The 2007 Christmas Gift Winner

After trying a couple of recipes for this year's Christmas 2007 treat search, finally it is over. And the winner is ....



Chocolate
Pumpkin
Cupcakes.


I saw this online from find.myrecipes.com and since I became slightly obsessed with the idea of using locally available productS (pumpkins in particular) I had to give it a try.

Actually, this recipe is not for cupcakes but actually a marble cake recipe. But I wanted to mass-produce this for friends, so I baked it in muffin cups. I was able to make 4 dozen delicious babies with 1 recipe. I tried to repeat this and was able to make 3 large loaves with one recipe. It was moderately difficult for me at first since I never made marble cakes. But once you get the hang of it, everything was a piece of cake (no pun intended). I didn't add the frosting anymore because I found the cake just right and adding the frosting would make it too sweet. We liked it better refrigerated because it made it more dense-like but eating it in room-temperature is good too.

Maybe, I would be adding this as a regular gift treat and conduct another Christmas Project for 2008.

Spiced Spiked Pumpkin Muffins

As I was busy with my search for the ultimate Christmas goodies for this year, I thought of using locally grown products and something that would make the treats not only delicious but healthy at the same time. When we received 2 heads of winter squash from the province, I decided to look for something made out of pumpkins. I came across Farmgirl Fare's Spicy Pumpkin Pecan Raisin Muffins. The photo beaconed me to give the recipe a chance. So after studying and thinking of tweaking the ingredients, I was able to create a spiced and spiked pumpkin muffin. I replaced the orange juice with triple sec, and increased the amount of the wheat flour to 1 cup and subtracted half a cup from the flour. I ran out of honey so I replaced it with maple syrup.

The Ingredients:
1 cup raisins
3/4 cup Triple Sec (or rhum)
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon of each: baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 cup margarine or butter
1 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup maple syrup
3 eggs
1 pound fresh pumpkin puree (about 450 grams, peeled, boiled and pureed)
1 cup chopped nuts (i used walnuts)

Cooking Procedure:
In a saucepan, boil the raisins with the triple sec until plump. Set it aside.

Combine the dry ingredients together. Combine margarine, sugar, maple syrup, and eggs in a large bowl and mix well. Stir in pumpkin puree. Fold in the dry and wet ingredients into the pumpkin mixture alternately. Stir in the nuts.

Pour 2/3 cup-full into greased muffin or cupcake tins. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 25 to 30 minutes in a 350F pre-heated oven. Cool muffins in tins for 15 minutes on wire racks. Store in an air tight container.

My Notes:
My first attempt in making this was a flop. I over mixed it and failed to notice that I used dark brown sugar instead of brown sugar. The cake became too sweet and crumbly. But we enjoyed the spicy spiked taste with a hint of maple. I didn't want to put this to waste, so I whipped up some heavy cream, and added alittle vanilla. Layered it then topped with chocolate curls. Chilled it for 4 hours. I had an instant Refrigerator Pumpkin Spiked Cake. (Sorry I forgot to take a photo.)

In my second attempt, I had the sugar and procedure right. I had a couple of pumpkin puree left over, so I topped some of the muffins with a tablespoon before placing it in the oven. It had a creamy top and gave a more pumpkin flavor.
For a ginger-y taste, add 1 teaspoon of ginger.
Keeping them in a tight container for a few days in the refrigerator, the muffins had a similar taste to fruitcakes without the extra dried and glaced fruit.

The verdict:
Not bad at all... Not bad at all... A definite potential...

To Farmgirl Susan:
Thank you for this wonderful recipe. I definitely enjoyed making them. I am looking forward to repeating the experience soon. :)

Requesting Shrimps

Mom was heading back from visiting my brother. A few days before her departure, I was able to talk with her and told her that I received a very good pumpkin from my aunt. It was sweet and starchy that had a creamy, sweet consistency when cooked. She requested if I could cook the pumpkin with shrimps and coconut milk.

We call it Ginataang Hipon at Kalabasa. There are many variations depending on the household with regards to how they prepare this dish.I have known others to mash the pumpkin to make the stew thicker while others just let the pumpkin break up on its own. I know some prefer theirs with a thin

This will be my first attempt to prepare the dish the way she does it. I hope I pass :)

Ginataang Hipon at Kalabasa

Salt
300-400 grams shrimps
1 tablespoon oil
1 thumb size ginger, peeled, sliced into disks
4 cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped
1 medium sized onion, sliced
4 cups pumpkin, peeled, seeded and sliced into ½ inch cubes
1 cup eggplant, sliced into ½ inch length, quartered
1 ½ cup coconut milk, 2nd extraction
1 cup coconut cream or milk, 1st extraction
1 tablespoon fish sauce
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
1-2 pieces finger chilies (siling pang sigang)
1 bunch swamp cabbage (kangkong) leaves, approximately 1 to 1 ½ cup

Remove the whiskers from the shrimps. Season it with salt. Do not season too much else it will end up too salty. Set aside.

Heat the oil in a casserole in medium heat and sauté ginger, garlic and onion. When the onions are almost translucent and the garlic is tender, add in the pumpkin then the eggplant. Saute the vegetables well. Pour in the 2nd extraction into the casserole and lower the heat. Season the pumpkin with ½ tablespoon fish sauce and ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper.

When the pumpkin and eggplant is half cooked add in the shrimp. Stir for a few seconds and cover. Simmer for 2-3 minutes. Add in the 1st extraction and simmer for 2 minutes. Drop in the finger chilies. Adjust the taste by adding remaining fish sauce and black pepper. Continue cooking until you get the desired consistency of the sauce. Add the swamp cabbage then stir once. Turn off heat. You don’t need to worry with the swamp cabbage because the remaining heat will continue to let it cook.

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I asked my mom when she had it for dinner yesterday. I passed with flying colors. :D