Spiced Pumpkin Cake with Maple Frosting

There are still some tomatoes on the vine, but our first frost is just around the corner . . . might as well face it, we're feeling the nip of Fall in the air. We've already been lighting up the wood stove to take the chill off of the mornings and evenings.
And as much as I detest the shorter days and less sunlight, there are some things I do love about Fall. Baking is one of them.



It is a welcome excuse to crank up the oven and bake at this time  of year and the payoffs are plentiful:
Warm kitchen...  delightful aromas...  comforting, cozy atmosphere... good food to look forward to... satisfied tummies... Happy memories...
All of the above make for warm fuzzies and a happy family. :)

In summer we have all kinds of fresh fruit to keep a sweet tooth satisfied, in the cooler months we must become a little more creative.  Apples, pumpkins, pears and preserved fruit to the rescue, and soon the citrus will become more abundant.  I've been baking some apple sweets which I'll share soon, but in the meantime . . . 




This is a simple little sheet cake, you can use canned pumpkin (plain, not pie filling), or cook your own pumpkin or squash. Since I had a can of pumpkin open for another recipe, I decided to make this little cake. It doesn't take many ingredients and it goes together quickly.



The original recipe yields a 9x13-inch cake pan, but we don't need that much cake at once so I made a half recipe and baked it in a 9x9-inch pan. If a 9x9-inch cake is still too much for you, you can bake it, then divide it in half, wrap well and freeze the half and enjoy the other half immediately. When you want to serve the remainder, thaw and spread the frosting on  when it's completely thawed, or just sprinkle with powdered sugar.




The frosting is made with pure maple syrup, cream cheese butter and powdered sugar and a little vanilla extract.   The maple flavor is very mild, if you like it more pronounced  you could add some maple flavor extract . . . but I try to avoid the artificially flavored stuff, so I don't. 
I reduce the sugar amount by a bit, because I don't care for overly  sweet things, and if you reduce the cream cheese by a tablespoon or so,  the maple will be a bit more prominent.

I serve the toasted chopped pecans in a little dish with a spoon, on the side since many people have trouble digesting them. This way it makes everybody happy.
Perfect with a cup of tea or coffee, and it makes a fine little dessert.    If you would like a printable copy of the recipe, it's over on my recipe blog . . .
Click here.
Thank you for stopping by ~ I would love if you would leave a comment so I know you've visited!
Blessings!
~mari  :)  

Raspberry Cheesecake Ice Cream

My stars!

I love, love, love this one. If you're looking for a recipe for heavenly ice cream, I urge you to try this one.

I must say, I am not overly fond of cheesecake. For example if we're dining out I'll usually choose anything other than cheesecake if there is a choice.

I don't dislike it, in fact I have a killer recipe for cheesecake that I've been making for years ~ but it's just not my favorite dessert. So I was really surprised that I LOVE this ice cream, as it's reminiscent of a delightful, not-too-sweet raspberry cheese cake.





The ingredient list is short ~
a little cream cheese whole milk cream sugar raspberry puree  (I used frozen, unsweetened raspberries, pressed through a sieve)

Once you make it, you won't need a written recipe!
Now my mind is spinning, and I'm thinking of all of the other fruit purees that could be used in place of the raspberries... YUM!




I'm usually a "one scoop", or at the most "two scoop" ice cream girl --- but not with this ice cream. :)

I'm thinking graham cracker sprinkles might be a good finishing touch if you want to carry the cheesecake theme, but absolutely not necessary.

I hope you'll give it a go.  And if you try it with another pureed fruit, please let me know!

To get a printable copy of the recipe click HERE to go to my recipe page.

Thanks for stopping by, and for any comments you would like to share.

Have a delicious day!
~Mari


I'm sharing on Foodie Friday
and 
Pink Saturday !
http://howsweetthesound.typepad.com/my_weblog/

Vanilla and Cream Cupcakes with Fresh Fruit Toppings

Since July 26th, smoke from the nearby forest fires   continues to move in and out of the area, and those in the know tell us that it will likely be like this way until the rainy season arrives.
As you might guess, conditions have put a damper on many summer outdoor activities . . .
On days when the air is in the unhealthy, very unhealthy, or hazardous range it's just best to remain indoors  as much as possible.


If we must be out in the smoke on bad air days ~ use of one these are strongly recommended. We've got our supply. Yes, a pain in the bee-hind to wear, but breathing is difficult without one ~  even for people with excellent respiratory health.

Thankfully, recently we've had more good air days than bad, but it has been so sad to see the destruction the wildfires have done to the wild and scenic areas.

