A Southern Grace: as pure as the (un)driven snow

December 8, 2010

as pure as the (un)driven snow

Yum

Driven snow is gross, right? So where did that saying come from? I like my snow untouched and pristine. (In related news, I don't like my snow in ball-form on its way to my face or in any shade of yellow...)


Okay, so by driven, the writer means wind-blown into fluffy drifts, but all I can envision when I hear that phrase is the nasty, sullied, dirty snow along the side of the roads.

Whatever. I'm digressing, as usual.


In honor of our first real snowfall here in southwestern Virginia, I topped these moist, tender pumpkin bars with a thick, white chocolate glaze. I guess I could've done powdered sugar for a more realistic effect, but that just wasn't going to cut it on this occasion. The crunchy, super-sweet, frozen snow-like topping (combined with my space heater) made me very happy about the snow indeed.


Congratulations to Ally, the winner of my Tate's Bake Shop giveaway! Ally, I certainly hope you get that ring. :)

Snow-Covered Pumpkin Bars

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup canned pumpkin puree
1 package (12 ounces) white chocolate chips, divided
1 tablespoon vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Line bottom and sides of a 9-by-13-inch baking pan with foil, leaving an overhang on all sides.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, spices, baking soda, and salt; set aside. With an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar on medium-high speed until smooth; beat in egg and vanilla until combined. Beat in pumpkin puree (mixture may appear curdled). Reduce speed to low, and mix in dry ingredients until just combined. Fold in 1 cup white chocolate chips. Spread batter evenly in prepared pan. Bake until edges begin to pull away from sides of pan and a toothpick inserted in center comes out with just a few moist crumbs attached, 30 to 40 minutes. Cool completely in pan.
Combine remaining 1/2 cup of chips and oil and microwave in 15-second intervals until the chips have melted. Drizzle decoratively over bars. Lift cake from pan (using foil as an aid). Peel off foil, and use a serrated knife to cut into squares.

64 comments:

José Manuel said...

Que ricura, esto es una delicia.

Saludos

Barbara said...

Well, it's not snowing in S. Florida.... yet. But it sure is cold. It actually did snow here back in the 70's. Once.

I like your snow covered bars, Grace. leave it to you to manage chocolate AND cinnamon in this yummy bar.

Joanne said...

Oh white chocolate glaze. That is better than snow.

All snow in NYC turns to gross dirty mush instantly. It's horrible.

A Plum By Any Other Name said...

I was not expecting WHITE CHOCOLATE glaze. I think this is a move well played, my friend. What brilliant inspirational use of frozen snow. (I can hear it crunching.)

I'm dreaming of a white ... chocolate topped pumpkin bar.

TKW said...

You're right--driven snow *is* gross! Those pumpkin bars look heavenly; I love anything pumpkin, especially with frosting!

Faith said...

Oooh, these look mighty tasty, Grace! I'm always up for baking on a snowy day and these would be just perfect. I totally agree with you about driven snow, lol!

Valerie Harrison (bellini) said...

Winter can officially be gone now. Just a covering of snow for Christmas please and then off with you:D I am of course comforted by your pumpkin bars Grace so I thank you for that:D

Rosa's Yummy Yums said...

Congrats to the winner! Those bars look mighty good.

Cheers,

Rosa

kat said...

so, tasty looking!

Jaime said...

I LOVE white chocolate, i don't care if it's not really "chocolate" :)

Pam said...

Yellow snowball heading towards my face = bad.

Snow-covered pumpkin bars = GREAT!

Mel said...

We still haven't had our first real snow but I can imagine that even these snow-topped pumpkin bars could make me feel better about our frigid temps. (No reason to have frigid temps without snow, in my book.)

pam said...

I would gladly take any kind of snow here! And I would especially take these bars!

kimberleyblue said...

I love white chocolate with pumpkin - a perfect flavour combo. Looking outside at the snow I have here in Montreal, your layer of white chocolate looks a lot more realistic than some icing sugar (and more delicious too!)

oneordinaryday said...

I prefer my snow once a year, then let's get on with it already and warm up. These bars might make a snowy day more tolerable for me though.

The Blonde Duck said...

This looks so much better than the cream cheese pumpkin bars I make.

lisa is cooking said...

Pumpkin, white chocolate, that gets my attention! As usual, there's no snow here, but I can still have some of these bars, right?

Cara said...

mmm... if anything is to go on my pumpkin bars other than cream cheese frosting, it better be white chocolate!

Abby said...

I wondered where you were; not far from me! We had snow last weekend, and it was lovely. My co-workers asked if my husband taught our 2 y.o. son to "write his name." Ahem. (And no. The answer is no.)

vanillasugarblog said...

driven snow s/b wind-driven snow. they didn't have cars back then when they or whomever wrote it. right? lol
well, i like your white snow version on these bars better.

The Church Cook said...

Snow would be nice for Savannah for a change. :) Great recipe, Grace!

tamilyn said...

Congrats to Ally (spelled like my daughter :))

We have lots of snow here-it is topping trees, roofs, cars, my deck so it is hard to feed the birds....

They look delish!

Hornsfan said...

Quite a fabulous dessert, no need (in my humble, snowless opinion) to wait for snowfall to enjoy this treat!

CC11 said...

You've got me wishing there was snow outside my window and me with two of these in both of my hands.

Sean Grey Hanson said...

