Fresh Hubbard Squash [Pumpkin] Pie

My auntie gave me a huge 10-pound squash that she grew in her backyard, and I was like, how should I consume 10 pounds of squash?! I didn't even know the name of this squash (I thought it was just a bizarre-looking giant pumpkin from another planet), and I didn't know how to look up recipes because I couldn't even get the name right. After doing some research, I came to the conclusion that it is similar to a hubbard squash; I might have been wrong, but the squash needed to be eaten soon. Since, it's October and pumpkin season, might as well try to make a "pumpkin" pie out of it. The unnamed squash finally got its name.

Ingredients for the Pie Crust:

1 1/4 cup flour

1/2 tbsp sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup butter, sliced

1/2 cup ice cold water

How to Make Pie Crust:

1. In a bowl, combine flour, sugar, and salt. You can do this by hand.

2. Add butter.

3. Add ice cold water.

4. Mold together into a ball.

5. Put the dough in the refrigerator (or freezer).

Ingredients for the Pie Filling:

1 3/4 cup hubbard squash

1 cup brown sugar

1 tbsp cornstarch

1 egg

1 cup evaporated milk

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp ground cloves

1/4 tsp ginger

How to Make Pie Filling:

1. Slice a hubbard squash in half.

 2. Place half a hubbard squash onto a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil. Bake for 1 hour.

3. Let the squash cool completely before processing in a blender.

4. Then, pour the squash puree into a strainer over a bowl. Cover and let drip in refrigerator overnight.  

5. Combine 1 3/4 cup hubbard squash and the rest of the pie filling ingredients in a mixer.

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6. Take out the dough and roll it out on a floured surface. Use your pie pan as a stencil to cut out the dough. Mold the dough into the pie pan.

7. Pour the pie filling into the pie crust.

8. Bake in a 350 degree Fahrenheit oven for 50 minutes.

Cold-Brewed Iced Coffee

I had a two-pound bag full of San Francisco Bay French Roast grounded coffee beans. I wanted to get rid of it after drinking the same hot coffee with milk over and over again. After reading this post, http://www.putaringonannie.com/2013/08/cold-brew-iced-coffee.html#more, I knew just how to get rid of the coffee. Yes. Cold brew is my new obsession. It tastes way better, since it is less acidic and more sweet than hot brew (in which the hot water causes a chemical reaction in the process that makes the coffee more bitter). And the steps are really easy to follow:

Ingredients

1 cup grounded coffee beans

2 cups cold water

How to Make

1. In a lid container, pour the 1 cup grounded coffee beans and 2 cups cold water. Stick it in the fridge and let soak overnight.

2. Place a coffee filter over a sieve. Pour the grounded coffee beans + cold water mixture through the sieve into another container.

3. Let drip. (This takes a while, so be patient!)

4. Serve with ice, milk, etc.

Chocolate Cupcakes with Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

Double the chocolate! Easy to make!

Ingredients for the Cupcakes

2/3 cup all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/8 tsp baking soda

6 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder

1/8 tsp salt

4 1/2 tsp butter, softened

3/4 cup white sugar

1 egg

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup milk

How to Make the Cupcakes

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Mix butter and sugar.

3. Add vanilla and egg.

4. Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, unsweetened cocoa powder, and salt into the batter and mix until incorporated.

5. Bake for 15 minutes in a prepared or lined muffin pan. Let cool completely before decorating.

Ingredients for the Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2 tbsp butter, softened

1/2 (4-oz.) cream cheese

2 cups powdered sugar

1/2 tbsp vanilla extract

1 tbsp milk

How to Make the Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

1. Beat the cream cheese in an electric mixer.

2. Add the unsweetened cocoa powder and butter.

3. Add the powdered sugar, vanilla, and milk.

Green Tea Cake

Birthday cake for my mom! I fashioned the green tea cake into a pumpkin shape to celebrate the season.

Ingredients

1/2 cup unsalted butter

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 eggs

1 cup milk

½ tsp vanilla

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

3 Tbsp matcha powder

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

How to Make

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

2. Mix the butter, eggs, milk, sugar, and vanilla.

3. Then mix the all-purpose flour, matcha powder, and baking powder.

4. Pour batter into a prepared cake pan.

5. Bake for 1 hour and let cool before decorating.

How to Decorate

I made a cream cheese frosting for the outer pumpkin layer (orange) using the recipe from 

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Cream-Cheese-Frosting-II/Detail.aspx?event8=1&prop24=SR_Thumb&e11=cream%20cheese%20frosting&e8=Quick%20Search&event10=1. 

To get an orange color, add 2 drops of red food coloring per 3 drops yellow food coloring. Keep on adding drops until you reach an orange shade you like.

For the pumpkin stem (green), I used an electric mixer and blended 180 g heavy whipping cream and 20 g sugar on high setting. I added about 10 drops of green food coloring. I placed a cylinder in the middle of the pumpkin so that the frosting was molded into a stem-like shape.

Crème brûlée

I made crème brûlée! Exciting that I accomplished this after one failed attempt, where I ran out of heavy cream and instead substituted evaporated milk + whole milk. BIG MISTAKE! I thought that the high fat content of evaporated milk + whole milk would make the crème brûlée set, but I was wrong- it looked and tasted like eggnog. The lesson learned: heavy cream sets the crème brûlée. 

Given I did not have a kitchen torch, I had no other choice other than to use the broil function of my oven. I was afraid of broiling the crème brûlée, thinking it could overbroil and start a fire. But I really wanted to make a legit crème brûlée, so I ended up broiling it to create a nice sugary crust on top. The end result was fantastic.

Ingredients:

1 cup heavy cream

3/4 tsp vanilla

3 egg yolks (separate the eggs)

3 tbsp sugar (for the crème brûlée)

1/2 tbsp sugar (for each crème brûlée ramekin)

How to make:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

2. Medium-low heat the cream and vanilla until simmering (not boiling because you don't want to cook the eggs later when you mix it in!)

3. Whip the egg yolks with the 3 tbsp sugar.

4. Strain the cream.

5. Add the cream while whipping the egg yolks on low setting.

6. Prepare hot water bath (fill the pan halfway with water) and place ramekins.

7. Bake for 30 minutes.

8. Refrigerate.

9. Take out the cooled crème brûlée and lightly spread 1/2 tbsp of granulated sugar on top of each ramekin. Place ramekins on a cookie sheet or baking pan.

10. Broil on high setting for about 4-5 minutes. (I put the pan of ramekins on the second to top oven rack). Watch the oven carefully to avoid overheating. Do not leave the oven unattended.