fall

Pumpkin Ale Butterscotch Donuts Recipe

October 30, 2016 by rachelle 13 Comments

Pumpkin Ale Butterscotch Donuts Recipe

Halloween takes me back to high school.

I’m not really sure why. For some reason I always seem to think about my friends, Nick and Alex. They were brothers. They drove a VW bus and had a cocker spaniel that they took everywhere. The bus was adorned with curtains covered in mushrooms, the license plate was attached wtih a ginormous safety (think diaper) pin, and there was a bumper sticker that said, “Because I’m the Mommy, that’s why.”

I’m sure you can understand why I can’t remember the dog’s name or the color of the bus.

Where am I going with this? Beats me. I was just thinking about Halloween and with that my memory always goes back to a time when things were simple. Even though at the time it all seemed complicated. Around Halloween, I always think about a fall day when Nick and Alex (and aforementioned cocker spaniel who I cannot remember the name) rolled into my driveway in their VW bus. They wanted to ride up to the mountains and look at the foliage. Did I want to go? Sure!

Who woudn’t? We picked up a few friends, a few beverages (yes – the boozy kind even though we were in high school – sorry Mom!), and a pack or two of cigarettes – sorry about that too, Mom. No worries – I don’t smoke anymore. Virginia Slims 120’s lost some stock value and I was a lot cooler in 1988.

I can still remember how colorful the trees looked in the distance. I feel the breeze ruffle the leaves and blow my hair as I jumped into that VW bus. I grabbed a smoke and a beer while greeting the dog and I didn’t have a single care in the world. We were off to the mountains in the way of the young in a cloud of innocence.

I’ll never forget it. I’ll always miss it.

Pumpkin Ale and Butterscotch Donuts Recipe

Pumpkin Ale Butterscotch Donuts Recipe

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups cake flour
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 cup buttermilk
2 eggs room temperature and lightly beaten
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup sour cream
1 1/4 cup pumpkin ale beer
1 cup butterscotch chips
3 tablespoons heavy cream

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350
Whisk together flour, brown sugar, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and pumpkin pie spice
In another bowl, combine buttermilk, eggs, vanilla, sour cream, and beer
Add wet ingredients to the dry and stir to combine
Coat 2 donut pans with cooking spray
Spoon donut batter into the pans until not quite full
Bake 16 - 18 minutes or until golden brown
Cool in pans on wire rack for 5 - 6 minutes then turn out onto the rack to cool completely
Combine butterscotch chips and heavy cream in a bowl and microwave for 30 second intervals until smooth and combined without lumps stirring in between
Coat donuts with butterscotch by either dunking them in the bowl or spooning it over the tops

NOTES:

Be careful not to burn your fingers when glazing the donuts as ganache will be hot
You will also want to work quickly because ganache will get thick and harden when it cools, but you can reheat it in the microwave for a few seconds at a time until it warms up again
If the donuts stick to the pan, just use a rubber spatula to go around the edges and they’ll release
This recipe made 24 donuts
This recipe contains alcohol and shouldn’t be served to minors

Pumpkin Spice Whoopie Pies Recipe

October 3, 2016 by rachelle 15 Comments

Pumpkin Spice Whoopie Pies Recipe

Heeeeyyyyyy, pumpkin! Where in tarnation have you been hiding? Well, the truth of the pumpkin matter is that I’m a closet pumpkin eater in all socially unacceptable seasons. We don’t just save it for fall and holidays. Pumpkin in August? Why, yes, I believe I will. Pumpkin pie in July? Sign me up. Pumpkin cookies in February? Be mine.

You get the picture. Don’t judge me.

This pumpkin spice whoopie pie recipe is a regular around these parts. I originally made and posted them a couple of years ago. In AUGUST! OMG! Scandalous!

What was I thinking? I was brand new to blogging then and no one was reading this here website except Lisa, Jennifer, and my mom. They don’t judge. Well, Jennifer totally judges. If there were any negative comments I either didn’t care or forgot about them.

