Nothing says fall like pumpkin-flavored everything, and what better way to celebrate the falling temperatures than by firing up the oven and baking some delicious desserts!
Chefs from Georgetown Cupcake and Breads Bakery competed in a friendly pumpkin-themed bake-off on "Good Morning America" today, and shared these mouthwatering recipes for fall desserts that are sure to be a hit at your next get-together.
Here is a step-by-step guide on how to recreate these two dishes that bring together all our favorite fall flavors: a pumpkin s'more cupcake parfait and a pumpkin cheesecake strudel.
Makes one dozen cupcake parfaits
Ingredients:
For the pumpkin spice cupcake layers:
1 and 1/4 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1 and 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
8 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
3/4 cup pumpkin puree
1 tablespoons honey
1/4 cup water
For the maple frosting layers:
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
6 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 and 1/4 cups cream cheese
3/4 cup pure maple syrup or 1 teaspoon pure maple extract
For the graham crumble layers:
1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup melted butter
For the chocolate ganache layers:
1 cup high-quality semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup heavy cream
For the toasted marshmallow topping:
1 cup marshmallow creme
Kitchen blowtorch
For the fondant fall leaf decorations:
1/4 cup of brown fondant
1/4 cup of red fondant
1/4 cup of yellow fondant
1/4 cup of orange fondant
Bronze edible luster dust (optional)
Leaf-shaped mini cookie cutters
Small rolling pin
For presentation:
1/2 cup of Fall-colored sprinkles, placed in a shallow bowl
12 dessert glasses
12 spoons
Directions:
For the cupcakes:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a standard cupcake pan with 12 baking cups.
2. Sift together flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, allspice, and nutmeg in a bowl. Set aside.
3. Place the butter in the bowl of a stand mixer or hand-held electric mixer. Beat on medium speed until fluffy. Add the sugar and beat until mixed well.
4. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing after each addition.
5. Mix in the pumpkin puree and honey.
6. Add one-third of the flour mixture, then add one-third of the water, beating until mixed well. Add another one-third of the flour mixture, followed by one-third of the water. Add the remaining flour mixture, followed by the remaining water and beat until combined.
7. Use a standard-size ice cream scoop to fill each baking cup with batter so that they are two-thirds full. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean. Let the cupcakes cool completely. Remove cupcakes from wrappers and slice each in half horizontally.
For the maple frosting:
1. Place all ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer or hand-held electric mixer. Beat until well combined or until the frosting is light and fluffy.
2. Transfer approximately 3/4 of the maple frosting into a plastic piping bag, fitted with a large round metal tip. Transfer the remaining frosting to a shallow bowl.
For the graham crumble:
1. Place all ingredients in a small glass bowl and mix until well-combined.
For the chocolate ganache:
1. Fill a medium saucepan with an inch or two of water and place over medium-low heat. Place the chocolate chips and heavy cream in a medium glass bowl over the saucepan and stir until the chips are completely melted. Remove the bowl of chocolate ganache from the saucepan. Let cool slightly. Pour the chocolate ganache into a disposable plastic piping bag with the corner cut.
For the fondant leaf decorations:
1. Combine and roll all fondant colors together until you achieve a “tie-dye” color pattern.
2. Using a small rolling pin, roll out a 1/4 inch thick piece of fondant with shimmery bronze edible luster dust.
3. Using mini leaf cookie cutters, cut out fondant leaves and allow to harden for several minutes.
Assembling the cupcake parfaits:
1. Dip the rim of each glass in the shallow bowl of maple frosting and twist so that the rim is covered in frosting. Then, dip the glass rim into the shallow bowl of Fall-colored sprinkles so that the frosting-covered rim is covered in the sprinkles.
2. Add a tablespoon of graham crumble in the bottom of the glass.
3. Add a drizzle of chocolate ganache.
4. Pipe a swirl of maple frosting.
5. Add the bottom half of the pumpkin spice cupcake.
6. Pipe a swirl of marshmallow crème.
7. Add a tablespoon of the graham crumble.
8. Add a drizzle of chocolate ganache.
9. Pipe a swirl of maple frosting on top.
10. Add the top half of the pumpkin spice cupcake.
11. Pipe swirl of marshmallow creme on top, and toast marshmallow creme using a kitchen blowtorch until it is a golden color.
12. Decorate with a beautiful fondant fall leaf. Serve and enjoy!
Yields six 12-inch strudels
For the Dough:
Inverse Puff Pastry Dough
1/2 cup Water
2 and 1/2 tsp Salt
2 tsp Sugar
1/2 tsp Vinegar
2 and 1/4 cups all-purpose Flour
6 and 1/2 tbsp Butter
1. By hand or in a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, mix all ingredients on low speed until dough comes together, then switch to medium speed and continue kneading for 1 minute.
2. Take the dough out of the bowl and form it into a 10 by 8 inch rectangle, about 1 inch thick. Cover in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2-3 hours.
Butter Block: 1 and 1/2 cup butter, room temperature 1 cup all-purpose Flour
1. By hand or in a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, mix flour and butter together until smooth.
2. Take butter mixture out of the bowl and place between two large pieces of parchment paper or plastic wrap. With your hands or a rolling pin, form the butter into a 9 by 7 inch rectangle. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
For the Lamination:
1. Remove the dough and butter from the fridge. With a rolling pin, roll the chilled butter rectangle to 18 by 9 inches. Place dough block on the right half of the of the larger butter block, then fold the remaining butter block over like a book to completely enclose the dough inside of the butter. With the heels of your hand, firmly press down on the top layer, “locking in” the dough to the butter.
2. On a floured surface, roll the dough package evenly to 24 by 7 inches. Complete a book fold: fold the two shorter ends of the rectangle together until they meet, creating two even layers of dough. Then fold it in half again, creating four even layers.
3. Roll the block out once more to 28 by 7.5 inches, making sure that the folded edges from the previous step become the long edge on this step. Complete one more book fold.
4. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 1 to 2 hours. You can also freeze the dough to use later.
For the Filling:
Pumpkin Cheesecake
1/2 cup Pumpkin Puree
1/2 tsp Ground Cinnamon
1/4 tsp Ground Nutmeg
1/4 Pinch Ground Ginger
2/3 cup Cream Cheese, room temperature
3/4 cup Powdered Sugar
1 tbsp Cornstarch
Pinch Salt
1. By hand or with a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, mix cream cheese until smooth. Add cornstarch and powdered sugar and continue mixing until completely combined. Add pumpkin puree, the spices and salt and mix until combined. Refrigerate.
To Assemble:
1. Remove the dough from the fridge and roll to 36 by 9 inches. Using a ruler, divide the dough in half lengthwise (two 36 by 4.5 inch strips), then cut each strip into thirds vertically, resulting in 6 rectangles that are approximately 12 by 4.5 inches each.
2. Transfer filling to a piping bag. Pipe a thin strip of filling down the center of each rectangle and gently seal the long edges together to form a tube with a seam on one side. Crimp the seam closed with your fingers. Repeat for all remaining rectangles.
3. Transfer strudels to baking sheets, placing them at least 2 inches apart. Brush all with a beaten egg.
To Bake:
1. Bake at 400F for approximately 20 minutes, until light and golden in color.
2. Remove from the oven and lightly sprinkle each strudel with a thin layer of powdered sugar, then return to the oven for an additional 5-8 minutes until all of the sugar has melted and caramelized.
3. Let cool and enjoy!