♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ -Today on "America's Test Kitchen," Julia makes Bridget spiced rub pork roast en cocotte with caramelized onions.

Jack challenges Bridget and Julia to a head-to-head tasting of chocolate-cake mixes.

And Erica makes Julia double-apple bread pudding.

It's all coming up right here on "America's Test Kitchen."

"America's Test Kitchen" is brought to you by the following.

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♪♪ -When it's time to jazz up a plain old pork roast for dinner, well, the process should not be complicated.

And I can't think of anyone better to take something so plain, so ordinary, and turn it into something special than my friend Julia.

-Oh.

Thank you.

-Yeah.

You bet.

-Yeah.

These pork loins are kind of notoriously bland and dry.

There's not a lot of intramuscular fat.

It's a very lean muscle.

And, you know, a lot of the flavor's been bred out of them over the years.

-Sure.

-So we're going to add some of that flavor back.

I'm also going to show you a really cool cooking technique that is pretty much foolproof for such a lean cut.

-Oh, great.

Okay.

-So we're going to start with the flavor.

We're going to put a nice spice rub on the pork loin.

So, these are anise seeds, and they're gonna deliver a lot of flavor to the pork.

And you can buy ground anise seed, but grinding your own is where it's at.

-It always smells like pizzelle to me.

-Yes!

Yes, it does.

All right.

So you can use a electric spice grinder or a good old mortar and pestle.

That's about 3/4 of a teaspoon of ground anise seeds.

I'm gonna dump it into this bigger bowl where I have some coriander.

This is 5 teaspoons of ground coriander.

-Okay.

-And now we're going to add a little paprika.

This is 2 teaspoons.

A little bit of salt.

This is a teaspoon table salt.

A teaspoon of brown sugar.

Little bit of cumin -- just 3/4 of a teaspoon.

And last but not least, a little kick, a little bit of cayenne, just a pinch or so.

And that sugar will help the spices stick to the pork, but it also adds a nice sweetness that really helps these spices come alive.

So that looks pretty good.

Just breaking up any clumps of sugar.

On to our pork loin.

This is your average pork loin from the supermarket.

It's anywhere from 2 1/2 to 3 pounds.

But almost more important than the weight is the shape, because we're going to cook it in this Dutch oven, en cocotte.

So it has to fit in the pot, so you want a short squat one.

Nowadays, these pork loins come really well trimmed.

You can see there's really nothing here to trim.

There's no silver skin.

There's a little bit of a fat cap on the top.

We're going to leave that because that's flavor.

-Okay, great.

-All right.

Now we're gonna tie it.

It's a pretty even cut, but by tying it, you make it more round.

Just cooks through more evenly.

-Okay.

-I like to start right in the middle and work my way out.

That's how you get a nice, even roast.

[ Twine creaks ] Nice and tight.

You hear that noise?

-Yes.

-About every inch and a half or so.

And we're gonna trim off the ends of the twine that we don't need.

We don't want them getting in the way.

Now we're gonna give this pork a quick pat dry.

And now we're going to coat it with all of these spices.

It's a really well-seasoned pork roast.

But that's a good thing because it's quite thick.

And as we said earlier, this sucker can be a little bland without this extra help, so... And you notice I'm using this quarter sheet pan.

It's helping me contain the mess, for which I am somewhat notorious.

That looks pretty good.

I'm just gonna get washed up, and we can get cooking.

-Okay, great.

-All right, Bridget, I have 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil heating up in this nice big Dutch oven.

-Okay.

-And I have it on medium heat.

Now, we're gonna brown this pork roast right in the pot.

Develop a little bit of a fond and also give some nice color to the pork loin.

But notice I'm using a lower heat than we usually do.

That's because we don't want to burn the spices.

So a little browning in the pot, a little browning on the roast is all you need.

-All right.

Just toasting the spices instead of a full scorch.

-That's it.

-Got it.

-While that browns, we're gonna cook some caramelized onions in with the pork while it cooks in the oven.

Just adds a lovely sweetness, and it makes a nice sauce.

-Okay.

-So, here I have two onions.

Already been peeled.

And I'm cutting it in half right through that root end.

Gonna trim off the root because we're going to cut it into nice slices.

And I like cutting slices for this with the grain so that the pieces stay together as they cook.

So when I slice an onion this way, I like to angle the knife as I move through the onion.

About halfway through, I tip it back over, and then it becomes a game for how thin can you get the -- oh!

-- before it collapses.

I smell those spices starting to toast.

-Mm-hmm.

-All right.

Oh, that's perfect.

You can see the spice is starting to get just a little dark around the edges, so I'm gonna turn the heat down.

