Pumpkin Trifle

For my latest breakfast adventure I made these pumpkin scones.  I had it in my little blond head that the recipe used most of, if not all, of a can of pumpkin.  Instead it only used 1/4 of a cup.  The funny thing is, in reading the first paragraph of the the scone post, I say that I was using up some leftover pumpkin.  Oops. 

So, that can sat in my fridge for a week before I finally got around to figuring out what I was going to do with it.  After contemplating several much more time consuming and difficult recipes, I decided to try My Baking Addition's recent post for Pumpkin Cheesecake Trifles.  I had a little bit more than a cup of pumpkin left over, but figured it would be fine if I mixed it all in.  I also made my own pumpkin spice.  I had all the ingredients for it and do not need one more spice in my tiny space.  The last change I made was the cookie used for the crust.  I wanted to make it gluten free so my neighbor could enjoy them as well, I knew I had to be able to share.   Rereading the recipe now, I see I forgot to fold half the whip cream in the pumpkin mixture.  They turned out fine for all my changes and mistake. Everyone still enjoyed them.  They were also super easy so I will have to remember to make them (correctly) more often and make a few scones after.     


Ingredients
makes 4 to 6 servings

• 12 Gluten Free Vanilla Cookies, crushed into crumbs
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
• 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup pure pumpkin puree (again I had maybe a 1/4 cup more, but I am not sure)
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon allspice
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 12 oz. whipped topping (Cool Whip), thawed

1. In a medium bowl, combine cookie crumbs and butter. Divide the crumbs into the bottoms of your trifle glasses (I used short Ikea ones and the one above). Gently press crumbs to form an even layer of crust.
2. In a large bowl with an electric mixer, beat cream cheese until smooth. Add pumpkin, vanilla, sugar and spices. Beat until well combined and creamy.
3. Spoon a layer of pumpkin mixture onto the cookie crust followed by a layer of whipped topping. Repeat layers until your trifle reaches the top of your glass. 
4. Store trifles in the refrigerator until ready to serve. 

Enjoy!

The End of Slump: Enchiladas with Pumpkin Sauce

I have been in a bit of a slump.  Maybe it's the weather, but I love all the snow, I want more.  Maybe it's real work or the fact that I haven't been out on my bike in months and the tires are flat as it hangs in my room or maybe it's the upcoming holidays.  Whatever it is, I have been totally uninspired to bake, cook, or many other things that need to be done.  I mean, it's not that I wanted to eat pot stickers twice last week, I just didn't feel like even thinking about making something I that didn't come out a bag.  Saturday night I was so uninspired and didn't want to eat another veggie burger, so I went next door to my friendly (sometimes) neighbors and asked what he was feeding me.  I was very lucky cause Kurt and Mel were making up some squash risotto. I felt I had to make something worthy this week, so while waiting for dinner to be finished, I went to find something yummy to make myself and found Enchiladas with Pumpkin Sauce.  

This recipe is pretty simple and made much more than four servings.  It was Sunday dinner and payback to Mel and Kurt for Saturday, and lunch for two days. Since I bought a whole rotisserie chicken and shredded the whole thing, I had extra for another meal.  (The other half I mixed with some ketchup, Worcestershire sauce and honey for bbq sandwiches tonight.)  It was really good, but I think it would have been better if the pumpkin sauce was made with some milk or half and half instead of water, but maybe I am just crazy.  Thoughts anyone and if you agree any idea how much you would change the recipe? 

• 1/2 rotisserie chicken with the skin removed, meat shredded
• 7 scallions, thinly sliced
• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• 1 can (15 ounces) pumpkin puree
• 4 cloves garlic, peeled
• 1 jalapeno chile, quartered
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon dried ground chilies (my brothers special mix)
• 8 corn tortillas (6-inch)
• 1 1/2 cups grated sharp white cheddar cheese (6 ounces)

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In a medium bowl, combine chicken and scallions. Season generously with salt and pepper; set aside.
2. In a blender, puree pumpkin, garlic, jalapeno, chili powder, 2 1/2 cups water, 2 teaspoons salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper until smooth (hold top firmly as blender will be quite full). Pour 1 cup of sauce in the bottom of an 8-inch square (or other shallow 2-quart) baking dish.
3. Lay tortillas on work surface; mound chicken mixture on half of each tortilla, dividing evenly. Roll up tortillas; place, seam side down, in baking dish.
4. Pour remaining sauce on top; sprinkle with cheese. Place dish on a baking sheet; bake until cheese is golden and sauce is bubbling, 25 to 30 minutes. 
5. Let cool 5 minutes before serving.
6. Enjoy!  

Pumpkin Ginger Scones

I have had this recipe in my binder and there is a recipe for Honey Wheat Bread on the same page.  I am not sure if I ripped it out of the magazine for the scones or bread but the scone beat out the bread because of my mom's baking adventures today.  She decided to make her pumpkin dessert, which is amazing, and had left over pumpkin.  I decided to use the extra pumpkin to make Pumpkin Ginger Scones.  

