Sweet Potato Gratin with Chipotle and Maple

2 cups heavy cream
1 Tbsp chipotle puree
1 Tbsp maple syrup
1 Tbsp cornstarch
3 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and sliced thin (use a mandoline or food processor)
3 tsp bread crumbs, separated
Salt and pepper, to taste

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine the heavy cream, chipotle puree, maple syrup, and cornstarch in a small bowl. In an 8-inch square baking dish, arrange a quarter of the sweet potatoes. Season to taste with salt and pepper and pour a quarter of the cream over it. Over top of the cream, sprinkle a teaspoon of bread crumbs. Repeat with the remaining potatoes/cream/crumbs, forming 4 layers. Don’t put bread crumbs on the top layer.

Bake for 1 hour or until the cream has been absorbed and the potatoes are browned. Remove from the oven and let sit 10 minutes before serving.

(This recipe still isn’t totally right.)

Well, it’s about that time again (for those of us in the U.S.). Thanksgiving. What are you making?

I am in charge of the terrible, lovely, death-inducing broccoli, rolls, and a chipotle-maple sweet potato gratin that I haven’t really worked all the kinks out of yet. This is the base recipe up on Food Network’s website. It is wrong. My mom had this dish at Bobby Flay’s restaurant in Las Vegas, and it’s rather different than the one here. For starters, there’s no maple syrup in it. Secondly (and this is the big problem), there’s too much liquid in it. It won’t hold its shape.

A couple weeks ago, my parents and I embarked on a journey to fix this. We tried six different methods.

1) bake the sweet potato slices first (the best attempt, although still not right)
2) use evaporated milk instead of cream (this was terrible)
3) use sour cream instead of cream (curdled)
4) use ricotta instead of cream (bad texture)
5) add an egg to thicken the cream (nope)
6) salt the sweet potato slices first to get them to dry out a bit and absorb more cream (nope)

Last December, I tried making it using a bechamel sauce, but it broke in the oven. It was tasty, though- once you poured off the inch of fat floating on top.

Anyone have any ideas on how to make this work? I’ve still got a week to experiment.

Happy Halloween, everyone!

I have a costume out in my car, but I’m probably not going to wear it. The Press does not seem so into the holiday spirit. I bought some candy to put at the front desk. One piece has been taken so far. Yay.

I think we might get trick-or-treaters tonight! I haven’t seen any of those in AGES!

ETA: Okay, I just got back from lunch with Rosy. I did dress up! Rosy was a Viking, and I was Mandy, the misanthropic 10-year-old from The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy. We went to Chili’s. It was much fun. (I’m back in plainclothes now.)

And to answer my mom’s question, I bought a variety pack at Safeway this morning on the way to work (I figured I should have candy at the front desk). It’s a mixture of Butterfinger, Nestle Crunch, Baby Ruth, and chocolate Laffy Taffy.

Blackout Cake

(Ebinger’s Bakery [attempting to recreate the recipe])

CAKE
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup milk
1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/4 cup vegetable shortening
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups cake flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp table salt

PUDDING
2/3 cup sugar
2 Tbsp cornstarch
1/4 tsp table salt
1 1/2 cups milk
3 oz. unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1 tsp vanilla extract

FROSTING
4 oz. unsweetened chocolate
1 stick unsalted butter
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3 eggs
3 cups confectioners sugar

CAKE
Heat the oven to 350. Butter two 9-inch cake pans. (Make sure they’re 9-inch, I accidentally used 8.5-inch and had such a mess.) Dust them with flour and tap out the excess. Set aside.

Stir the cocoa with some of the milk to form a paste. Stir in the rest of the milk, and beat with a whisk until the mixture is smooth. Set aside. In a stand mixer combine the butter, shortening, sugar, eggs and vanilla. Beat for 1 minute, or until the mixture is fluffy.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add the mixture, alternately with the cocoa mixture, to the contents of the bowl, beating between additions. Begin and end with the flour mixture, and beat only until the dry ingredients are absorbed. Divide the batter between the cake pans and smooth the tops with a spatula to even them.

Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until the layers shrink from the sides of the pans and the tops spring back when gently pressed with a fingertip. Cool the layers on wire recks for 10 minutes, then carefully invert them onto the racks. Turn right side up and let cool completely.

PUDDING
Combine the sugar, cornstarch and salt in a small heavy saucepan. Gradually add the milk, mixing thoroughly with a wire whisk. Add the chocolate. Place over moderate heat and cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens and bubbles for 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla. Pour into a small bowl and put plastic wrap or wax paper directly on the surface to prevent a skin from forming. Cool completely.

FROSTING
Melt the chocolate in the top of a double boiler. Remove it from the heat and cool slightly. In a medium bowl, beat the butter, vanilla, and eggs until well mixed (be aware that the mixture will not blend completely). Gradually beat in the sugar, a quarter-cup at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the melted chocolate. Chill the frosting while assembling the rest of the cake, about 15 minutes.

ASSEMBLY
Cut each cake layer in half horizontally, using a serrated knife or cake separator. You now have 4 layers, 3 for the cake assembly and 1 for the outside crumbs. Break up the fourth layer into large crumbs with your hands (or use a food processor with three or four 1-second pulses).

Sandwich the remaining 3 layers with the chocolate pudding filling. Frost the side and top of the cake with the chocolate frosting. Gently press the cake crumbs all over the top and sides of the cake, pressing them to adhere.

Grr. You know what makes me mad? Er, one of the things? Establishments that overcharge on single-serving sodas. I went to Izzy’s Brooklyn Bagels today for lunch because I really like their egg salad (no celery, hooray!). An egg salad bagel is $3.25 (including tax). I decided to eat there and grabbed a Diet Coke. The total came to $5.42. I was all “Huh?” at the cashier, because dude, $2.19 for a twelve ounce can of soda is INSANE. Apparently that was right, though. So I went without soda.

The end. Good story, Sarah.

I made a cake this weekend. It’s based on the legendary Chocolate Blackout Cake from Ebinger’s Bakery in Brooklyn. It was pretty decent. Cakes are not really my strong suit, but I keep trying! I’ll post the recipe later today.

I have got to start bringing my lunch to work again. I’m spending too much money and eating too much crap. Starting Monday! I promise! It probably won’t be anything interesting for a while, but it should get me back in the game. I haven’t been doing any cooking or baking (you’ve probably noticed). Thankfully, I’m having a get-together next weekend that should, at the very least, require cookies.