The point is that I did make and publish this recipe a couple of years ago, but I upgraded my website and had a new one designed. I also upgraded my hosting company, which was an excellent idea. Anyhoo, when my original content got transferred to my new site and new host, not all of the photos survived the trip. The Pumpkin Whoopie Pie was one that didn’t make it.

So, we (and as usual, when I say we I really mean me) decided to have a do-over.

And here we are with some new and delicious pumpkin spice whoopie pies. I just have to tell you that they are just as delicious in August as they are in October! Happy Pumpkin Season!

Pumpkin Spice Whoopie Pies Recipe

Ingredients

For the Pumpkin Cakes

1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 can pumpkin 15 ounce
1 stick butter
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

For the Filling

1 8 oz block of cream cheese softened
1 stick butter softened
2 tablespoons vanilla extract
3 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Instructions

For the Pumpkin Cakes

Preheat oven to 350
Beat together sugar, brown sugar, pumpkin, and butter
In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and pumpkin pie spice
Add dry ingredients to the wet and stir to combine
Coat whoopie pie pan with cooking spray
Scoop about 1 tablespoon of the batter into each of the whoopie pie pan cups
Bake 15 - 17 minutes or until done in the middle and golden brown
Cool completely on a wire rack

For the Filling

Add cream cheese and butter to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat until fluffy and combined
Add vanilla extract and powdered sugar and beat slowly at first, then increase speed until combined and smooth

For the Assembly

Scoop about 1 tablespoon of filling on to the flat side of one of the pumpkin cakes then top with the flat side facing filling of another pumpkin cake, repeat

NOTES:

I used my trusty, but not rusty whoopie pie pan for this recipe. If you don’t have one, you can either buy one here or just use a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or a slip mat. Just be sure that you use a measuring spoon or something to make them all even sizes or you’ll have some clumsy looking whoopies. They’ll still be delicious though. And this is not a sponsored or affiliate post, I just love my whoopie pie pan.
I like to chill my cream cheese frosting a little bit after making it to firm it up a bit.
These can either be served immediately or made ahead of time – just refrigerate until about 15 minutes before serving.

Apple Bread Pudding Recipe

September 26, 2016 by rachelle 8 Comments

Apple Bread Pudding Recipe

I’m sure you’ve noticed that this last week has been a rough one here in the Queen City, so I thought we could all use some comfort food. I know I could.

Pudding and bread are definitely two of my go to comfort foods, along with chocolate, potato chips, tater tots, cheese, and wine – does wine count? Yes, I say it does! In the non-food categories there are always my dear old friends over at at General Hospital, along with Dancing With The Stars, Steel Magnolias, and Fried Green Tomatoes to give my heart and spirits a lift. And yes, I’m well aware that there are sad parts in Steel Magnolias, but I love that dang movie and it has a ton of comedy!

As usual, I digress. I thought why not throw some pudding and bread together with all those apples occupying my counters and make some warm cinnamon-y apple bread pudding. Bread pudding isn’t something I make very often, and whenever I do, I wonder why I don’t. Other than the obvious waistline issues. I actually made this recipe a couple of weeks ago when I was putting apples in everything, but today seemed like the right time to share it.

Cheers to some warm comfort food with the hopes that this week is better than last week and that my beautiful home can heal and maintain the greatness that this city of Charlotte truly is.

Apple Bread Pudding Recipe

Ingredients

12 inch piece of French bread cut into 1 1/2 - 2 inch pieces
5 small apples peeled, cored, and roughly chopped into 1/2 inch pieces
2 cups whole milk
5 eggs
1/3 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Instructions

Preheat oven to 325
Coat deep casserole dish with cooking spray
Add bread and apples
Whisk together milk, eggs, sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla
Pour milk mixture over the top of the bread and apples
Toss bread and apples with the milk mixture to coat
Bake 60 65 minutes or until set

NOTES:

This Apple Bread Pudding would also be delicious dressed up with some caramel or whiskey sauce.
Feel free to substitute the types of apples (I used a combination of granny smith and gala because it’s what I had)
Feel free to substitute another type of fruit instead of apples, such as peaches or pears because either of those would be amazing too.

