Pumpkin Cake with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting

Pumpkin and cream cheese frosting are such a great match, and the only pumpkin my husband will eat. This cake was quite delightful.

Pumpkin Cake with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting
from Leite

2 cups all-purpose flour OR cake flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/8 tsp. ground cloves
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1 stick (4 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
1/3 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 cup buttermilk mixed with 1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/4 cups canned solid-pack pumpkin

Maple Cream Cheese Frosting
2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1 stick (4-ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups confectioners’ sugar
1/4 cup pure maple syrup, preferably grade B amber

Preheat the oven to 350° (175°C). Butter two 8-by-2-inch cake pans, line them with parchment circles, butter the parchment, and coat the pan with flour. Tap out the excess.

Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, salt, and pepper into a medium bowl. Set aside.

In a stand mixer, beat the butter and sugars on medium speed until fluffy, about 5 minutes.

Add the eggs, 1 at a time, to the mixer, scraping down the sides after each addition. Alternate adding the flour and buttermilk mixtures, beginning and ending with the flour. Beat in the pumpkin until smooth.

Divide the batter equally between the pans. Rap the filled pans once on the counter to release any air bubbles. Bake the cakes until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Cool the pans on racks for 10 minutes. Invert the cakes onto racks and remove the parchment paper. Cool completely.

In a stand mixer beat the cream cheese butter, confectioners’ sugar, and maple syrup on medium until fluffy.
To assemble the cake, frost the top of one cake, place the other cake on top. Frost the sides and top. Refrigerate the cake for 30 minutes to allow the frosting to set, if needed.

Pumpkin Puree - whole squash method

I've been making my own pumpkin puree for a few years now using this method. I've recently discovered a much easier way to do it! Cutting squash is hard work and always seems a bit dangerous. Instead cook the pumpkin (or try other squash) whole, and then cut it. I usually cook two pumpkins at once.

Wash and dry pumpkin. Place one drop of olive oil into palm of hands, then rub hands onto dry pumpkin. Place pumpkin on a foil covered sheet into a 350° oven; do not poke or pierce with a knife. Bake for one to two hours, depending on size of the pumpkin. You'll know it's ready when the pumpkin is slightly browned, dents easily with a wooden spoon, and there is a pumpkin aroma filling the kitchen. Remove from oven and let cool for 10-15 minutes. Cut in half with a serrated knife. Remove and discard seeds (or save them for roasting) and stringy center. Now scoop the flesh from the skin and put into a large bowl. Whip with an electric mixer or immersion blender until smooth. Refrigerate or freeze until needed.

Pumpkin Spice Cookies

It's fun to come across new blogs that inspire me. The one where this recipe comes from, Dishing Up the Dirt, is about a farmer girl who cooks. Of course, I have to make cookies first, but plenty of other dishes look scrumptious.

adapted from Dishing Up the Dirt

1 cup all purpose flour or whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 cup old fashioned rolled oats
1 tsp ground cinnamon
dash of ground nutmeg
dash of ground ginger
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 cup sugar or sucanat
1/2 cup brown sugar or sucanat
1/4 cup extra virgin coconut oil (slightly melted)
1/2 tsp ground flaxseed
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350.

Stir together dry ingredients (flour, oats, sugar, spices, salt, flaxseeds and baking soda) in a mixing bowl.

Stir together the wet ingredients (pumpkin, coconut oil, and vanilla).

Combine wet and dry ingredients. Mix well until everything is evenly incorporated.

Drop rounded tablespoons of dough onto a greased baking sheet. Lightly press balls with the back of the spoon to slightly flatten. Space cookies about 1 inch apart on the baking sheet. Bake in the oven for 15-17 minutes.

Remove and let cool slightly before eating.

Pumpkin Bread

I am so out of the cooking mode. Being away from home and not having to cook dinner each night really gets me out of the habit of being in the kitchen. I'm slowly returning, and in the meantime, I feel pretty hungry.

