Pumpkin Apple Upside Down Cake

Autumn is winding down. Most of the leaves have fallen off the trees in the front yard. They'll be gone after the next storm blows through.

Too, my autumnal baking is coming to an end. The last of the pumpkin has disappeared and the apples are dwindling in the fruit basket.

It is bittersweet; I, too, look forward to the peppermint and gingerbread soon to make an appearance....

Pumpkin Apple Upside Down Cake

2 apples, cored and diced

1 T butter

1 T honey

juice of one lemon

1/2 c. sugar

2 eggs

7 T butter, melted

2/3 c. pumpkin

1/3 c. buttermilk

salt

1 t. baking soda

2 t. baking powder

1 1/2 c. flour, all-purpose

1 t. cinnamon

1 t. ginger (dry or fresh -- I used dry)

1/4 t. nutmeg

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Butter and flour 9-in. round pan.

In a frying pan, melt 1 T butter over medium heat. Add apples and honey. Cook about 3-4 minutes, until just softened. Drizzle with lemon juice. Arrange apples at the bottom of the mold.

Beat eggs with sugar until light in color. Add melted butter; beat. Stir in buttermilk and pumpkin. Add dry ingredients to wet and mix until just combined. Carefully pour batter evenly over apples.

Bake 35-40 minutes. Let cool completely before flipping over and removing from pan. (This is important -- I did not do so this time around due to time constraints and the apples stuck and had to be remolded to the cake.)

Mendocino Pumpkin Muffins

If you are not tired of all things pumpkin just yet, there is something more I would like to share with you. :)

My brother requests these muffins every year for his birthday (it's in June, mind you), and I'm always more than happy to oblige. They are adapted from a cookbook that has been on my mother's shelf for as long as I can remember.

The cookbook comes from a little restaurant called Cafe Beaujolais, which is nestled in the bohemian, coastal town of Mendocino, situated directly off Highway One in Northern California.

Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds was filmed on location here. Although, I try not to think of that when I visit, or I become frightened by every bird that flies overhead.... ;)

Mendocino's Blair House is also famous. It featured as the residence of Jessica Fletcher, the fictional sleuth from the hit 80's show, Murder She Wrote.

My family almost moved here shortly after I was born. Oh, how I would have loved to live in one of those quaint houses on the bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean!

We make frequent trips to the town when we stay in Fort Bragg (just 10 miles north). I love meandering the hiking trails along the bluff or browsing the myriad of galleries and shops. There are coffee shops aplenty, good for stopping in for a warm drink to ward off the chilly ocean breeze that blows through. A favorite stop is the Gallery Bookshop where there is guaranteed a purchase every time.

Pumpkin Muffins



2 c. brown sugar

1 c. canola oil

4 eggs, beaten

1 can (15 oz.) canned pumpkin (or 2 c. fresh)

3 1/2 c. flour

2 t. baking soda

1 t. baking powder

2 t. salt

1 t. nutmeg

1 t. allspice

1 t. cinnamon

1/2 t. cloves

2/3 c. water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Thoroughly mix together brown sugar, oil, eggs, and pumpkin. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, nutmeg, allspice, cinnamon and cloves. Alternating with the water, add dry ingredients to wet in increments. (Batter should be creamy but not runny.)

Grease a muffin tin or fill with paper cups. Fill each cup about 2/3 full.

Bake 25-30 minutes or until inserted toothpick comes out dry.

Pumpkin Parfaits

I'm a bit of a traditionalist. Pies and thanksgiving go together like salt and pepper. They just belong together. I just can't bring myself to make anything other than pie for our Thanksgiving feast.

So, I'm planning other little get-togethers frequently where I can make and enjoy other autumnal treats. There are just so many recipes making their way around the web right now, I can't let them pass me by completely.

My latest and greatest endeavor were these decadent pumpkin parfaits with heavenly layers of pumpkin mousse, freshly whipped cream, and gingersnap cookie bits. They were a perfect addition to a Fall supper with several of my lovely bridesmaids, which we quickly consumed while discussing shower plans and such.

They were very simple to make. Although, they should be made ahead of time (even a day in advance) so as to have time to set.

I won't judge if you decide to break tradition. :)

Find the recipe here.

Pumpkin Smoothies

My Fall afternoon study sessions at the Daily Grind coffee house back in college were usually accompanied by a delicious pumpkin spice smoothie. I would settle into one of the chairs with a book in one hand and my drink in the other. I have this strange need to multi-task while I am reading or writing. If I don't have a drink, I will either eat hordes of food (no good) or become distracted by the other things taking place around me. Sipping on tea, lattes, or smoothies while I work focuses my attention on the task at hand (pun intended, maybe).

I'm lucky I didn't drown in tea while I was writing my thesis....

I've been attempting to find a replacement for the pumpkin smoothies here on the West coast. The ones I have tried at Starbucks are a sorry replacement. They are like drinking a cup of high fructose corn syrup with a hint of pumpkin flavoring hidden somewhere in the background. Most places like to add espresso to their blended drinks, tainting the spicy, autumnal flavors. Others use a smoothie base heavily laden with artificial additives, again masking the essence of the pumpkin. Not having much luck here.

Well, why not make my own? I did a Google search for recipes the other day, most of which I wasn't too impressed with. Many of them called for adding bananas or other fruit. Dangnabit, I want to taste the PUMPKIN! So I figured, why not simply add milk to a bit of pumpkin puree with the spices one would use for pumpkin pie? In the end, what I was looking for was a smoothie that tasted like a liquefied form of pumpkin pie, right? Here is the result of my creation:


Pumpkin Smoothie
1/2 c. pumpkin
1 c. milk
1/4 t. cinnamon
1/8 t. nutmeg
2 T. brown sugar
4 ice cubes
opt. 1/4 c. vanilla ice cream
Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth (approximately 1-2 minutes). Adjust sugar to taste. (I prefer it not too sweet so you may want to add a little extra sugar.) The ice cream also will add to the sweetness, and the vanilla rounds out the flavor nicely. Add a bit of whip cream and garnish with cinnamon, if you like.

I am going to experiment further with spices (such as allspice, cloves and ginger) and perhaps add the banana next time. It never hurts to try. :-) I would love to hear other ideas for intensifying the flavor.