Jan.
03

Pumpkin Spice Cream Cake

Posted by Em at: 10:20 pm | 6 Comments

It’s a lazy Saturday morning… and I’m wanting some kind of sweet-bread for breakfast. Sure I could easily whip one up but there’s a little bit of a problem though.  I made coconut shrimp last night and the kitchen is still a mess.  I hate going to bed knowing I’ve left a messy kitchen downstairs – kinda upsets my gyros or something. It’s even worse since the shrimp was fried and the smell of fried food permeates the house.  Ugh.  If we had better weather, I’d open the windows and air the place out… just to get rid of the smell.  But that’s not about to happen.  I’m cleaning up the kitchen in prep for starting the sweet-bread I’m wanting when DH pulls out the foodie gift basket my sister gave us for Christmas. Ooooooh Yeaaaah :)  We sit down and enjoy some Cinnamon Toffee Bundt Cake… courtesy of Wolferman’s and my sister.  But of course I still had sweet-bread on the brain and remembered this amazing pumpkin spice cream cake I made early in December but in the hustle and bustle of the month never got around to sharing with you. This got such incredible raves from my co-workers that I really wanted to give you the recipe.  Sure, the holiday season is over but it’s still winter in the US and that means it’s still okay to make pumpkin cake :)

When I went to make this cake, I just wanted to use up some remaining canned pumpkin I had left in the fridge. This turned out so well that I feel like honestly I got lucky in the end.  I was worried about it being dry so I added the half a block of cream cheese and trust me when I say there’s nothing dry about this one.  My co-workers gobbled it up so quickly, some of them not only came back for seconds but for thirds!  That’s saying a lot!  And it’s a great compliment. 

 

 

Pumpkin Spice Cream Cake
 

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
2 teaspoon freshly ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
3 large eggs, at room temperature
4oz cream cheese, at room temperature
1 cup canned pumpkin – NOT pumpkin pie filling
3/4 cup canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Optional powdered sugar for dusting 
 
Method

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Generously coat a bundt pan with baking spray (or grease and flour).

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices; set aside.

In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with paddle attachment beat cream cheese until smooth then add eggs., pumpkin, and oil. Mix well, scraping down sides with a spatula, until everything is well blended. Add flour mixture a little at a time, beating well after each addition, until everything is well combined. Scrape down sides, then blend in the vanilla extract.

Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 35-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the cake comes out clean. Let cool on wire rack for ten minutes, then invert cake onto wire rack and let cool completely. Sprinkle with powdered sugar immediately before serving.  If the powdered sugar is applied too early, the cake will simply absorb it so for maximum visual impact dust on the powdered sugar right before you serve it (gives the most OOOOH’s -&- AAAAH’s too!!)

Have a delicious day!

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Posted in cake, pumpkin, recipes | 6 Comments »

Dec.
06

Pumpkin Cheesecake

Posted by Em at: 3:00 pm | 3 Comments

Recall there were three pies that I made for Thanksgiving… Coconut Custard, French Silk Chocolate and this sumptuous one right here, a Pumpkin Cheesecake.  I love cheesecake to start with – a good cheesecake, that is ;-) And I love pumpkin pie.  For years I’ve coveted pumpkin cheesecake no matter the time of year.  The way I feel about pumpkin cheesecake is pretty much the way my family feels about egg nog… I wait for it all year.  I mean wait all year. I reminisce about it in spring… talk longingly about it in summer….  anticipate it in early autumn… and come close to Thanksgiving I begin to pretty much stalk restaurant menus.  But this year I declared my freedom from all that and made my very own pumpkin cheesecake.  The fact that it turned out so amazingly good can only mean one thing – my waistline is in trouble!  And that’s trouble with a capital “T” :)