I made this bread quite a few weeks ago, but I want to make it again soon. Pumpkin bread is the best, and this may be my new go-to recipe. It is sweetened with only honey or maple syrup (I used maple syrup), but the lack of sugar is an improvement. I'm gradually learning to be more in tune with my body and am actually connecting eating poorly, like too much sugar, with not feeling well. I'm hopeful that natural, unrefined sweeteners really are better for me than refined white sugar. This bread doesn't give quite the sugar rush that the traditionally sweet pumpkin bread does. If you make it, let me know if you miss the sugar or not.

Spiced Honey Pumpkin Bread
from The Flour Sack

1 1/4 cups whole-wheat pastry flour
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon sea salt
1 tablespoon cinnamon
2 teaspoons freshly-ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1 1/4 cups pumpkin puree
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil or melted coconut oil
1/2 cup honey or maple syrup
2 eggs, room temperature

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 8 1/2 x 5-inch loaf pan with olive oil. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices. Set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk the pumpkin puree, olive oil, honey, and eggs until well-combined. Add flour mixture to pumpkin mixture and whisk for 10 seconds, just until the flour disappears and the batter is mostly smooth.

Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake for 40-45 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center of the bread comes out clean.

Let the bread sit in the pan for 10 minutes on a wire rack, then remove bread and finish cooling on the wire rack. Slice the bread once it has cooled for at least 1 hour.

Pumpkin Bread with Chocolate Chips

I fell in love with this recipe for pumpkin bread years ago. I got it from a family friend, and then when I went away to college I missed it so much I had to contact her and get the recipe. I love that it's heavy on the spices, and spice and pumpkin both accompany chocolate so well.

Pumpkin Bread with Chocolate Chips
from Paige B

3 eggs, well beaten
1 1/2 c. sugar
1 1/4 c. pumpkin
1 c. oil
2 1/4 c. flour
3/4 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. salt
2 1/4 tsp. cinnamon
3/4 tsp. nutmeg
3/4 tsp. cloves
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
2/3 c. chocolate chips

Cream eggs and sugar and until fluffy. Add pumpkin and oil and mix. Sift together dry ingredients and mix with pumpkin mixture. Fold in chocolate chips. Divide evenly between 2 loaf pans. Bake 45 minutes at 350 or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool for 20 minutes in the pans, loosen and remove from pans, and allow to completely cool on a wire rack.

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cookies

About a year ago at book club, I had some store-bought pumpkin cookies. They were super good with an extra dose of cardamom to give them a pop. I knew I had to try and find a recipe to copy them. But like most store-bought cookies, they had a texture that is very different from homemade. Every homemade pumpkin cookie I've eaten turns out very moist, almost cake-like, which is not what I wanted. So after a brief internet search, I found this pumpkin cookie recipe, which claimed to be crunchy. Their method was to use pumpkin butter instead of puree as the butter is cooked-down puree, reducing the liquid. Plus the recipe had cardamom, so I knew it was the one to try.

While I would not say these cookies are crunchy by any means, they are pretty similar in texture to regular cookies. And the cardamom? Definitely one of my favorite spices. Because it's not so popular, it may be hard to find or a little pricey. I've been stalking the spice shelf at Whole Foods for several months now. They have some harder to find spices at very decent prices (whole nutmeg and garam masala are some recent purchases).

Here's the pumpkin butter:

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cookies
from Guilty Kitchen

1 cup butter
1 1/4 cups brown sugar, packed
1 cup pumpkin butter**
1 egg
2 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp cardamon
1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 tsp ginger
1 tsp salt
1 Tbsp orange zest
1 1/2 cups dark chocolate chips or chunks
fine grain sea salt, such as pink Himalayan (optional)

1. Cream butter and sugar in medium sized bowl.

2. Add egg, vanilla and pumpkin butter. Mix well.

3. In separate bowl, mix together dry ingredients. Add to wet and stir to combine.

4. Stir in orange zest and chocolate chips and set in refrigerator for 1 hour.

5. Scoop chunks of dough and loosely mold into cookie shapes. Sprinkle with sea salt before baking if desired.

6. Bake for 15-18 minutes in a 350°F oven.

Because these cookies are crisp and chewy fresh out of the oven, I recommend making them in smaller batches and freezing the dough for future use.

** To make the pumpkin butter:

Method #1. Dump one can of pure pumpkin purée (27-29 0z can) and one cup of brown sugar into a small saucepan. Heat on medium and continue to stir and reduce for 1 hour. When done, you should be left with about a cup + 2 Tbsp of very thick pumpkin butter.

