Fall and Pumpkin

I love Fall and Pumpkin. You can have one without the other, but why would you? When I was a kid, we had a time of year called Fall. It was the season between "hotter than the surface of the sun" and "Oh, my! There IS water left on the planet." When we moved to a place that had a changing of the seasons, Fall quickly became my favorite. I love the cool nights and all the glorious colors. And most of all, I love the food: fudge, hot chocolate, apples, and pumpkin everything. 

Yesterday, after shopping at Costco and seeing all the delicious pumpkin foods, I came home to make some of my own. I tried two new recipes. The first was a moist pumpkin bread and then I had only 3/4 cup of pumpkin left so I found a custard recipe that used that amount and tried it too! (With only a few changes. :D) I thought I'd share...

The pumpkin bread recipe from Food.com was pretty straight forward, the only change I made was I used brown sugar instead of white, because I was looking for richer flavor. I think I probably cooked it a bit long, as the crust was a little tough, but the inside was delightful! If you like it spicier, I would add more than the recipe calls for, as the spice is very mild. But all in all, a very good flavor and texture.

• 1/2 cup butter (or margarine)
• 1 cup sugar (I used brown)
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 1/2 cups flour 
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 1/2 cup sour cream or 1/2 cup plain yogurt (I used sour cream because it's what I had)
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg (You could also add 1/4 teaspoon of ginger or cloves)
• Cream the butter and sugar together. Stir in the eggs and vanilla. Stir flour, baking soda, and salt together and add to the butter and sugar. Add the pumpkin, sour cream, cinnamon and nutmeg. Stir.
• Bake in a greased load pan at 350 degrees for 1 hour. 
• The second recipe I tried was for pumpkin custard. 

I made a few changes to this one. I don't like canned milk in most things (my cornbread is one exception) so I used 1/2 cup of cream and 1 cup of whole milk. And I substituted arrowroot powder for the cornstarch. For baking it, I don't have custard cups, so I placed it in a 2qt. casserole dish and baked as directed. This one is very delicious, but also not super spicy, so again if you like more of the pumpkin spice flavor, I would add more spices.

• 3/4 cup canned pumpkin puree
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups evaporated skim milk (one 12-ounce can)
• 3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup (packed) light brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the pumpkin, eggs, milk, and vanilla. In another bowl, stir together the brown sugar, cornstarch, spices, and salt and sift into the pumpkin mixture. Stir the batter until combined well and pour into four 3/4-cup custard cups.
3. Place the cups in a 9 X 11-inch baking pan and add enough warm water to come halfway up the sides of the cups. Bake for 50 minutes, or until set and browned lightly. Transfer the custards to a wire rack to cool.

What are your favorite pumpkin recipes? Feel free to share in the comments!! I'm always willing to try new ones. :D

Blessings!