Brittany's PantryPumpkin Coffee Cake W/Brown Sugar Streusel
Brittany wrote this on 17 October 2013
pumpkin
I wish…
Oh! How I wish…
…that I had found this recipe years ago!
Like so many of you, I love the pumpkin season. Homemade pumpkin puree gets stirred into muffins and pies and even dip! I don’t jump on the pumpkin spice latte bandwagon, but most everything else I am game for!! I have a major soft spot for coffee cake and when I saw this recipe, I knew it was right up my alley. For some reason, the fact that it gets cut into wedges is more appetizing to me.
I have no idea why.
Regardless of the shape of the pan it is baked in, this coffee cake would be excellent baked in a shoe box. It is simple and classic, which is what I like most about it. On Pinterest the other day, I saw a recipe for pumpkin glazed roast chicken and I wanted to strangle whoever created that. Not EVERYTHING should be pumpkinified people!! It should be limited to things like…well…coffee cake.
This isn’t too sweet and it is moist and lovely. Add a hot cuppa tea and-gah. I just. I can’t even.
The recipe makes two round coffee cakes so that means I have eaten….a few. We won’t go into details, but suffice to say that I can say with confidence that these bake up great every time and hold a full 24 hours and the streusel is still crunchy on top! Defrosted from the freezer and warmed a bit in the oven is very nice so add these to the menu when guests are coming over the holidays. Heck! Bake one after dinner and eat it with hot cider for dessert! Or as a mid day snack with that tea I mentioned. I hear that it is also good eaten with your hands standing over the sink with a huge glass of cold milk, but thats just a rumor.
Pumpkin Coffee Cake W/Brown Sugar Streusel
Recipe adapted from here.
Note that this makes two coffee cakes. You could freeze one, but I prefer the eat coffee cake two mornings in a row meal plan.
Coffee Cake:
1 stick (1/2 c) butter, room temperature
1 1/2 c sugar
3 eggs
1 can (15 oz) pumpkin puree-not pumpkin pie filling
2 1/2 c flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 T cinnamon
1 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cloves
3/4 tsp salt
Streuesel:
1/4 c flour
1/4 c sugar
1/4 c brown sugar
2 T butter, melted
1 tsp cinnamon
Mix all streusel ingredients together until well incorporated. Set aside.
With a hand mixer or stand mixer, beat together the butter and sugar until smooth and creamy. Add the eggs one at a time and mix until smooth. Add the pumpkin and mix, scraping the sides of the bowl and mixing again to combine thoroughly. Mixture will look curdled. Add the dry ingredients and mix slowly until just barely combined, scraping the bottom and mixing by hand with a spatula at the end. Spray and flour two, 8 inch round cake pans. Divide the batter evenly between the pans and sprinkle with the streusel. Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pans for at least 10 minutes to let the cakes set a bit, then run a thin spatular or knife carefully around the edges of the cakes and turn out onto a cooling rack. Serve warm or room temp. If you want to freeze either of the cakes, cool completely and wrap well in cellophane and seal in a gallon ziptop bag. Defrost and serve, or warm briefly in the oven before slicing.
Instant Veggie Dip: Back To School Post #8
Brittany wrote this on 14 October 2013 carrots, garlic, gluten-free, peppers, sour cream
I came across this recipe via 100 Days Of Real Food and even though I have a reliable ranch dressing recipe that I use, I liked the flavors and thickness of this one for dip. The fact that it is a spice mix that you make ahead is extremely appealing to me. Just as convenient as the little pre-made spice packets at the supermarket, but without all the added mystery chemicals, maltodextrin (I looked-I don’t have any of that in my spice cabinet), and MSG. This is fresh and quick and easy, so I decided to give it a whirl.
I am so glad I did! Great flavor and perfect for those days when I am trying to put together lunches for the kids, but want to send them with something other than hummus or bottled dressing to dip their carrots and peppers in. I have smeared this in wraps with sliced chicken, fresh spinach, tomatoes, and cheese, and have future plans to use the dregs of the last batch as a cold, tangy dip for spicy chicken wings. Its great with a roast beef sandwich too. Heck! You could put the dried spices together and send it out in cute little bottles at Christmas with directions to make the dip! Don’t you think that a homemade dip for veggies would be a nice change of pace from all the cookies?