Method #2. Halve three small sugar pumpkins, scoop out the seeds and discard. Cut side up on a greased baking tray, bake in a 375°F oven for 45 minutes. Remove from oven, scoop out flesh and purée in food processor (there should be about 2 cups). Drain in cheese cloth by squeezing out the excess liquid. Add to small saucepan along with 1 cup of brown sugar. Cook down on medium heat for about one hour until very thick. Remove and set aside.

Pumpkin Ice Cream

Another excellent ice cream recipe from the ice cream master, David Lebovitz. I recommend using canned pumpkin puree. I used homemade puree and ended up with tiny strands of pumpkin in the ice cream, which made for an odd texture. Actually, in looking at the recipe again, I see that one of the last steps is to strain the ice cream, which I probably didn't do. I'm sometimes a sloppy cook; don't follow in my footsteps.

Pumpkin Ice Cream
adapted by David Lebovitz from The Craft of Baking by Karen DeMasco

5 large egg yolks
1 1/2 cups whole milk
1 cup heavy cream
1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cinnamon stick
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup pumpkin puree

In a small bowl, whisk the egg yolks: set aside.

Warm the milk, cream, sugar, spices and salt in a medium saucepan over medium heat until the edges begin to bubble. Meanwhile, prepare an ice bath by placing a medium-sized metal bowl in a larger bowl filled with some ice and a little water. Set a mesh strainer on top.

Gradually add half of the milk mixture into the egg yolks, whisking constantly. Turn the heat to low and scrape the yolks back in to the saucepan. Stir constantly, scraping the bottom with a heatproof spatula, until the mixture thickens and coats the spatula (between 160˚ – 170˚F).

Working quickly, pour mixture through the strainer and into the bowl with the ice bath. Stir in the brown sugar until dissolved and cooled. Chill thoroughly in the fridge, preferably overnight.

Once chilled, add the vanilla and pumpkin puree. Whisk until incorporated, then press through a fine-mesh strainer. Freeze in your ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s instructions. Freeze for at least one hour before serving.

Spiced Pumpkin Pancakes

It's time for more pumpkin and spice, one of my favorite flavor combinations. The pumpkin in these pancakes isn't too overwhelming, though I couldn't tempt my husband with them. He has something against pumpkin. Too many scary jack-o-lanterns as a kid, I guess.

As the daylight hours are decreasing, many of my photos now have shadows as I'm snapping them in artificial light. I don't know anything about lighting or photography - can you tell?

Spiced Pumpkin Pancakes

1 ¼ c. flour
2 Tbsp. sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
¾ tsp. cinnamon
1/8 tsp. cloves
1/8 tsp. nutmeg
1/8 tsp. ginger
¾ tsp. salt
1 1/3 c. whole milk
¾ c. canned pumpkin or fresh pumpkin puree
4 large eggs, separated
¼ c. unsalted butter, melted
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Whisk flour, sugar, baking powder, spices, and salt in large bowl to blend. Whisk milk, pumpkin, egg yolks, melted butter and vanilla in medium bowl to blend well. Add pumpkin mixture to dry ingredients; whisk just until smooth (batter will be thick). Using electric mixer, beat egg whites in another medium bowl until stiff but not dry. Fold whites into batter in 2 additions. Brush large nonstick skillet with oil; heat over medium heat. Working in batches, pour batter by 1/3 cupfuls into skillet. Cook until bubbles form on surface of pancakes and bottoms are brown, about 1 ½ minutes per side. Repeat with remaining batter, brushing skillet with oil between batches. Serve with syrup or plain yogurt.

Pumpkin Apple Spice Bread

I love classic pumpkin bread with chocolate chips. But I fell in love with this pumpkin bread with apples, too. The spice combination of cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves is common in recipes using pumpkin and apples, so pairing these fruits together just makes sense.

Sweet breads baked in mini-loaf pans are one of my favorite foods to give away. This recipe makes 4 mini-loaves and one standard loaf. Wrapped in plastic wrap and foil, this bread stores well in the freezer.