-Okay.

-Not getting the spices burned is the name of the game here.

All right.

Just lightly on the other sides.

-Okay.

-You're just getting a little browning on the pork loin.

All right, I'm gonna take this out of the pot.

It was about five minutes.

Now I'm going to add a little more oil to the pan.

This is a tablespoon more vegetable oil.

And in go the onions.

-Mmm.

-Oh.

I love it when the onions hit the spices that have been blooming in that oil.

It makes a terrific sauce.

And I said we're gonna caramelize these onions.

And the trick to getting them to really brown well and break down before that goes in the oven is to put the lid on.

-Put a lid on it.

Kind of sweat the onions, start them breaking down.

-This needs to cook for about five minutes.

Bridget.

-That smells like magic.

-Oh, yeah.

-Mmm.

-Yeah, you can see all the liquid that has come out.

The onions are just starting to brown.

There's a lot of color from the spices that were left in the pot.

All right.

Now we're gonna let this cook uncovered, 10, 12 minutes, until they get nice and caramelized.

-Okay.

-Oh, yeah.

Look at these gorgeous onions.

-Lovely.

-Mmm.

With the pork, it's magnificent.

All right.

Now I'm gonna add a little bit of garlic.

-Mm-hmm.

-So I have three cloves of garlic.

I'm just gonna use the garlic press and press them right into the pot.

-That's quite a bit of garlic flavor since you're using three and pressing it, releasing a ton of garlic flavor in there.

I see a theme -- all about waking up that pork roast.

-It is.

-Yeah.

-All right.

Now we're just gonna sauté that.

Yeah, 30 seconds, until it's nice and fragrant.

Oh, that's the stuff right there.

-Yes.

-All right.

Now it is time to put the pork back into the pot.

-Okay.

-Make a nice bed out of those onions.

Now I'm gonna turn the heat off.

We're gonna finish cooking this in the oven.

And the key is, you want to seal all the heat and steam in the pot, so underneath the lid, we're gonna put a nice sheet of foil.

Again, just helping to trap that moisture.

-Okay.

-Into a very low oven, this goes, 250 degrees.

-That's almost off.

-It is almost off.

It's as low as the oven can go, really.

But that low oven temperature means that the pork loin will stay nice and juicy.

We're looking for a finished temperature of 140 degrees, and depending on the shape and size of the pork loin, it can take anywhere from 35 to 55 minutes.

[ Chuckles ] It's been about 40 minutes.

-It's foil!

-It's foil!

Off comes the foil.

Oh, you can see all that steam that was trapped in the pot.

-Mm-hmm.

-It smells good, doesn't it?

-Yeah, it smells great.

-All right.

So, again, we're looking for a temperature between 140 and 145.

Let's see where we're at.

Oh, 143.

Perfect.

-Perfectly center.

I expect nothing less.

-Exactly.

All right.

Now we're gonna take this pork loin out of the pot.

We're gonna let it rest.

It'll continue to cook.

Not a ton because, again, this was a very low oven.

So it should reach about 150.

It'll only take 15 to 20 minutes.

-Okay.

-Gonna cover this with foil.

Keep it warm.

And then these beauties.

-Come on.

-It's pretty much a ready-made sauce.

But we're gonna -- we're gonna add just a little bit of butter, little bit of richness, make it a little glossy.

So that's just a tablespoon of unsalted butter.

Now whisk that in.

It's almost like a jus.

The sauce is done.

I'm just gonna put the lid back on and help it to keep warm.

This pot, it's made of cast iron.

It'll keep that sauce warm for as long as the pork loin needs to rest.

The pork loin has rested, and it's time to eat.

Still there.

-Always a good sign.

-It is a good sign.

Before I slice it up, I'm gonna get rid of that kitchen twine.

-Mm.

-Just using a pair of scissors.

And I love it because it's pretty foolproof.

Gonna slice it nice and thin.

And you can see that is perfectly cooked.

Oh, just like that.

-Nice.

-That is perfect.

Nice and juicy.

-Super juicy.

-Mm-hmm.

How many slices?

-Just two.

-Just two.

All right.

Don't go far, though, because I have those onions.

-Yes, mm-hmm.

-This is just kind of a homey, easy Sunday meal.

-Well, that is the definition of Sunday roast, right?

It should be low hands-on effort... -Yep.

-...but big payoff.

-Exactly.

-We'll see about the second part of that.

-I know.

-Mmm.

Oh, I got a little bit of that -- that spice rub on the outside.

-Mm-hmm.

-But, actually, the spices have infused everything.

-Isn't that amazing?

-The brothy jus.

And the onions, of course.

