Tuesday, October 20, 2009

TWD--Sweet Potato Biscuits and/or Pumpkin Biscuits

I made half a batch of the Sweet Potato Biscuits chosen by Erin of Prudence Pennywise for Tuesday's With Dorie this week.  They are good biscuits, but I learned that no one here really likes biscuits.  Well, I do.  But I shouldn't eat half a batch of sweet potato biscuits.  I only wish they actually taste like sweet potatoes.  I didn't think they really had much more of a taste than regular biscuits.  I used real steamed sweet potatoes that I pureed, instead of canned.  I pulsed the dry ingredients and cold butter in the food processor, carefully.  It worked great.  I carefully folding the sweet potato in with a fork.  I also added about 1/2 tablespoon of cream to get the dough together and moist.  And I added a pinch of nutmeg.  (Can't taste it.)   **Update, write up was Monday.  Tuesday--today, the sweet potato in the biscuits is much more noticeable in taste!  There may be some peanut butter on these in the very near future!

DSCF4892

I thought these were good warm out of the oven with some butter.  Good pick, Erin, I'm glad I made these.

But that's not the end of the story.

On Saturday, we had a little birthday party for Taylor, it was the one where friends are invited.  I planned it a little too late to get very many of his friends to come.  But I think it worked out great.  His best little buddy, Joey came and together with Scott and Parker, we helped them each carve a pumpkin and then as Taylor wanted, they all got to frost and decorate a cupcake.

Picture intermission----

DSCF4816

IMG_1301

Taylor and Kevin thought it was fun to leave some of the guts hanging out of the pumpkin's face.  Taylor and Joey drew a picture of a jack-o-lantern face on a piece of paper and Kevin and I cut them out.

IMG_1304

Kevin actually got Scott to pose for a picture and it looks good.  This is rare.  Yay!  Scott cut his pumpkin all by himself, although he made me do most of the gutting.  No one likes to gut a pumpkin.  Go figure.  Actually, I loathe it, too.

IMG_1305

Parker drew his face on a piece of paper, too, and we used a star cutter to cut one of the eyes.  He did some of the cutting himself and I helped with some.

IMG_1310

Sam napped through the pumpkin carving (thank goodness!), but he was excited to see them when he woke up.  I love this next photo.  Sam LOVES the Flip Camera, which I affectionately called "The Bertolli"  (Thanks BlogHer and Bertolli who gave me the camera when I got to go to the dinner sponsored by Bertolli at St. Supery Winery on my trip to San Francisco last month.)  Sam can use the camera with ease and he's only 2!  He gets it out of my purse now when we're at the store (instead of my cell phone, which would drive me nuts!).  Anyway, Sam grabbed "the Bertolli" so he could take pictures of the pumpkins just like his Daddy was.  I love how you can see their reflection in the (dirty) window in this picture.

IMG_1317

The cupcakes I made were from a yellow cake mix.  But I decided to make part of the batter orange (in color) and part of it I added some cocoa.  This is what the cupcakes turned out like.

DSCF4813

I made some chocolate frosting using the recipe on the Hershey's cocoa container.  The boys when to town.

DSCF4821

DSCF4822

It's all about the candy and sprinkles on top at our house!

DSCF4823

DSCF4824

DSCF4825

DSCF4826

DSCF4829

Sam's got "The Bertolli" right there with him.

DSCF4849

Didn't they all do a great job?  Oh, kidding, these are the ones I did.

Back to TWD Biscuits!  I decided just for the heck of it that after carving four nice sized pumpkins to just cut off the flesh from all the eyes, noses and mouths and cook the pumpkin and use it for the biscuits.  It made exactly one cup of pumpkin puree that I drained in a tea towel in the fridge overnight.  It was perfect puree.

But if you know me, I didn't just make regular pumpkin biscuits.  (No, I didn't add chocolate this time, although, hmmm? ;)

I wanted the biscuits to be kind of scone-like and I wanted to really get a sweet cinnamon flavor.  While again I didn't think the pumpkin taste was very noticeable, I did get some really nice "biscuits" that were even better the next day!

