Pumpkin Coffee Cake

This is a cake perfect for fall season with a cup of black coffee. I compared two pumpkin cake recipe from Sally's and Mom's timeout and decided to follow Sally's because it is egg-free.

Ingredients

CRUMB-TOPPING

All-purpose flour - 1/2 cup
Light or dark brown sugar - 1/2 cup, packed
Ground cinnamon - 1 and 1/2 tsp
Unsalted butter - 1/4 cup, cold 

PUMPKIN COFFEE CAKE

All-purpose flour - 2 cups

Baking soda - 1 tsp

Baking powder - 1/2 tsp
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Pumpkin pie spice power - 2 and 1/2 tsp
Pumpkin puree - 1 cup
Light or dark brown sugar - 1/2 cup, packed 
canola or vegetable oil - 1/2 cup

Pure maple syrup - 1/4 cup
Milk - 1/4 cup

Steps

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 9-inch square baking pan with nonstick spray. Set aside.
2. Make the crumb topping first: In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon together. Cut in the cold butter using a pastry blender or a fork. Mix to create clumps and crumbs. Set aside.
3. Whisk the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, pumpkin piespice together in a large bowl until combined. In a medium bowl, whisk the pumpkin, brown sugar, oil, maple syrup, and milk together until combined. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir until just combined. Avoid over-mixing the batter. Batter will be very thick. 

4. Spoon/pour the batter into the prepared baking pan. Spread to make an even surface. Pour the crumb topping evenly on top and gently press them down into the batter.

5. Bake the cake for 30-35 minutes, or until the toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Note: 

Cover leftover cake tightly and store at room temperature or in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. The cake may be frozen for up to 2 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before enjoying.

Pumpkin Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie

I made this for Halloween following Sally's recipe. The cookies were soft, chewy, and very sweet. 

Ingredients

All-purpose flour - 2 cups+1TBSP
Baking soda - 1 tsp
Ground cinnamon - 2 tsp
Pumpkin pie spice - 2 tsp
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Old-fashioned rolled oats - 1 and 1/2 cups
Unsalted butter - 1 cup, melted and slightly cooled
Pure maple syrup - 3 TBSP
Light or dark brown sugar - 3/4 cup, packed 
Granulated sugar - 1/2 cup
Egg yolk - 1
Pumpkin puree -3/4 cup 
Pure vanilla extract - 2 tsp
Semi-sweet chocolate chips - 1 and 1/2 cups

Steps

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Set aside.
2. Whisk the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, salt, and oats together in a large bowl. Set aside.

3. Blot the pumpkin puree by squeezing the puree with paper towels.

4. Whisk the melted butter, maple syrup, brown sugar, granulated sugar, egg yolk, blotted pumpkin, and vanilla extract together until combined. Pour into dry ingredients and mix everything together until completely combined. Fold in the chocolate chips.

5. Scoop cookie dough, about 1.5 Tablespoons of dough per cookie, and place 3 inches apart on the baking sheets. Flatten slightly. Bake for 13-14 minutes or until lightly browned on the sides. The centers will look very soft.

6. Remove from the oven and allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. 

Notes
Make Ahead Instructions: Cookies stay fresh covered at room temperature for up to 1 week. You can make the cookie dough and chill it in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Allow to come to room temperature then continue with step 5. Baked cookies freeze well for up to 3 months. Unbaked cookie dough balls freeze well for up to 3 months. Bake frozen cookie dough balls for an extra minute, no need to thaw. 

Candy Corn Krispie Treats

This is the traditional Kelloggs rice krispies treats recipe, decorated for Halloween.

Ingredients

	Yellow Ring	Orange Ring	Original Ring
Rice krispies cereal	8 cup	6 cup	4 cup
Marshmellow	13.3 oz	10 oz	6.7 oz
Butter	4 TBSP	3 TBSP	2 TBSP
Food color	Yellow	Orange

This is for three 9" cake pans, to make 24 wedges

Steps

1. Butter the three 9" cake pan.
2. Follow the same instruction as rice krispie valentine lollipops to make rice krispie treat, and then put them in one ring at a time.

 3. Let the treat fully cool and set, at least 30 minutes, then flip over your cake pans onto a cutting surface, and tap pan on cutting board to remove krispie treat round. Cut the round large round in half, then quarters, then cut each quarter in half. Add a lollipop stick and wrap it up for Halloween treat.

Pumpkin Spice Cake

This was a recipe from Cake Blog, with

modification since I do not have pumpkin spice milk. The cake was moist and tasted great. This was also the first time I made Swiss meringue buttercream. I Loved its silky texture and taste.

Ingredients

【Pumpkin Spice Cake】
3 cups cake flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar
4 eggs
1 cup milk
1 and 1/2 cups pumpkin puree

【Swiss Meringue Buttercream】
6 egg whites
1 and 1/2 cups granulated sugar

1 and 1/2 cups unsalted butter, cubed, slightly softened
Pinch of salt
(I made two batches. One batch was to fill and frost the cake itself. The second batch was to pipe the buttercream flowers with extra left. Probably 1 and 1/2 batch would have been enough.)

Steps

【Make the Pumpkin Spice Cake】
1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter and lightly flour three 8″ or 9" round pans. Line with parchment paper circles.
2. In large bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg. Set aside.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar on medium-high using the paddle attachment. Beat until pale and fluffy, about 4 minutes.
4. With the mixer on low, add eggs one at a time. Mix well after each egg. Scrape down bowl as needed.
5. Add the flour mixture in three batches, alternating with the milk, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Do not over mix. Stop the mixer and scrape down the bowl.
6. Mix in pumpkin puree.
7. Divide batter evenly between the three round pans.