-It's just not your average pork loin, you know?

Has so much more flavor.

-Mmm.

The pork is beautifully cooked.

So juicy, so succulent.

This was so simple.

This is beautiful.

-Thank you.

-Thank you so much.

You definitely want to make this pork roast at home.

So easy.

And it starts by coating the pork with lots of spices before browning, caramelize onions slowly in that beautiful tasty fat, and finish cooking the pork nice low and slow in a tightly wrapped pot.

So, from "America's Test Kitchen," spice-rubbed pork roast en cocotte with caramelized onions.

Bet this would be great with fennel.

-Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

-Yeah.

♪♪ -I have some good news.

I'm gonna give both of you permission to buy boxed cake mix.

-Ooh!

-As long as it's chocolate.

You do not ever, ever, ever have permission to buy frosting.

You guys can dig in.

You've got four of the eight samples that we did, and some of them are good, some of them less so.

When we put homemade frosting on a boxed mix and then compared it to our favorite recipe, homemade cake, we really couldn't tell the difference because the frosting really does a lot of work here.

So, what's the intensity of the chocolate flavor?

Some of them, I would say, are in the, "Is this chocolate?"

And if you didn't see it, you might not get there.

And some of them have a lot of chocolate.

And that's gonna be, "Does it have Dutched cocoa?"

It has more oomph than the brands with natural.

Black cocoa, which is basically extra Dutched, where they reduce the acidity and that basically pumps up the chocolate flavor is even better.

-Mm-hmm.

-Little teeny chocolate chips, which would give you a wisp of chocolate.

Not a bad idea.

Some of our favorite brands have that in them.

In terms of how you make these, they all call for eggs.

Some brands call for milk and butter, others water and oil.

Now, besides the fact that water and oil is going to be much more convenient than milk and butter, it actually tastes better.

The dairy blocks the chocolate flavor.

And so besides being fussier, having to get out the butter, make sure you have milk, it gives you an inferior boxed chocolate cake mix.

Julia, why don't you tell me what you're thinking?

-Mm.

I like this end of the table, the C, D end.

And you mentioned dark cocoa and black cocoa.

You can see the difference, so that's no surprise there.

They have more flavor.

These two, less flavor.

And you said early on, if you closed your eyes, could you tell if it was chocolate?

On this one, I'm not sure that I could.

I mean, I think I'd get there eventually.

One with more caramel than chocolate.

B, styrofoam.

Kind of just spongy.

Not great texture.

But when you get down here, the texture is lovely.

-Okay.

All right.

I think Julia has some opinions.

Are we in agreement or disagreement?

-I'd say mostly agreement.

I'm going towards this area.

I mean, you know, the eye sees what the eye sees.

These are lovely and dark.

This one is a bit cakier, and this one, D, is a bit fudgier, I would say.

I think I have a slight preference for D. They both have really nice chocolate flavor.

Really surprising, actually.

Now, when it comes to A and B, a lot less of that deep rich chocolate flavor.

This one, I absolutely detest the texture.

It's like if somebody added sandpaper to the eggs and oil or whatever else is in there, but it just -- it has almost an abrasive texture to it.

And then this one tastes like childhood.

That tastes like school cafeteria cake, and there's a place for that.

I'm not totally hating it, but it's not my favorite.

Not so great on the chocolate flavors, but this one is industrial cake.

This one would be my favorite, D. -All right.

You like D. Now, I don't know.

Did you -- C or D?

Do you have a favorite here?

-I like them both.

D, I like the slight denser -- You just called it fudgy.

I think that's a great descriptor here.

With frosting I actually might like C a little better, because the denseness of the frosting might contrast a bit more with the cakier texture.

So, on its own, D, but with frosting, I'm not sure I'd agree.

-D is King Arthur.

This is our favorite of the mail-order brands.

This is the one that has two kinds of cocoa.

It has the Dutched cocoa, which we know makes delicious cakes, and then the black cocoa, which is basically extra Dutched, extra flavorful, and gives you that incredibly dark color and big flavor.

It's just a lovely, intense chocolate cake.

-Mm-hmm.

-C is Ghirardelli.

-Oh!

-Yeah, this was our favorite of the supermarket brands.

So these two, basically C and D, tied in the results.

This has the little wisp of chocolate in addition to the Dutched cocoa.

-I was gonna ask about that.

-They're both lovely options and make amazing cake.

B, the one that you really liked... -Yeah!

[ Laughter ] -...was actually the least favorite of the tasters.

This is the European Gourmet, and it's the only one made with natural cocoa.

And it just doesn't have that much chocolate flavor.

-And it's sawdusty.