Caramel Apple Baked Donuts Recipe

September 21, 2016 by rachelle 16 Comments

Caramel Apple Baked Donuts Recipe

You had me at caramel. Or donut. Or Caramel Apple Donuts! OMG! Y’all, I do have to say that I’ve made some delicious donuts for this here website, but I think this one might take the cake.

Yes. I went there. I know I’m a total dork.

Don’t judge me.

It’s ok to be dorky because we have made it more than halfway through the week and now we are on the other side sailing in to happy weekend freedom that I hope will be filled with lots of wine, cheat day foods, and unlimited amounts of sleep with no alarm clocks. And Caramel Apple Baked Donuts! You totally need to treat yourself and celebrate fall with these dang donuts. They’re even baked and have real apples in them, so they have to be good for you, right? If not, who cares because helloooooooo weekend and all things enjoyable!

I’m not sure what in tarnation y’all are up to this weekend, but I sure hope it’s relaxing, happy, and full of delicious goodies. Seriously, grab a caramel apple donut, man! I won’t tell anyone. But I may join you!

Caramel Apple Baked Donuts Recipe

Ingredients

2 1/4 cups flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 3/4 cups milk
1 egg lightly beaten
1 cup applesauce - see notes

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350
Coat 2 donut pans with cooking spray
Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt
In a separate bowl combine milk, egg, and applesauce
Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir until just combined
Spoon into prepared donut pans more than 3/4 full but not quite all the way to the top
Bake 23 - 26 minutes
Turn out onto a wire rack to cool
Drizzle with prepared caramel sauce

Notes

I used my own slow cooker homemade applesauce recipe. If you use jarred applesauce from the grocery, you may need to adjust the sweetness and/or seasonings
If the donuts stick in the pans a little bit, just loosen them with a rubber spatula and they should pop right out
This recipe made 24 donuts and I used about 1/3 of a 12 ounce jar of caramel sauce

Easy Caramel Apple Puff Pastry Turnover Recipe

September 13, 2016 by rachelle 14 Comments

Easy Caramel Apple Puff Pastry Turnover Recipe

I have to be honest here. I really really really wish I was still at the beach. I’m sure you can totally get on board with that. Our last trip to Hilton Head for the long Labor Day weekend was one of the most relaxing weekends I’ve had in at least two years.

Granted, the Hilton Head trip was the second beach vacation we had this year and I’m grateful for that. This one was just Chris and me – trust me when I say it was much quieter than the one with most of my entire family and a whole lot of kids.

But sigh… Here we are. Back at work and well on our way through September. And that means apples. I know I’m late to the apple party, but my head is still eating peaches, grilling, and drinking beer on the beach. I’m trying to catch up so how about we try an Easy Slow Cooker Apple Sauce or some Salted Caramel Apples and come on ride this train.

We could also talk about some Easy Caramel Apple Puff Pastry Turnovers if you’d like. Because who in their right mind doesn’t love some caramel apples or puff pastry or just make you some caramel apples and stuff them right into a puff pastry, seal all that deliciousness up in here, and bake it in the oven. Y’all will absolutely want to be sure to save some of that caramel cinnamon buttery cooking sauce to ~~drown~~ drizzle over the top of all that warm and cozy apple stuffed pastry because it just wouldn’t be the same with out it. Seriously, who doesn’t love some caramel-y goodness on the inside and the outside of a caramel apple turnover?

You better get started. It’s going to be breakfast soon!