This picture above gave me the giggles.  Isn’t that just the cutest little, petite, small, diminutive, lady-like, bite-sized morsel on the fork?  Certainly nothing like the big ol honkin bites I tend to take of pumpkin cheesecake!  I can’t help myself.  Really, I can’t.  I love it so much!  But with most things in life we need to slow it down… remain in the moment… savor it… enjoy it… not rush thru it so fast that it’s just a fleeting memory in only a matter of minutes.  I believe in that.  The problem is for me it remains a goal, not a reality.  Especially when I’m eating pumpkin cheesecake for heaven’s sake!  When I made this I had every intention of taking it to work and sharing it with my co-workers.  The problem was that as much as I like my co-workers and know they’d enjoy it, I was certain they wouldn’t enjoy it more than me… and I just couldn’t bear to part with it! hahahahah.  But I also knew another problem was that if I were left to my own devices, I’d eat the entire thing  since my family has no interest in it whatsoever (oh sure, integrate some chocolate into it and that might change but that would detract from my enjoyment of it and hey, this one is most definitely, without a doubt, all about me!!).  The solution?  Cut the entire thing into slices, freeze them individually and stick them outside in the deep freezer in the garage.  Out of sight – out of mind :)  And yes, this baby freezes and thaws just beautifully – you can take my word for it!!! =)

 Now there, that’s more like it.  That’s a more realistic sized bite for me ;-)

 

Pumpkin Cheesecake

Ingredients

2 cups graham cracker crumbs

6 tablespoons butter, melted

1 cup granulated sugar, plus

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

3 8oz packages cream cheese

1 tablespoon vanilla

2 cups canned pumpkin

3 eggs

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

2 teaspoon allspice

1 teaspoon ground ginger

 

 

Method

Preheat oven to 350° F.

Make the crust by combining the graham cracker crumbs with the melted

butter, 2 tablespoons sugar and 1 tsp each of cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and

ginger in a medium bowl. Stir well enough to coat all of the crumbs with the

butter, but not so much as to turn the mixture into paste. Keep it crumbly.

Put foil partway up the outside part of an 9-inch springform pan.

Press the crumbs onto the bottom and about two-thirds of the way up the

sides of the springform pan. You don’t want the crust to form all of the way

up the back of each slice of cheesecake.

 

Bake the crust for 5 minutes, then set aside until you are ready to fill it.

 

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment combine the

cream cheese, 1 C sugar, and vanilla.  Mix until smooth.

Add the pumpkin, eggs, remaining cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and ginger and

mix thoroughly on medium speed.  Switch to the whisk attachment and continue

beating until smooth and creamy.

Pour the filling into the pan.

Bake in a water bath for 70 minutes.

Turn off oven and prop the door open with a wooden spoon.  Allow the

cheesecake to come to room temperature while still in the oven – about 3

hours

Remove cheesecake from oven and refrigerate while still in the springform

pan

When the cheesecake has chilled, remove the pan sides and cut into slices

 

Have a delicious day!

  src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54486/313/2F9B6626815A7DEDA50FC96
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Posted in pumpkin, recipes | 3 Comments »

Nov.
01

Iced Pumpkin Cookies

Posted by Em at: 5:53 pm | 12 Comments

These cookies come with a warning.  I should be kind and put it in big, bold, flashing neon red letters… but you won’t listen.  How do I know this, you ask?  Because I didn’t listen either when my friend Jamie made them and gave the same warning.  But you guys are a lot smarter than me and I bet you will listen – so I’ll give you the warning… these cookies are SERIOUSLY addicting!  Oh sure, you may scoff, and giggle, and laugh, and guffaw at that warning.  Trust me when I say I didn’t believe it either.  And then on a whim, I made them because, well, I felt like baking and I had some leftover pumpkin puree from the muffins I’d made. I lost count of how many I consumed the first night because holy mother of pearl these are goooooooood. Cake-like, oh-so-soft, melt-in-your-mouth, disappear-from-the-tray-in-an-instant, good.  I honestly think they have become my favorite cookie – and based on the raves from my coworkers, they might become yours too!!


