Pie-Inspired Tortes

Extended Shelf Life for: Lemons and Squash

First of all, being in the states during the holidays and partaking in holiday baking brings me so much joy!

Second of all, I've recently discovered the most amazing, fantastic use of my torte pan set and feel like I was truly 'inspired' over the holidays to make some new, delicious desserts, inspired of course by pies.

Since it was Thanksgiving, and I had recently acquired some happy little squash and pumpkins I went for a pumpkin-pie inspired torte. Additionally, since we were going to spend the holiday with my fantastic parents, and I knew that my mother loved lemon meringue, I decided to let that be the inspiration for the second torte.

Next up was making cakes in my torte pan, a pumpkin-cream cheese filling, lemon curd, purchasing whipped cream and marshmallows and hitting the kitchen!

First, you'll need a cake...

Ingredients/Directions:

Set 3/4 cups butter and 3 eggs out for 30 minutes until they reach room temperature.

Grease and flour two torte pans. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

In a large mixing bowl combine 2 1/2 flour, 2 1/2 tsp. baking powder and 1/2 tsp. salt, set aside.

Beat butter on medium speed for about 30 seconds. Gradually add 1 3/4 cups sugar and continue to beat for 2 additional minutes. Add eggs, one at a time followed by 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla. Alternately add 1 1/4 cup milk and flour mixture until combined, split between pans.

Bake 20-25 minutes until golden brown and a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes, remove from pans. Fill as desired.  

Note: If you are making the Pumpkin Cheesecake Torte, I recommend adding spices such as nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves and allspice to the batter. On the other hand, if you're preparing the Lemon 'almost' Meringue Pie Torte, I recommend adding a teaspoon or so of lemon zest to the batter, for added depth and flavor.

For the Pumpkin Cheesecake Torte...

Ingredients/Directions:

I simply mixed about 1 or 2 cups of Pumpkin/Squash Puree with soft cream cheese, added some brown sugar and spices such as cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, etc. However, I recommend looking for a more precise pumpkin cheesecake dip/filling to ensure the best, fullest flavor. For some good ideas on where to start, scroll through this page I created on Squidoo, you'll find some of the best pumpkin cheesecake dips on the web!

To assemble the Pumpkin Cheesecake Torte simply plop the filling into your torte cake, spread some whipped topping on top and sprinkle with nutmeg, you're good to go!

For the Lemon Almost-Meringue Torte...

Ingredients/Directions:

Buy or prepare Lemon Curd.

Fill torte cake with lemon curd, arrange mini-marshmallows over the top in any design or amount you want to, turn on the broiler and place your marshmallow covered dish under the broiler for 3-5 minutes (they'll burn quickly...which we actually think tastes quite nice, but for presentation, golden is better). The marshmallows will get toasty and melty and you'll have an extremely delicious and tart dessert to share with all your favorite people!

Pineapple Curd and Hummingbird Cake

As I began to fell like I was the master of curds and realize that it was essentially fruit juice plus eggs to make a kind of custard, I began to think it might just work with a wider variety of juices than previously considered and upon realizing I had just the right amount of pineapple juice on hand, I decided it was as good of time as any to go into experiment mode.

Turns out, substituting pineapple juice for lemon juice in a typical Lemon Curd recipe results in some deliciousness to be sure.

For true delicacy, make a Hummingbird Cake, spread some Pineapple Curd between the layers and top with either Cream Cheese Frosting or Yogurt Frosting...sure to please!

Cranberry Coffee Cake

With Thanksgiving leftovers and weekend desires for sweet eats I opted to make a few substitutions and alterations to a recipe found in the Gooseberry Patch Pumpkin Cookbook. The recipe is for Pumpkin Coffee Cake and while I could have defrosted some pumpkin, I opted rather to use up leftover Craisin Cranberry Sauce and turned out a quite delectable Coffee Cake.

Ingredients/Direction:

Blend together 1/2 cup Butter, 3/4 cup Sugar and 3 eggs until creamy; add 1 tsp. Vanilla.  Mix in 2 cups Flour, 1 tsp. Baking Powder and 1 tsp. Baking Soda. Add 1 cup Sour Cream or Plain Yogurt (I used plain yogurt), set batter aside.  Combine 1 1/2  cups Cranberry Sauce with 1 Egg and a dash of Cinnamon; set aside. Prepare streusel by combining 1 cup Brown Sugar, 1/3 cup Butter, 2 tsp. Cinnamon and 1 cup Sliced Almonds; set aside. Using one large, well-greased 9x13 baking dish (or 2 cake rounds) spoon in half (or one quarter) of the batter, top with half (or one quarter) of the streusel then all (or half) of the cranberry mixture followed by the remaining batter and steusel. Bake at 325 for 50 minutes to one hour (or less for the cake rounds) enjoy with your morning tea.