5 from 1 vote

Easy Caramel Apple Puff Pastry Turnover Recipe

Ingredients

5 small to medium apples peeled, cored, and roughly chopped into about 1/4 inch pieces - I used gala and granny smith
1/3 cup sugar plus 1 teaspoon to sprinkle before baking
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
pinch of nutmeg
1/4 cup water
1 tablespoon butter
2 puff pastry sheets 1 17.3 box, thawed
1 egg lightly beaten
1 tablespoon cornstarch
pinch of salt

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400
Combine apples, sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, water, and butter in a Dutch oven and bring to a boil, reduce heat to simmer
Make a well in the center of liquid and whisk in cornstarch until dissolved
Continue to cook until softened to fork tender, but not mushy, set aside to cool slightly
Roll out pastry dough to 2 even squares and cut each piece into 4 equal squares
Transfer 2 tablespoons of the apple mixture onto each pastry square - bring very little of the liquid to prevent leaking and soggy dough and reserve the remaining liquid for a finishing drizzle
Fold each square into a triangle
Use a pastry brush to lightly coat the top of each triangle with the egg
Use a fork to lightly press the edges together
Evenly sprinkle each turnover with the remaining teaspoon of sugar
Bake for 15 - 17 minutes or until golden brown
Cool on a wire rack and serve warm or at room temperature
Drizzle with remaining caramel sauce right before serving

Easy Slow Cooker Homemade Apple Sauce Recipe

September 12, 2016 by rachelle 13 Comments

Easy Slow Cooker Homemade Applesauce Recipe

It’s apple season, yo!

I know that apple sauce isn’t the most sexy way to start out the week, but it’s a delicious and totally simple recipe that can be thrown together in a slow cooker. When you come home from work, school, soccer practice, car pool, all those places you have to be or whatever is keeping you busy, there will be the most beautiful fall cinnamon, nutmeg, and apple aroma welcoming you home when you walk in the door.

It’s like a potpourri for the nose and the soul.

Peeling all these apples lately reminded me of Sleepless in Seattle and how the mom and the Meg Ryan characters both could peel an apple all the way and keep it in one piece. I tried and tried. I’m not sure what in tarnation their secrets were, but I am completely incapable of peeling an apple in one fell swoop. If you have the secret to crack this code, I’d be most grateful if you could share the secret decoder ring with me because my life’s ambition lately is to master this skill. I want to ninja this dang apple peeling situation.

I usually just use a paring knife to peel apples, but every time I do I remember this contraption my gram had that was just a crank thing that you put the apple on and it would spin while pulling the peel off all in one piece. Whish I had that dang thang these days. Ummm, no that wasn’t a typo I meant to say thang. I have no idea why, but we’re going with it. k? So, anyhoo, we’re all about the apples here these days, so any help with peeling would be totally appreciated. Any takers? Didn’t think so. No judgments.

Easy Slow Cooker Homemade Apple Sauce

Ingredients

8 small to medium apples peeled cored, and cut into 1/4 inch slices - I used 4 each gala and granny smith
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
pinch of nutmeg
1 cup water

Instructions

Combine all ingredients in a slow cooker
Cook on low 7 - 8 hours, until very soft
Mash with a potato masher until desired texture is reached
Serve warm or at room temperature

Pumpkin Beer Risotto

October 30, 2015 by rachelle 32 Comments

Happy Friday, Y’all! Before we get into all that I have to ~~ramble on about~~ tell you, I have to explain that I’ve got a bit behind on things with this here website – I’m looking at you, Jennifer – after all you are my most loyal ~~stalker~~ friend!

The truth of the matter is we’ve had a bit of family troubles. Chris’s dad has been in the hospital. He’s a widower and lives alone now. We’ve spent a lot of time in the evenings driving 45 minutes to his house to take care of things and check the mail, then going 1.5 hours away on the weekends to visit. The good news is that there is some progress, and hopefully he’ll be home soon. And I’m kind of exhausted.

My public service announcement here is: please get your estate planning documents in place. That’s it.From your friendly neighborhood attorney.

So, moving on to Pumpkin Beer Risotto! We are just hours away from Halloween, so pumpkin is required. However…..

I have to confess and do the FULL DISCLOSURE here…

I actually do not like Halloween. It’s creepy. I can’t stand the Monster Mash and scary movies make me suck my thumb and hide under the covers. Don’t even ask me about that dang clown from Poltergeist. The original one.

