Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bundt - Get ready for National Bundt Day!

Hello!

Just a quick post to tell you to grab your favorite Bundt pan! It's National Bundt Day on November 15th. You know me, I Like Big Bundts and I Cannot Lie!

Here's the Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bundt Cake that I adapted from Love & Olive Oil's blog. If you want more ideas of what to bake, check out my I Like Big Bundts page for inspiration.





I was out of milk so I used evaporated milk. Also, I used Pumpkin Pie Spice rather than cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves spices.
 

Recipe: Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bundt Cake
Adapted from Love and Olive Oil (Original Recipe)

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice (Trader Joe's)
1 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 (15 oz) can pumpkin puree (not pie filling)
2 eggs, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup evaporated milk (original recipe called for 1/2 cup whole milk but I didn't have any in the house at the time)
1 cup mini semisweet chocolate chips

Ganache Topping:
6 ounces (3/4 cup) heavy cream
6 ounces chocolate chips

Directions for Bundt Cake:
1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Prepare a 12-cup Bundt pan with baking spray or butter and flour.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices.
3. In a stand mixer, cream sugar and butter until light and fluffy, about 2-4 minutes.
4. Add eggs, one at a time. Beat well.
5. Add pumpkin and vanilla. Beat well. It may look curdled, don't worry.
6. With the mixer on low, add flour mixture in three additions, alternating with two additions of milk.
7. Fold in chocolate chips.
8. Spoon batter into Bundt pan and smooth out. Baked 45-55 minutes until toothpick comes out clean.
9. Cool on wire rack for 30 minutes and then invert to cool completely.
10. When completely cooled, glaze with ganache.

Directions for Ganache:
1. Heat heavy cream until it barely simmers.
2. Pour over chocolate chips. Let sit for 1-2 minutes.
3. With a whisk, slowly mix together until everything is melted and smooth.
4. Let sit until pourable or spreadable consistency (depending on how you like your glaze) and spread on the cooled Bundt.


Some of my favorite Bundt pans:

Pumpkin Muffins with Cream Cheese Filling!

Pumpkin Muffins with Cream Cheese Filling!

Happy Halloween!

Here's a muffin that fits in with the season! (Unless you are in Los Angeles right now and experiencing huge Santa Ana winds and lots of heat).


Cidney the Girl Dog is going to be a Bumble Bee. Yes, there is even a little video. Yes, I'm obsessed. But let's move onto the muffin.


This muffin has pumpkin.
This muffin has cream cheese.
This muffin has a streusel topping.

What's not to love?

The muffin was moist, but I think I can get away with a smidgen less oil. Next time I'll try that and let you know.

These were really loved at my meeting...you should treat your co-workers to some!

Happy Halloween!



Pumpkin-Cream Cheese Streusel Muffins
Recipe from MyRecipes.com (Julia Dowling Rutland, Coastal Living, April 2013)

Cream Cheese Filling:
8 ounces cream cheese, softened (one block)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup (100 grams) sugar

Streusel Topping:
1/2 cup (100 grams) sugar
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
4 Tablespoons butter, cold

Muffins:
1 3/4 cups sugar
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tablespoon pumpkin pie spice (original recipe: 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves, 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg)
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 (15-ounce) can pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)
1 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup milk (I used low-fat milk)

1. Preheat oven to 375°. Prep muffin tins with paper liners - this recipe makes 24 muffins.
2. Cream cheese filling: Mix together cream cheese, vanilla extract, and 1/2 cup sugar in a medium bowl. Set aside.
3. Streusel topping: Combine 1/2 cup sugar, 1/3 cup flour, and 1 teaspoon cinnamon in a small bowl. Using a pastry blender or a fork, cut in the butter until large crumbs form. Place in refrigerator until needed.
4. Muffins: In a large bowl, whisk together 3 cups flour, 1 3/4 cups sugar, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, and salt. In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, pumpkin, oil, and milk. Fold egg/pumpkin mixture into flour mixture until just moist. Don't overmix!
5. Spoon batter muffin pan, 1/2 way to top. Dollop about 1 tablespoon cream cheese mixture in center of batter (I used a small cookie scoop), and top evenly with remaining batter until muffin is 3/4 full. Sprinkle top with streusel mixture.
6. Bake 20 to 23 minutes until toothpick comes out clean. Remove from pans; cool on a wire rack.