Pumpkin Apple Spice Bread
adapted from Recipes for IBS

3 c. flour
3/4 tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. cloves
1/4 tsp. allspice
1/4 tsp. ginger
16 oz. can pumpkin or 2 c. homemade pumpkin puree
3/4 c. canola oil
2 1/4 cup sugar
4 eggs
2 large Granny Smith apples, peeled and chopped (about 2 cups)

Topping:
1 Tbsp. flour
5 Tbsp. brown sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 Tbsp. butter

Preheat oven to 350. Combine topping ingredients with a fork. Set aside. Sift all dry ingredients into a large bowl. Stir until thoroughly blended. In a large bowl, beat pumpkin, oil, sugar, and eggs well with an electric mixer. Fold in apples. With a wooden spoon, add the dry ingredients to the wet, stirring the batter by hand until well blended. Pour batter into two non-stick greased loaf pans. Sprinkle on topping. Bake for about 50 minutes or until a toothpick or cake tester inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean (bake mini loaves for 40 minutes). Cool on racks.

CSA - Week 15

I received yellow cherry tomatoes, assorted peppers, radishes, corn, tomatoes, potatoes, acorn squash, and a pumpkin.  No eggs due to a mix-up.

I roasted the pumpkin to make pumpkin puree for baking, and it was actually pretty easy.  The hardest thing was cutting the pumpkin open (does anyone have a machete?).  I put the puree in the freezer to use later.  I also roasted the seeds with salt and butter -- they were gone in no time!

Pumpkin Puree
from my kitchen addiction

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and set aside.

Begin by slicing the top of the pumpkin off, right below the stem. Then, cut the pumpkin in half, cutting from top to bottom. Use a spoon to scoop the seeds and pulp out from the inside of the pumpkin. Don’t throw the seeds away; you can roast them. Once you’ve removed the seeds and pulp, cut each half of the pumpkin in half again so that the pumpkin is cut into quarters.

Transfer the pieces of pumpkin to the baking sheet, cut side down. Bake until the pumpkin is fork tender (for about 45 – 60 minutes). Allow the pumpkin to cool for about 10 – 15 minutes, until it is cool enough to handle. Then, use a spoon to scoop the flesh of the pumpkin out of the skin.

Transfer the flesh of the pumpkin to a food processor and puree. Refrigerate for about a week or freeze for up to 6 months. Use in any recipe where you would use canned pumpkin puree.

Toasted Pumpkin Seeds
adapted from Cantaloupe Alone

the seeds of one squash (1/4 - 1 cup)
1 tbsp. butter
1/8 tsp salt, or more to taste
1/2 tsp chili powder, optional

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Scoop seeds out of halved squash or pumpkin with a spoon and place in a a colander. The seeds will be entangled with squash membrane. Use your fingers to pick the stringy, slippery membrane out. Rinse with water, and shake off excess. Spread the seeds on a rimmed baking sheet. Toss with butter, chili powder, and salt. Toast in oven for 45 - 60 minutes, stirring every 20 minutes. The seeds will have a light to medium brown color. They won't crisp up until they are removed from the oven. To test remove one seed from the oven, wait five minutes. If it crunches when you bite it, the seeds are ready, otherwise back in the oven for 15 minutes.

Here's a very easy recipe to use up fresh peppers. Who doesn't love a quesadilla?

Chile-Bean Quesadilla
from How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman

3-4 jalapeno, poblano, or serrano chiles, seeded and chopped
1 tbsp minced garlic
1 cup pinto beans (if using canned, rinse well)
1/2 cup corn or canola oil (optional, can use use nonstick pan or a cast iron pan and omit oil)
eight 8-inch flour tortillas
2 cups grated cheese
1/2 cup minced scallion
1/4 cup salsa

Saute the chiles and garlic in a tablespoon of oil. Set aside.

Put 1 tablespoon of oil in skillet over medium heat. When hot, put a tortilla in the skillet. Top with a quarter of the cheese, scallion, chiles, beans, and salsa, then another tortilla.

Cook until the cheese begins to melt, about 2 minutes. Turn and cook until the cheese is melted and both sides are toasted, another 2 to 3 minutes. Drain if necessary, then cut into wedges and serve or keep warm until the remaining quesadillas are done.