Soo . . . to help cheer spirits up a little bit I made these easy cupcakes.  I used the recipe for Nigella Lawson's Fairy Cakes. I have posted about them before and  you can find the printable recipe here or here.
But your favorite recipe or even a boxed cake mix will produce similar results. Because when it comes down to it ~ it's really all about  the whipped cream and fruit toppings.  :o)


This is one of the last ones I piped. I should have whipped the cream a little stiffer (or added a bit of gelatin) so the cream would retain form.

I just slightly sweetened the whipping cream and added a little vanilla for flavor, then topped with some fruits of the season.
Spoon the whipped cream on the cupcakes or pipe it on. I used the Wilton M1 tip.


You know those talented people who are masterful with piping tips and decorating?
Well, I'm not one of those...  I'm still in the 'practicing' stage after all of these years.




But Wilton has good tutorials on line, and here is the one for this particular tip ~ and if you use a stiffer frosting, (rather than the whipped cream I used) the detail will be much sharper:

step 1

Hold tip 1M approximately ½ in. above cupcake top at a 90° angle to cupcake surface. Squeeze out icing to form a star.

step 2

Without releasing pressure, raise tip slightly as you drop a line of icing around the star in a tight, complete rotation.

step 3

After completing the first rotation, move tip toward center and up and around to make a second spiral around the inside edge of the first spiral.

step 4

Release pressure to end spiral at center of cupcake.

Tutorial from Wilton.com

I found the tutorial very helpful ~

(though it's apparent I need a lot more practice.)

Thanks for stopping by for a visit today~

Cheers!

~mari xo

Lavender Week with the Novel Bakers

There are hundreds of delicious, savory recipes using culinary  lavender which tempted me this week ~
But because they are at their peak now I gravitated towards recipes using berries . . .
such as this one, which I slightly adapted from one of the Trader Joe's cookbooks.





These are very easy to make; the method is to roll puff pastry  out with a rolling pin (the work surface and the top of the raw pastry is  sprinkled generously with Turbinado sugar prior to rolling.)





The pastry is cut into squares, (or whatever shape you like) and baked off in a hot oven.   After cooling on a rack the squares are  sliced in half horizontally. 
You can use a variety of fillings ~ pudding, whipped cream, lemon curd, mascarpone, etc.  I used a creamy plain yogurt, blended  with a little raspberry jam and lavender honey to sweeten the mix.


Arrange berries, or any fruit that you like on the  filling, then top with the remaining puff pastry half and enjoy!
So good!

~*~*~*~*~*~

And, as I mentioned, MORE berries . . .

This recipe is inspired from one I found on the internet and served at a lavender farm in the UK.
It is called a fruit cup but I think we, on this side of the pond, would consider it a really refreshing drink with a lot of fruit in it. :)




No matter the name it is really delicious, not too sweet and doesn't contain much of  an alcohol kick. The strawberries from the garden are slowing in production now, but I found just enough to make the recipe. 
I believe other fruit would work equally well (I'm thinking another kind of berry, sliced peaches, nectarines, plums, or pitted cherries.)




I would describe it as a twist on Sangria ~ delightful! I serve it with a spoon to get every piece of fruit ~ a straw would make it easier to sip the liquid, too.


  (Please note: I'm not endorsing any particular brand of ginger ale --  I attempted to block the logo, but it looked like a train wreck. And I love my good neighbors to the north in Canada!)

These are the ingredients: 
Fresh orange juice, lemon juice, ginger ale and a splash of dry vermouth. Lots of sliced strawberries. Muddled lavender. For garnish: lemon balm (or lemon verbena) and a stem or two of  lavender. Serve well chilled!




I'll have the recipes and links to them up on Friday.



Thank you for coming by for a visit ~ I appreciate your comments if you care to leave one!






I know you'll enjoy stopping by each of the Novel Bakers blogs to see their magical creations today ~
(To visit click on the links below.)

Home is Where the Boat Is 

Rattlebridge Farm

Sidewalk Shoes

a quiet life blog

Lavender Week with the Novel Bakers ~ A Bonus Post . . .

Since we at the Novel Bakers are posting about Lavender this week, I thought I would share two older posts that I did some time ago using lavender.


The first is the Lavender Blossom Martini you can find the original post HERE.




~*~*~*~*~

And then one of my ALL-TIME favorite recipes  for homemade ice cream ~ Lavender-Blueberry, which the Novel Baker organizer ~ Jain @ a quiet life blog introduced us to a few years ago. 
Oh my, it's a fabulous recipe and I'm quite sure you'll love it too.
You can add less lavender if you're not sure you'll like it, or add more if you know you love it!  
Lavender-Blueberry Ice Cream





See you back here Wednesday with some all new (for me) Lavender Recipes with the Novel Bakers.



Happy Tuesday, friends!
xo~mari

"The Circle of Kindness" by Jana Kolpen & Mary Tiegreen

Hello! 
Welcome in once again as The Novel Bakers play with the third book in Jana Kolpen's and Mary Tiegreen's Trilogy; "The Circle of Kindness".