-[ Laughs ] -Yeah, the texture is not good.

-But I don't feel strongly about it.

[ Laughter ] -Not at all.

And then, finally, A, which I think you said was industrial?

-Yeah, it tastes like school cupcakes.

-Actually, the Betty Crocker was in third place.

It's not a bad choice.

-No.

-There's a nostalgia factor to this, but it really, on the chocolate scale, can't compete with our two favorites.

-Right.

So if you had chocolate frosting and that, sure, why not?

-Sure.

Why not?

It would be even better with C or D. -Yeah.

Agree.

-Jack, this was fascinating.

Thank you.

-You're welcome, Julia.

-Thanks for the sawdust.

-You're welcome, Bridget.

♪♪ -Food historians date bread pudding back to the 11th century, but I imagine it's even older than that because it's such an obvious way to use up leftover stale bits of bread.

And today, bread pudding is as popular as ever, and Erica's here to show us her version that uses apples.

-Well, apple season always makes me nostalgic for just about any apple recipe, and this double-apple bread pudding is such a perfect cozy treat.

-Double apples?

-Double apples!

-All right.

-So let's get started with our bread.

I have ten ounces of challah bread that I'm just gonna slice and cut into 1/2-inch pieces.

And challah is great because it has a really nice, rich texture.

And its firm texture also means that it's not going to disintegrate when I put it in the custard.

-Boy, that one loaf of bread turned into a lot of cubes.

-Right?

So I'm gonna take my 10 ounces challah bread cubes, and I'm gonna arrange them on my baking sheet.

A nice even layer.

So, we are ready to bake.

They're gonna bake at 325 degrees for 15 minutes, and I'll toss them halfway through.

-All right.

[ Sniffs ] Mmm!

Smells good.

-Yeah, they look great.

All right.

They're nicely toasted.

But while they cool, we can go ahead and get started with our apples.

So, I'm using two 8-ounce Granny Smith apples.

And they are my mom's favorite apple to bake with and with good reason.

For one, their nice firm texture means that they're going to bake up nice and tender, but not mushy.

Also, their sweet-tart flavor is really gonna cut some of the richness.

-Mm-hmm.

-So I am just peeling them.

And then I'm gonna cut them into 1/2-inch pieces.

I have just quartered my apples, and then I'm just going to remove the core.

So I'm just cutting right along the line.

Cut off any other remaining bits, and then I can cut the apples again and cut them into 1/2-inch pieces.

So we've got all of our apple pieces all cut up.

So let's get cooking.

-Okay.

-I've already got 2 tablespoons of butter melting over medium heat in my 10-inch skillet.

And to that I'm gonna add in 1/4 cup of brown sugar and 1/3 cup of water.

And I'm just going to whisk this together and cook it just until the sugar dissolves.

All right.

And I'll stir in my apples.

And I'll increase the heat to medium-high and bring it up to a simmer.

Pre-cooking the apples is gonna create this delicious apple cooking liquid that we're going to use to infuse into our custard.

That means we're going to have apple flavor spread all throughout the bread pudding.

-Ah!

-All right, that looks great.

So I am just gonna cover it and let the apples cook for about four minutes.

And I'll stir it occasionally.

It's been four minutes.

So let's remove the lid.

Ooh.

-Mmm!

That smells good.

-Mm-hmm.

And the apples are looking good.

They're starting to get nice and tender.

And they're creating all this delicious apple cooking liquid.

And I'm gonna continue to let them cook uncovered until they're completely tender.

It's been about four minutes and our apples are nice and tender, and you see that liquid is formed.

They are ready to be strained.

-All right.

-So I am gonna pour the apples through my fine mesh strainer that I have set over a measuring cup here.

And I'm just going to press down gently on the apples just to get them to release some of that liquid.

Ooh, that looks so good.

-You want them to stay cubes.

You don't want to make applesauce.

-Exactly, right.

So nice and gently.

That looks great.

So I'm just gonna pour the apples into our bowl.

We'll set those aside for later.

And then, to our apple cooking liquid, I'm gonna add just enough milk to give us 1 1/4 cup.

-Okay.

-'Cause I don't want to dilute all that delicious apple flavor we worked so hard to create.

-Well, that's smart because, depending on the day, the apple, your stove, so many variables, you can get different amounts of liquid coming out of those apples.

-Oh!

Well, thank you.

I totally agree.

We've got our apple cooking liquid and our milk, so we can get started making our custard.

-All right.

-To my bowl, I'm gonna add in 1/4 cup of brown sugar, 3/4 of a teaspoon of cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg... -Mmm!

-...1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract.

-All the warm spices.

I like it.

-Oh, yes.

