Pumpkin muffins for the first day of Autumn...

4 eggs
2 cups sugar
1 can pumpkin puree (15 ounces)
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
3 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
Turbinado sugar

Preheat the oven to 400º. Combine all dry ingredients. Beat the eggs, sugar, pumpkin, and oil until smooth. Pour the pumpkin mixture into the dry ingredients and mix well. Sprinkle turbinado sugar on top for a delicious muffin crunch. Bake in muffin tins for 16-20 minutes.

when autumn leaves blow through my window...

The entire blogosphere is talking about the arrival of Fall and pumpkin things and apple desserts . . . and it happens to be 102 degrees in Las Vegas today. Whatever. This is the only bone I have to pick with this city I call home. If not for the Autumn season and everything that comes along with it I would have no beef with living in the desert. I love the dry heat and I've made peace with what holidays feel like living here . . . my holiday cues are no longer triggered by cooler temperatures. I have adapted. That is until I anticipate that first day of autumn (tomorrow). Then I want foliage. And cooler temperatures. Apple cider and EVERYTHING pumpkin. I crave all things that scream toasty warmth like those herbs (you know the ones), roasted things and baked goodies made with nutmeg and cinnamon. Right this very second I am sighing.

These things help:

Caramel Apples. Do it. You won't regret it.

Apple Crisp. Bridie and I are on the same page when it comes to this. Nana's recipe.

Apple Cake. Thank you, Anna Mason. Are you still alive?

Pumpkin Cheesecake dangerously close to the one at Cheesecake Factory.

Butternut Squash Soup. 'Nuff said.

My grandmother's Chili Sauce. It has no resemblance to anything 'chili' . . . it's like a relish. The way this makes my house smell is a Fall memory.

Weight Watchers Crustless Pumpkin Pie. 1 point for 1/4 of the pie. Small scoop of Fat Free Cool Whip? Yes, please.

Just Chicken Pie. Perhaps we could re-name this little gem of a recipe and just call it "Dave's Nemesis". It is his source of ruin.

When I'm 64

Tres Leches Cake

Have you ever experienced deja vu while tasting something? That happened to me today. I saw a Tres Leches Cake on The Best Thing I Ever Ate recently and remembered seeing a recipe on The Pioneer Woman. I had to bake that sponge cake. It was a must. I'd never heard of this cake before but when I took my first bite . . . it happened. Not sure where I had this cake. No matter. I will make this again and again.

If you like the tutorial see here on The Pioneer Woman Cooks!

1 cup flour
1 1/2 t. Baking Powder
1/4 t. Salt
5 whole Eggs
1 C. Sugar, Divided
1 t. Vanilla
1/3 C. Milk
1 can Evaporated Milk
1 can Sweetened, Condensed Milk
1/4 C. Heavy Cream

FOR THE ICING:

1 pint Heavy Cream, For Whipping
3 Tablespoons Sugar

Preparation Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9 x 13 inch pan liberally until coated.

Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Separate eggs.

Beat egg yolks with 3/4 cup sugar on high speed until yolks are pale yellow. Stir in milk and vanilla. Pour egg yolk mixture over the flour mixture and stir very gently until combined.

Beat egg whites on high speed until soft peaks form. With the mixer on, pour in remaining 1/4 cup sugar and beat until egg whites are stiff but not dry.

Fold egg white mixture into the batter very gently until just combined. Pour into prepared pan and spread to even out the surface.

Bake for 35 to 45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Turn cake out onto a rimmed platter and allow to cool.

Combine condensed milk, evaporated milk, and heavy cream in a small pitcher. When cake is cool, pierce the surface with a fork several times. Slowly drizzle all but about 1 cup of the milk mixture—try to get as much around the edges of the cake as you can.

Allow the cake to absorb the milk mixture for 30 minutes. To ice the cake, whip 1 pint heavy cream with 3 tablespoons of sugar until thick and spreadable.
Spread over the surface of the cake. Decorate cake with whole or chopped maraschino cherries. Cut into squares and serve.

