I realize that I’m a month or two late for the PUMPKIN-EVERYTHING craze that annually arrives in September, but I finally gathered the time, the initiative, and the pumpkins to try my hand at making my own pumpkin puree. I’ve always been a big fan of Libby’s, but I’m pretty pleased with both the results and the ease of making this myself. Right after Halloween, it’s easy to find pumpkins for just a couple dollars, so it’s a great time of year to stock up for all your coming holiday desserts, as it freezes wonderfully.

And it’s sooooo easy. I urge you to give it a try for your own pumpkin recipes this year! Here’s how it’s done:

1. Select 1-2 small-ish pumpkins, or as many as you want to make in one batch. You can definitely puree pumpkins of any size, but they flavor and texture will be better from smaller pumpkins. These are often sold as “pie pumpkins” or “sugar pumpkins”.

2. Preheat oven to 400°F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Slice the stem-end of the pumpkin off, slicing off as little of the orange part as possible. Then, cut each pumpkin in half.

3. Use a metal spoon or a pumpkin scraper to clean out the cavity of each half. And don’t pitch the seeds! They make a delicious snack when they’re roasted.

4. Place the pumpkins cut-side down on the parchment paper. You can also place them cut-side up, but you’ll want to add a tablespoon of water to the cavity of each half.

5. Bake the pumpkins for 45-50 minutes. To ensure they are done, flip one half over and prick the flesh with a fork. It should be soft and easy to prick.

6. Use a metal spoon to scrape the flesh off of the skin of each half. Place the flesh in a food processor or blender. I work with one half of the pumpkin at a time to help the pureeing go quickly.

7. Empty the puree into a separate bowl and continue until all of the pumpkin flesh is pureed.

And that’s all! My sugar pumpkins yielded about 32 ounces of puree per pumpkin, or roughly the equivalent of two cans.

You can use this puree immediately if you have a dish ready to cook. Or, keep it in the fridge for up to five days.

I, however, freeze mine. I like freezing it in eight-ounce baggies. Just use regular zippered sandwich bags and a food scale to add the puree, then press them flat before freezing to maximize your storage space.

Looking for new ways to feature pumpkin at your festivities this year Try these Mini Pumpkin Cream Pies, Pumpkin Cake with Maple Cream & Sugared Pecans, or Pumpkin Chiffon Pie for dessert. Or! Kick off the party with Sweet & Savory Pumpkin Dips. Then when you’re done eating them, the dip bowls will make you another great batch of pumpkin puree.

But this is a food blog and food blogs in the United States simply MUST address Thanksgiving. I’m thrilled to say that Sierra (if you don’t know her by now, here’s a little intro) has volunteered to guest post one of her most precious Thanksgiving recipes! Sadly, I didn’t get to eat any of this gorgeous dessert, but I’m anxious to give the recipe a try when I return from the Sunshine State.

I hope you enjoy Sierra’s post, and I wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving!

Pumpkin Chiffon Pie, by Sierra H.

I know we just met, but I’m going to tell you a secret. This is something that I have hidden deep inside for as long as I can remember, and it weighs on my mind every Thanksgiving season.

I hate classic pumpkin pie.

There, I said it. I’ll eat it, but I’d almost just as rather eat pumpkin-scented lotions and candles. If you’ve been following Kristi’s chronicle of wedding cake baking, then you’ll know that I adore pumpkin, but the hard, dense, often over-sweet classic pumpkin pie just isn’t my thing.

It isn’t pumpkin pie’s fault. The blame belongs squarely on the shoulders of one lady: Grammy LoLo. My father’s mother, Grammy LoLo (you can call her that, too, by the way, everyone does) gave us the tradition of another kind of pumpkin pie: one that is light and airy, pumpkin-filled, and gorgeous light orange with just a teeny bit of pure whipped cream to make it the perfect end to a holiday meal (or a stunning post-Thanksgiving breakfast). In our house, we always just called it The Chiffon, and it had a special place in the Thanksgiving preparatory kitchen, often the day before the real craziness began.

This pie kind of begins backwards, with making and cooking the crust. I’ve fluted my pie edges with fork tines, exactly the way Grammy showed me when I was 9. You can get much fancier if you wish. Don’t poke holes in the bottom of your crust to help it stay flat—the butter and sugar will seep through them and glue your crust to the pan. This was the first time I tried pie weights; it worked quite well, but they aren’t crucial.

