Category — Dessert

With a few weeks remaining until Thanksgiving dinner, you still have time to get in a practice run of your favorite Thanksgiving recipes.  Pumpkin pie is always a favorite, and it isn’t hard to make.  Here is a classic pumpkin pie recipe.

Classic Pumpkin Pie

• 2 eggs, slightly beaten
• 1 can solid pack pumpkin, 16 ounces
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon ground clove
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ginger
• 1 can (12 ounces) evaporated milk
• 1 unbaked, deep dish pie crust (9 inches), or 2 shallow crusts

Blend all ingredients with a hand mixer.  Mixture will be thin.  If using a homemade pie crust, place crust in a deep dish pie pan.  Pour pumpkin mixture into crust.  Bake at 425 degrees F for 15 minutes.  Then reduce heat to 350 degrees F, and bake for an additional 45 minutes.  Pie is done when a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.   Shallow crust pies will require only 20-30 minutes of baking after reducing temperature to 350.

Pumpkin Pie Tips:

Pretty Pies: Pumpkin pie “batter” is very runny, and when it gets spilled on the edges of your crust it turns very dark.  For prettier pies, pour the “batter” into a pitcher or large measuring cup, and fill pie plates after placing them on a cookie sheet in your oven.

Substitute Pumpkin Pie Spice:  You can use pumpkin pie spice instead of the individual spices listed above.  1 teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice equates to 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon, 1/8 teaspoon of clove, and 1/4 teaspoon of ginger, so the recipe above would require 2 teaspoons of pumpkin pie spice.

Election Day is almost here!  After nearly 2 years of political ads, and seemingly endless months of pundits weighing in, Barack Obama and John McCain are finally reaching the end of the campaign trail.  Regardless of your party affiliation, a sweet treat on  Tuesday night will certainly hit the spot.  After all, it could prove to be a long night.

American Flag Cake

• 1 yellow cake mix
• 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 2 tbsp. water
• 1 tsp. light corn syrup
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 pint fresh strawberries, washed and dried
• 1/2 cup fresh blueberries, washed and dried

Cake: Prepare cake mix in a 9×13 cake pan according to directions.  Place on cooling rack. If you wish to serve this cake on a platter, remove cake from baking pan after 5 minutes of cooling.

Frosting: Mix together powdered sugar, water, corn syrup, and vanilla with a hand mixer until well blended.  Apply frosting to top and sides of cooled cake.  Arrange whole blueberries on cake to resemble the starred section of the American flag.  Slice strawberries in half lengthwise, and place end to end to form stripes on cake.  Remember to dry fruit before placing on the cake.

Here’s a buttery recipe for homemade yellow cake if you don’t want to use a cake mix. Here’s another variation of the flag cake recipe that includes gelatin.

If you’re trying to turn back the hands of time, you may want to give blueberries a try.  These plump and royal-hued berries should be considered little gems when it comes to maintaining a youthful appearance and good nutrition.

Here are just a few of the health benefits of eating blueberries:

• Blueberries contain more antioxidants than any other fruit.   Eating blueberries wards off cancers and heart disease because of their high concentration of anthocyanin.
• Blueberries slow the aging process, preserve eyesight, and help us stay mentally alert.
• Blueberries prevent urinary tract infections.

Here’s a recipe that will help you add blueberries to your diet!

Banana Blueberry Bran Muffins

• 4 ripe bananas, pureed in blender or food processor
• 1 package frozen blueberries
• 1 cup chopped walnuts
• 2 eggs
• 3 tsp. baking soda
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
• 2 cups oat bran
• 1 quart of buttermilk (see below for substitute info)
• 4 cups Kellogg’s All Bran cereal
• 2 1/2 cups flour

In a large mixing bowl, combine bananas, blueberries, walnuts, eggs, baking soda, sugar, vanilla, and oat bran until coarsely blended.  Then, add buttermilk, cereal, and flour.  Stir until thoroughly mixed.  Fill muffin pans 2/3 full and bake at 375 degrees F for approximately 30 minutes.

No buttermilk?  You can make your own buttermilk substitute in 5 minutes.  To make 1 cup of buttermilk, add 1 tablespoon of white vinegar or lemon juice to a measuring cup.  Then fill to the one cup line with regular milk.  Gently stir, then set aside for 5 minutes before using.  The muffin recipe above requires 1 quart (4 cups) of buttermilk, so you’ll need to do this four times, or quadruple the recipe.

Here are many more blueberry recipes.

Nothing is easier to serve at a Halloween party than a big batch of cupcakes.  No cake to cut, no plates or silverware-just grab and go! Here a few fun ideas for decorating Halloween cupcakes:

These monster cupcakes are decorated with candies, marshmallows, mini chocolate chips, and licorice.  The bottom right cupcake’s tentacles are made from strips of Laffy Taffy, and the bottom left is constructed out of gum drops and Good & Plenty licorice candies.  Click on the photo to see a diagram of all the candies used.

These spider cupcakes look like a real chocolate fix!   They are chocolate cupcakes and chocolate icing topped with chocolate sprinkles, red hots for eyes, and black licorice ropes for legs.

Other ideas for decorating Halloween cupcakes:  Candy corn, candy pumpkins, gummy body parts, orange frosting, marshmallow ghosts, etc.

It’s easier and much quicker to make a lot of cupcakes if you have at least two cupcake pans, so you can work on filling one while the other is in the oven.  The pumpkin cupcake pan above turns out 4 jack-o-lantern cupcakes, and it’s available at Oriental Trading Company.  For a non-stick option, try silicone bakeware.

Need more ideas?  Check out our Halloween recipes!

