Pumpkin Cake for pumpkin pie haters

When I was a child I hated Thanksgiving dinners, everything except the mash potatoes. Dry turkey with weird jelly sauce and cooked carrots, I abhorred cooked carrots! I could eat them raw, but never cooked.

Then there was the desserts pumpkin pie, pecan pie, and so on. I disliked those too. They were too weird and too nutty.

It’s amazing how our tastes change as we grow up. I can tolerate roasted carrots, if I have too. I have learned to enjoy homemade cranberry sauce, still do not like the caned or jarred stuff.

However I didn't have to wait until I was all “grown up” to fall in love with pumpkin pie. 

When I was about 10 we were at a family friend’s Thanksgiving feast and it was there that I was persuaded to try pumpkin pie again.

I am glad that I did because who knows how long it would have taken me to learn that I love pumpkin pie.

Now this post isn't for pumpkin pie, but for a delicious pumpkin cake for those at your Thanksgiving dinner who, like a younger me, hated pumpkin pie.

It has a nice spongy texture with a comforting spicy flavor. The whipped cream and caramel drizzle I added on top complemented nicely! 

Pumpkin Cake

425g pumpkin puree, canned or fresh

200g soft unsalted butter

300g light muscovado sugar

4 eggs

300g self-rising flour

2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1 tsp ground cinnamon

½ tsp ground nutmeg

1 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp salt

150g currants

Heat the oven to 180C and line a 8x11 inch (20x28cm) tin with grease proof paper, allow a bit of an over hang so you can get the cake out of the tin.

Cream the butter and sugar together until lighter in color and a bit fluffy. Add the pumpkin puree and beat until combined. It doesn't look pretty; add the eggs one at a time. It still doesn't look pretty all curdled like, but keep beating. Mix the flour and spices together and sift into the weird curdled mixture. Beat until just combined. Then fold in the currants. Pour into the prepared tin and bake for 1 hour (60minutes) or until a skewer poked in the middle comes out clean. Leave to cool for at least 10 minutes before taking out of the tin and cutting into squares. Serve with whipped cream and a caramel drizzle! Tastes best when warm out of the oven!

You could add some cinnamon to the whipped cream or instead serve with a scoop of cinnamon ice cream or vanilla if you prefer or even caramel ice cream.... I am getting a bit carried away. I will stop now. Enjoy!

notes: recipe was adapted from Rachel Allen’s book Cake, if your pumpkin pie haters hate pumpkin pie because of the spices then chances are they will hate this cake too, but if it's because of the texture then it's a safe bet they'll love it! For homemade cranberry sauce check out my previous post here! 

Changing of the Seasons: Caramel Apple Pie Scones

The change in seasons has been influencing my taste buds at the moment.

Definitely craving apples, pumpkin, cinnamon, and other seasonal dishes. Like stews, soups, and pies the list could go on forever!

Usually this time of year I bake a lot of apple bakes, but our tree has produced no more then 5 edible apples this year.

Which is very sad really, but I wasn't going to let that stop me from baking with apples at least once this autumn!

After much thought and deliberation I decided to give a classic teatime treat an apple twist. No, not a Victoria Sponge, but the humble scone.

I made Caramel Apple Pie Scones. They are by far one of the most delicious scones I have ever made. Which isn't really saying a lot because I don’t make scones that often.

That doesn't make them any less delicious though!

They would be perfect for an Autumn Afternoon Tea! 

The scones themselves are seasoned with apple pie spice and have fresh apples in them. I topped them with the traditional clotted cream and instead of jam used some delicious caramel!

Caramel Apple Pie Scones

500g plain flour

2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

2 tsp cream of tartar

2 tsp golden caster sugar

2 tsp apple pie spice

50g unsalted butter, cold and cubed

25g vegetable shortening/Trek, broken up

300ml buttermilk

75g or ½ an apple chopped into little cubes

sprinkle of sugar

clotted cream

caramel sauce

Start by chopping the apple and sprinkling with sugar, leave in a colander so the juice from the apple drips out. Press between a towel or paper towels to dry them completely.

Heat the oven to 220C and line a baking sheet.

Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl before rubbing in the butter and shortening. Add the buttermilk and chopped apple and mix together until it forms a soft dough.

On a lightly floured surface smoosh the dough into a thick circle, using a medium to small circle cutter cut out the scones. I got about ten, but it depends on the size of your cutter. Then place on prepared baking sheet and bake for 12-15 minutes. They should rise in the oven and slightly brown. When you transfer them to the cooling rack they should feel light. Cool for a bit before adding the clotted cream and caramel. Enjoy! 

notes: These are my entry for The Great Denby Cake Off blogger competition. Apple Pie Spice isn't very common in the UK, however if you add a tsp of ground nutmeg and a tsp of ground cinnamon and maybe a baby pinch of ground cloves it will pretty much be apple pie spice. This could also be tried with dried apples. 

Caramel Apple Cupcakes {National Cupcake Week!}

The word on the street is that it’s National Cupcake Week. Technically it starts tomorrow. 

I just thought I would warn you now because it means all of us baking junkies will be posting cupcakes on all our social media sites. 

I am not an exception so be prepared to be cupcake bombed!

The best part of cupcakes is that they take like 20 minutes to bake. Then throw some icing on top and Wa-La! Cake!

Yes, there are more complicated cupcakes out there that have many components and steps, but those are for special occasions.

These are "just because" cupcakes. But not "all the time" cupcakes. 'Cuz you know the whole in moderation thing.

Moderation is good.

These cupcakes are good. 

See how it all works out?

I used my cool cupcake corer and cupcake icing knife that OXO sent to me to try out and then I tried Sugar and Crumbs flavored icing sugar.

I chose Green Apple flavor because I wanted to make Caramel Apple Cupcakes. I wanted to make Caramel Apple Cupcakes because in the USA there is this sucker/lolly that is called a Caramel Apple Pop and it’s so good and not available here in the UK.

Hence these cupcakes!

They totally reminded me of those suckers/lollies so I am happy!

Here’s how you can be happy too!

Caramel Apple Cupcakes:

120g plain flour

140g golden caster sugar

1 ½ tsp baking powder

pinch of salt

40g unsalted butter, room temp

120ml whole milk

1 egg

¼ tsp vanilla extract

10-12 tsp caramel

Heat the oven to 170C and line your cupcake pan with 10-12 cupcake cases. Beat the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and butter until it’s a bit crumby! Combine the milk, egg, and vanilla together before gradually adding it to the crumby mixture. Once combined beat on high for a minute or two to make sure there aren’t any lumps and the mixture is smooth.

Using a trigger scoop fill each of the cupcake cases just about half way. Bake for 20-25 minutes. A skewer should come out clean. Leave to cool completely before using the Cupcake Corer to take out the middles and add about a teaspoon of the caramel to the middles. Put the sponge bit back in and top with Green Apple Icing Sugar!

Green Apple Frosting

1 pkg of Sugar and Crumbs Green Apple Flavored Icing Sugar

125g butter, room temp

1-2 tbsp of milk

Follow the instructions on the packaging.

to finish:

20-24 Dark Chocolate chunks

caramel

Put two chocolate chunks together and place on top to act an apple stem before drizzling the caramel over the top. Place in a baggie and snip the corner, but make sure the hole is small. Then drizzle on top!

notes: In association with Oxo and Sugar and Crumbs! Please see my contact/policy page for more details! Find out more about National Cupcake Week! And if you need to know what Caramel Apple Pops are just look here. I am also entering these cupcakes in Betta Living’s Betta Bake a Cupcake Competition #bettabakeoff