Pumpkin Bundt Cake

INGREDIENTS
1¼ cups sugar
⅓ cup canola oil
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 (15 oz). can pumpkin
1 cup sour cream
2 cups flour
2¼ teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon cloves
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon salt

Caramel Drizzle
1 (14 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk
1 cup brown sugar
2 Tablespoons butter
½ teaspoon vanilla
INSTRUCTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In a large mixing bowl, combine sugar, oil, eggs, vanilla, pumpkin and sour cream. Add flour, baking powder, soda, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and salt and stir in to combine. Pour into a prepared bundt pan. (Use the spray that has flour in it, if you don't have any, grease and flour it yourself.)
Bake for approximately 50 minutes at 350 degrees F. Test it with a wooden pick to see if it comes out clean. Invert cake onto a cooling rack.
Caramel Drizzle
Heat milk and brown sugar in a medium sauce pan and bring to a boil over medium heat stirring constantly. Reduce heat and simmer for 8 minutes stirring occasionally. Remove from stove and add butter and vanilla. Cool for five minutes and drizzle over cooled cake.

from Chef-in-Training

Pumpkin Snack Mix

Ingredients

• 3 quarts popped popcorn

• 4 cups Cheerios

• 4 cups Corn or Rice Chex

• 2 cups salted peanuts

• 1 cup packed brown sugar

• 3/4 cup light corn syrup

• 1/4 cup butter, cubed

• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

         1 package (16 oz.) candy pumpkins (or candy corn)
• 
  

  Directions

  1. In a large greased roasting pan, combine the popcorn, cereal and peanuts. In a large saucepan, combine the brown sugar, corn syrup and butter; bring to a rolling boil. Boil for 6 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from the heat; quickly stir in vanilla and baking soda until mixture is light and foamy.
  2. Immediately pour over popcorn mixture; toss to coat. Bake, uncovered, at 250° for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes. Stir in candy pumpkins. Cool completely. Yield: about 5-1/2 quarts.
  
  
  

Pumpkin Snack Cake

Ingredients:
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
6 tablespoons water
1 1/8 cups cake flour
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons white sugar
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/4 cup sour cream
1 cup pumpkin puree
1/4 cup molasses

Cinnamon Maple Icing Ingredients:
1/2 cup milk
2 1/2 tablespoons flour
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar (not powdered sugar)
1 tablespoons maple syrup
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, at room temperature
Toasted Pecans*
*To toast pecans, bake at 350 degrees F for 5-7 minutes, tossing regularly, until fragrant. Allow to cool completely.

Directions:
Make the cake: Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and prepare an 8-inch square baking pan (I brush the pan with Wilton’s Cake Release and place a square of greased parchment in the bottom to ensure the cake will come out clean.) In a medium saucepan over medium heat, bring the butter and water to a boil. In the meantime, in a separate large bowl, whisk together the cake flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves before mixing in the egg, sour cream, pumpkin, and molasses. While mixing, slowly pour in the boiling butter and water mixture. Mix to combine completely. Your batter will be very runny. Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan.

Bake at 375 degrees for 20-23 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a few moist crumbs. Cool for about 10 minutes before gently poking holes in the cake with a fork. Sprinkle the rum over the top of the cake evenly and allow the cake to cool completely.

Make the frosting: Immediately after leaving your cake to cool, start your frosting, since it will need cooling time as well. Heat the milk, flour, cinnamon, and granulated sugar together over medium heat, whisking constantly. Once it starts to boil, continue whisking and heating it for around 4-5 minutes or until it’s very thick, like cake batter consistency. Remove the mixture from the heat and whisk in the maple syrup. Remove the mixture to a shallow pan and let it cool completely (it’s very important that it’s completely cool, or your frosting will be runny. I let the frosting mixture and the cake both cool for at least 2 hours.)

Once the mixture is cool, beat the butter in the bowl of a stand mixer until soft and fluffy. Add the cooled flour mixture and beat on high until you have fluffy frosting the consistency of stiff whipped cream (this takes several minutes, so be patient). Frost your completely cooled cake and top with toasted pecans. Store leftover cake in an airtight container in the fridge, but be sure to let it sit out for 30 minutes before serving so the frosting can soften.

