I impress myself sometimes when I come up with a great recipe. This is one of them. Yes, I know what you are thinking- she is not very modest. Well, I am my biggest critic and do know when something tastes really good.
Since I have discovered how to make gelato with corn starch, my imagination had been going crazy with all the different combinations I can do.
As fall came our way, pumpkins were everywhere and I needed to come up with pumpkin recipes. I made the pumpkin chocolate bread- which is delicious- and I had leftover pumpkin puree to use up. I started thinking of making an ice cream or gelato with it. I thought of all the ingredients that go into a pumpkin pie and decided to mimic the flavors in the frozen dessert.
Well, the results were fabulous. The pumpkin puree enhanced the texture. There isn’t a lot of sugar and yet it has a lot of flavor. Creamy yet very light and delicious.
I served it with the apple crisp and the two flavors went fantastically well- really delicious. So, this is yet another dish for Thanksgiving…
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I tried this recipe out just in time for the holidays. I used the applesauce I made a while ago and used all the holiday flavors I could think of.
I didn’t want to make some thing very close to the apple cranberry bread I made- I wanted it to be more of a proper cake – something good enough to serve for Thanksgiving or Christmas.
This cake is made out of the usual healthy ingredients like whole wheat flour, turbinado sugar and extra light olive oil. I thought of using the applesauce for two reasons- one to add great flavor and the other to add great texture. You can’t go wrong with chocolate- right? So, I added some melted chocolate.
To complete the dessert I thought of icing- the problem is that I don’t like it. The only kind of icing I like is real whipped cream and somehow it didn’t seem the right one for this cake. After doing some research, I decided to use sugar icing. As I was mixing the sugar with the milk- I thought of cocoa- why not add some cocoa to this? I added cinnamon and cocoa- delicious!
I poured the icing on the cake and served it to a friend and her kids who were over for dinner. It was really delicious. The chocolate flavor and the apple flavor came through loud and clear. The spices were there as well- very subtle yet very flavorful.
Big success- definitely a candidate for the holidays.
- 1 cup white whole wheat flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon powdered cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon powdered nutmeg
- 2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted
- ½ cup extra light olive oil
- 1 cup turbinado sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup homemade or store bought applesauce
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Grease and flour a 9” round pan.
In a medium mixing bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. In a large bowl of a mixer, add the melted chocolate and the oil. Add sugar and beat until mixture is creamy. Beat in eggs, one at a time, then add the applesauce and vanilla and mix well. Stir in dry ingredients and pour into the round pan.
Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until tester is clean. Let cool and then top with the spiced icing.
Spiced Icing
- ¾ cup confectioner’s sugar (powdered sugar)
- ¼ unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon powdered cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon powdered nutmeg
- 5 tablespoons milk
In a small mixing blow, combine the sugar, cocoa, cinnamon, nutmeg and milk. Whisk well until all ingredients are incorporated and smooth. Add more milk if needed to reach the desired consistency.
Pour on top of the the cake and spread to the sides evenly.
This dessert is not necessary made with Latin flavors but it has a whole lot of bold flavors to stand up to any of the Latin dishes I made for the Thanksgiving dinner.
I love combining ginger with chocolate. I made a gingerbread cake, filled it with a whipped cream and candies ginger mixture and then topped the cake with a delicious chocolate ganache.
The combination was yummy!!!
This cake is great for Thanksgiving and Christmas. It has all the classic holiday flavors. It is relatively healthy as I made the cake with my usual white whole wheat flour. I also used extra light olive oil and evaporated cane juice. I try to use healthy ingredients whenever I can- especially when it is hard to tell while eating the delicious cake. I would highly recommend this dessert for the upcoming holiday…
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You can’t have a Latin style Thanksgiving dinner without a cranberry salsa- right? Well as I was thinking of all the different flavors I could add to a cranberry sauce- I somehow decided to pair the red berries with pineapple. I of course cooked it all in yummy pineapple juice and added the usual suspects- smoked paprika, cilantro and green onions. You can make this a week before and freeze. I would freeze it after the cranberries and pineapple are cooked. Add the fresh cilantro and green onions the day of the feast once the salsa is thawed.
The sweet and tangy sauce was absolutely delicious with the chipotle turkey, scalloped potatoes, chorizo stuffing and of course chorizo brussels sprouts.
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Thanksgiving is not complete without a yummy stuffing. We never make the stuffing from the box- we like the one from scratch. The good thing about homemade stuffing is that you can make it in advance. This could be put together a couple of days before the big dinner and refrigerated or frozen.
You guessed right- this recipe has all the Latin flavors as well. There is the smoked paprika and orange zest – similar flavors to the turkey and the gravy. It also has chorizo- anything with chorizo is delicious! The leeks and the celery provide a nice crunch and the cranberries bring a delicious sweetness to the dish. This stuffing complemented the turkey and the rest of dishes beautifully!
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