Pumpkin Pancakes

I have half a can of pumpkin in the fridge. What to do?

Recipe courtesy of Tidy Mom.

2 eggs
1-1/4 cups buttermilk or buttermilk substitute
4 TBSP melted butter
5 TBSP canned pumpkin
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1-1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp allspice
dash of nutmeg

The original recipe calls for food coloring, but I really don't think it needs it! It's pleasantly orange without chemicals.

1) Make your buttermilk substitute:

I used a cup of almond milk mixed with 2 tablespoons of vinegar. It came out perfectly! I imagine soy and rice milk would do equally well.
You can also use regular milk and vinegar.
Or yogurt and vinegar.
If you have no vinegar, use lemon juice instead.
The idea is that vinegar supplies the tangyness that is so distinguishable in buttermilk recipes.

2) Turn on your griddle and spray non-stick on it.
3) Combine all the ingredients in the order listed, stirring after each addition.
4) Cook away!

Maple syrup is even tastier than usual on these pancakes. Something about the cinnamon just makes it even yummier.

Maple Muffins

Sometimes my students get tired of our usual snack rotation. This spontaneous culinary adventure was a big hit with the little ones and the staff members who ate every leftover crumb.

Below I have cut down the sugar from the original recipe, which was so sweet it bordered on cupcakes. Delicious, but I'm hesitant to pump little ones full of sweets.

• 2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
• 1 cup quick-cooking oats
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• dash of nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup low-fat buttermilk (or substitute)
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup pure maple syrup
• 1/4 cup packed golden brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1) Make your buttermilk substitute: one cup yogurt or milk (or almond milk) and one tablespoon white vinegar or lemon juice. Let sit for 5 minutes. 

2) Line a muffin tin with muffin cups.

3) Combine flour, oats, spices, salt and baking powder in a large bowl.

4) Whisk buttermilk, applesauce, maple syrup, brown sugar, vegetable oil, egg and vanilla in medium bowl until well blended. 

 

5) Add to dry ingredients and stir just to incorporate (do not overmix).

6) Divide batter equally among muffin cups. 

7) Bake until muffins are a beautiful golden brown and tester inserted into center of muffins comes out clean, about 28 minutes.

Bananas Foster Bread

I love banana bread. This is a tasty variation, with my own twist, courtesy of Cooking Light. Enjoy!

• 1 1/2  cups mashed ripe banana (about 2)
• 1 cup packed brown sugar, divided
• 6  tablespoons butter, melted and divided
• 1/4  cup cognac, dark rum, or brandy divided
• 1/3 cup plain fat-free yogurt or buttermilk (or buttermilk substitute*)
• 2  large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2  teaspoon  ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/8  teaspoon  ground allspice
• Cooking spray
• 1/3  cup  powdered sugar

1) Mash bananas.

2) Put bananas, half a cup of brown sugar, three tablespoons of alcohol and five tablespoons of butter in a saucepan over medium heat.

3) Mix flour, salt, baking soda and spices in a separate bowl.
4) Stir banana mixture occasionally until butter is melted and mixture begins to bubble.

 5) Pour banana mixture into bowl. Add eggs, remaining sugar, and yogurt.

6) Add gradually to wet ingredients
7) Pour into loaf pan.
8) Bake for 50 minutes or until a knife comes out clean.

9) Remove from oven and allow to cool.
10) Melt remaining tablespoon of butter in a microwave-safe cup. Add a tablespoon of cognac/rum/brandy and 1/3 cup powdered sugar. Pour over warm bread.

Pumpkin Cake

(Two cakes are pictured, but this recipe is for one).

Recipe courtesy of The Blissful Table*. I highly recommend the cake recipe alone, even if you don't frost it or make it into a pumpkin like she does -- it's light and moist and very flavorful. Everything a cake should be!

Ingredients for bundt cake:

1/2 cup unsalted butter

1 1/4 cups light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 cup fresh or canned pure pumpkin (about 1/2 of a 15 ounce can)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups sifted cake flour (not the same as all-purpose)
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2  teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

dash of nutmeg

1/2 cup buttermilk or homemade buttermilk substitute (see below), room temperature

1) If you are like most people and don't keep buttermilk on hand, prepare your substitute. You have plenty of options:

I used a cup of almond milk mixed with 2 tablespoons of vinegar. It came out perfectly! I imagine soy and rice milk would do equally well.
You can also use regular milk and vinegar.
Or yogurt and vinegar.
If you have no vinegar, use lemon juice instead.
The idea is that vinegar supplies the tangyness that is so distinguishable in buttermilk recipes.

Prepare your buttermilk substitute and set aside.

2)  Preheat your oven to 350. Put your butter in the microwave on "defrost" setting for a minute or two, until it's about room temperature. If it's slightly melted, that's ok.


3) Beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy (about 2-3 minutes).  Add the  eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.

Add the pumpkin puree and vanilla extract.

4) In a separate bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients.

Add the flour mixture and buttermilk alternately to the pumpkin batter, in three additions, beginning and ending with the flour mixture.

Pour into prepared bundt pan.

5) Bake at 350  for approximately 30 -35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.  Cool for 10 minutes and then invert ONTO A PLATE and remove cake from pan.

If you don't flip it onto a plate, you will have a hard time getting it onto one. This cake is so moist it breaks if you try to pick it up. Cool completely.

Blue Velvet Cake

Having gone to college in the South, and been in a sorority where red velvet cake was the traditional celebratory dessert, I know my red velvet cake. So I was very excited to see a variation on the theme: Blue Velvet Cupcakes*.

I made the recipe as specified, with a few variations: I didn't want to run to the store just to buy buttermilk, so I researched substitutes for buttermilk*. Lo and behold, other people agree that buttermilk is a practically useless commodity. Although it was not listed in the link above, I used a cup of plain yogurt pre-mixed with a tablespoon of vinegar. The idea is that vinegar supplies the tangyness that is so distinguishable in buttermilk recipes. The cake recipe does call for another tablespoon of vinegar at the tail end of mixing. The end result had no traces of vinegar flavor (thank goodness).

I didn't have the specific brand of food coloring, so I just used my McCormick coloring. The little bottle of blue was plenty, plus a good squirt of red (so it doesn't come out grey, although the batter will look slightly grey with a hint of purple before baked.) Also, I discovered my muffin tin had gone missing when I moved recently, so I made a cake instead of cupcakes. No great loss there. Baking time was extended by 10-20 minutes.

The cake wasn't very pretty before it was frosted, probably because the natural browning of the crust and the blue food coloring made it look green-brown. But a good cook knows that a quality frosting can fix almost any cake:


Ta-da!
The cake received rave reviews by discriminated palates at the weekly ladies' night.



After the fact, I find it amusing that my love for velvet cake began in a red state, and now I've moved home to a blue state. My cake color has changed accordingly.