Maple Spice Cake

Nutmeg, Cinnamon and Clove mix with a touch of maple in this surprisingly light cake. Spice cakes are often dense, so this one makes a nice change. Top it with a simple maple buttercream and a dusting of freshly ground nutmeg.

2 Cups All-purpose Flour
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 Cup White Sugar
1/2 Cup Maple Sugar * (See note below)
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon Cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
3/4 cup shortening
1 1/4 Cups Buttermilk
3 Eggs
1/2 teaspoon maple extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x13 pan and line with parchment (or you could use two 8" round pans for a layer cake.)

Mix dry ingredients in a kitchenaid mixer on low, until well blended. In a small bowl, lightly beat the eggs with the maple extract. Set aside. Add shortening and Buttermilk, on low, until moistened. Turn mixer up to medium and mix for one-and-a-half minutes to aerate the batter. Scrape the bowl down and add eggs in three small batches, mixing after each addition just enough to incorporate them. Scrape down the bowl again to make sure all the batter is mixed well, then pour into pan. Bake at 350 for about 25 minutes.

Maple Buttercream:
1 Stick Butter
2 Cups Confectioner's Sugar
1 Tbsp milk
1/2 teaspoon maple extract (can use more for stronger flavor)

Beat all ingredients in kitchenaid mixer with paddle attachment for two minutes. Add more milk, a couple of drops at a time, for a softer icing.

*Note: Maple sugar is available at specialty stores or online. The granules are a large grain, so you will need to put it through a food processor to get it finer before measuring. If you can't get maple sugar, no worries - just use brown sugar and then increase the maple extract to a whole teaspoon.

Spiced Pumpkin Squares

These squares taste like pumpkin pie, but with a streusel topping and a gingersnap crust. Although they look like a bar cookie, you will need to serve them on a plate with a fork - the pumpkin pie filling makes them too soft to eat with your fingers.

1 recipe cracker crumb crust (use gingersnap cookies instead of crackers)
Line a 9x13 pan with parchment and then press the gingersnap crust mixture into the bottom of the pan. Bake at 350 degrees for ten minutes, then cool.

1 1/2 Cups cooked pumpkin (or one 15 oz can of cooked pumpkin - make sure you get canned pumpkin, NOT the canned pumpkin pie filling).
1 twelve ounce can of Evaporated Milk
1/2 Cup White Sugar
1/4 Cup Brown Sugar
1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
pinch of cloves (about 1/8 tsp)
1 tsp cornstarch
1/8 Cup Molasses
2 eggs

Streusel topping:
1/4 cup cold butter
1/4 Cup Flour
1/4 Cup rolled oats
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
Combine in a food processor or by hand with a pastry blender. Set aside.

Turn oven up to 425 degrees.
Mix all dry ingredients together in a small bowl. In a large mixing bowl, beat eggs lightly. Add the pumpkin to the eggs, then mix in the spiced sugar mixture and the molasses. When it is mixed well, slowly pour the evaporated milk in, stirring to incorporate in gradually (The mixture will be thin). Pour over the cooled
crust and bake at 425 for 15 minutes. Take out and top with streusel topping. Turn the oven down to 350 and put the pan back in the oven (you don't have to wait for it to go back down to 350). Bake an additional 20 minutes or so, until the filling is set in the middle (check it at 15 minutes). Cool to room temperature before slicing into squares with a sharp knife dipped in hot water.

Spiced Pumpkin Pie

 

 

Some people like their pumpkin pie to have only a modest amount of spices, letting the pumpkin flavor really shine through. I, on the other hand, absolutely adore the autumn spice mixture of nutmeg, ginger, cinnamon and clove. To me, a pumpkin pie that really spices things up is sublime. And the addition of just a small amount of molasses gives this pumpkin pie even more depth of flavor. This recipe is something I developed after taking various elements from different pumpkin pie recipes I have loved over the years.

1 recipe flaky pie crust (you will use the bottom crust only - you can freeze the other half of the dough, or double this filling recipe and make two pies at once)

1 1/2 Cups cooked pumpkin (or one 15 oz can of cooked pumpkin)
1/2 Cup White Sugar
1/4 Cup Brown Sugar
1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp cornstarch
1/8 Cup Molasses
2 eggs
1 twelve ounce can of Evaporated Milk

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Roll out your crust, place it in the pie pan, and crimp the edges. Place it in the fridge until you are ready to fill it.

In a small bowl, mix together the sugars, salt, spices and cornstarch. In a separate mixing bowl, beat eggs lightly. Add the pumpkin into the eggs, then mix in the spiced sugar mixture and the molasses. When it is mixed well, slowly pour the evaporated milk in, stirring to incorporate it in gradually (The mixture will be thin).

Take your pie shell out of the fridge and place it on a cookie sheet incase of spillover. Pour the pumpkin filling into the pie shell and carefully move it into the oven. Bake at 425 for 15 minutes. Then turn the oven down to 350 and bake an additional 45-50 minutes, until the filling is set in the middle. (Check after 30 minutes to see if the crust is getting too brown - if it is, cover edges with tin foil.) The filling is set when you give it a gentle shake and it is only very slightly jiggly in the center.  If you want to be certain, you can insert a toothpick in the center and see if it is still liquidy. The filling will set more as it cools, so don't cook it until it is totally solid or it will be overdone.

Cool to room temperature before slicing with a sharp knife dipped in hot water. Optional: Serve with whipped cream.

Grandma B's Molasses cookies

My Great-Grandmother, known in our family as "Grandma B," was not a professional baker, but a home baker of ledgendary ability. Many recipes that were handed down to me came from her, including these old-fashioned molasses crinkle cookies.

These chewy, spicy cookies are a great comfort food that smells and tastes like clove, ginger, molasses and cinnamon. They are wonderful for a crisp Autumn day, or an ideal addition to those holiday cookie platters people put out at Christmas time. The dough can be made way ahead and frozen. You can even roll it into balls and freeze the balls, then all you have to do is thaw, roll in sugar, and bake.

1 1/2 Cups Shortening
2 Cups Sugar
1/2 Cup Molasses (dark or light - it's up to you)
2 eggs
4 Cups Flour
1 tsp salt
4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cloves
1 tsp ginger
2 tsp cinnamon

Melt shortening in a medium saucepan on low heat. Cool a little. Add Sugar, Molasses, and Eggs (it is important to let the molasses cool a little so it doesn't curdle the eggs). Beat good. Have all dry ingredients mixed together in a separate bowl, then mix into the wet ingredients and stir until well blended (you can transfer it into a kitchenaid mixer to do this part if you'd like). Chill the dough for at least 2 hours, preferably overnight. Roll into balls about the size of a ping-pong ball. Roll the balls in sugar and bake at 350 degrees for about ten minutes, or until crackled on top and golden brown at the edges.