Oh Thanksgiving, back again, are you?  It’s no secret that Luscious has some issues with the holidays. Well, Luscious just has a lot of issues with a lot of things, so Thanksgiving can just get in line behind Wiccans and the federal deficit.  (Ask us about our deficit bake sale idea! Bill Clinton is totally on board.)

But anyway, yeah. Thanksgiving. Our congressman has still not introduced that bill we suggested whereby people who had happy childhoods have Thanksgiving, and the rest of us get to spend the 4^th Thursday in November riding all the rides at Six Flags for free. Until that happens, we’ll continue to hide a flask in our purse before heading over to the family get-together,  and we’ll bring a kickass dessert. This year, it’s cake.

We know, Thanksgiving makes you think pie. But this rich, moist cake features a classic classic Thanksgiving staple, sweet potatoes, or yams if that’s what you like to call them. The sweet potatoes’ naturally sweet and fruity flavor gets a boost from crushed pineapple. Pineapple, of course, is also a great holiday ingredient, since it’s available canned all year. But this year let’s have it in cake and not jello salad, okay?  A rich rum glaze tops it off, because rum is a perfect counterpoint to the pineapple and sweet potato flavors, and makes you a little less likely to punch your brother-in-law at the table.

For the cake:
1 large sweet potato
3 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
½ tsp ground ginger
1/8 tsp cardamom (optional)
2 sticks softened butter
1 ¾ cups packed brown sugar
3 large eggs
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla
1 ½ cups plain or vanilla yogurt
1 cup crushed pineapple, drained

For the glaze:
3 oz room temperature cream cheese
1 stick softened butter
½ cup powdered sugar
½ cup dark rum
½ cup crushed pineapple, drained

Preheat oven to 350º. Butter and flour a 10 cup bundt pan.

Make the cake.
Steam or microwave the sweet potato until cooked through and soft. Scoop the flesh out into a bowl and mash. It doesn’t have to totally smooth, some very small chunks will look pretty when the cake is sliced, and make for a more interest texture. Measure out 1¼ cups of mashed sweet potato and set aside.

Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices.

In a separate bowl, use a handmixer to mix the butter and brown sugar until fluffy. Mix in eggs and vanilla until well incorporated, then stir in yogurt. Fold in the 1 ¼ cups mashed sweet potato. Then gradually ad the flour mixture using the handmixer set on low.  Fold in the pineapple, and pour batter into prepared bundt pan, and bake for 50-55 minutes, until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool in pan on a rack. Invert cooled cake on to a cake plate.

Make the glaze.
Using a handmixer, mix together cream cheese and butter until fluffy. Mix in the cream cheese and then the rum. Stir in crushed pineapple.  If glaze seems too thin, mix in a bit more powdered sugar; if it’s too thick , thin it with a little more rum or some milk. We say go with the rum.

Pour your yummy rum pineapple glaze over your yummy cake. Serve immediately, or refrigerate and bring to room temperature before servings.

Only 88º today? Feels like Christmas!

It’s late August in Austin, Texas, and our summer high temperatures have only been reaching into the gentle 90’s. This is what we refer to as “spring-like weather” here.  Usually, by this time of year, we’re suffering through heat that puts Aquanet users at serious risk of having their hair-do combust upon leaving the house.

But on days when Austinites suffer through the sensation that a giant blowdryer is trained directly on our city, we’re at least comforted by the hope our notoriously brutal heat has surely prevented at least one person from moving here that day. It’s not that we don’t like new people– we do, we really do. We’re just not sure where we’ll put all of you, and it wouldn’t surprise Luscious if Austin has to build some sort of intake center for refugee hipsters. American Apparel can pass out goodie bags at the entrance and Fader magazine can put up a big tent and…  oh, wait, we already have that, it’s called South By Southwest.

Anyway, all we’re trying to say is, okay, we acknowledge that sometimes it’s too hot to drink Luscious Chai. To drink it HOT that is.  Here’s a chai-licious take on the classic strawberry-banana smooth, refreshing and cold like a snowy  day in Austin. Well, actually it only snows, like, once every six years here, but if it snowed chai-spiced strawberries, it would be just like this cold and delicious concoction:

Strawberry Chai Smoothie

1 cup halved strawberries, fresh or lightly defrosted frozen
1 sliced frozen banana
1 cup cold sweetened vanilla almond milk
1-2 tablespoons Luscious Chai mix
1 tablespoons honey

Put it in a blender, mix her up. Trust us on the strawberry-chai spice combo: sweet, fruity, a little spicy, creamy, and caffeine-y.   Like any hipster worth his summertime knit cap, you’ll want to get some Luscious Chai before we “make it big”.  You can order here: http://www.coteriemarket.com/luscious-chai/
or email us directly at yummy@lusciouspastry.com.