Here's the biscuits after I just brushed the tops with some cream and sprinkled some turbinado sugar on them.

DSCF4855 

Then I tried them as I sometimes think of biscuits--with butter and honey.

DSCF4862

Good, but still not what I wanted. 

THIS is what I wanted them to be like.

DSCF4870

I made a very simple icing with powdered sugar, a pinch of salt, a little cream and some cinnamon.  These were great!  Dorie mentions that these are good when completely cool.  I thought these were even great the next day.  They were flaky, but dense and moist and the icing added just the sweetness I was looking for.  I had read on the P&Q board that Laurie had asked Dorie about using pumpkin and she said to add some extra flour and sugar.  So I did. 

I iced 9 of the 15 biscuits.  I also added cinnamon to the dough, but not quite enough.  Would I make these again?  Probably, as they seemed to be a perfect, quick way to make a breakfast treat when there's just not enough time for cinnamon rolls.  So thanks again for the fun pick this week, Erin!  Check out the other TWD blogger's biscuits, too!

Come back later this week for some more amazing Rice Krispy Treats I've made.  In case you missed it, I recently made and posted these killer treats!  If you can imagine it, I've kicked them up another notch!

DSCF4644

36 comments:

Clumbsy Cookie said...

I think I would also prefer the biscuits with the glaze Katrina, that might come as a shocker to you, lol! Cute punpkins, the boys did a great job!

Amanda said...

Love all the pics Katrina. It must be warm in Kansas these days? Looks like it! It's been cold here, but the last couple of days we are having a heatwave in the low 60s! :) I liked the biscuits too, they were pretty good. I also served them with butter and honey. hubby even liked them, Mr Persnickity himself. :-p

Donna-FFW said...

The shot of your sone with the ring toss .. priceless.

The shot of the biscuit with the honey and butter.. sinful.

Lovely ,lovely post! Such an enjoyable read.

vibi said...

My...those boys are cute!

I see you got a great rise on those biscuits, and the texture seem awfully nice!

Romaine said...

Those biscuits with cinnamon icing...yum. I'll be right over.

Pamela said...

The biscuits with the sweet drizzle on top is such a delectable idea! You are so creative! Thanks again for sharing your family with us. Handsome little men, they are.

Flourchild said...

Nice looking biscuits, they look golden, fluffy and tasty!

Jennifer said...

I LOVE the photo with the reflection, so cute!

Your idea with the glaze is really great. I'll have to try that. I put nutmeg in my pumpkin biscuits because I had some fresh to grind, but didn't add enough. Next time I'll put both nutmeg and cimmamon.

Kayte said...

Wow...this was one very fun post. We always do the jack-o-lantern kid sitting by his pumpkin, too. I thought they had outgrown it, but both boys said they wanted to do it still this year. 16 and 17 is NOT too old. Your food all looks great, you are so creative. I am happy I don't live anywhere near you or others would compare my efforts with yours each week. I couldn't stand the pressure.

Soy*Baby said...

Yummy. I just want to come and live at your house so I can have all the treats you make. Your sweet potato biscuits look wonderful as do the pumpkin biscuits with the icing. Love the cupcakes.

AmyRuth said...

Wow, you REALLY took these up two notches! They look amazing, the pumpkins, the darling boys and their party, oh yes the pumpkin biscuits and the sweet potato (real-not canned) biscuits. he he
Above and beyond girlie! Glad you liked the sweetened version. That's a yummy choice.
AmyRuth

Chocolaty Lifestyle said...

Such a great ideas, everything looks so yummy! I have always been afraid to try sweet potatoes in baking, I guess I should try at least. :)

Eliana said...

Awesome looking biscuits Katrina!!! (but they don't look as good as your cute boys)

Anonymous said...

Ooh, that icing looks great. I may have to make more biscuits now. :) I agree, I wasn't impressed when they 1st came out of the oven, but very tasty after they cooled.