8. Bake for 25-32 minutes, until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean.
9. Let cool in pans for 10 to 15 minutes, then remove to wire rack to finish cooling.

【Make the Pumpkin Spice Buttercream】
1. Place egg whites and sugar into the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk until combined.
2. Place bowl over a pan of simmering water to create a double-boiler. Whisking constantly, heat the egg mixture until it registers 160°F on a candy thermometer. Carefully transfer the bowl onto the stand mixer.
3. Using the whisk attachment, beat the egg white mixture on high speed for 8 to 10 minutes until the bowl is no longer warm to the touch and the meringue is fluffy, glossy and holds a stiff peak.
4. Switch to the paddle attachment. With the mixer on low, slowly add cubed butter and mix until incorporated. If the buttercream appears soupy, try placing it in the refrigerator for about 10 to 15 minutes then mixing again.
5. Add Pumpkin Spice Milk. Continue mixing on low to med-low until silky and smooth, about 3 to 5 minutes.

【Assemble and Serve】
Store in refrigerator. Serve at room temperature.

Pumpkin Mochi Cake (煎南瓜饼)

Ingredients:

Pumpkin /Squash
Glutinous rice flour - about 1:1 to squash
Sugar - depends on how sweet the squash is.
Red bean pastry filling

Steps:

1. Steam squash until soft. Then remove the skin. When the pumpkin is still hot, immediately stir in sugar.

3. Stir in glutinous rice flour, small amount at a time, and combine thoroughly when the puree is still warm, until you get a smooth, non-stick dough. The amount of rice flour required depends on the moisture in the squash. Roll the dough on a clean surface, sprinkle extra flour if it's too wet or sticky. Portion the dough into small balls.

4. Portion out the red bean pastry filling into small balls also. And wrap the red bean pastry filling inside the pumpkin dough. Press with your palm to shape a flat disc.

5. Heat some oil in a non-stick fry pan. Place pumpkin cakes in a single layer and fry both sides over medium-low heat until golden brown, about 5 to 7 minutes. There should not be any raw flour taste when they are cooked through. Serve them hot.

Dracula's Denture

These Halloween treats are cool and tasty. This is a recipe online that’s fun to make. I did this from scratch. You can buy cookie dough or even cookies to start. You can also get the ready-to-use frosting. My only problem is that I could not tint the frosting quite bloody red. 

Ingredients:

Chocolate chip cookie
Buttercream frosting, colored to  red
Mini-marshmallows
Cashew or almond for fangs

Steps:

1. Cut the cookie in half; pipe red buttercream along the edge of the flat side, or you can frost the whole cookie; place mini-marshmallows along the curved edge, and put a couple at the flat edge for support.

2. Sandwiche the two halves together, and insert the cashew halves as Dracula's fangs.

Bloody Fingers

Ingredients:

Small sausage or hot dogs cut in halves
Flour tortilla
Ketchup
Toothpick

Steps:

1. Preheat over to 350°F.
2. Cut a wedge into the end of each sausage to make a flat toenail.
3. Cut the tortillas into strips of 1/2 - 1 inch wide, and then soften the strips in the microwave between damp paper towels for 10-30 seconds.
4. Roll each sausage in a tortilla strip around one end and secure with a toothpick.

5. Place on a cookie sheet and bake for 7-8 minutes.
6. Remove from oven, remove the toothpicks, and fill the toenail with Ketchup.

Sweet Potato Pumpkin

This is a beautiful appetizer/desert to bring to Halloween party.

Ingredients:

1. Sweet potato - 4 medium size. About 4 cups after steaming
2. Glutinous rice flour （糯米粉） - 2 1/2 cup
3. Rice flour （粘米粉）- 1 3/4 cup
4. Sugar - 3/4 cup
5. Chocolate  (for pumpkin stem) - 2 mini Hershey bars
6. Optional: Kool-aid blue drink powder or blue food color (use to make green leaf.) - 1 pack
7. Optional: Purple-yam or red bean paste filling

This makes about 40-50 pumpkins.

Note the amount of rice flour and Glutinous rice flour varies because the steamed potato may have different moisture. The amount of sugar also depends on how sweet your potato is and your sweet tooth.
Material cost: approx $6.70 (Not include filling) (see post - Economics of home cooking)

Equipment:

Steamer, Measuring cup, Mixing bowl, Pastry board, Pastry Rolling Pin, Dinner knife, Spatula

Steps:

1. Steam the sweet potatoes and peel off the skin. Put in a bowl and mash it until there are no more lumps.

2. Stir in sugar. Add rice flour and glutinous rice flour gradually, all the while mixing. Continue until the dough doesn't stick to your hands.  

3. Separate the dough and roll into balls (approx 1 - 1.5" diameter).

4. Melt the chocolate in microwave. Add some dough to knead it into brown dough for the pumpkin stem. Knead in some more rice flour if it is too sticky. Make small pumpkin stems.

5. Place each sweet potato dough on palm, use back of an dinner knife to impress the pumpkin strips.

6. Take a stem and place in on the ball, use thumb and index finger to push the stem into the ball. That will flat the ball some to make it more like a pumpkin.

7. Make sure the steamer water is boiling, then place the pumpkins in steamer.  Cover the steamer.

8. Steam for 10 minutes and take them out to cool off.  Put the pumpkins in a sealed food container to prevent them from getting dried. 

Options:

1. To add filling, just reduce your pumpkin dough ball in half. Use the same amount filling, wrap the filling in the dough. Follow the same steps above to engrave and steam the pumpkins.

2.  To make green leaf, add the blue food color or blue Kool-Aid drink powder in the sweet potato dough (Yellow+Blue = Green). Roll the dough flat, and use knife to carve out the shape of a leaf. Place it on the pumpkin for decoration. 

Happy Halloween!