Fall is such a wonderful time of the year! Fall is football, school activities, crisp cool air, apples, pumpkins, craft fairs, trees blazing with fiery colors and the clearest, bluest skies of the year ! To me, it's a season that creates a yearning to nest, to gather, and to make our homes ready for the coming winter months. Now, realistically, most of don't have to "gather" the harvest as our grandmothers did in "times of old"......but doesn't it seem to bring a certain nesting, comforting feeling to stock our pantries in anticipation of cold winter nights and the coming holiday celebrations?
Speaking of "gathering" and stocking pantries....we have a normally common, but now "hard to find" item at our local grocery stores! Would you believe that we've had the hardest time finding canned pumpkin? The grocer said they have had a hard time getting it and when they do get in a small shipment, it has immediately flown off the shelves!
Now...I realize that this canned pumpkin shortage does not constitute a national emergency....but it was a reminder to me of how much I take it for granted that an item will always be available whenever I need it. I was so thankful to find at least one can buried in my pantry. The moral to the canned pumpkin story? A full, stocked pantry is just a very good thing to have.....but beware, you have to keep on top of it or you will find yourself with expired, therefore, wasted items! (Not that it's ever happened to me! ;)
O.K.....now that I have everyone running to their grocery store for canned pumpkin.....how about the easiest and most delicious pumpkin dessert you could ask for? It's called Pumpkin Pie Cake. Some even say they no longer make pumpkin pie because this is soooo easy and soooo good! I really thought everyone had this easy recipe until I took it to a friend (who's a great cook with a library full of cookbooks), and she said she'd never had it before and she loved it!
Gather all of your ingredients together, measure everything, crack the eggs, ect.....
The French call this preparation (as my "grand" chef, Miss B has already learned)
"mise en place" (pronounced "meese au plas") meaning everything in its place.
It makes cooking so much easier, right Miss B? Although.......I am sure a French cook
would not be impressed with a recipe that dumps everything in a baking dish and
throws cake mix on top of it! Sorry Julie and Julia...we like it! :)
Mix all the filling ingredients together. (Remind me to tell you about this new beater
attachment in another blog!)
Pour the batter into a 3 qt. baking dish or divide into two smaller dishes if you wanna
share :). Sprinkle the dry cake mix over the top.
Pour the melted butter over the top of the cake mix.
Sprinkle pecans over the cake mix and put in preheated oven.
When it's golden and set, place on a rack to cool. Our screened porch was the perfect place
for me to let these cool.
This one is half pecans and half plain because it's going down the road
to the grands!
Now....if only I could find someone to clean up my mess! :)
PUMPKIN PIE CAKE
Filling:
1 29oz can pumpkin (or one jar of Williams-Sonoma butternut squash)
4 eggs
1 12oz can evaporated milk
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
Topping:
1 box yellow cake mix (or spice cake mix)
2 sticks melted butter (I use only 1 and 1/2 sticks...it's still good!)
1 cup chopped pecans
Mix filling ingredients together. Pour into buttered 9x13x2 baking pan. Sprinkle with chopped pecans. Pour melted butter on top. Bake in preheated oven 350 for about 45 minutes until set and golden. You can serve this with whipped cream or ice cream but it's wonderful just all by itself!
1 comment:
What a fun day baking- love your pumpkin dessert- you are the best
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