And 1/4 teaspoon of salt.

And I'm gonna whisk this together first just to make sure that it is thoroughly combined.

And get all those spices dispersed into this sugar.

Mmm.

It smells so good.

And it's time to add in our eggs.

I have two large eggs.

-Mm-hmm.

-And I have 1 1/4 cup of heavy cream.

-So you're using a combination of milk and cream for just the right level of richness?

-Exactly, exactly.

And now we'll add in that delicious apple milk liquid.

-Oh, that smells good.

-Oh, yeah.

That looks amazing.

And this is where we get that double-apple magic.

So we have the apple cooking liquid that's now completely infused into the custard.

That's going to give us apple flavor in every single bite.

And adding in the freshly cooked apple pieces is gonna give us an additional apple bite all throughout.

All right.

And now we are ready to add in our bread cubes.

-All right.

-But before I do, I'm actually gonna reserve 3/4 of a cup because I'm going to use that a bit later to create a nice, crisp, quasi-streusel-like topping.

-Ooh.

-All right.

Got my bread cubes reserved, and so I'll just dump the rest right in.

Just stir this all together to make sure that the bread cubes soak up all of that custard.

Mmm.

All right.

That looks great.

So now we can just pour it right into our baking dish.

So I am just pressing down the bread cubes to make sure it's even and also to make sure that the bread cubes are soaking up every last bit of that custard.

So I do need to let it sit for 30 minutes, but I'm actually going to come back again in 15 minutes and press down those bread cubes again just to make sure they're soaking up every last bit, because that's what's going to give us that nice, light, fluffy texture that we want.

It's been 30 minutes, and our bread cubes have really soaked up all that delicious custard.

I'm just gonna press it down one more time to just ensure that it soaks up every last bit.

Mmm.

It's gonna be so good.

All right.

And let's make our crisp topping.

To this I'm gonna add 1 1/2 tablespoons of brown sugar.

And this is where it gets kind of fun.

I'm just gonna crumble the bread cubes just to create some small and large pieces.

This isn't science.

It's just crumbling it up so that we have big crunchy bits and small crunchy bits.

-Very clever.

-It's kind of making use of what we already have.

-Yeah.

-All right.

And that looks great.

So I'm just gonna pour over 1 1/2 tablespoons of melted butter.

And then I will stir it all together.

And there we have our topping.

So I will just sprinkle it right on top just evenly.

And we are ready to bake.

So I'm going to transfer it to a rimmed baking sheet.

And it's gonna bake at 325 degrees for about an hour or until it's nice and golden brown.

-Oh-ho!

-Ooh!

-That looks delicious.

-Mm-hmm.

Oh, that looks beautiful.

-That's a looker.

-Yes, it is.

It's been about an hour.

It's perfectly golden brown, and it looks amazing.

So I'm going to transfer it to the cooling rack.

And just to make sure that it's done, I always like to temp it.

And I temp it right in the middle, always going for a bread cube, because the apples are gonna register way hotter.

We're looking for anywhere from 160 to 165.

It's perfect.

We do need to let it cool for about 45 minutes.

It's going to give the pudding time to set and also everything to cool down.

It's been 45 minutes, and our bread pudding is cooled, so now it's time for the best part.

-Eating time!

-Oh, yes!

So, I will serve up a plate for you.

Mmm.

Look at all that crispy topping.

Oh, yeah.

-Ice cream on top?

-Yes.

I find it's so good with a little scoop of vanilla ice cream.

-Mm-hmm.

All right.

-Let's give it a try.

-Mm-hmm.

Mmm!

-Mmm.

-A ton of apple flavor in here.

-Mm-hmm.

-I really like this.

-Oh, well, thank you.

I'm glad to hear that.

-It's like the best part of an apple pie.

It's that center, but it's mixed with a little custard.

-Yes.

-The spices come through.

-Mm-hmm.

-Mmm.

Mmm!

-So comforting.

-Mm-hmm.

-Feels just perfect for the autumn season.

It doesn't even need the ice cream, although I do love ice cream.

And the apples, it didn't look like a ton of apples, but it is apple-studded.

-It really is.

They're like little gems of goodness.

-Erica, this is fabulous.

Thank you.

-My pleasure, Julia.

-If you want to make this incredible apple dessert, start by toasting cubes of challah in the oven, parcook Granny Smith apples, and add the cooking liquid to the custard, sprinkle with a quasi-streusel before baking.

From "America's Test Kitchen," Erica's own double-apple bread pudding.

You can get this recipe and all the recipes from this season, along with select episodes and our product reviews at our website, americastestkitchen.com/tv.

I'm really into this.

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