pumpkin cream cheese sweet bread.

just a quick post to say…….if you mess up one recipe big time, there is a chance you can transform it into something else completely.

this here was once destined to be pumpkin cream cheese frosting for these chai blondies. when i over-pumpkin’ed the mixture, it was never going to work as frosting because it became super grainy. i was sooo sad even thinking about throwing out a huge mixing bowl of perfectly good stuff….

so i made it into something else!

since this was originally destined for a life as frosting, it was made with a bunch of powdered sugar. it then took a hard right turn at a fork, journeyed through a tunnel, and resurfaced into the light as a fun little pumpkin sweet bread.

to be honest, i’ll probably never make this particular recipe over again, just because it’s a pumpkin bread made with powdered sugar. but, it was very yummy and super moist and good! if you love a sweet bread, this recipe is for you!

here is my regular pumpkin/squash bread recipe that i like the best. you can switch out pumpkin for butternut squash as you desire.

moral of the story is: unless you’ve burned something to a crisp or dropped it all over the floor, chances are you can take a “failed” recipe and give it a new life.

make lemonade from lemons, if you will. 🍋😊

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Sweet Bread

Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes

Makes: One Loaf

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter

• 4 oz. room temperature cream cheese

• 1 cup pumpkin purée

• 1 tsp. vanilla extract

• 1 tsp. chai blend (find recipe in this post) or pumpkin pie spice

• 1/4 tsp. fine sea salt

• 3 cups powdered sugar

• 2 TB heavy cream

• 1 egg

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

• 1 tsp. baking soda

• 1 tsp. baking powder

Instructions-

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray and line a loaf pan with parchment paper, leaving enough excess paper on the edges for you to be able to grab and lift the bread out of the pan later.

In a large bowl, cream the butter and cream cheese until smooth. Add the eggs & vanilla, mix until combined. Add the pumpkin, chai spice blend and salt, mixing until incorporated. Add the powdered sugar in 1/2 cup increments to slowly combine.

Slowly add the flour and baking powders to the mixture, scraping down the sides of the mixing bowl with a spatula as needed. Lastly, add 2 TB heavy cream or milk and stir.

Spread the batter into the prepared loaf pan and place on top of a baking sheet. Place into the oven and bake at 350 degrees F for 60 minutes.

Remove from oven and let cool 10 minutes. Carefully grab the parchment with both hands to lift the entire loaf out of the pan and onto a cooling rack to cool completely.

Slice and serve with coffee (or something unsweetened, to balance it out)!

Cover with foil or store in an airtight container for 3-5 days.

qp

apple, cheddar, broccolini & shallot galette.

i’m back with a deeeelicious recipe that i made back in october and was soo excited to share it then. but, i ran off and got married and went on some fun trips and have just been all around holiday season preoccupied!

but hot damn this is the little galette that could. i wish i had made two, because pete and i totally woofed this down for dinner that day.

i love all the flavors and textures going on - soft (but crisp!) juicy apples, melty sharp cheddar, hearty broccolini bits, tangy shallots all on the most flaky, buttery, tasty crust.

this pie crust/galette dough recipe reigns from kitchen queen alison roman’s cookbook, dining in.

when i saw “the only piecrust” as the title of her crust recipe i was like welp. look at that confidence. i trust this bish. and then the fact that it has apple cider vinegar quickly convinced me to use it for this apple galette that i had in mind.

fast forward to the end of october, i was in new york city with my friend whitney (again!), and we were enjoying the best pizza & wine at rubirosa on the lower east side. then in walks the alison roman herself. she was standing at the host station and we were at the bar, which are somehow right next to each other - she was in an arm’s reach of me on 2 glasses of red wine…………. aka the danger zone.

i had JUST made her piecrust recipe earlier that week and pete and i had been going nuts over it. so in classic quinn word vomit fashion, i tapped her on the shoulder and told her “HEY I LOVE YOUR PIECRUST.” lol.

somehow this did not alarm her in any way - she’s very recognizable and her cookbook has been the jam for the last year. i went on to tell her i made it that week and used it for a galette. she was very sweet and appreciative that i made her recipe and loved it!

loved it so much i just had to be a bugaboo in a restaurant about it. oh wellz. these are the days we’re living in, i guess. 🤷🏻‍♀️ ok to go up to a complete stranger and profess your love for their piecrust. the internet is weird.