Easy Pumpkin Muffins

 

Pumpkin Muffins

It's Fall.

It actually rained in Los Angeles today!
Of course, we are expecting it to be 95 degrees on Saturday.

But the calendar says "Fall" so I'm diving into pumpkin 24/7.

How have you been? I think this blog is still turned on. I've been really busy lately and had some losses - don't worry, not deaths. My best friend moved 3,000 miles away and my boss of 9 years left for another library system. Very sad times. Oh, and it was 1000000000 degrees in Los Angeles for weeks so I didn't want to turn on the stove to experiment and try new recipes. I was still baking some mornings...but many of the same items I can make in my sleep - scones, brownies, cookies and Texas Sheet Cake.

Last week, on October 1st, it was the start of my pumpkin season. Here are some super easy pumpkin muffins via Smitten Kitchen who adapted it from American club, in Kohler, Wisconsin via Gourmet Magazine. It's an easy pumpkin muffin with a light dusting of cinnamon/sugar.

Pumpkin Muffins
1 1/2 cups (210 grams) all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
2 teaspoon pumpkin-pie spice
1 1/3 cup canned solid-pack pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)
1/3 cup vegetable or canola oil
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 1/4 cups (250 grams) sugar

Topping:
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon

1. Place 12 cupcake liners (or spray with baking spray) in a muffin tin.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and pumpkin pie pie.
4. In a medium bowl, whisk together pumpkin, oil, eggs and sugar.
5. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and fold together until just combined. Don't overmix!
6. Dish batter into muffin tin.
7. Mix together the topping ingredients: sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle over each muffin - you'll probably have leftover, I didn't use it all.
8. Bake 25 to 30 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.
9. Remove from oven and let cool in the pan for 5 minutes. Remove the muffins onto a cooling rack. Enjoy!

Pumpkin Cupcake with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting

Pumpkin Cupcake with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting

Oh, Pumpkin. The best time of the year.
Well, until Peppermint season comes around.
So, let's enjoy pumpkin season with these "Pumpkin Snack Cake baked in Cupcake cups and topped with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting." Kinda a long name, but that's what this is. It's not a true cupcake (which I feel should be lighter) - it's has a denser consistency. Not that that's bad! I love snack cakes...thus, with the muffin/snack cake texture, this is perfect 24 hours/day - including breakfast!

This cake uses a whole can of pumpkin - very pumpkin-y flavor. I've made it as a snack cake, but the cupcakes are easy to bake and serve. And they look all pretty!

The recipe is adapted from Everyday Food from the Martha Stewart empire (I really miss this cooking magazine) and it was baked on the PBS Everyday Food show back in the day.

The consistency is more snack cake/muffin. I like that in a pumpkin cake - you should taste and feel the pumpkin!

I made a Maple Syrup Cream Cheese Frosting. The original recipe had honey but I used maple syrup instead and added some powdered sugar to stiffen it so it was "pipeable" (that's totally a word, right?)

A lot of non-bakers don't believe me, but it is so much faster to pipe frosting with a big tip than spread it with a butter knife or offset spatula. I use disposable plastic piping bags and that makes it super easier.

As you can see, I'm kinda crazy about pumpkin and Trader Joe's is too! Have you tried the Pumpkin O's? I'm addicted. And that Pumpkin Brittle? OMG. So good. To tell the you truth, I was going to break off pieces of the brittle and put it on the frosting...but I didn't want to use all the brittle! (sorry co-workers). I love the Pop-Tarts and Pumpkin Butter every year. Oh, and the Pumpkin Mochi Ice Cream? YUM. The Pita Crisps aren't life changing - I'm going to skip them next time. I haven't tried the soup yet.

Celebrate Pumpkin Season by making these pumpkin treats!

Pumpkin Cupcake with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting
Adapted from: Everyday Food Pumpkin Spice Cake with Honey Frosting

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
2 1/2 cups (350 grams) all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon pumpkin-pie spice (I used Trader Joe's Pumpkin Pie Spice). The original recipe says you can also use: 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon, 3/4 teaspoon ginger, 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg, and 1/8 teaspoon each allspice and cloves)
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups (300 grams) sugar
1 can (15 ounces) solid-pack pumpkin puree (I used Trader Joe's organic pumpkin puree)

Frosting
1 stick (4 ounces or 1/2 cup) butter, softened
1 block (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
3 Tablespoons maple syrup

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prep muffin tin with liners. I got 17 muffins from this recipe. (Original recipe bakes in a 9-inch square pan).
2. In a large, whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, and spices.
3. In a medium, whisk together eggs, sugar, butter, and pumpkin puree until combined.
4. Fold together the wet and dry ingredients until combined. Don't overmix.
5. Fill muffin cups. I use an ice cream scoop.
6. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean. 25-30 minutes. Cool completely before frosting.