The crust comes out after a 10 minute bake, and the sugary, nutty goodness goes in. It bakes for 5 more minutes, and then you have to let it cool totally. At home, all hot things would go out to the back deck under a tea towel (it wasn’t rare to have snow already in Colorado), but here, it must simply wait on the counter.

Meanwhile, you can prepare for the pumpkin part. If you’re making your pumpkin puree from pumpkins, extra points for you! If you are using canned, make sure you have prepared pumpkin, and not pumpkin pie mix. If you try it and it takes like you’re halfway to pie, then you will have to brave the store again. You are in control of adding the sugar and spices, not the canning people.

Fun fact: 3/4 cup of milk is less than the amount of water in a cumulus cloud the size of a bus, but more than the amount of table salt in a large human.

If you have a double boiler, this is the time to bust it out. If you don’t have one, you can use a bowl nicely fit into the top of a saucepan. Make sure it will be deep enough for the ingredients as well as sturdy—you don’t want to tip hot pumpkin all over yourself during stirring. In the top of your double boiler device, combine sugar, gelatin, salt and spices. Once water comes to a gentle boil, stir in beaten egg yolks, pumpkin and milk.

The purpose of the double boiler is to heat the ingredients very slowly and gently. If you are very careful and patient, you can heat the mix directly in a saucepan, just make sure you never stop stirring. In a double boiler, you want to stir several times a minute, but it doesn’t have to be constant.

For fun (and science!) I got out the infrared thermometer to see how hot the pumpkin mix gets at the end of 20 minutes, which was right around 150°F. This is perfect, because the gelatin needs to hit 140°F in order to activate for proper setting. After 20-25 minutes, pull the bowl carefully off of the saucepan and transfer the pumpkin mix to a larger bowl. This will give you room later to fold in the egg whites properly, as well as help the mix cool more quickly.

Meringue is a tricky creature. This was one step I wasn’t allowed to do as a kid, probably because I was an enthusiastic stirrer. Go slow, try to flatten the meringue as little as possible for the fluffiest, airiest, dreamiest pie.

So I’ll say it: Pumpkin Chiffon Pie totally ruined me for all other pumpkin pies. It is a wee bit harder to make than classic pie, but trust me—try it once and you may find yourself bearing the same holiday secret, too.

Pumpkin Chiffon Pie
Grammy LoLo’s Recipe

A Note About Eggs: This recipe relies on meringue, which is uncooked egg whites. For curiosity, I measured the temperature of the egg yolk and pumpkin mixture while it was heating, and was satisfied that they were heated well past 140 degrees for about 5 minutes, which should be sufficient for pasturization. If you or your loved ones cannot risk consuming raw eggs, there are pasteurized egg products that you can buy. Since I have never tried them, I would love some feedback about how they work.

Pie crust: store bought (I like Pillsbury roll-out) or a half batch of this home-made one
1/3 cup butter
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup pecans, chopped

3/4 cup sugar for pie, 1/4 cup sugar for egg whites
1 envelope unflavored gelatin
1 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (or, mix 1 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp nutmeg, 1/2 tsp ginger and 1/4 tsp clove, and use 1 1/2 teaspoon of this mix)
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 eggs, separated into yolks and whites
1 can of prepared pumpkin (or, 16 oz of cooked pumpkin puree from scratch)
3/4 cups milk

Roll out pie crust into a 9-inch pie pan. Flute edges or decorate as desired. Bake for 10 minutes at 450°F, using pie weights in the crust if you want to ensure it won’t bubble.

While the crust bakes, cream together butter, brown sugar and pecans in a small bowl. When the crust comes out of the oven, remove pie weights if used and spread the pecan mixture evenly over the bottom of the crust. Return the crust with the pecan mixture to the oven for 5 minutes until the edges are golden brown. Remove from the oven and cool completely.

Place a double boiler on the stove. If you don’t have a double boiler, place a heat-safe bowl over a pot that has 1-2 inches of water in it, making sure the bowl is not touching the water below. In the bowl, combine sugar, gelatin, salt and spices.  Stir in beaten egg yolks, pumpkin and milk. Cook over hot water for 20 to 25 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and chill in the refrigerator until set, at least one hour.