Mmmmmm... so much sweet. Nothing sounds better than this white chocolate, look a lot like snow. ~_~

Hungry Dog said...

Very pretty, and very delicious, I'm sure! Enjoy the snow. Seems exotic out here in California...

LilSis said...

I had all the snow I could handle living in Upstate NY for three winters, BUT I love the white chocolate snow on top of these pumpkin bars!

I was expecting the traditional cream cheese frosting, but I think the white chocolate is fantastic on these!!

Carolyn Jung said...

My kind of snow. The kind that you don't have to shovel and is oh-so sweet. ;)

Emily said...

That's the most moist looking cake I have ever seen! It looks amazing.

Marjie said...

Binghamton had 2 feet yesterday, Syracuse had 3 feet and is expecting 3 more feet, and we, a mere 50 miles south of the NY state line, had a dusting. I am feeling soooo blessed right now! Other than the 17 degree temperatures, of course, but no day is perfect.

Anonymous said...

These look so scrumptious with the white chocolate glaze, yum!

Lori said...

So delicious looking! Pure as the untouched snow. And dang I hate dirty snow. I love how everything right now is frosted perfectly. Like your pretty little cake.

Xiaolu @ 6 Bittersweets said...

All your baked goods look so moist and irresistible. By the way, I agree that I hate slushy dirty snow. Especially how soon it becomes that after the initially pure snow fall.

Robin said...

Snow covered desserts are the best. Love that blanket of white on your dessert bars!

Mimi said...

This is just my kind of snow. Those bar look like just the ticket for our gingerbread house party.
Mimi

Lorraine @ Not Quite Nigella said...

Mmm I love pumpkin flavoured dishes! And this is one instance where snow is totally welcomed! :D

Deborah said...

I'll take a white chocolate glaze over powdered sugar! Yum!

foodhoe said...

I want a big bite of that snow...

Angie's Recipes said...

Congratulations to Ally!
I love those snow-like frosting! Simply festive!

Julie M. said...

I'm with you. Frosting trumps powdered sugar any day of the week. This bread looks awesome.

Lucie said...

You sure know how to celebrate snow--pumpkin bars are lovely!

Unknown said...

Hmm, we're supposed to get a nasty winter storm today. I should probably make this in honor of that, right?

Yum!

Dana said...

The picture makes it look so unctuously good. Pure as undriven snow indeed!

marla {family fresh cooking} said...

Ha! That is a very strange expression & I have never thought much of it. I will stick with un-drivin or slightly skied on snow. But not driven & splashed on the curb. These pumpkin bars are looking way tasty, good call on the frosting, of course! :) xo

Leslie said...

Yellow snow....no good,no good at all!
But I will take some of these please

MaryMoh said...

It has been snowing very badly in Scotland....lots of blizzards. Your dessert would be perfect for such freezing weather....with a cup of hot coffee of course :D

shaz said...

Oh wow! I want some of that snow - the edible kind, not the driven stuff. I'm very happy with the heat we're having at the moment, thank you :)

Velva said...

Your cake is beautiful like pristine snow, with no shades of yellow :-) Seriously, the cake is stunning.

Happy Holidays to you.

Velva

Holly said...

These look luscious-perfectly snowy;)

Tabitha Blue said...

It's been snowing like mad here lately... but I think I'd much prefer yours. Can you just send some my way? K thanks! :)

~Tabitha

LyB said...

I would gladly take snow over rain in the winter (as we are having right now) any day, so bring on the Snow-Covered Pumpkin Bars! :)

Cookie baker Lynn said...

Perfect way to celebrate the first snow! And thank you for not being done with pumpkin. I'm not ready to say goodbye yet.

Danielle said...

Those look really delicious! I'm glad they're not covered with real snow(: White chocolate and pumpkin taste really good together.

Jennifer said...

Those look delish as usual. I am slowly becoming a fan of white chocolate!

Juliana said...

Grace, what a great combination of pumpkin and white chocolate...looks so moist and rich in flavor :-)

Nic said...

We had a huge snow dump a week or so ago, none of it yellow thank God. Although most of it has gone now, we are getting another one on Saturday - I LOVE IT!! But not so close to Xmas I must add, as the whole country comes to a standstill and nothing gets delivered.

The bars look wonderful, I am going to try these as I found a few cans of pumpkin in the supermarket when I was in London recently.

blackbookkitchendiaries said...

looks lovely:) definately festive...have a lovely day.

Ingrid_3Bs said...

You know I really didn't get my fix of pumpkin last month and white chocolate is a welcome change from cream cheese frosting.
~ingrid

scrambledhenfruit said...

Those look wonderful! (MUCH nicer than snow.) We got a surprise dusting Monday night, but it didn't last long. Probably as long as these bars would last. :)

Half Baked said...

Probably won't be getting any type of snow here in the other LA aka lower Alabama...but I could go for those bars! yummy!

kellypea said...

Late for the party as usual and the snow has probably melted. You wouldn't have to twist my arm to get me to eat a nice piece o' that...I'm wondering how it would go down with a bit of cream cheese in that chocolate snow? Mmmm....

Angie said...

These look so good, and I can't wait to see some snow! We're going to snowshoe, WV in a few weeks, can't wait. I haven't been to that area in many years, I miss it

Chef Fresco said...

I agree with you on the whole snow thing. I like it best first thing in the morning before its been touched. Your pumpkin bars look delicious!

Cindy said...

Yum These look so tasty! Thanks for the recipe!!!