Caramel Apple-Upside Down Cake

Caramel Apple Upside Down Cake

INGREDIENTS

• ¼ cup butter
• ⅔ cup packed brown sugar
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 medium apples, peeled, cut into ½-inch wedges
• 1⅓ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• ½ cup butter or margarine, softened
• 2 eggs
• ½ teaspoon vanilla
• ¼ cup milk
• Whipped Cream topping:
• 1 cup whipping cream
• 2 tablespoons sugar

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Spray an 9 inch round or square pan with cooking spray. Set aside.
2. In a medium saucepan melt ¼ cup butter over medium heat until melted. Add the brown sugar. Bring it to a boil and remove from heat. Stir in ¼ teaspoon of cinnamon. Pour into the bottom of the greased pan. Arrange the apples over the brown sugar mixture.
3. In a medium size bowl whisk together flour, baking powder, ½ teaspoon cinnamon and salt. Set bowl aside.
4. In a large bowl or mixer, beat together 1 cup sugar, and ½ cup butter on medium speed until fluffy. Add in eggs and vanilla.
5. Beat in flour mixture alternating with the milk until smooth. Pour the batter over the apples and spread evenly.
6. Bake 55-60 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes.
7. Meanwhile, to make the whipped topping, beat whipping cream on high until soft peaks start to form. Add in 2 tablespoons sugar.
8. Run knife along the edges of the cake and flip upside down on a pan. Serve warm with whipped cream or ice cream on top.

~~ picture and recipe from the Recipe Critic

Buckeye Brownies

Ingredients

• 1 box fudge brownie mix
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 6 TB unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup creamy peanut butter
• 1 cup milk chocolate chips

Instructions

1. In a 9x13 pan, make and bake brownie mix according to box directions. Let cool.
2. In a bowl add your powdered sugar, 1/2 cup butter and peanut butter. Mix well. Spread with fingers over the brownies and pat down (it has a consistency similar to playdough).
3. Melt together chocolate chips and remaining butter in a saucepan over low heat, stirring occasionally. Spread over brownies 2nd layer. ENJOY!

Easy Feta Dip

Easy Feta Dip

Ingredients

• about 1/3 cup olive oil
• 3 Roma tomatoes, seeded and diced
• 4-5 green onions, sliced thinly
• 8 ounces feta cheese, crumbled (see Note)
• 2-3 teaspoons Cavender's Greek seasoning
• fresh baguette, sliced thinly

 

Instructions

1. On a large platter drizzle olive oil until you have a thin layer on the entire platter. You may use more or less here depending on your preference.
2. Add the tomatoes, green onions, and feta on top of the olive oil. Sprinkle with the Greek seasoning to taste.
3. With a spoon carefully combine the ingredients.
4. Serve with warm sliced baguettes for scooping up the dip.

Notes

Fresh feta that comes in a block is what is preferred here. It's a lot more moist. The crumbled cheese is fine but a little more dry.

Pumpkin Cheesecake Snickerdoodles

Cream Cheese-Filled Pumpkin Snickerdoodles
Yield: about 2 dozen cookies

Ingredients for the cookies:

• 3¾ cups all-purpose flour
• 1½ tsp. baking powder
• ½ tsp. salt
• ½ tsp. ground cinnamon
• ¼ tsp. freshly-ground ground nutmeg
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• ½ cup light brown sugar
• ¾ cup pumpkin puree
• 1 large egg
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract

Ingredients for the filling:

• 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Ingredients for the cinnamon-sugar coating:

• ½ cup granulated sugar
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• ½ tsp. ground ginger
• Dash of allspice

Directions:
To make the cookies, in a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the butter and sugars on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Blend in the pumpkin puree. Beat in the egg and vanilla until incorporated. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add in the dry ingredients and mix until just incorporated. If you have any more dry streaks on the bottom, fold together gently with a spatula until just combined. Cover and chill the dough for at least 1 hour.

While the dough chills, make the filling. In a small bowl, mix together the cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla until smooth and creamy. Cover and chill this as well (for at least half an hour).

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a few baking sheets with parchment paper. In a small bowl, mix together the sugar and spices for the coating thoroughly. Take one tablespoon of dough and flatten it into a pancake shape. Place one teaspoon of the cream cheese mixture in the middle of the pancake. Form another tablespoon of dough into an equally-sized pancake shape, and place on top, keeping the cream cheese in the middle. Gently pinch together the edges of the dough around the cream cheese to seal, then gently roll into a ball. Roll the ball in the cinnamon-sugar mixture to coat. Repeat with the remaining dough to fill the sheets, spacing the dough balls 2-3 inches apart. Dip the bottom of a flat, heavy-bottomed drinking glass in water to moisten slightly. Then dip it in the sugar-spice mixture, and use the bottom to flatten the dough balls slightly (They won't really flatten on their own, though they will puff slightly.). Recoat the bottom of the glass in the sugar-spice mixture as needed.

Bake the cookies for 10-15 minutes, or until they are slightly firm to the touch and the tops are beginning to crackle. Let cool on the baking sheets about 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container.