Pumpkin-Caramel Baked Doughnuts

Birthday girl requested pumpkin, so pumpkin she got—and not in any ordinary pumpkin bread sort of way. Because the best kinds of friendships send you to the innovation board, also known as a mesh of Google recipe search results...

...Until you have her favorite form of sweet treat, the doughnut, with a uniquely fall twist. The thick caramel frosting drapes over these warm-spiced cake-y babes with decadence. Bonus points if you can get Snickers crumbs to actually stick to the frosting before it sets, too. 

And heres'a leftover batter solution: Throw in some mini chocolate chips and excess Snickers pieces and bake them as mini muffins for a bonus round of treats to take to yet another gathering of people that week. 

Hey look, this photo actually got treated to natural light. I miss it after 5 p.m. Sad times, this season change brings.

Verdict: Birthday treat win!

Pumpkin Pie Cake

Chapter 1: The Reaction
To: Madoline
From: Coworker
Subject: Yum!!!
Message: That's the best pumpkin cake I've ever had.
(This was copied and pasted from an actual email, for full disclosure.)

Chapter 2: The End Product
Dense, buttery cake.
      Then, pumpkin pie.
            Finally, buttery cinnamon streusal sprinkled on top.
                  All melded together in the oven.

Chapter 3: From Whence It Came
My friend Brianne's aunt's pumpkin cake recipe.
The one she brought to Southern Progress fellow potlucks.
The one made with cake mix.
Tweaked to be from scratch by subbing in parts of some random "homemade cake mix" recipe Google found me.

 

Chapter 4: The Critique

I took this baking project on too late on a school (err, work) night (over-ambition in the kitchen=my downfall in life). And then I had to do math to combine recipes because I wanted to be original (originality for the sake of originality=not always the best idea). And then it was 11:30 p.m. and the top of the cake was STILL not set. And I just wanted to go to bed. So, yeah, I had bias against this cake before the innocent thing made it out of the oven. It ended up tasting sweet and richly dense, yes, but also too much like pumpkin pie for this Thanksgiving-pie hater. I ate a bit, gave away most of it, and then moved on to... chocolate, my one true love. But now I baked something seasonal and something original, so I can check that off my list and move back to the 17,987th variation on chocolate cookies and cakes I can develop.

Also, it was really ugly to photograph. That's why you basically see pictures of plant green and tree/house bright yellow with only a splash of all shades of distasteful browns and oranges, brightened in Photoshop.

 

Pumpkin Pancakes

These fluffy cakes taste like fall. How could they not with a combination of pumpkin and warm spices? 

To complete your pumpkin pancake experience, I recommend a crisp and cool yet sunny morning where you can sit outside amongst orange, red, and yellow-hued trees and linger over quality conversation. Bonus for Me: My particularly wonderful pancake co-conspirator found the pancake recipe and set all the ingredients out for me before I got out of bed; such a treat!

Like most pancakes, maple (preferably real maple) syrup is necessary, unless you are just snacking on the cakes after breakfast. I put the walnuts on to look pretty, but I liked the addition of nutty texture and taste and ended up adding more.

Honey-Beer Pumpkin Bread

The only more exciting sign of fall than giant pumpkins (these babes were up to 1331 pounds (!) at the Allardt, Tennessee Pumpkin Festival we stumbled upon this weekend) is the warm spices in a slice of fresh pumpkin bread.

My go-to recipe is a Cooking Light one from a couple of years ago that calls for honey beer (or really any beer you have on hand). You can't really taste the beer all that much like you can in beer bread. I mostly like the recipe because it cuts back on the oil a bit and hence is somewhat better for you than your typical recipe. "Light" in no way diminishes the flavor. It's still plenty most and filled of warm fall flavors.

The recipe makes two loaves, so bring the extra to friends or freeze it for future eating. I like to pull chunks out of the freezer and pack it for an afternoon snack.

Like  pumpkin? Try these pumpkin snack recipes.

Three Things: Pumpkin Snacks

Pumpkin ain't just for pie. It's packed with nutrients; 1/2 cup of the canned good gives you 300% of your daily vitamin A and vitamin C for only 40 calories. And when mixed with the right things, it maintains the nutty-orange-veggie flavor that you love about pumpkin desserts (I prefer bread or cake) yet makes for a healthier snack.

I opened a can this week and played around with various recipes I found online. All these recipes are approximations; play around with the measurements and make it your own.

1. Pumpkin Pie Dip

Sweet enough to be pie but simpler to make. Dip graham cracker and ginger snaps for full-out dessert or apples to for a fruity flavor that's a little more healthy.

Mix 1 can pumpkin, an 8-oz. block of softened [reduced fat] cream cheese, 1 cup brown sugar, 1 Tbsp. maple syrup, 1 Tbsp. orange juice, and 1 tsp. cinnamon.

2. Pumpkin-Banana Smoothie

A filling breakfast that just tastes like fall with a hint of banana.

Mix in blender 1 banana, 1/3 cup canned pumpkin, 6 ice cubes, 1/3 plain or vanilla yogurt, 1/2 cup milk, 2 Tbsp. brown sugar, 1 tsp. vanilla (if use plain yogurt) and 1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice.

3. Pumpkin Spread

It might sound strange, but once bit will convince you it's tasty. I first used it as spread but now make pumpkin-peanut butter sandwiches almost weekly this time of year.

Mix 1/3 cup pumpkin, 3 Tbsp. peanut butter, 1 Tbsp. honey, 1 tsp. cinnamon (I usually just guess on the measurements though)