so anyway holy moses this galette combination is so so so good.

and it’s really so simple. don’t be alarmed by the long prep time - it’s just that the dough needs to chill a couple hours before you roll it out and bake it.

galettes are so freaking versatile, but peter & i both loved this version that feels very fall/winter. also, apples & cheese and broccoli & cheese are just classic combos - put it all together with those zingy shallots on top and yum yum YUM.

also, galettes are supposed to be rustic. don’t fret about making them look perfect AT ALL. it is like pie’s lazy sista. the messy top bun of baked goods, if you will.

i have to rave one more time about alison’s pie crust recipe. i have made lots of versions of basic pie crusts from scratch - and this one is just as easy, but i think its all the ratios and the apple cider vinegar that sets it apart.

pleeeease try it!

i think i should arm our fridge with stacks of chilled-ahead disks of galette crust at the ready because once you make one, your brain will race with all the other combinations you can make.

sweet, savory, or sweet + savory!

galettes are also a great vehicle for clean-out-the-fridge/pantry days. random-potato here, rogue-onion there, gotta-use-that-peach here, getting-sad mushrooms there. not to mention cheeses that are lingering in your cheese drawer!

i dare you to just throw whatever’s in your fridge/pantry on this crust and not like it.

also have you even SEEN all the sweet galette recipe ideas topped with ice cream?? yeah.

Apple, Cheddar, Broccolini & Shallot Galette

Makes 1 Galette (Crust Recipe from Alison Roman’s ‘Dining In’ Cookbook, “The Only Piecrust” recipe - halved here)

Active Time: 25 minutes, Chill Time: 2 hours, Bake Time: 25 minutes

Total Time: 3 hours (you can make dough in advance and refrigerate)

Ingredients:

For the crust:

• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling

• 1 tsp. sugar

• 1/2 tsp. kosher salt

• 1 1/4 sticks unsalted butter (10 TB), cut into 1-inch pieces, chilled

• 1/2 TB apple cider vinegar

• 1/8 - 1/4 cup ice water

For the toppings:

• 1 large Fuji or Honeycrisp apple, cored & sliced thinly (I used more than half the apple)

• 1 heaping cup freshly shredded extra sharp cheddar cheese

• a few small heads of broccolini, cut into bite-sized florets

• 1 small shallot, sliced thinly

• 1 egg + 2 tsp. water, for crust eggwash

Instructions-

Make the dough/crust ahead of time to allow a couple hours to chill, or chill overnight:

In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar & salt. Add the chilled butter cubes and toss to coat in the flour mixture, then use your hands to smash the butter between your fingers. Incorporate the butter into the flour mixture until it appears shaggy and flaky.

Combine the vinegar and the ice water and drizzle it over the flour + butter mixture. Run your fingers through the mixture to evenly distribute the water through the flour until the dough starts coming together.

On a lightly floured work surface, knead the combined dough a few times to gather up and incorporate any dry bits. It will not be smooth or shiny. Knead the shaggy mass with your palms a few more times, then pat into a flat disk about 1 inch thick. Wrap the disk with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 2 hours.

Put it all together:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare a piece of parchment on a baking sheet and lightly spray with cooking spray.

Roll out chilled galette crust on a lightly floured work surface until it’s about 1/8 inch thick, depending how big/small, thick or thin you’d like your galette to be.

Grate the cheddar cheese, slice the apple, cut up the broccolini and slice the shallot. In a small bowl, whisk one egg and add 2 tsp. water and whisk again. Set aside for egg wash.

Leaving about 2 inches around the edges of the galette crust so you can fold it over, add your toppings to the center of the dough. Start with sharp cheddar cheese, layers of thin apple slices, another layer of cheese, broccolini florets, and shallot slivers.

Gently fold over the edges of the galette inward. This step does not have to look perfect - just create a pocket to hold all the toppings in.

Using the prepared egg wash, brush the external crust edges until they’re evenly coated in the wash. Discard remaining egg wash. Top with another layer of sharp cheddar cheese all over and transfer the galette to the prepared parchment on the baking sheet.

Bake at 350 degrees F for about 25-30 minutes, until cheese is lightly browned and bubbly. Remove from oven and let cool a few minutes. Use a large knife to cut into triangles.

Serve immediately or same-day! This is a great appetizer for a gathering or dinner party.

qp