Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

It's pretty much a given that I'm baking something with pumpkin at this time of the year. For instance, last year around this time, I made pumpkin cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. Baked goods with pumpkin always turn out moist and delicious, with spices like cinnamon and ginger that really make the home smell like autumn.

Recently, I bought Baked: New Frontiers in Baking. As I was flipping through it, I saw a recipe for pumpkin whoopie pies, chubby little pumpkin cakes sandwiching a cream cheese filling; I knew had to make them. But as always, I knew a twist was needed. Instead of the typical round pies, I decided that I'd actually make them look like pumpkins. I piped the batter out: peach shaped blobs with stubby stems. After the pies were baked and cooled, I "painted" the stems with matcha white chocolate and piped on semisweet chocolate lines, thus making these pumpkin flavored pies literally look like pumpkins.

Cornish & Pumpkin Pasties

To finish with my Harry Potter party recipes, today I have two more recipes, one savory and one sweet: Cornish pasties and pumpkin pasties. I remember back when I first read the Harry Potter books, I always wondered what pumpkin pasties looked like and how they tasted.

Well after having made them, now I know :). Pumpkin pasties are like mini pumpkin pie bites, pleasant little after dinner desserts. Cornish pasties, on the other hand, are more of a during the main feast kind of dish. And no, they don't contain corn (many of my friends asked about that before eating them, I think they originated in Cornwall); they're flaky hand pies filled with beef and onions.

Turkey for Lunch... Turkey for Dinner...

Every year, right before Thanksgiving, I am always looking forward to feasting on all the wonderful food to come: turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberry sauce, stuffing, cornbread, yams, and pumpkin pie. But, after Thanksgiving is over, I remember immediately why Thanksgiving should be a once a year holiday...
a refrigerator full of leftovers.

The thought of repeating the same meal day after day makes me grow weary at the thought of another plate of turkey. Luckily, turkey is quite versatile and can be used in a variety of ways. Usually, the weekend after Thanksgiving and Black Friday, my family has turkey sandwiches for lunch, an alternative to enjoy Thanksgiving leftovers without having the same full-blown feast.

This year, in anticipation of the traditional turkey sandwich lunch, instead of Black Friday shopping, I stayed at home and baked cornucopia-shaped bread rolls with hollows perfect for stuffing with turkey and other sandwich fixings. Cornucopias seem to be the symbols of Thanksgiving, commonly displayed filled to the brim with an abundance of food; for these rolls, the bounty is, of course, our turkey leftovers. I was inspired by the giant bread cornucopia that I baked as a centerpiece last year for Thanksgiving, realizing that mini, individual versions would be perfect for sandwiches.

Fall = Craving Pumpkin Baked Goods

Here in sunny California, fall isn't as dramatic of a season as it is in other parts of the country. There is the occasional tree with orange leaves and a slight drop in temperature, but overall, outside, fall here is more of a gradual shift from summer to winter than a distinct entity. To compensate, I like to bring fall into the kitchen with a pumpkin here, a pumpkin there, plenty of apples, and a generous dose of cinnamon.  

For me, fall is a mindset I automatically fall into when school starts late August/early September. Once that time of the year hits, I start craving "autumn foods" like: warm apple crumble, moist pumpkin bread, and homey vegetable soups. Especially with Thanksgiving right around the corner, I seem to have pumpkin on my mind. So let me share with you a lovely pumpkin cupcake recipe.

Last fall, I spotted these adorable chocolate pumpkins on the blog Cake on the Brain and knew I had to learn how to make them. I clicked on the link and learned about the amazing substance known as plastic chocolate. It's made from only two ingredients and tastes like a grown-up Tootsie Roll: soft and chewy and as sweet or as bitter as the chocolate you use.

Of course after making all those pumpkins, I needed to decorate something with them. To fulfill my fall-induced pumpkin cravings, I baked up some moist pumpkin cupcakes, frosted them with a cream cheese frosting, and then topped them with the chocolate pumpkins. They were well-received by my friends and family, and thus a new autumn tradition was born.