Howdy Kitchen: Pumpkin Coffee Cake

Pumpkin Coffee Cake with Brown Sugar Glaze

{Recipe found at Tasty Kitchen, from Heather's Dish}

Yup.  This stuff is as good as it sounds!

And it is as good as it looks, too!

I followed this recipe pretty accurately....until it came to the topping.

Here's the recipe....with my little change.

Ingredients for Batter

• ⅓ cups Water
• 1 can Pureed Pumpkin (15 Oz)
• 2 whole Eggs
• 1 Tablespoon Vanilla Extract
• 2 teaspoons Pumpkin Pie Spice
• 1 box Yellow Cake Mix (18 Ounce Box)
• 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
  

  Ingredients for Topping

• ½ cup Brown Sugar
• ½ cup Flour
• 4 Tablespoons Butter, Melted
• ¼ cup butterscotch chips
• ¼ cup toffee or bits of brickle
  

  Ingredients for Glaze

• ¼ cups Granulated Sugar
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
• ¼ cups Heavy Whipping Cream
  

Preparation Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350F.
In a large bowl mix together the water, pumpkin, eggs,
1 Tablespoon of vanilla, and pumpkin pie spice until well combined.
Add the cake mix and baking soda and mix until just combined.

Grease a 9×13 pan with butter and pour batter into pan.

In a small bowl mix together 1/2 cup of brown sugar, 1/2 cup flour,
butterscotch chips, toffee/bits of brickle, and melted butter.
Use fingers to sprinkle over the top of the cake.
Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

For the glaze, combine 1/2 cup brown sugar, granulated sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla, and heavy cream in a saucepan and bring to a simmer.
Remove from heat and stir until all sugar is dissolved.
When cake is finished baking, poke holes in the top with a toothpick.
Pour glaze over the cake, making sure to cover all surfaces.
Serve cake warm or at room temperature.


I actually made 2 of these tonight.  1 for the weekend, and 1 to take to and share at work.




Enjoy!  And happy baking. 

Howdy Kitchen: Pumpkin Pie Dip

This was originally posted over at The Project Girl. 
Put I thought I'd share it here as well.

Pumpkin bread.  Pumpkin cheesecake.  Pumpkin muffins.
Pumpkin cookies.  Pumpkin pie.  Pumpkin fudge.

Pumpkin....I can't get enough of it!

In case you haven't figured it out, I LOVE pumpkin!  :)

Thanks to my good friend Pinterest, I came across a delicious
pumpkin pie dip that will NOT disappoint!

But first, let's think about presentation.

{I need to give props to Mindy of Best Energies Best Affections for the idea.  Thanks Mindy!}

Maybe it's just me, but I do enjoy food presentation.

I'd much rather eat/serve chips out of a bowl, instead of a bag.
I'd much rather eat/serve caramel, dips,  salsas, etc out of bowls,
instead of the containers they came in.

So, when I wanted to put together a little treat platter to share at work,
I wanted it to look nice.

1. To start off, you need fun bowls!

While in San Francisco for a work training, I got to shop at Anthropologie!
{There isn't a store located in Iowa.  Sad, I know!}

Because I can't afford the clothing, I went and looked at the House & Home items,
because that stuff rocks!

In the end, here's what I came home with.

Aren't they awesome?!  {I now wish I would have gotten more!}

2.  Next, get some sort of big platter, tray, etc.  Thanks to Mindy and her grand idea,
I used a vintage round cake pan.

This isn't just any cake pan.  I found it my Grandma's attic.
So it does have some meaning behind it.

3.  Decide what you want to put in the bowls for dips and dippers.

I decided to go with honey wheat pretzels, honey graham crackers, and grapes.
I would have used apples as well....if I had some on hand.

I served honey crisp apples with this during a craft day, and the ladies loved it!

4.  Now for the dip!

Pumpkin Pie Dip

{Original recipe found here.}

My version of the recipe....

Ingredients:
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
2.5 cups powdered sugar
1 (15-ounce) can pumpkin pie filling
1+ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1+ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1+ teaspoon vanilla

Preparation:
Beat cream cheese and sugar at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth.
Add pie filling, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, and vanilla, beating well.
Cover and chill.
Serve with favorite dippers!

5.  Enjoy!

It not only tastes delicious, it looks great as well!

Another fun idea would be to use clear/white/solid colored bowls,
and add the fun to the pan itself.
Just line it with some scraps of material, scrapbook papers,
or one of your favorite cloth napkins.

Obviously, I didn't think about that ahead of time.  But I will next time!
I just wanted to use my new bowls!  :)

This idea originated from Mindy as a veggie tray.
She had assorted veggies in different bowls, with a Ball jar of dip in the middle.

With the holiday season upon us, have fun with your treat/snack/dessert/drink presentation.

Don't be afraid to think outside the box!  You very well could be the hit of the party!

Pumpkin Cake Gone Right!

Last night at my Monday Night Supper Club, I was wanting some pumpkin cake. But, I didn't have a recipe. However, I did have plenty of ingredients to put something together that actually turned out quite delicious. And it was really quite simple.

*Ingredients:
1 box yellow cake mix
3 eggs
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 1/4 cup milk (I replaced the water with milk)
1 can pumpkin
dash of vanilla
bigger dash of cinnamon, nutmeg, and pumpkin pie spice

*Directions:
Make cake mix as the box says. Add in the pumpkin and stir. Add vanilla and spices and stir well.
Pour in to greased bundt pan.

*Bake at 350 degrees until a toothpick comes out clean. (I think it took about 35 or so minutes for mine.)

*Let it cool for a few minutes, then put cake on a round platter.

Frosting:
1 tub of cream cheese frosting
dash of vanilla
bigger dash of cinnamon
bit of milk

For the frosting, I should have just made a cream cheese frosting...but didn't feel like it. So I mixed the above ingredients until nice, smooth, and creamy. After letting the cake cool for about 15 minutes, I put the frosting all over the cake, making sure to cover it completely. Then I let it sit. I was wanting the frosting to run a bit and get warm, but I guess I didn't realize how hot the cake still was, since the frosting soaked in to the cake and melted off. But that little mistake actually turned out great! I scooped up all the frosting around the outside edge, and put it in the little space in the middle, where it stayed nice and warm.

Close to an hour later when it was served, it was still warm! Sometimes my mistakes don't turn out well, but this one sure did. The frosting that was on the cake became like a glaze over the cake. Since the frosting in the middle was still warm and runny, it got drizzled on to all of our pieces .

Served with a couple scoops of vanilla ice cream, this warm cake was delicious! So if you like pumpkin, but aren't a big fan of pie or cheesecake, give this recipe a whirl. You'll be glad you did. :)

(Sorry, completely forgot to take any pictures of it. Maybe I'll make another one tonight!)

Fun at the Farm, Day 6

Today has been an enjoyable day so far. Lots has been accomplished. This morning, J&J waited around for Lindsey to show up. She took the day off work to come play with the kids, carve a pumpkin she grew, and right now she and Jacquelyn are making ice cream in a little bucket.

Here's the pumpkin they carved. Jacob wasn't too excited about helping out at all.

Afterwards, Lindsey, Jacquelyn, and Jacob took a wagon trip down to the church to the playground. In the meantime, I had to help dad move an auger from one bin site to another. It's a good thing I am handy like that! :)

Right now J & J and Lindsey are on the deck rolling around the bucket to make ice cream. I'm sure that will keep them occupied for awhile.

I've started packing up all my laundry and clothes that I need to take back. I have Stampin' Up club tonight, so I should get going. Hopefully I will get a slide show together one of these days with some of the pictures throughout the few days.