Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Pumpkin : The Essence of the Season
Guests won't notice that you didn't fuss with pumpkin pie when you serve Apple Pumpkin Dessert. It's a delicious blend of apples, spices and pumpkin served individually with a zingy gingersnap topping. This recipe is one of many apple pumpkin recipes from my cookbook, Sweet Apple Temptations.
Apple Pumpkin Dessert
1-21 ounce can apple pie filling
1-16 ounce can pumpkin pie filling
1-14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk
2 eggs
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup gingersnap crumbs, approximately 18 cookies
2 tablespoons butter, melted
Preheat oven to 400°. Spoon apple filling into 8-10, 1/2-cup size greased custard cups.
In a large bowl, beat together pumpkin, sweetened condensed milk, eggs, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt until well blended; spoon mixture into custard cups over apple filling.
Combine gingersnap crumbs and butter; sprinkle over pumpkin mixture. Place filled custard cups on a 15 x 10-inch jelly roll pan and add a small amount of water to the outer pan.
Bake for 10 minutes; reduce heat to 350. Bake for an additional 15 minutes, or until set in the center. Cool before serving. Garnish with a walnut half (pictured), if desired. Yield: 8-10 servings.
Pumpkin Swirl Cheesecake deserves a gold star. Its creamy pumpkin flavor shouts "Autumn!" The recipe makes a whopping eighteen servings so when your guests begin clamoring for more, there will be plenty of this essence-of-the-season to go around.
Pumpkin Swirl Cheesecake
Crust:
1 cup ginger snaps (about 25), crushed
Filling:
4 8-ounce packages cream cheese, softened
1 cup granulated white sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1 cup sour cream
2 teaspoons pure vanilla
3 eggs
1 teaspoon lemon juice
3/4 cup canned pumpkin
3 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons molasses
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
Preheat oven to 350°. Press cookie crumbs into a buttered 10" spring form pan.
In a large bowl beat cream cheese, sugar and 2 tablespoons cornstarch until smooth. Add sour cream and vanilla. Mix well and add 1 egg at a time, beating after each addition. Place 3 1/2 cups batter in medium bowl; add lemon juice and mix well. Set aside.
To remaining batter in large bowl, add 1 tablespoon cornstarch and all remaining ingredients; beat well. Set aside 1 cup pumpkin batter. Pour half the vanilla batter (1 3/4 cups) into crust. Top with pumpkin batter, then remaining half of vanilla batter, then with reserved pumpkin batter. Swirl with a knife.
Bake for 60-75 minutes, or until center is almost set. Cool on rack for at least 1 hour before removing from spring form pan. Refrigerate until serving time; drizzle with melted chocolate and whipped cream pillows (pictured), or decorate as desired. Yield: 18 servings
Pumpkin Applesauce Bread is best when it's baked ahead so the flavors have time to meld. Serve warm and drizzled with honey (pictured), slathered with cream cheese or whipped cream to make a seasonal comfort food that says, "happy, happy" with every delicious bite. This recipe is one of many apple pumpkin recipes from my cookbook, Sweet Apple Temptations.
Pumpkin Applesauce Bread
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
4 eggs or 1 cup egg substitute
1/4 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1 cup granulated white sugar or Splenda
1/2 cup oil
2 cups unsweetened applesauce
1-16 ounce can pumpkin
Preheat oven to 350°. Sift together first 7 ingredients and set aside. In a large bowl, beat together eggs and granulated white sugar until creamy; gradually add oil and beat until well mixed.
Mix applesauce and pumpkin into sugar oil mixture; add sifted ingredients and mix well.
Pour into greased, floured and parachment-lined 9 x 5-inch loaf pan. Bake for 45-50 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean from center of loaf and bread begins to pull away from sides of pan.
Cool for 10 minutes; turn out of pan onto cooling rack. Cool thoroughly before cutting into 1-inch slices. Yield: 1 loaf, approximately 10-12 slices
~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~
Happy Pumpkin Hunting!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Labels: pumpkin bread, pumpkin cheesecake, pumpkin dessert