Frosting
1. In a mixer with paddle attachment, cream the butter and cream cheese together until well blended.
2. Add maple syrup and powdered sugar and blend until smooth.
3. Pipe or spread on the cupcakes.

Soft Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Soft Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Have you looked at a calendar lately? Can you believe it is almost October? HOW DID THAT HAPPEN?

Luckily for me, my work has a calendar that extends September. "What?" you ask? Look for yourselves below...

You had one job. How many days in September?

The making of the cookies. These are not very sweet, but nicely spiced and pumpkin-y.

When I heard Starbucks brought back the Pumpkin Spice Latte a little early this year, Los Angeles was in a heat wave...we ended up with the hottest summer EVER. Like...we were inches from the sun hot. But I turned to my co-workers and said, "You guys okay with me starting the pumpkin stuff now?" They said yes (big shock there ;). But then I even couldn't bake with pumpkin because it was too hot in the kitchen. So finally, I baked these at 4 am with the fan going so I didn't melt along with the butter.

Recipe: Soft Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 1/2 cups (350 grams) all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
3/4 cup (150 grams) granulated sugar
3/4 cup (150 grams) light or dark brown sugar
1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, softened
1 cup pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling) - I used Libby's Pumpkin
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

Prep: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line trays with parchment paper or Silpat.
1. Combine flour, baking soda & powder, spice, and salt in a bowl and whisk together. Set aside.
2. Using a mixer with paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugars together until light and fluffy.
3. Add the pumpkin, egg and vanilla and mix until well blended. If it looks a bit curdled, that's fine.
4. With the mixer on low, slowly add the flour mixture and beat until just about all blended.
5. Fold in the chocolate chips.
6. Drop cookies onto baking trays and bake for 15-18 minutes (depending on the size of your cookies and your oven) until the edges are firm and bottom is golden. I scooped 12 cookies onto a half-sheet tray.
7. Let sit on tray for a couple minutes and then move to a cooling rack. Enjoy these soft pumpkin chocolate chip cookies!

Pumpkin Sheet Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Pumpkin Sheet Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

I saw these Pumpkin Bars on Kitchen Runway's blog and knew they would be a perfect into to autumn foods. This recipe is super easy - it's like a Texas Sheet Cake (one of my favorite treats to make) but with Pumpkin and Cream Cheese Frosting.

Be sure to read Kitchen Runway's post...you'll see who got a little bite of the cake! :)

Baked in a half-sheet pan, it cooks quickly. You'll need to cool the cake before frosting (unlike the Texas Sheet Cake that has a warm frosting poured over a warm cake).

The resulting cake is soft and light. You can eat this for breakfast, lunch and dinner. And why wouldn't you do that? ;)

It's Fall. It's also Time for Dodger Baseball! I'm here shouting: GO DODGERS!

The Dodgers always hold a special place in my heart, since they've been my hometown team forever. It's an exciting time for the team, especially after the years of terrible Frank McCourt ownership. Go Dodgers!

I love my offset spatula. It's a must-have in the kitchen. I have a bunch of them (bought a few at the restaurant supply place for the kid's cake decorating party), and use them all the time.

Updated: I also made this in a 9 x 13 pan. You'll get a taller cake, and baking time is about 30 minutes.

Pumpkin Sheet Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
Adapted from Kitchen Runway who adapted Paula Deen's recipe.
I reduced the amount of sugar and used a pumpkin pie spice blend instead of cinnamon and nutmeg.

Cake:
4 large eggs
1 1/2 cups (300 grams) sugar
1 cup (200 grams by weight) canola oil
15 ounces pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie mix)
1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups (280 grams) all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 Tablespoon pumpkin pie spice (I used Trader Joe's Pumpkin Pie Spice that has cinnamon, ginger, lemon peel, nutmeg, cloves and cardamon)
1 teaspoon salt

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour or spray with Pam with Flour a half-sheet tray (18" x 13")
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugar, oil, pumpkin pie puree, and vanilla.
3. In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder & soda, spices and salt.
4. Slowly add the flour mixture into the pumpkin. Stir to combine until completely blended.
5. Pour into tray and spread evenly in pan.
6. Bake for 20 minutes until toothpick inserted into cake comes out clean.
7. Place on wire rack and let cool.