One Year Ago: Gluten Free Apple Carrot Muffins
Two Years Ago: Maple Pecan Shortbread & Chicken & Barley Soup
Three Years Ago: Baked Macaroni & Cheese
Instant Veggie Dip
Recipe from 100 Days Of Real Food, originally from 5$ Dinners
Mix:
1/4 c dried parsley
2 tsp dried dill
2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp onion powder
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp cracked black pepper
Dip:
1 c sour cream (I use light)
2 T spice mix
salt to taste
For spice mix, combine all ingredients and store in a sealed jar or container. Don’t forget to label it! When ready to make dip, combine sour cream, spice mix, and a pinch of salt. Let sit so the flavors can meld at least an hour. Stir the dip well and taste for seasoning, adding salt if necessary. Just before serving, stir and taste again. Dip can be kept sealed in the fridge for several days. This spice mix makes enough for exactly three batches of dip.
The Ultimate Apple Butter Recipe
Brittany wrote this on 7 October 2013 apple butter, apples, gluten-free, rum
Ok. Last apple recipe for awhile. I can’t help it. They have kinda dominated my kitchen for the last two weeks. And can I just say check out the serious sunshine in the photo above shining in my screen porch windows and onto my breakfast plate! I love fall!
So yes, I have been canning, freezing, baking, cooking, roasting, and eating apples. I confess that I had actually sworn off making apple butter this year. One, I was on GO mode and apple butter just takes too long to make. Its not the labor involved, its the waiting! Secondly, I have made a LOT of apple butter over the years and even though it is all good, none of my versions have ever been ‘the one.’ I like all kinds of apple butter so how do you pick one that tastes the best? You don’t! You just wander aimlessly, eating all the apple butter you can find and exclaiming, ‘Oh! I like this one! ‘ or ‘This one is super yummy too!’ or even ‘This is so good I could bathe in it!’ But none of them really stood out.
Until now. I realized the error of my ways. I needed two things. Rum and vanilla.
Now, I am kinda classic when it comes to apple butter, but when I was elbow deep in the sticky, turn-my-fingernails-brown apple trenches, my friend posted this recipe. I read the title (Vanilla Rum Apple Butter) rolled my eyes and exclaimed out loud, “FINE! I’ll make apple butter! Twist my arm, why dontcha…” About 5 minutes later, it was in the crock-pot and cooking away. The only change I made for that batch that was different from her original recipe, was to add some brown sugar (my apples seriously lacked flavor) and mine were peeled because I was using this handy dandy contraption mentioned in the last post. Other than that, I made them the same, crossing my fingers that the lack of spices you usually see in apple butter wouldn’t be missed.
So…um…yeah. Not missed at all. It was so amazingly yummy, a friend of mine said she “…could slather that on my face, its so good.” Another said she would eat it scraped off the floor if necessary. While that certainly wasn’t called for (although once I did eat spinach artichoke dip that I had scraped off the oven door…) I was thrilled that they liked it so much. As I stared at my seemingly never ending pile of apples, I decided to rinse out the crock pot and do it all over again, but this time I would add the spices I so so love in apple butter.
The result?? The Ultimate Apple Butter Recipe! It is rich and full flavored and balanced and lovely. I will never make apple butter any other way ever again. And here it is for you!
I can not really stir it yet, but there it is piled in my crock pot and nestled on the counter amongst empty canning jars, full canning jars, and a very sad looking banana…
Ten hours later and it stirs to mush. Ready to puree!
Smooth like buddah!
One Year Ago: How To: Caramelize Onions
Two Years Ago: Salmon Nicoise
Three Years Ago: Overnight Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal
Ultimate Apple Butter
My recipe is inspired by this recipe. The flavor isn’t as traditional as mine, but it is ah-ma-zing.
Some kinds of apple butter are so spiced they kind of reach up and smack you in the face. I prefer to actually taste the apples instead of just smearing cinnamon paste on my toast. If I could thin this down, I would suck it through a straw.
apples, cored, peeled and chunked small about 10 cups-enough to fill a standard 4 quart slow cooker (any NON-tart, soft apple is good for this but use whatever you have)
1/2 c spiced rum
1 c pure, no sugar added, apple cider
1/2 c brown sugar
3 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp cardamom
1/2 tsp ground cloves
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
Pile the apples in the slow cooker, adding more if needed to fill it to the top. Add the rest of the ingredients on top, EXCEPT THE VANILLA! Stir it a bit if you can, but don’t worry if you can’t. Set the lid on tightly and turn the pot on low. After an hour or so, stir it if you can as it starts to cook down to distribute all the spices and coat all the fruit in the rum! 🙂 Leave it on low, until the apples get so soft that it breaks up as you stir it, at least 8 hours. It will depend on what kind of apple you use and the ripeness of the fruit. When it is mushy, stir in the vanilla and puree using an emersion blender, or transfer to a blender or food processor and puree in batches. Can it or freeze it and enjoy!
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