Trader Joe's Cocoa - Chocolate Cake Recipe

Trader Joe's Cocoa Powder . . . run and buy it. It's inexpensive and very high quality - it made a superior chocolate cake. I do believe this is my new "go to" chocolate cake recipe.

3 1/3 cups flour
1 1/3 cups cocoa
3 cups sugar
1 T. baking soda
1 t. salt
12 oz. butter
3 cups buttermilk
1 t. vanilla
5 eggs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour two 9" round baking pans or line cupcakes cups with paper liners. Place all ingredients in electric mixer bowl and beat on high speed for 3 minutes. Pour into prepared pans and bake for about 55 minutes or 20-25 if you're baking cupcakes.

This recipe is far better than the one on the back of the Hershey Cocoa can. I frosted it with both a rich cocoa chocolate frosting and later with a buttercream. The buttercream had these jimmies on top, from Holland. I was hopeful they'd be similar to the crunchy European jimmies Sprinkles uses. Not so much, but they were better than supermarket sprinkles. The cover of the box amuses me - the sprinkles are on top of toast. Who does that? I've been to Amsterdam, so I know the answer.

Strawberry Summer Cake (from Smitten Kitchen)

It's a long weekend which means there must be baking. I spied a recipe calling my name out there in the blogosphere this week. Smitten Kitchen does that to me. I've lost track of how many recipes her website has contributed toward feeding my inner gourmand - there are that many. Remember the slab pie? It matters not if you don't remember . . . my spouse does (and he brings it up frequently). How about the raspberry buttermilk cake? I will bet I made two dozen of those last summer.

Feast your eyes upon this recipe. Yes, it is similar to that Raspberry Buttermilk Cake recipe, but without the buttermilk. Ingredients usually on hand.

You be the judge...

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus extra for pie plate
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon table salt
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 large egg
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 pound strawberries, hulled and halved

Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter a 10-inch pie pan or 9-inch deep-dish pie pan (I used a 10-inch springform).

Whisk flour, baking powder and salt together in a small bowl. In a larger bowl, beat butter and 1 cup sugar until pale and fluffy with an electric mixer, about 3 minutes. Mix in egg, milk and vanilla until just combined. Add dry mixture gradually, mixing until just smooth.

Pour into prepared pie plate. Arrange strawberries, cut side down, on top of batter, as closely as possible in a single layer. Sprinkle remaining 2 tablespoons sugar over berries. I used turbinado as it produces a crunchier crunch.

Bake cake for 10 minutes then reduce oven temperature to 325°F and bake cake until golden brown and a tester comes out free of wet batter, about 50 minutes to 60 minutes. (Gooey strawberries on the tester are a given.) Let cool in pan on a rack. Cut into wedges. Serve with lightly whipped cream.

Originally a Martha Stewart recipe, found here.

Butterscotch Nests/Haystacks

These are fun for Easter. Place three candy coated Easter eggs in the middle to make your nests...

1 cup peanut butter
1/2 package or 6 oz butterscotch morsels
1 large can chow mein noodles

Melt peanut butter and butterscotch together. Can be done on the stove top or in a microwave. Pour over noodles; mix well. Drop by tablespoon on wax paper. After they set, place Hershey pastel eggs in the middle of each nest.

Strata

This is Gale Gand's recipe for Strata. I love her cookbooks and have a favorite recipe for chocolate shortbread from her. She is all kinds of awesome.

Strata is perfect brunch food, a cheesy egg bread pudding that usually starts with bread (or English Muffins) either cubed or sliced and soaked overnight in custard. It's a great make ahead dish and actually tastes better if it soaks for 12 hours. The world is your oyster when it comes to making strata. Want mushrooms and bacon? Throw some in. Sausage? Ham? Go for it. I made four of these this morning . . . they are just out of the oven all puffy and golden and beautiful.