Frosting:
8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature
2 cups (6 ounces) sifted powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

1. Using a mixer with paddle attachment or an electric mixture, blend the cream cheese and butter together until smooth.
2. Gradually add the powdered sugar.
3. Add the vanilla. Blend until complete mixed.
4. Using an offset spatula, spread frosting over cooled cake.

Pumpkin Spice Bundt - Day #10 of Food Librarian's I Like Big Bundts 3

Pumpkin Spice Bundt

I Like Big Bundts - Day #10

Whoo Hoo! 1/3 done! It's Day #10 of my third I Like Big Bundts celebration! We are only 20 days away from National Bundt Day on November 15th.

You probably see lots of pumpkin (fresh and canned) in the stores now...so why not make a pumpkin bundt?! This one is very soft and has a nice fall spice collection.

This recipe is from the beautiful book, The Art & Soul of Baking by Sur la Table and Cindy Mushet. The original recipe makes a round cake with Maple Cream Cheese frosting...but isn't a Bundt just better?! :) I glazed it with a powdered sugar, milk and vanilla mixture of goodness.

Man, I can eat pumpkin food every day. In Los Angeles, we don't really have "fall" weather or changing leaves (palm trees don't change colors) so we need to use foods as seasonal indicators. I think kids know the seasons when Starbucks Pumpkin Lattes are available.

Isn't this a pretty Bundt pan? It's one of my favorites - Bavarian Nordic Ware Pan. Just be sure to spray it very very well with Pam with Flour, or make sure you grease and flour the pan thoroughly.

Yes, you guessed it, come back tomorrow for yet another Bundt!  - mary the food librarian

Recap of I Like Big Bundts 3:
Day #1: Buttercake Bakery's Marble Bundt Cake
Day #2: Lemon Bliss Bundt
Day #3: Double-Chocolate Bundt Cake with Ganache Glaze
Day #4: Spice Bundt Cake with Brown Butter Vanilla Bean Glaze
Day #5: Gingery Pumpkin Breakfast Bundt
Day #6: Maida Heatter's Budapest Coffee Cake Bundt
Day #7: Dark Chocolate Bundt
Day #8: Banana Chocolate Chip Bundt
Day #9: Apple Spice Bundt

Recipe: Click here for printable recipe

Bundt Pan:  Bavarian Nordic Ware Pan

Sweet Potato (not) Pumpkin Biscuits - Tuesdays with Dorie

For this week's Tuesdays with Dorie selection, Erin of Prudence Pennywise selected Sweet Potato Biscuits, page 26 of Dorie's book, Baking: From My Home to Yours. Be sure to check out Erin's blog...it is lively and fun!

I messed up and ATE my sweet potato. Yes, I ate it! I had baked some up for a Bundt and wasn't thinking when I was seduced by the fall scent of fresh yams/sweet potatoes (I forgot which ones I purchased!) and ate the remaining sweet potato.

So, I used leftover canned pumpkin instead. I made 1/4 of this recipe.

They were easy to make, but I think I should have added more sweetness to the mix. Dorie's recipe uses canned sweet potatoes, but I was going to use fresh. Since sweet potato is sweeter than pumpkin (as the name implies...hee hee), I should have added more sugar.

I didn't have a biscuit cuter and since I'm pretty square, I made them in my likeness. Yes, nerd biscuits by someone who ate her ingredient.

I'll have to try these again with the proper ingredients and cutting utensils. In the meantime, why don't you go visit some fellow Tuesdays with Dorie bakers and see how they made out?

And if you have time, visit the rest of my blog for my crazy baking adventure. I cannot lie. I Like Big Bundts and am making 30 Bundt cakes leading up to National Bundt Day, November 15th. Today, I'm posting a Sweet Potato Bundt from Paula Deen!

