Happy Fall, Finally! It sure was a hot September and October, and now that the cooler weather has arrived, the holiday season is upon us! I wish you and your family a very Happy Thanksgiving. In honor of this best of all holidays, in my opinion, I am sharing our family favorite cake recipe – DRUM ROLL – Brown Butter Pumpkin Layer Cake!

TRAVELING + TASTING

Nathalie Dupree’s 80th Birthday party – New York City

As a member of Les Dames D’Escoffier International, I had the privilege to attend the birthday celebration of the LDEI Grand Dame Nathalie Dupree at the infamous James Beard House in NYC.

For those of you too young to remember, Nathalie Dupree is a best-selling cookbook author and the first woman since Julia Child to host more than one hundred cooking episodes on public television that were broadcast here in Atlanta on PBS. I spent many evenings as a young woman watching Nathalie’s cooking shows with my mother.

She has appeared on The Today Show, Good Morning America and CNN Good Morning, among others. Her bestselling book, “New Southern Cooking” started an entire culinary movement. She has won James Beard Awards for “Southern Memories” and “Comfortable Entertaining” as well as her most recent book, “Mastering the Art of Southern Cooking.”

During the 1970’s, Nathalie also held cooking school classes at the once famous, Atlanta based Rich’s department store. My good friend, Marilee Johnson, was in Nathalie’s last class held in 1984, and became lifelong friends with her, so I invited her to go with me to the dinner.

It was a wonderful honor to attend this event at the former home of the iconic James Beard (1903 – 1985). James Beard was an American cook, cookbook author, teacher and television personality. He was a champion of American cuisine who taught and mentored generations of professional chefs and food enthusiasts and was known as the "Dean of American Cuisine”.

The menu for the dinner involved serving dishes from Nathalie’s early Southern cookbooks, but with modern twists. My favorite parts of the dinner were the beginning, Ham Pinwheels – and the end, Deep South Pound Cake. My own career in catering started with including those dishes!

Outstanding in the Field – Big Sur, California

It was the season of the witch, and a Happy Halloween event, full of delicious treats, no tricks, at the Moon Ranch in Big Sur. We gathered for one of the most extraordinary pop-up dining experiences to be found. Outstanding in the Field was founded by Jim Denevan in 1999 as a radical alternative to the conventional dining experience. Rather than source ingredients for a restaurant, they bring the restaurant to the source.

Denevan is an American chef and artist who creates temporary land art, sand drawing. It came to him when surfing, realizing how the beaches were empty canvases, and he felt the appeal to fill the void. He works with natural materials to create massive scale drawings in sand, ice and soil, using just a stick and a rake. These creations usually on last a few hours before being washed away by the tides.

Beginning with a humble dinner on Jim’s brother’s farm, their culinary caravan, with the infamous red bus “Outstanding”, has now reached all fifty U.S. states and sixteen countries around the globe – with tables set in vineyards, beaches, meadows, fishing docks, and city streets in addition to a long list of organic and sustainable farms.

They aim to connect diners to the origins of their food while celebrating the hardworking hands that feed us: chefs, farmers, fishermen, cheesemakers, vintners, brewers and many more.

Their roving restaurant without walls is rebuilt every morning and disappears every night. It is a momentary experience and a joyful celebration of human connection. Together guests gather at one long table to share the most fundamental and universal human conversation: a meal.

BROWN BUTTER PUMPKIN LAYER CAKE

Ingredients

For the purée:

2 tsp. vegetable oil

1 medium-large Sugar Pie pumpkin, cut in half from stem to bottom and seeded or you

can substitute 1 ½ cups canned pumpkin purée for homemade, if you like.

For the cake:

6 oz. (3/4 cup) unsalted butter; more for the pans

9 oz. (2 cups) unbleached all-purpose flour; more for the pans

1-1/2 tsp. baking soda

1-1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1 tsp. ground ginger

3/4 tsp. table salt

1/4 tsp. ground cloves

1-1/2 cups granulated sugar

2/3 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

2 large eggs

1/3 cup buttermilk

For the topping:

1-1/2 Tbs. unsalted butter

2/3 cup pecans

1/2 cup unsalted, raw, hulled pepitas

2 Tbs. firmly packed light brown sugar

1/4 tsp. table salt

1-1/2 Tbs. chopped crystallized ginger

For the frosting

4 oz. (1/2 cup) unsalted butter

8 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature

1/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

5 oz. (1-1/4 cups) confectioners’ sugar

Make the pumpkin purée:

Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat the oven to 350°F. Brush a 9×13-inch baking dish with the oil.

Put the pumpkin halves in the dish cut side down and bake until tender when pierced with a fork, about 45 minutes. Let cool.

Peel the pumpkin and purée the flesh in a food processor until smooth. You’ll need 1 ½ cups of the purée for the cake. Refrigerate or freeze any remaining purée for another use.

Make the cake:

Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat the oven to 350°F.

Butter and flour two 9-inch round cake pans with removable bottoms (or butter two 9 inch round cake pans, line the bottoms with parchment, butter the parchment, and flour the pans).

Melt the butter in a heavy-duty 1-quart saucepan over medium heat. Cook, swirling the pan occasionally until the butter turns a nutty golden-brown, about 4 minutes.

Pour into a small bowl and let stand until cool but not set, about 15 minutes.

In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, salt, and cloves.

In a large bowl, whisk 1 ½ cups of the pumpkin purée with the granulated sugar, brown sugar, eggs, and buttermilk until very well blended.

With a rubber spatula, stir in the flour mixture until just combined.

Gently whisk in the brown butter until completely incorporated.

Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans.

Bake the cakes until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean, about 28 minutes. Let the cakes cool in the pans for 10 minutes.

Turn the cakes out onto racks, remove the pan bottoms or parchment, and cool completely.

Make the topping:

Melt the butter in a heavy-duty 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat.

Add the pecans and pepitas and cook until the pecans brown slightly and the pepitas begin to pop, about 2 minutes.

Sprinkle in the brown sugar and salt and stir until the sugar melts and the nuts are glazed, about 2 minutes.

Stir in the ginger.

Remove from the heat and let the mixture cool in the skillet.

Make the frosting:

Melt the butter in a heavy-duty 1-quart saucepan over medium heat.

Cook, swirling the pan occasionally until the butter turns a nutty golden-brown, about 4 minutes.

Pour into a small bowl and let stand until the solids settle at the bottom of the bowl, about 5 minutes.

Carefully transfer the bowl to the freezer and chill until just firm, about 18 minutes.

Using a spoon, carefully scrape the butter from bowl, leaving the browned solids at the bottom; discard the solids.

Using an electric mixer, beat the butter, cream cheese, and brown sugar on medium-high speed until light in color and the brown sugar has dissolved, 2 minutes.

Gradually beat in the confectioners’ sugar and continue beating until fluffy, 1 to 2 minutes.

Assemble the cake:

Put one cake layer on a cake plate.

Spread 1/2 cup of the frosting on the layer.

Sprinkle 1/2 cup of the nut mixture over the frosting and top with the second layer.

Frost the top and sides of the cake with the remaining frosting.

Arrange the remaining topping in a ring 1-1/2 inches in from the edge of the cake and serve.

Kendall's Kitchen - November 2019