I have heard the scones are easy to screw up and have never made them before.  These were super easy to make, although have a pastry cutter would have been nice when I was cutting in the butter, and to top it off I didn't mess them up. They are really yummy and not heavy like some scones are, I highly recommend trying them out. 

These are really the ones I made!

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 7 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon sugar, divided
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 5 tablespoons cold butter, divided
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1/4 cup canned pumpkin
• 1/4 cup sour cream

1. In a large bowl, combine the flour, 7 tablespoons sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, ginger and baking soda. Cut in 4 tablespoons butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. (this was really not coarse at all, I just mixed it with a fork until the butter was in small pieces with a lot of flour mixture that appeared unmixed)
2. Combine the egg, pumpkin and sour cream; stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. (the mixture was still pretty crumbly until I started kneading it)
3. Turn onto a floured surface; knead 10 times. Pat into an 8-in. circle. Cut into eight wedges. Separate wedges and place on a greased baking sheet. Melt remaining butter; brush over dough. Sprinkle with remaining sugar.
4. Bake at 425° for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm.

Enjoy!

Pumpkin Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

While searching for recipes to take to the Holiday Party, this pumpkin cake was a close second to the Lemon Squares I ended up bringing. I just love pumpkin too. I think this cake would have been a nice addition to our Pumpkin Cook Off in October. It's a piecemeal pairing of two Pioneer Woman recipes. You can find the original pumpkin cake here and the cream cheese frosting here. I like to bake but obviously shouldn't be consuming large amounts of sweets on my own, so I brought a small one to work (which was met with complaints from my boss about calories as she shoved a piece in her mouth) and am taking a larger one to my boyfriend's office warming party tonight. I hope it's a hit!

Mmmm.....I will admit, my finger may have accidentally dipped into this frosting before it made it onto the cake.

I ran into a little snafu with my dishes and filled them too full, resulting in an overflow situation. Normally this would have been fine but I baked them in these Pyrex dishes because they have lids and travel well. Unfortunately, the top layer of cake had to be removed so there was room for frosting. However, the crumbly part of cake doesn't take frosting as well as the outside (I found this out the hard way). If you run into the same issue, make sure your icing is very warm and pliable before you get to the frosting process.

Not so pretty but still delicious!

Pumpkin Cake

2-1/2 cups flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons Cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon ground Nutmeg (a little goes a long way!)

1 stick softened butter

1-1/2 cup sugar

3 whole eggs

1-1/4 cup plain, unflavored yogurt

1 cup canned pumpkin puree

Preheat oven to 325° F. Spray a cake pan with cooking spray. Mix flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a medium bowl and set aside. In a larger bowl, beat together butter and sugar. Add eggs one at a time, beating after each. Add pumpkin and yogurt to butter mixture and mix gently until just combined. Gradually add flour in increments, beating until just combined. Pour batter into pan and bake for 35-40 minutes (mine went longer), or until set. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely before frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting

1/4 cup softened butter

4 oz cream cheese

1/2 pound powdered sugar* or 2-1/4 cups powdered sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Mix all ingredients until whipped (I don't have a mixer, but beating by hand worked fine. I'm working on my biceps!). Taste the frosting for quality control purposes. Smear all over completely cooled cake!

*Who measures anything in pounds?! I had to consult one of my favorite cooking resources to help with this one. Onlineconversion.com is really useful when making small or large batches of recipes. All those fractions can get confusing! Who knew 16 tablespoons make a cup?!

Thanksgiving Treats

First off, full disclosure: I did not make either of these tasty treats, but I want to.  I will, they are too good not to make myself.

For the past three years I have made the long trek up to New Haven, CT to enjoy  Thanksgiving with my friend's family.  They are a highly entertaining bunch, great to hang out with and they have been kind enough to invite me back each year.  My favorite part of any holiday is the desserts and this year there were 11 desserts for 19 people.  The best is the anginetti cookies that my friend's mom makes.

mmm good

They are delicious soft bite sized cookies with an anise (licorice) frosting on top.  Normally I am not a fan of anise at all, but I cannot get enough of these little guys.  I asked for the recipe, but, unknown to even my friend, the recipe is apparently on lock down and has not been shared with anyone.  Her fear is that I would take it and make them better.  Let's face it, I am not that kind of baker.  I explained this to her and explained that perfection cannot be made better, but nothing worked.  Even my friend and her brother were helping my cause.  How would their aunts find out if she gave me the recipe?  They wouldn't.  I promise.

Alas, I have arrived back in New York empty handed.  My last plea included a threat to find a recipe and spend the 15 days I will have at home over the holidays in South Dakota finding a better recipe.  I really don't want to, but I guess I have no choice now.  If I get to go back next Thanksgiving, I have to have something in hand, but I doubt it will be as good as her cookies, maybe then she'll be ready to share the secret.

 The second holiday treat sounds terrible, but is absolutely wonderful and pure alcohol was a  Pumpkin Martini.  Delicious and so smooth with Carmel Irish Cream, Vanilla Vodka, and pumpkin liquor.  I am very excited to make them myself and a little scared to drink to much of them.  I may have to make my parents have the ingredients ready for when I get home at Christmas.  It's not to late for pumpkin at that point right?