Call me a buzz kill or a party pooper, but I’m totally afraid of the dark and I DO NOT like scary stuff. Seriously, that stuff keeps me awake for months! Sometimes years! Ok. We’ll talk about it. Poltergeist clown – I’m so scared of you! I can’t get out of my bed in the middle of the night without thinking about that murderous clown under the bed. I used to do a run-fly-jump into the bed when I had to get up in the night. Chris would fly 2 feet into the air and be all “damn chick!” but now I have a flashlight. Just like Jennifer’s 8 year old son. Yay me!

I’ve talked about this ridiculousness before, but it was back when only my mom and Jennifer were reading this here website. So, y’all probably are not quite as informed as they are about my ~~hot mess issues~~ sensitivities.

Seriously, the only things about Halloween I like are the candy, pumpkins, and Hocus Pocus! Amuk! Amuk! Amuk!

Pumpkin Beer Risotto

Ingredients

2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 shallot diced
2 cloves garlic minced
1 cup arborio rice
1 12 ounce bottle pumpkin ale - I used Southern Tier Pumpking
4 cups chicken stock
1/2 can 15 ounce can of pure pumpkin puree
1 cup grated parmesan additional for topping

Instructions

Melt butter into olive oil over medium heat
Pour chicken stock into a pot and heat on low, keep warm
Add shallot, cook for 1-2 minutes
Add garlic, cook another 1 minute
Add rice, cook and stir until coated, and cook another 2 minutes
Pour in beer and cook until absorbed, about 1 - 2 - minutes
Add chicken stock 1/2 cup at a time, make sure absorbed before next addition, before last 2 additions, add pumpkin and stir until combined. Keep adding chicken stock until all is absorbed and rice is creamy
Stir in parmesan
Garnish with parmesan

Roasted Butternut Squash, Pumpkin, and Carrot Soup

October 23, 2015 by rachelle 32 Comments

Have I ever told you how back in high school a nun almost busted me for smoking behind the school?

Yeah. I didn’t think so. Sorry, Mom! I don’t think I ever told you either! Ummm…. probably because I valued my life?

True story. I went to this very small Catholic high school in the middle of nowhere. Seriously, there was a total of 39 kids in my graduating class. And there wasn’t a lot to do in this little place, so you can imagine how we had to make our own fun.

This little school clearly trusted us too much. We had a senior lounge down in the basement by the cafeteria. It had couches, a television, and a coke machine. We were allowed to hang out there during lunch and study hall. SENIORS ONLY! It was totally isolated in the afternoon which just opened the door to teenage shenanigans. We used to sneak out all the time. Most of us had cars, so we would all jump in someone’s car and take off to scandalous places like Wendy’s, the pizza joint or the corner store. Although the corner store is where we bought our smokes.

Right. I was confessing about smoking. So, my friend Mary Beth and I were hanging out in the senior lounge. And because high school is soooooo dang hard we decided we needed a smoke break. There wasn’t enough time before our next class to actually get in the car, fire up a couple of Virginia Slims menthol foot-longs, drive around the block, and head back to school.

Well, of course we did the next best thing. We snuck out the back door of the cafeteria, fired up the foot-longs, leaned our tired selves against the building in our plaid skirts, cardigans, knee socks, and penny loafers, and blew out a plume of smoke in satisfaction. Ahhhhhh!

Then the door opened.

Fortunately, we had the good sense to be on the side of the door that hid us behind it as it opened. And thank goodness that Sister Celeste was about 100 years old and kind of….well, old? We saw her black habit peek out the door, sniff the air, give a hmmp, and go back inside. You can imagine the relief we felt.

Ahhhh. High school. There’s just something about the fall, pumpkins and butternuts, football season, and cooler weather that just sends me back in time to the days of innocence (ok not so innocent?) and carefree comfort of having no responsibilities. The perfect time of year for silly memories and comforting soup.

P.S. