The Pumpkins, They Have Returned

And along with the return of the pumpkins, come all the other wonderful things fall brings.  First and foremost, at least for me, a welcome relief from the heat.  As the temperatures drop and the leaves begin to turn I’m starting to see how people fall in love with this place.  As the stifling blanket dissipates, you can feel Virginia coming to life.  Perhaps it’s just because it’s my first autumn here, but it feels much more like a beginning than an end.  But back to food.  Is there anything better than all the spice stuff that comes with this time of year?  There’s a traditional progression from apple spice to pumpkin spice to eggnog and eventually to gingerbread.  As usual, I’ve ignored tradition and started with pumpkin.  Perhaps I’ll do apples next.  For now, I bring you these amazing pumpkin spice bars… cakes?... whatever.  Filled with warm spices, studded with chocolate chips, and topped with cream cheese frosting, they are to die for, and yet, they are so simple, you can throw them together in just a few minutes. 

Here’s what you’ll need:

• 1 ¼ cups flour
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon nutmeg
• ¼ teaspoon cloves
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ¾ cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• ⅓ cup buttermilk
• ⅓ cup oil
• 7.5 oz pumpkin (half of a 15 oz. can)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

First things first.  Since these come together so quickly, go ahead and preheat your oven to 350° and butter an 8x8 pan. 

Next, whisk together all your dry ingredients. 

Add the chocolate chips and stir them into the mixture.  I prefer mini chocolate chips for this recipe, but if you don’t have any, go ahead and use the regular ones. 

In another vessel, combine the buttermilk, eggs, oil, and vanilla. 

Whisk them together thoroughly and add the pumpkin. 

Whisk that in, and pour the whole thing over the dry ingredients. 

At this point you want to lose the whisk and switch to a spatula or spoon.  Stir just until everything comes together.  Don’t over mix or you’ll end up with air tunnels because this is basically a muffin recipe.  In fact, you could certainly make muffins from this same recipe. 

Pour the batter into your prepared pan.  I know, you can’t believe it was really that simple.   

Spread it to the edges of the pan and smooth out the top.  Doesn’t that color just scream fall?

Into the oven for about 35 minutes.  A toothpick inserted in the center should come out clean, and your kitchen will be filled with the aroma of all those fabulous spices.

Now for the hard part.  That cake has to cool completely before it’s frosted.  I left mine overnight… well, most of it.  Ahem.  Ok!  Let’s start on the icing!  Half a block of cream cheese and 2 Tablespoons of butter walk into bowl… 

I’m sorry, I couldn’t help myself.  Anyway, make sure they’re both softened and then mix them until they’re well combined and fluffy. 

Sift in ¾ cup powdered sugar and a pinch of salt. 

I know, sifting is a bit of a pain, but for some ingredients it’s just a necessary evil.  Unfortunately, powdered sugar is one of those ingredients.

Mix until the sugar is completely incorporated and you have a smooth consistency. 

I forgot to add vanilla before the sugar, but now will be fine.  Just a splash… maybe ½ teaspoon or so. 

And more mixing.  We have now arrived at frosting perfection. 

Spread that on top of your cake.  Mine seems to be missing a bit.  What?  Don’t judge me.  I was um… testing it.  I had to make sure my recipe was perfect.  OMG was it!

I topped mine with a few pieces of shaved chocolate.  You could also use chocolate chips or even a sprinkling of nutmeg.  The mini chocolate chips are perfect because you never have an overwhelming flavor of chocolate.  It’s the perfect blend of chocolate, pumpkin, and spice. 

What’s your favorite thing about fall?

Apple Upside Down Gingerbread Cake

Wow, that’s a bit of a mouthful, huh?  Well, it was an easier title than sweet and spicy, apple-y, molasses-y, gingerbread goodness. Elise Logan and I went apple picking, you see.  In fact, I have to give a shout out to her munchkin for being such a great apple picker.  These are the ones I took, which was only a small percentage of the total haul. 

While we were there, we visited the gift shop, of course.  Along with all the many jams and jellies, they had sorghum molasses.  I’ve only ever had cane derived molasses, so I wasn’t about to pass up the opportunity to try something new.

So with an abundance of apples and exciting new molasses just dying to be made into something, the idea for apple upside down gingerbread cake was born.

Here’s what you’ll need:

• 3-4 medium apples
• 2 Tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ½ cup flour
• ½ cup whole wheat flour
• ¼ cup sugar
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ginger
• ¼ cup buttermilk*
• 1 egg
• ¼ cup oil
• ½ cup molasses*
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• *the sorghum molasses I used was a little thinner than my usual blackstrap, so if yours is very thick, you may need to increase the buttermilk to ⅓ cup. 

I know that looks like a huge list of ingredients, but I promise this is really quite easy to put together.  First, we’re going to deal with the apples.  Wait, first, butter an 8x8 pan and preheat your oven to 350°.  Now for the apples.  Peel them and cut them into a large dice.  Then, into a pan over medium heat, put 1 Tablespoon of butter. 

Then in go the apples. 

Toss them until they’re all coated with butter, then pop the lid on for 5 minutes. 

When you remove the lid, they should just be starting to soften. 

Sprinkle on the sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt.

Gently toss or stir until the apples are evenly coated. Pour them into the prepared pan.   

Spread them around so you have an even layer, and then set that aside. 

Now onto the cake part.  Put all the dry ingredients into a mixing bowl.  (both flours, sugar, salt, soda, powder, cinnamon, and ginger)

Whisk those together and set them aside.  Next come the wet ingredients.  Buttermilk, egg, oil, and vanilla all go into a bowl. 

Whisk that for a good minute or so to make sure the egg is well beaten.  Then, pour in the molasses.  Ah, there’s something beautiful about that, isn’t there? 

Now, mix that well, and pour it over the dry ingredients. 

Stir just until it all comes together.  Once the liquid and flour get together, you never want to over mix, or your cake will have air tunnels in it and can even be quite tough. 

Pour that over the apples and spread it to even out the top. 

Into the 350° oven for about 35 minutes.  It’ll be nicely browned on top, especially at the edges, and a toothpick inserted in the center will come out clean. 

In my world, hot out of the oven, spicy, apple-y deliciousness, can’t be served without a bit of good vanilla ice cream on top. 

 

Have you ever been apple picking before?