In a separate bowl, beat cold egg whites until foamy, and then add 1/4 cup sugar very slowly until stiff peaks form.

Once the pumpkin has chilled, remove it from the fridge. Beat the cold pumpkin mixture until it is fluffy, then gently fold the egg white mixture into the pumpkin, just until evenly combined. Mound into the cooled pie crust and chill until ready to serve.

Serve with whipped cream (my favorite recipe is simply whipping cream, a touch of vanilla and a pinch of sugar- trust me, it’s all you need).

I haven’t baked much since I spent four days in early October creating two massive cakes for Sierra’s wedding. So it might seem rather surprising that the first time I pull out my cake pans after such a project, it’s to reprise the very recipes I used for the largest tier of the wedding cake. I, however, am not surprised, as I have been wanting to share this recipe in a normal, human-sized dessert that you can make for you and your family instead of a full wedding guest list.

Before autumn wanes completely, I urge you to make this cake. This cake is rich, moist, and full of pumpkin flavor. This maple cream is studded with these sugared pecans (easily my favorite discovery of the season) and compliments the spicy cake perfectly. And for layer cake, this is pretty easy! No icing to smooth, no crumbs to worry about, no delicate folding dry ingredients into the batter, no piping. You can totally do this.

And while we’re taking this moment to bake, I would be remiss not to introduce the newest member of my little kitchen family. See that gorgeous red KitchenAid peeking out from behind the ingredients It’s mine! A beautiful gift from my mom, waiting for me when I went to Colorado to bake the wedding cake, it has now made its way across the country to live with me in Durham. I confess, I got a little emotional selling my original KitchenAid (which I’ve been using since the age of 10) to a friend, but I know it has a good home. So here’s a warm welcome to new, red mixer!

Once the pumpkin cake is out of the pans and cooling, the fabulous icing begins. First, the pecans. I’ve made these nuts for almost every social gathering I’ve attended or hosted in the last two months, and I have many batches of them planned for the holiday season, as well. If you’re whipping up this cake, be sure to make the full batch of pecans: you’ll lose quite a few to taste-testing

Finally, the maple cream. This icing is truly beautiful. While it’s not ideal for piping, it’s a dream to spread and thickens up well once it cools. I desperately want to try it sandwiched between sugar cookies. But that’s a test for another day. Today, its fate is the dressing for pumpkin cake.

Then these three recipes, totally delicious on their own, come together to create a pretty little dessert of pure autumn.

PS: Six-inch layers are SO much easier to work with than fourteen-inch layers. This felt like hardly any effort at all.

Pumpkin Cake with Maple Cream & Sugared Pecans

Makes one, 6-inch three-layer cake OR one, 8-inch two-layer cake

For the Pumpkin Cake
Adapted from About.com

1 1/2 c sugar
3/8 c oil
3 large eggs
1 1/2 c flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
3/4 tsp ground cloves
3/8 tsp ground ginger
3/8 tsp ground nutmeg
3/8 tsp salt
1 1/4 c pumpkin puree

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease three 6-inch cake pans with pan coating.

Combine sugar, oil, and eggs in the bowl of a standing mixer or other large bowl and beat well. Sift dry ingredients together into a separate bowl. Mix dry ingredients slowly into the wet mixture, using a spatula to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add pumpkin and mix well.

Pour batter into cake pans in even amounts, about 1 1/2 cups of mixture per pan (2 1/4 c if using two 8-inch pans). Wrap a damp, thin strip of tea towel around each cake pan and tie tightly. Bake cakes for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick removes cleanly and cake begins to pull away from the sides of the pan.

Allow cakes to rest in their pans for 3-5 minutes, then carefully flip them onto cooling racks. Allow cakes to cool completely, then store in the refrigerator until you are ready to assemble the cake.

For the Maple Cream
Adapted from Sky High: Irresistible Triple-Layer Cake

1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/3 c maple syrup
6 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
3 c powdered sugar, sifted after measuring

Place butter in a small pot over medium heat. Once butter has melted, stir in maple syrup. Allow mixture to boil for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent burning. Remove from heat and pour maple butter into a small dish. Allow to cool to room temperature, placing it in the fridge if you want to speed the process up.

Beat the room temperature cream cheese until smooth and creamy. Add sifted powdered sugar to the bowl and beat until well-combined, using a spatula to scrape down the sides of the bowl.