Every year I try to find one new addition for my collection of Halloween recipes.  I think this one is going to be the one this year.  Until now, I had never even heard of pumpkin dip.  This sounds like it would be good with ginger snaps or vanilla wafers…like mini pumpkin pies for my Halloween party.

Easy Pumpkin Dip

• 2 blocks of cream cheese, softened (8 ounces each)
• 1 large can plain pumpkin (30 ounces)
• 4 cups powdered sugar
• 2 tsp. cinnamon
• 2 tsp. ginger

Whip together all ingredients with a hand mixer, and you’re done!  Serve on a platter with ginger snaps and/or vanilla wafers.  Or, hollow out a small pumpkin and place dip inside for a really creative presentation.

I was strolling around a fall festival yesterday and tried a piece of pumpkin cheesecake at one of the stands.  It had a graham cracker crust, and extra cinnamon.  I’m not sure exactly what was in it, but the cheesecake recipe below seems pretty similar.  This would be great to add to your Halloween recipes, or keep in mind for Thanksgiving.

Pumpkin Cheesecake

Crust:

• 3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 3 tbsp. melted butter
• 2 tbsp. packed brown sugar

Filling:

• 4 blocks of cream cheese (8 ounces each)
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 3 eggs
• 2 tbsp. flour
• 1 can pumpkin pie filling (30 ounces)

Mix together crust ingredients and pat firmly on the bottom and sides of a greased spring form pan, and set aside.  Then place cream cheese in a mixing bowl, and beat until fluffy with a hand mixer.  Add sugar, and eggs (one at a time), blending well after each one. Then, add pumpkin and flour and blend.  Pour mixture into crust and bake at 325 degrees F for and 1 hour and 45 minutes, or until center is firm.

I found more pumpkin cheesecake recipes that include nuts, maple, and even bourbon….yum!

Fresh and juicy pears are in season in many parts of the U.S. right now, so now is the time to pull out your favorite pear recipes, and enjoy one of Autumn’s most delicious fruits.  Pears can be baked or grilled with meats like pork and chicken, and made into delicious desserts like this one:

Pear Cranberry Crisp

Filling:

• 7 large pears, slightly under-ripe, peeled, and cored
• 1 cup fresh or frozen whole cranberries
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 tbs. flour
• 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. ground ginger

Topping:

• 1 cup of flour
• 2/3 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
• 1/2 old-fashioned oats
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1 stick butter, chilled and cut into small chunks

To prepare filling: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Mix all ingredients in a large mixing bowl, and pour into a buttered 8-inch square baking dish.   (Substitute non-stick spray for butter if you prefer.)

To prepare topping: Combine first 4 ingredients in medium mixing bowl. Then, cut in butter using a pastry blender, or food processor, until mixture is coarsely blended.

Sprinkle topping evenly over filling. Place baking dish on a cookie sheet and place in oven. Bake for about an hour, or until the top is golden and edges are bubbling.

If you have an ice cream maker, this recipe is a great excuse to mix up a small batch for serving up a really special fall dessert.

Pumpkin and apple recipes seem to naturally come to mind in the fall.  I always like to make apple pie in a deep dish pie pan so you can squeeze a little extra fruit inside. Here’s an old-fashioned and very simple apple pie recipe:

• 6 cups apples (peeled, cored, and thinly sliced)
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 batch (for a 9 inch pie) of your favorite pie crust recipe

Prepare your favorite pie crust recipe and place the bottom crust in your pie pan.  Core, peel, and slice apples using an apple corer, and a paring knife or a mandolin slicer.  Mix cinnamon and sugar together and layer with the apples in the pie plate.  If your apples are too tart, just add a little more sugar.  Dot the top of the apples with butter, cover with top crust, pinch the edges of the crusts together, and make 3-4 tiny slits in the dough for venting.

If you have the extra time, and want to get fancy about it, you can also follow these directions for lattice top crust.

Bake at 450 F on the lowest rack of your oven for 10 minutes.  Then reduce temperature to 350 F and bake for an additional 35 minutes.

If you’re like me, you stress out every time you get the rolling pin out.  Here’s a  helpful video for rolling out pie crust.

Yum!  It’s finally time to make pumpkin recipes again.  Break out the Libby’s and get down on this fab treat that the whole family will love.  I particularly like the simple, oaty crust.  And you can get creative with the topping: pecan crunch, whipped cream or serve it with a scoop of ice cream.  Personally, I like all three!

Pumpkin Pie Squares

• 1 cup flour
• 1 cup rolled oats
• 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1 stick butter (1/2 cup), softened
• 1 can pumpkin
• 1 12 ounce can evaporated milk
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

Preheat oven to 350.  Combine flour, oats, brown sugar and mix thoroughly.  Add butter and crumble together until fully mixed.  Press out the mix in a 9×13 baking pan.  Bake for 20 minutes.  Combine all the rest of the ingredients thoroughly with a whisk.  Pour over baked bottom and cook for 30-40 minutes.  Once completely cool, cut into squares.

(Source: AllRecipes.com)

Suddenly, eating a kitty cat looks good to me! This was made from one of the cool cookie cutters I found while searching online. It came from Copper Gifts.

Now the dilemma for this and other spooky Halloween cakes and cookies is… how do you make black icing? Beware: it’s not as simple as adding black coloring to your white frosting. You’d have to use so much of it to make it black that it will ruin the taste. Some better ideas include starting with chocolate frosting and adding black coloring, or better yet, black gel coloring. Or you could add Hersey’s Cocoa powder to your white frosting. If you don’t want to mess with mixing, just buy some edible black sparkles. That might be better in the long run because the black icing is sure to turn your guest’s teeth a fowl-looking color. And that would be a real stroke of black cat bad luck!