Pumpkin Doughnuts

Yea these were pretty bad. They had nothing more than a tiny hint of pumpkin flavor that is only noticeable every four or five bites. They smelled nothing like pumpkin either. The only thing reminiscent of pumpkin was the bright orange interior. Overall, they just tasted like plain doughnuts--a big letdown when you've purchased the doughnuts for the pumpkin flavor.

On the brighter side, I did just discover a particularly pleasant pumpkin product from Trader Joe's. Their pumpkin ice cream is really delicious. It's relatively soft even when completely frozen and has great mouthfeel and, I'm proud to proclaim, powerful pumpkin flavor. I'm slowly but surely getting my pumpkin fix.

Pumpkin Pie Pop Tarts

 I was surprised and impressed by how many people guessed correctly from my last post. Kudos!

I've noted on this blog before that I'm a huge fan of anything pumpkin. Pie, soup, muffin, lattes, scones, whoopie pies, even the little pumpkin candy corn that have no pumpkin flavor in them. You name it, I love it.

And so as I was perusing the aisles of Genuardi's the other day, my pumpkin radar started going nuts as I passed the snack aisle. I doubled back and sure enough, there they were: shining like the holy grail of autumn: the pumpkin pie pop tarts. I beamed like a kid on Halloween then flew home like a witch on a broomstick to try em out.

It occurred to me on my way home that they probably were not going to taste anything like pumpkin. They would probably taste like cinnamon and sugar and nothing else. I began to doubt whether they even contained pumpkin.

So I popped em into the toaster and tried them out. They were fine. Just average. Not very good if you're a sucker for pumpkin flavor like me, but I mean, it's a pop tart how bad can it be. Compared to other pop tarts, like the brown-sugar cinnamon flavor and strawberry though, it just can't compare. So if you're going for it because it's a pop tart, you might as well get a better flavor, and if you're going for it because of the pumpkin, you're better off sticking with the muffins.

If you got a great pumpkin recipe. Send that thang over. I'm trying to get my full pumpkin fix before the season's over.

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

Nutmeg, at least for this part of the year, is my favorite spice. I mean seriously, just look at it. It looks like it's got cave paintings inside it.

Appearance aside, nutmeg's aroma is tantalizing. I even prefer it to cinnamon which I believe too often overpowers fall foods. When nutmeg and cinnamon work together with the correct amounts, the results can be masterful.

Such is the case with these pumpkin whoopie pies. While nutmeg is my favorite fall spice, pumpkin is my favorite ingredient. This recipe is from Martha Stewart's website who got it from Matt Lewis of Baked Bakery.

• FOR THE PUMPKIN WHOOPIE COOKIES
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon ground ginger
• 1 tablespoon ground cloves
• 2 cups firmly packed dark-brown sugar
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 3 cups pumpkin puree, chilled
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• FOR THE CREAM-CHEESE FILLING
• 3 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
• 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1. Preheat the oven to 350, and line 2 (recipe says 2, but I halved the recipe and I needed 2 so see what works for you).

2. Whisk together all the dry ingredients except the sugar.

3. Whisk together all wet ingredients.

4. Fold dry into wet.

5. Using a small ice cream scoop, or just two spoons, drop the cookies onto the parchment paper and bake for about 15 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean (I actually left mine slightly underbaked, and they were delicious.

For Icing

1. Beat butter and cream cheese in a stand mixer.

2. Add vanilla and sugar.

3. When the cookies are cooled, spread a dollop on the flat side of 1/2 of the cookies, then cover with another cookie. Enjoy

Keep for 3 days in the fridge.

My Comments

Cookies tasted good--I could eat them on their own no problem-- but I'm not sure they were the correct texture for a whoopie pie. I like my whoopie cookies dense and kind of chewy, to contrast the soft cream.

These were really soft and delicate and therefore made eating them with the icing a "uni-textural" experience.

That not to say these weren't absolutely delicious- they were- but there's some room for improvement.

Pumpkin Spice Coffee

- The Fall equivalent to eggnog.

Pumpkin Muffins

My gift to my English teacher, just before she read my essay.

Grade outlook: Pretty darn good.

Fall

Mmmmmmmm. I smell cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger going into pumpkin bread batter at Lacroix. Fall is here, and I love it. As the leaves begin to disappear, truffles, apples, pumpkins begin to reappear. The spices we seldom use out of season, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, ginger, perfume the kitchen once more. Fall is a beacon of light, shielding me from the impending doom and darkness of winter. The importance of traditions like jumping in piles of leaves, and trick-or-treating wane each year, whereas Thanksgiving and making use of the season's bountiful harvest, only grow on me.

(applesauce)

Perhaps that is why I'm doing my best to make use of the 28 pounds of apples my family picked up at a local orchard. Granny Smith, Macintosh, Golden Delicious; they all serve a purpose. Apple pie tastes so much better now than it ever can in the summer.

Pumpkin is the same. Canned pumpkin is available year round, yet there is nothing like biting into a muffin made from fresh, pureed Japanese Pumpkin. Pumpkin has become my new obsession. Pie, cheesecake, scones, soup, ravioli, cake, bread, the list goes on. The "to try" list in my kitchen notebook has been taken over by these recipes. This will be the first year I thank Linvilla Orchards, as opposed to Safeway, for the success of my pumpkin pie.

(pumpkin scones)