Whew ~ Please excuse me as I'm late to the party  (computer got cranky...)
Here we go! 

We find that our main character Mlle. J. has been invited from The Villa della Luna in Italy, to Ireland:
This could well be my favorite of the three books. :)

The story is enchanting ~ the other Novel Bakers are such wonderful story tellers, so if you have visited them, I'm sure you've gotten the gist of The Circle of Kindness. 
I love the story and the message of the book, however, I got side-tracked by the food, as well. (what's new??) *grin*
Lots of bits of wisdom in this sweet little book . . .

"Through her experiences she had come to understand  the power we hold in our hands and in our hearts."




We learn that Mlle. J is invited to stay with Shannon,  in her little thatched-roof cottage, framed with roses.



"It was here in this land of many greens that Mademoiselle J. would find the generosity of spirit and compassion that turns the world."

~*~*~*~*~

The first morning Mlle. awoke to Shannon baking bread.
Shannon teaches Mlle. J.  how to bake delicious, bread . . . all the while promoting kindness, compassion and friendship . . .

So I made some, too . . .


It's not a yeast bread, it's a soda bread ~  goes together very quickly and it's delicious! If you don't have the book, here is another excellent recipe for brown bread.



I ground red wheat berries very coarsely, the texture was perfect.
(If you don't have a grinder you can probably find coarse-ground at your healthy food store.) 

After some good tea and bread, a little later we're off for an outing into town . . .
One of the stops? To visit a shop ~






 And also "The Inn Between" !



Called the "Inn Between", because it is located between the barber shop and the bakery (and it holds very odd hours.)




Fascinated by the names of the item menu, I had to make a few!



The first one:



Bubble and Squeak Cakes . . .




Traditionally made with mashed potatoes, mixed with some kind of leftovers; cabbage, carrots, Brussels sprouts, etc. And made into one large cake, then shallow  fried until crispy and brown.





No recipe in the book for this one, so I followed Gordon Ramsay's version, with Brussels sprouts.
Very good! Thumbs up at our house.



Such an adorable format!




The next item from the menu that I made was Irish Toasties.   


There are many, many versions of Toasties, limited only by your imagination. Basically it's a toasted/baked cheese sandwich, with other things . . .

Again, no recipe in the book ~ but I followed this one,  and used the Brown Bread I had made earlier.
It is very good, especially if you like the sweet and savory flavor play.  You build it on a good, sturdy brown or multi-grain bread, toasted. Smear with Fig jam, then pile a mixture of grated white cheddar cheese (mixed with, minced shallots, whole grain mustard, and beaten egg.)
Another really good recipe.
~*~*~*~*~


Teatime!!

I made Mrs. Monahan's RaggaMuffins.

No recipe in the book, but used this one, for Maple Sugar RaggaMuffins, I added some cinnamon to the filling.  (You could substitute brown sugar for the Maple Sugar.) Some like to ice them with Maple icing, but we thought they were sweet enough. 




The texture is similar to a biscuit, rather than traditional cinnamon roll.  Again, because no yeast is involved, they go together quickly and are really good with a cup of tea or coffee.

I would make them again, but would increase the amount of cinnamon to maybe 1 to 1-1/2 teaspoons.
~*~*~*~*~

Happy messages, and words of wisdom about kindness are sprinkled throughout the book:




And the good changes that even the smallest kind gesture can make.



~*~*~*~*~

Ice cream really doesn't have anything to do with the book ~ but it is an act of kindness to share some, yes?


This is real, honest to goodness homemade Mint ice cream, no artificial colors.
I used David Lebovitz's recipe ~ you steep the fresh mint leaves in warm milk, cool, then combine with the egg custard mixture and chill before freezing.
His recipe goes a step further and he adds chocolate to make Mint Chip ice cream. mmmmm.




It goes really well with a little slice of Shortbread,  made with Irish butter, of course. ;-)



(My violets didn't produce many blossoms this year so I made sugared violas instead, the color is not as vibrant, but they are deliciously in mild flavor.)







If you grow mint, you know how out of control it  can become unless you contain it. 
This recipe is a great way to use up quite a bit of mint. The flavor doesn't scream mint, it is more delicate.  You could add a little pure mint extract and food color if you want it to taste and look more like the commercial product.

Thank you for stopping by today friends! I love when you leave me comments, I  cherish each one. 


I'll close with this lovely and touching sentiment from "Circle of Kindness" . . .




I'll have the recipe for the gluten-free/fat-free Amaretti cookies (from Wednesday's post) over on my recipe blog a little later today.

~*~*~*~*~
Please stop by to see the magical goodness my Novel Baker friends have in store for you!

--  Home is Where the Boat Is
--  A Quiet Life
--  Rattlebridge Farm

Have a good weekend everyone,  and spread the kindness.  xoxo