Recipe:
Sweet Potato Biscuits, page 26, Dorie's book, Baking: From My Home to Yours.
Erin's blog of Prudence Pennywise

Pumpkin-Apple Spiced Bundt Cake - Day #3 of I Like Big Bundts

Day 3 of I Like Big Bundts: 30 Days of Bundt Cakes

Thanks to my friend JustJenn of JustJennDesigns (check out her great stationery!) for making the logo!

It's Day 3 of I Like Big Bundts: 30 Days of Bundt Cakes...and today it's a yummy fall treat! For those just joining me on this crazy baking endeavour, I'm making 30 days of Bundts leading up to November 15th - National Bundt Day.

And, please people, I'm not just doing this for my health! ;) I'm hoping to inspire you to make a Bundt cake! Let me know if you do...Mary Ann of Meet Me in the Kitchen and Maria of Two Peas and their Pod both made Bundts this weekend!

I met Amy of StreamingGourmet at the Foodbuzz Open House and BlogHer Food in San Francisco. She is posting 31 days of pumpkin recipes on her blog! You have to check it out and I'm sure you'll get lots of ideas.

I, of course, was drawn to the Bundt cake: Pumpkin-Apple Spiced Bundt Cake!

I used two cups of granny smith apples...diced into small bite-sized pieces.

Don't worry if the mix gets a bit curdled. It'll all come together in the end.

See? All came together! Yum. Fall in a Bundt pan.

Apple and pumpkin. Friends forever.
This cake is delicious.
Hands down.
Make this cake!

It is light, moist, full of fall flavors and Not. Too. Sweet. With "only" 1 cup of sugar, the flavors of the pumpkin and apple aren't overwhelmed by sweetness.

See you back here tomorrow and every day from now til National Bundt Day (November 15th) for another Bundt! - mary the food librarian

Recipe:
Pumpkin-Apple Spiced Bundt Cake
from StreamingGourmet blog

I Like Big Bundts recap:
The Beginning: The Food Librarian cannot tell a lie, I Like Big Bundts
Day 1: Pumpkin Spice Bundt with Buttermilk Icing
Day 2: Chocolate-Cinnamon Bundt Cake with Mocha Icing

(Edited to fix the name of Amy's blog! Sorry about that. Her great blog is called StreamingGourmet. Check it out!)

Pumpkin Spice Bundt with Buttermilk Icing - Day #1 of I Like Big Bundts

Bundt #1

As we begin Day 1 of I Like Big Bundts: 30 Days of Bundt Cakes, let me point out why the Bundt pan rocks my world. Here are just a few reasons:

1. Cake : Frosting ratio
I love cake. I don't like frosting. Thus, the Bundt has the perfect ratio of cake to frosting.

2. "Divide batter between cake pans" and "Rotate pans" doesn't exist
I'm horrible at getting equal quantities of cake batter in those 9" round pans. I bring out the scale and do it by weight...but who has the time for that at 4:30 am? With the Bundt, you just pop the batter into the pan, smooth out the top and you are ready to go. And no rotating...it just goes in the center of the oven. Yes, the Bundt puts the Ahhhh in Awesome.

3. You can pass it off as a breakfast food
You know how people think Pop Tarts are breakfast foods? (yes, this breaks the hearts of nutritionists, but work with me here as I build upon that fallacy). With a Bundt cake, people associate it with a coffee cake (obviously a breakfast food...it has the word Coffee in it!) and other tea cakes. So have a bite 24/7...it's okay.

I can go on and on. And I will during the next 29 days, so I have to save some of them for later!

So, let's get to the inaugural Bundt!

This recipe is from the (weep) recently departed Gourmet magazine (November 2005 issue).

Super easy to pull together, this recipe uses canned pumpkin (have you secured your stash during this pumpkin shortage?), butter, buttermilk (as the name implies!) and the spices are cinnamon and allspice (if you are a Tuesdays with Dorie baker, you should have some left from the recent Allspice Muffin!)

The result is a really soft and moist cake. It got thumbs up at the library and I hope you enjoy it as well.

The icing is light (buttermilk and powdered sugar) and provides a nice bit of sweetness, but it can be skipped if you want. A quick dust of powdered sugar would suffice as well.

Remember, come back every day from now til National Bundt Day, November 15th for another Bundt! - mary the food librarian

Recipe:
Pumpkin Spice Bundt with Buttermilk Icing
from Epicurious (Gourmet, November 2005)

Thanks to my friend JustJenn of JustJennDesigns (check out her great stationery!) for making the logo!