the sides an inch or two. Spray parchment paper with nonstick cooking spray.
  • In a large bowl, stir together melted butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar until well combined.
  • Mix in eggs and vanilla, one at a time, until well combined.
  • Mix in cocoa powder, baking soda and salt until well combined.
  • Stir in flour just until combined.
  • Spread batter into prepared baking pan. Bake just until top is set, about 25 minutes.
  • Meanwhile, prepare pecan topping.
  • When brownie top is set, remove from oven. Gently pour pecan topping around the outer perimeter of brownies, to avoid making brownies sink in the middle. Evenly distribute the pecan topping over the top gently with a spoon.
  • Return the brownies to the oven and continue baking until the topping is set, about 20-25 minutes. Brownies will stop jiggling and topping will look deep golden brown. Toothpick inserted inside will have a few moist crumbs on it. (If your topping starts to brown too much on the edges before the inside is done, apply aluminum foil around the edges as you would with a pie.)
  • Remove from oven and cool completely before cutting, about 2- 2 1/2 hours.
  • Cut into squares, wiping knife between cuts.

Pecan Topping

  • In a medium bowl, stir together maple syrup, butter, brown sugar, egg, maple extract and salt until well combined.
  • Stir in pecans until well coated with maple syrup mixture.
  • Set aside until brownies are partially baked.
Keyword brownies, chocolate, maple pecan

Gingerbread Cupcakes with Blood Orange Cream Cheese Icing and Candied Blood Orange Slices

Posted on by Mari Vasseur
Gingerbread Cupcakes with Blood Orange Cream Cheese Icing and Candied Blood Oranges

Every winter, when blood oranges come back in season, I start keeping an eye out for them at grocery stores and farmers markets. This year was different. I’ve been at home, having my groceries delivered instead of perusing the local produce aisles. If you’ve been entrusting strangers to do your shopping like I have, then you know delivery produce selections are hit and miss. So I was elated when a bag of perfectly beautiful, ripe blood oranges landed on my doorstep. This simple joy made my day. There was no choice. I had to make something worthy of the gorgeous red beauties!

I didn’t get enough of gingerbread this holiday season, so I decided to make a gingerbread cupcake recipe that I created a few years ago when I was experimenting with blood oranges. I used blood orange zest in the cupcake batter and brushed the warm cupcakes with the blood orange syrup left over from making the candied oranges. If you don’t make the candied oranges, you can easily make a batch of the syrup* or skip this step altogether. They will still be delicious. I topped the cupcakes with cream cheese icing made with more orange zest and some blood orange juice mixed in. The juice makes the icing turns a soft shade of pink.

Gingerbread Cupcakes with Blood Orange Cream Cheese Icing and Candied Blood Oranges

Candied blood orange slices are so stunning, that I can’t bring myself to just lay them on top of a dessert. They remind me of stained glass windows. I like to place them on toothpicks so they can stand up in regal style! Many recipes out there will instruct you to boil the orange slices, then let them air dry. This is perfectly fine if you don’t mind floppy candied oranges. For this recipe, boiling the slices, then letting them dry in the oven on low heat will give them enough stiffness to stand up.

If you can’t find blood oranges where you live, here’s a link to get blood oranges shipped to you. This recipe will also work with other types of oranges. You won’t get the deep scarlet color and the flavor will have a bit more tartness, but it will still be beautiful and delicious!

 

Gingerbread Cupcakes with Blood Orange Cream Cheese Icing

by Mari Vasseur
Print Recipe
Course Dessert
Servings 12 cupcakes

Ingredients
  

Gingerbread Cupcakes

  • 2 ¼ cups (287g) all purpose flour, sifted
  • 2 teaspoons ground ginger
  • 1 ¾ teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • ¼ teaspoon ground allspice
  • â…› teaspoon fine sea salt
  • ½ cup (113g) unsalted butter, softened
  • ½ cup (100g) packed brown sugar
  • 2 teaspoons blood orange zest or orange zest
  • ¾ cup (245ml) molasses
  • 2 large eggs
  • ¾ cup (174ml) buttermilk

Blood Orange Cream Cheese Icing

  • ¾ cup (170g) cream cheese, softened
  • 6 tablespoons (85g) unsalted butter, softened
  • 1 teaspoon blood orange zest or orange zest
  • 1 pinch fine sea salt
  • 3 ½ cups (450g) powdered sugar, sifted
  • 3-4 tablespoons (45-59ml) blood orange juice or orange juice

Candied Blood Orange Slices

  • 2 medium blood oranges or oranges
  • ½ cup (100g) granulated sugar
  • ¾ cup (177ml) water

Instructions
 

Gingerbread Cupcakes

  • Preheat the oven to 350º. Spray the wells a 12-serving muffin pan with non-stick spray.
  • In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together flour, cinnamon, ginger, allspice, baking soda and salt until well blended.
  • In a large bowl, beat the butter, brown sugar and orange zest with an electric mixer at medium speed, until pale and fluffy.
  • Add the molasses and beat until combined. Beat in the eggs one at a time until incorporated. On low speed, mix in the flour mixture in two additions, alternating with the buttermilk. Beat just until combined.
  • Scoop the batter into prepared the muffin pan, filling the wells 2/3 full.
  • Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cupcakes comes out clean, about 15-18 minutes. Allow the cupcakes to cool in pan for 7 minutes, then remove them from pan and place them upside down on a cooling rack.
  • Brush the warm cupcakes generously with orange simple syrup. Allow them to cool completely before frosting.

Blood Orange Cream Cheese Icing

  • In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese, on low speed with an electric mixer, until smooth.
  • Add the butter, orange zest and salt and beat until smooth and well blended.
  • Add the powdered sugar. Beat on low speed until the powdered sugar is incorporated. Increase the speed to medium and beat until smooth.
  • Beat in the blood orange juice, one tablespoon (15ml) at a time until the desired consistency is reached.

Candied Blood Orange Slices

  • Slice the oranges into thin 1/4 inch slices.
  • Combine the sugar and water in a shallow saucepan and bring to a simmer. Add the orange slices to the saucepan. Simmer for 10 minutes.
  • Drain the oranges, reserving the syrup.
  • Preheat the oven to 175ºF (80ºC). Place on a large baking sheet lined with a baking mat in a single layer and bake until the orange slices begin to stiffen, about 2 hours.
  • Remove the orange slices from the oven and let them cool on the baking sheet. If desired, insert toothpicks when the slices are cool enough to handle. The slices will continue to stiffen as they cool.

Notes

*To make orange simple syrup,  combine the juice of one orange with enough water to make 1/2 cup. Combine mixture with the zest of one orange and 1/2 cup sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir until sugar is dissolved. Let cool and transfer to a glass container. Refrigerate until ready to use.
Keyword blood oranges, candied oranges, cupcakes, gingerbread