Now that Halloween’s over and we’re officially into “the holiday season” and “turkey month”, it feels like the perfect time to blog about these fantabulous pumpkin cookies.  When I first saw them on Jamie’s blog I didn’t give them a second thought. Oh sure, they looked pretty… heck, everything on her blog does… but the caramel icing completely turned me off.  Her post said the recipe was adapted from one on All Recipes so I set out to find the original.  It took a bit of searching but I found it, halved it and tweaked some ingredients figuring I just wouldn’t make the icing. Nothing wrong with a nekkid cookie, right ;-)

When I made the first batch, I discovered they really weren’t cooked enough using the stated bake time.  I had to actually put them back in the oven after DH and I tasted one.  But the remaining batches I cooked longer and that worked fine.  Upon tasting one, I knew I was doomed.  Well, that’s not entirely true since I wasn’t doomed! Sadly, the same can’t be said for my hips, butt and thighs cuz sure as can be, they were doomed.  Totally worth it though because wow – wow – wow! These cookies are somethin’ else!  I even ended up making the icing and that just took them completely over the top.  I took them to work and my coworkers absolutely raved over them. I mean R-A-V-E-D!  I couldn’t keep up with the emails that were flying in.  Oh yes, I do recall they raved over the Guinness Chocolate Cupcakes but the raves for these cookies were actually bigger, louder, more enormous, totally from the heart… and the belly ;-)  People asked for the recipe! People asked how soon I could make more! People told me I missed my calling and should’ve been baker! People. Loved. These. Cookies. Period.  End-of-story.  

 

Iced Pumpkin Cookies

Ingredients

  • 1 cup shortening
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 cup canned pumpkin
  • 1 egg
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 3 tablespoons butter
  • 4 tablespoons milk
  • 1 cup confectioners’ sugar
  • 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup packed brown sugar

Method

Preheat oven to 350°F, line cookie sheet with silicone mat

Cream shortening, granulated sugar and pumpkin. Add egg and mix well. Add the baking soda, ground cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and flour and mix well.
Using a small-to-medium sized disher (cookie scoop) or generous tablespoon, scoop batter onto cookie sheet. Using a wet finger, smooth points/peaks and gently press down tops. Bake 15-18 minutes then remove from oven and transfer to cooling rack and cool about 10-15 minutes before icing. 
To Make Icing: Cook butter, milk, and brown sugar until dissolved. Cool and add confectioners’ sugar and vanilla. Place a sheet of waxed paper under the cooling rack, take the cooled cookies and holding one at a time dip upside down into the icing, invert and place on cooling rack.  Decorate with sprinkles while icing is still wet.  Allow icing to fully set… if you can!!… before eating :)

 

Enjoy!

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Posted in cookies, pumpkin, recipes | 12 Comments »

Oct.
21

Pumpkin Muffins – TwD

Posted by Em at: 7:01 am | 13 Comments

 

Once again it’s Tuesday and we’re baking with Dorie.   Being that we’re nearing the end of October and the big pumpkin day (that’s Halloween in the US) it’s only fitting this week’s recipe would be pumpkin muffins. YAY! 

This week’s TwD host was Kelly of Barbaric Gulp and I’m glad she picked the Pumpkin Muffin recipe. Dorie full-on raves about these and truth be told I think they’re great but, sorry, not THAT great.  The way Dorie does it calls for topping these with raw sunflower seeds which sounded really unappealing to me so obviously I omitted that.  After baking, they looked a little bit “blah” so I decided to drizzle on a glaze of powdered sugar & milk.  That gave them a touch of extra sweetness as well as an interesting visual appeal.  The use of Golden raisins is wonderful in this recipe… and as a little something different I soaked mine in dark Rum for about an hour before adding them to the recipe :)  Did it add any flavor?  I dunno but it sure made me feel good to do it! LOL :)

When I was looking for a garnish to add to this week’s photos, I felt a little bored with the usual mint sprig and instead chose a few flowers and greenery from a bouquet of flowers DH and the kids had given me “just because”.  The colors are gorgeous and I’m glad I used them in the photos :)

I love pumpkin!!  I loved these muffins!!  And my DH who isn’t even a big fan of pumpkin?  He loved these muffins too and they were a really really big hit with my co-workers. So if you’re a pumpkin lover… or merely on the fence about it… give these muffins a try.  They’re soooooooo good :)  If you’d like the recipe, check out our host Kelly’s site (or better yet… buy Dorie’s book and start baking!!).  Please take a moment to check out the others who bake Tuesdays with Dorie.  Remember, if you’re considering joining, memberships are only being accepted thru the end of the month :)  

Have a delicious day!

 
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Posted in Dorie Greenspan, Tuesdays with Dorie, muffins, pumpkin, recipes | 13 Comments »

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