Thanksgiving can be a trying time, especially when you have to prove your complete domination of a kitchen for a Thanksgiving Feast. These events are tricky because they don't offer any good opportunities to demonstrate CFI. The setup is simple, it's a potluck with a turkey dish as the main course. The main course is the typical highlight of the evening, so everyone's eye is going to be fixated on the bird.
In these situations you can count on the turkey being assigned to the person who is either hosting the event, or the most recognized chef among the participants. In other words, it's a perfect opportunity for CFI! Are you the sort of person who relishes showing up your host/hostesses' cooking skills in the middle of their own home? (Hint: Yes. Yes you are.)
So grab your best whisk and beat cheeks to the lab. It's time to season that turkey with a dash of Fear followed up by extra helpings of Intimidation.
You'll need to get some things ready. Start with:
1- 9" round cake pan
1- 9" springform pan
1- pre-cooked frozen pumpkin pie
Ideally the pie should be small enough to fit inside the springform pan and leave about a 1/2 inch gap between the crust and the edge of the pan. I picked this on up at Trader Joes, but it doesn't really matter where you lay your hands on one. Just buy it and thaw it for about 1 hour before starting to bake. The pie shouldn't be completely thawed, but you don't want a block of ice either.
The Recipe:
Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour
1/4 cup cornstarch
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1 cup milk
3 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup butter (softened)
1 1/3 cup brown sugar
1 cup chopped pecans
Directions:
(Preheat your oven to 350.)
1. Mix all ingredients in a large bowl.
Wasn't that easy? You may want to mix all except the nuts to make sure you've whisked out any lumps that will form. When batter is smooth, fold in the chopped nuts. If you have any rituals about the "correct" order you mix ingredients, do them now. Otherwise, just follow along, OK? I don't tell you how to do your job, don't tell me how to do mine. My job is to make you look good, so stay focused.
2. Pouring the Batter:
Grease (with Pam, Butter, whatever) both pans all the way up the sides. Also, cut a circle of parchment paper the diameter of the springform pan, and place it in the bottom. Then grease (Pam, Butter, etc.) the parchment paper. You're ready to pour the batter.
Aim for something like this:
The object here is to have about 1/2 to 3/4 inches of batter in the 9" round. The springform round should have about 1 1/2 inches of batter. You will have a little batter left over. No biggie, it's to be expected.
3: Dropping the Pie
Take the frozen pumpkin pie out of the aluminum pan and drop it into the center of the batter in the springform pan. You know, I can't believe that I actually had to type that last sentence. Scratch that. If you want to bake a pumpkin pie tin in the middle of your cake, go right ahead. It's going to give your dessert all the delight of chewing on tinfoil with about 1000 times the calories.
But for the rest of us, take off the aluminum pan, drop into springform batter. The batter is going to be thick, so you'll want to press the pie down until the edges of the batter just come up to the top of the crust. The nuts in the batter will keep your pie from sinking all the way to the bottom.
The cake will rise in the oven and start coming over the top of the crust. This is fine, because that will protect the crust from burning. But you don't want it reaching the pumpkin. Trust me on this. Push the pie till the batter just comes up to the crust and you'll be fine. The results should look something like this:
4. Bake it
Put both the 9" round and springform into the oven. Bake for 22 minutes.
You'll know it's ready to come out when the edges are a light brown and pulling away slightly from the sides of the pan.
Surprise! You can't use a cake tester on this recipe to determine if the cakes are done. If you stick the batter with a cake tester, it's going to come out with pumpkin every time. So look at the edges for the signal that it's ready.
5. Examine the Results
So you take the cakes out, and hopefully you're looking at these two beauties here:
The springform cake is concave (because of the pie), and the 9" round is convex (because of... well ask Alton Brown the next time you see him). The important thing to remember is that you might be thinking that they look like two puzzle pieces that could fit together. Hold on to that thought and proceed to the next step.
But first, just look at this babe! Yeowza!
6. Remove the Springform Bezel, cover with Cool Whip
Use a cake knife and slide it around the sides of the pan before unlocking the form. If you're careful, you should be able to remove the sides with no problem. Since you followed my directions earlier about putting a parchment paper circle in the bottom of the springform pan, then it should be the work of a moment to slide that bad boy onto a cake platter.
Cover the exposed pie with Cool Whip, but don't cover the pie crust. I'm sure there is a more generic way to say Cool Whip, but most of the variations don't sound like food. Call it "Frozen Whipped Topping" if you want, as long as you know I mean Cool Whip.
With me so far? Good. You should have this in front of you.
7. Add the Second Layer
Remember ages ago when I said that the cake layers look like they could fit together nicely? Let's see how well that works. Take the 9" round cake layer, flip it over, and then place it on the pie layer. The pieces will fit perfectly because of mathematical spacial principals and the fact that we're awesome. Lightly press the layers together.
Just look at that!
8. Frost the Heart of Darkness
Since the tricky part is over, I'm going to leave you to your own devices on this one. I prefer a thick vanilla frosting topped with pecans. The pecans will tie the whole Heart of Darkness together because they taste good with pumpkin pie and spice cake. Also, they look pretty sharp on a white background. So act like you're on a date, and lay it on thick.
My results. Yours will vary depending on skill and patience. I'd also recommend taking some time with this because the cake will be impressive looking on it's own. You also want the presentation to overshadow whatever Aunt Helga has done with the turkey this year.
For my money, it's no contest. You win hands down.
9. Bask in Glory
The Result: You've just sat through a solid hour of talk at the table with everyone praising Aunt Helga. She really went out of her way this year to make the perfect turkey, didn't she? Wow! She must be a miracle worker! Best turkey I've ever tasted.
Meanwhile, you are plowing through the side dishes like a starving beaver through an old-growth forest, happy in the knowledge of what is to come. The final denouement of your hostess! Accolades from awed and intimidated diners! Everyone settles back comfortably in their chairs and the mention is made for desert. Agreeable murmurs go around, with everyone asking for just a small piece of whatever is to come.
You smile.
"Don't get up Aunt Helga," you say. "You've done all the work this evening putting together a wonderful meal. I'll serve dessert." You make your way to the kitchen and come back with your calorie-packed motherload of pumpkin. A quick slice with a knife and you reveal:
"What? What's that? Is that a.... pie? A pie... in a cake?"
Heck yes it is! And it doesn't matter how it tastes either, because for the next 11 months, when people share stories about how they spent their Thanksgiving, it will start with your Heart of Darkness. People love to one-up each other, and nothing tops this cake. Picture it. Tomorrow morning when cousin Ralph goes back to work he'll be regaled with stories from his co-worker about how she had Thanksgiving Dinner on a beach in Mazatlan. Cousin Ralph nods politely, and then says, "That sounds great Sally, but you should have seen this pie we had..."
By the way, it tastes like a dream; just like the sweet taste of cooking with Fear and Intimidation!
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