Pour in the maple butter and beat for 3-5 minutes until light and fluffy.

For the Sugared Pecans

Prepare one batch of Sugar ‘n’ Spiced Pecans as directed. Allow to cool completely.

Set aside half of the pecans. Place the remaining pecans on a cutting board and roughly chop into pieces no larger than 1/2″ across.

Assembly

Add chopped pecans to the well-beaten maple cream. Stir well until pecans are evenly distributed throughout maple cream.

If cake layers are not level, slice them across the top with a bread knife until they each layer is level. Place one layer of cake on a plate or cake stand, top-side down. Spread a generous layer of icing  (about 1/3 of the icing) over the top surface of the cake, leaving about 1/4″ of space between the icing and the edge of the cake.

Carefully place the next layer of cake onto the iced bottom layer and repeat the icing with the second third of the icing.

Place the final layer of cake on the middle layer and spread remaining icing onto the entire top surface of the cake.

Use the un-chopped pecans to adorn the cake however you see fit. I mounded about half of them on the center of the cake and used the remainder as a border for the bottom layer.

Refrigerate until 30 minutes before ready to serve.

Happy Halloween!

Yes, I know I’m six days late on this.

It seems a little silly to be telling you about my Halloween party and all the food I made for it when every retail establishment and ad agency seems to have decided that it’s Christmas already. But I barely had time to get into the Halloween spirit before it was over, and I’m certainly not going to skip over Thanksgiving, thank you very much.

Halloween has always been my favorite holiday. I finally found myself in a position to throw a party to celebrate this exciting night. Uuuuuunfortunately the most opportune date for my little get together happened to fall right at the end of a two-week stint of one bazillion shows, which meant I had some particularly long days at work. Despite this little setback, I still managed to pull off some fun decorations and an ambitious menu, all without going broke.

Pardon the lack of detailed (and in some cases, in focus) shots. Frankly, after cooking, cleaning, and decorating for 10 hours straight (and about 7 hours the day before, plus a 9 hour shift), I didn’t put as much effort into photos as I normally do. Sue me.

Plus, Brad seemed to think it would be a good idea to mess with me during this frenzied photo shoot.

Not a good idea. Permanent web exposure shall be his punishment.

So for the fun part: what did I spend so many hours cooking? The breakneck pace I was working at all day prevented me from taking detailed shots of every recipe, so I’ll be re-creating them and sharing the new recipes in the coming weeks. But for now, I’ll just give you a quick look at the menu.

1. Sweet Pumpkin Dip, with sliced apples and graham crackers
2. Savory Pumpkin Dip, with carrots and corn chips
3. Butternut Squash Autumn Medley
4. Pasta alla Vodka
5. French Onion Crostinis
6. Mini Pumpkin Cream Pies (hands down the most popular item of the night)
7. Black Velvet Cupcakes with Midnight Fudge Icing

Also, roasted pumpkin seeds!

While they are unfortunately in hiding behind the pasta alla vodka in the photo above, pumpkin seeds were by far the easiest treat of the weekend. Chances are, if you were going to save your jack-o-lantern innards, you’ve already done so and roasted your seeds to your own tastes. But! There are still pumpkins afoot, and I daresay it’s worth slicing into a pie pumpkin for your Thanksgiving aspirations. So here’s to hoping you’re as behind on the times as I am and that there is another batch of pumpkin guts in your near future.

There are lots of ways to season pumpkin seeds, both salty and sweet. This one is quick, simple, and salty, which is a great contrast to the bounty of Halloween candy that still sits in my office.

It’s also wildly flexible. Don’t like spicy Leave the cayenne out. Want more garlic Add extra! Make ’em yours.

They’re a perfect way to keep fall alive, even if the stores have decided it’s winter wonderland time.

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

clean, dry pumpkin seeds (see tips below)
olive oil
garlic powder
sea salt
cayenne pepper

To clean your pumpkin seeds, remove as much of the pumpkin guts as possible and place in a large bowl. Rinse seeds with cool water and continue to remove orange strings as they loosen. Spread damp seeds out onto a cookie sheet (or two, if you have a lot of seeds) and let dry overnight.

Once seeds are mostly dry, place them in a mixing bowl. Preheat your oven to 325 °F. Add just a bit of olive oil (enough to barely coat your seeds) and toss thoroughly. Season to taste with sea salt, garlic, and cayenne and toss until seeds are evenly seasoned.