5 cups of cubed French bread (with crust)
2 cups grated cheese
10 large eggs
1 quart whole milk
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon salt
Filling ingredients*

1. Butter a 9 x 13-inch baking dish. Put the bread cubes in the dish and sprinkle them with the cheese. In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, mustard, and salt. Pour the egg mixture over the bread cubes. Sprinkle the filling ingredients over the egg mixture and fold them in gently. Cover and chill for at least 4 hours and up to 24 hours.

2. Heat the oven to 350 degrees.

3. Uncover the baking dish and bake for 60 minutes, until the mixture has puffed up slightly and is golden brown on top, and the strata doesn't shimmy with uncooked custard when you shake the pan. Tent the dish with foil if the top is browning too quickly. Let cool for 5 minutes before serving. Serve by the spoonful, using a large serving spoon.

*Bacon, cheddar, mushroom and tomato. Ham, Swiss, Asparagus. Fontina, Spinach, Salami and Roasted Garlic. Be creative!

Swedish Butter Cookies

I eat a lot of egg whites. And I hate to throw those yolks away . . . so I pulled out an ancient recipe I used three decades ago. The best thing about these cookies is the 'refrigerate and bake-when-you-want' option. They are delicious.

2 sticks of butter
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 t. salt
1 1/2 t. vanilla
1 egg yolk
2 cups flour
turbinado sugar (optional)

Beat the butter, sugar, salt and vanilla together until smooth and creamy. Mix in the egg yolk until well incorporated, scraping down the sides of the bowl at least once. Add the flour and mix just until incorporated. Scrape onto a lightly floured board and knead a few times, just until the dough smooths out. Turn onto a sheet of plastic wrap and roll into a log, wrap up and refrigerate for several hours or freeze. Before baking preheat oven to 325. Line baking sheets with parchment. Slice dough into slices about 1/8" thick and place them on the sheets about an inch apart. Bake until cookies just begin to turn golden around the edges, about 16-18 inches. Lightly sprinkle with turbinado.

Did I mention my daughter is getting married? In less than ten weeks? I have no menu. And no caterer. Call me.

Posie Gets Cozy and an oh-so-delicious cake...

I've read Posie Gets Cozy for years now, despite the fact that I do not do any needlework, I do not knit and I do not sew. That doesn't mean I can't appreciate her talents.

When I read her recent blog post entitled "New Birthday Cake?" I knew I had to treat myself to this special baking pan. I'm a sucker for a Scandanavian dessert. The pan arrived over the weekend and Sunday . . . well, I made the cake twice. The first time it was covered in powdered sugar, the second time in turbinado.



Alicia made the lemon version, I (of course) opted for the almond. The cake is light . . . my third attempt will definitely be with the vanilla sugar.

You can order the Rehrucken Baking Pan from Pipka's of Door County here. The recipe is as follows:

Pipka's Scandinavian Almond Cake

Beat well:

1 1/4 C sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 tsp pure almond extract
2/3 C milk

Then mix in:

1 1/2 C flour
1/2 tsp baking powder

And slowly add:

1 stick melted butter

Butter and flour cake pan. Pour batter into pan and bake at 350 for 38-45 minutes until golden brown. Cool in pan for 6 minutes. Invert cake onto cooling rack. Sprinkle with confectionary sugar before serving. Variation; Before pouring batter, sprinkle sliced almonds in the pan bottom. Recipe can easily be doubled. Cake freezes well.

VARIATIONS
* Substitute lemon extract and add zest of lemon
* Substitute lemon extract and add poppy seeds
* Substitute orange extract and add zest of orange
* Substitute vanilla extract and add blueberries
* Substitute rum extract and top with shredded coconut

...OR ADD TO ORIGINAL RECIPE

* Blueberries
* Chopped dried cherries plus some chocolate chips
* Top cake with sliced almonds
* Spread cake with Nutella and jam!

Pipka's Special Turtle Cake

Mix up original recipe, putting half the dough in the pan. Then drizzle caramel sauce across the dough, then sprinkle mini chocolate chips and chopped nuts. Spoon in the rest of the dough and bake as always. Scrumptious!

Special thanks to Alicia Paulson for allowing me to share her beautiful photos of this delicious cake. It is stunning.