Megan said...

AAAHHH! Now I know what I forgot at the store - pumpkins! We never go to the fields - the pumpkins are waaaay to expensive there. I want a pumpkin, not a down payment for a car!

Anyways, only you could dress up the biscuits that way, and make me a little bit more interested in them.

Naaah, I'd rather have chocolate.

Anonymous said...

Two kinds of biscuits, topping too? You are such an overachiever. Love the pictures of the kids and pumpkins. I will be glad when mine are old enough to clean out the guts by themselves.

Maria said...

Those are some cool cupcakes! Love the glaze too:)

noble pig said...

Honestly I just gained 10 lbs here. Wow, all awesome stuff. The boys are adorable and the small celebrations are always best.

spike. said...

Glad the biscuits improved with time! Those are some awesome jack-o-lanterns!

Gourmified said...

Katrina, everything tastes better with frosting! YUM! Your biscuits look beautiful! And...(crouching whisper...I was born in Idaho!) You'd think I'd like potatoes more because I was born a spud...guess I missed that boat. Oh wait...I do like red potatoes, but in moderation. I'm good with them probably 1x/month. If my kids had their way they'd eat them more like 2x/week! Haa! You're so cute!

Welcome to our crazy blessed life said...

You are quite the adventurous baker! :) Love the variations you are making and your kids are adorable as always!

Anonymous said...

You went to town on the biscuits! I always think it's interesting that some things taste different the next day (and always a good reason to keep sampling!).

Jaime said...

wow that cinnamon glaze makes them like the cinnamon biscuit/rolls you can get at hardee's :)

you did a great job w/these

Megan said...

That cinnamon glaze looks so good. I want to make the biscuits just so I can glaze them. The boys and their cupcakes are priceless. Very nice celebration!

Leslie said...

Katrina, you're scaring me. I don't have kids and I can't do half of what you pull off with such good cheer and success! I mean, do you ever sleep? Are you taking a special vitamin that gives you super powers?

The biscuits all look great, but the ones with the icing, I'm a sucker for those. Your kiddos are adorable, and if you think that's a dirty window, you need to swing by here the next time you're in California. Though I guess it's not worth it just to see a dirty window, huh?

Jacque said...

Wow, you are top of this fall decorating/Halloween preparation thing! Everyone did a great job on the pumpkins.

P.S. can I come to your house and snack on goodies all day? I'm not picky, I'd be happy with any of these :)

Anonymous said...

SP biscuits with peanut butter sound great. Although the glaze looks yummy too. Like the jack-o-lanterns.

Anonymous said...

Holy Cow Katrina - how in the world do you come up with all of these great ideas?? I'm jealous! =)
The biscuits look fantastic - I love biscuits and you totally got me at the first mention of cinnamon!
Your boys are soo lucky they have such a cool mom!

Melissa said...

Oh my gosh, everything looks so delicious. I love the carved pumpkins - the kids did such a great job. I'm sure you're enjoying all of those great biscuits, they look fabulous!

TeaLady said...

UMmm Ummm Ummmmmmm!!!

Liz said...

You always have the most fun variations! I skipped this week, so I don't have any base of comparison, but I think the "biscuits" with the frosting sound great--anything that makes it more like a cake is okay in my book.

Prudy said...

Oh, that glaze! Not to mention those cupcakes. Your boys are so cute, and even cuter still wearing some BYU duds!

Max and Deborah said...

the picture of Parker, being a little crazy reminded me of you. You are such the great little baker, mom, and housemaker. Love you!

Emily said...

Those cupcakes are gorgeous! You did a great job with them. Happy birthday to Taylor!

The biscuits look good, too.

Nutrition Momma said...

You are amazing. I love to see how big your kids are getting. I was visiting Cindy yesterday so i missed Kev. Hopefully I will get to see him before he leaves tomorrow.

PaddyDuffysDasDogsDead said...

fair play to all concerned.