Spread seeds out on cookie sheets thin enough that they are not stacked on top of one another. Add additional seasoning if desired.

Bake until seeds are crisp and golden, about 45 minutes. Baking time will vary due to the moisture content remaining in your seeds, so check them every 15 minutes or so and toss with a spatula.

What is fall without pumpkins?

Giant carving pumpkins, bumpy heirloom pumpkins, creepy white pumpkins, compact pie pumpkins, teeny tiny decorative pumpkins…

The pumpkin is somewhat unique in that it is one of the few foods that is truly celebrated only in the season in which it readily grows. At almost any time of year, you can be sure to find at a grocery store virtually any fruit or vegetable your heart desires. But pumpkins They pretty much only show up in September, and by November, those large cardboard bins with Snoopy on the side have disappeared from view.

I love this about pumpkins. Because when fall hits, everyone goes PUMPKIN. CRAZY. Pumpkins pies, beers, cheesecakes, soups, breads, butters, jack-o-lanterns… all in honor of this giant, orange squash. I wonder if such a craze would hit for every fruit or vegetable if they were somewhat, shall I say, less available than they tend to be these days. Would strawberry shortcake taste even better in late spring if one couldn’t buy clamshells of red (though not necessarily ripe) berries all year long Would every tomato burst with better flavor if we had to go without them during winter months Perhaps. Perhaps not. I, for one, love the anticipation of new foods coming into season, and pumpkins are certainly cause for celebration.

So celebrate we shall! I kicked off my pumpkin season while visiting friends in DC at our second annual “Fall Extravaganza!” (exclamation point required) to enjoy good company, good food, and a beautiful autumn night. My good friend Sarah and I can hardly be in the same room together without finding ourselves cooking enough food to feed an army, and this weekend was no different.

It’s always a fun experience to cook outside the comfort of my own kitchen. Different utensils, a whole new set of spices on hand, and a whole new space. But see all this sunshine Wide swaths of light pour into Sarah’s apartment, in contrast to my cave-like kitchen, and I didn’t use my tripod once… a rare treat in this blogger’s world.

I don’t actually remember where I got these recipes. I found them sometime before my semi-maniacal recipe hoarding began, which means I have self-written recipe cards marked up with modifications but no original sources. I’ve paired them together a couple of times now, and they always make a big hit! The sweet dip tastes, essentially, like pumpkin pie, and the savory dip plays like a spicy Tex-Mex dip dressed up for fall.

If I had to choose a favorite, I think I’d have to choose the savory. Creamy, spicy, and full of flavor, this dip usually disappears faster than the sweet. Perhaps because it’s accompanied by completely irresistible corn chips, but who can know?

And they’re quick! No long stays in the oven, no crusts to make… very easy crowd-pleasers.

Once they’re mixed up, you could just leave them in the bowls or put them in nice little dishes.

But what fun is that?

A couple of pie pumpkins, hollowed out (keep the seeds for roasting!) make perfect serving ware for these tasty dips. Break ’em out for your Halloween party!

Sweet & Savory Pumpkin Dips
Adapted from… somewhere in the internet universe. I started making and gradually modifying these recipes a couple of years ago and have notes on recipe cards, but did not write down the original sources. Pre-blogging. What can you do?

Sweet Pumpkin Dip

8 oz cream cheese, softened
15 oz pumpkin purée
1 c brown sugar, packed
1 tsp ground ginger
3/4 tsp ground nutmeg
3 tsp cinnamon

Blend cream cheese and pumpkin until smooth. Add sugar and spices and stir until thoroughly combined. Chill for 1-2 hours. Serve with gingersnaps and apple slices.

Savory Pumpkin Dip

8 oz cream cheese, softened
1/2 c plain Greek yogurt (or sour cream)
15 oz pumpkin purée
3 T taco seasoning
1/2 tsp garlic powder
4 green onions, chopped
1/2 red pepper, diced
1 T jalapeno, minced (leave the seeds in for extra kick!)
2 1/4 oz black olives, drained and chopped

Blend cream cheese, sour cream, and pumpkin. Add taco seasoning and garlic and stir until combined. Add all vegetables and stir thoroughly. Serve with corn chips (let’s be honest, Fritos Scoops are the best with this) and carrots.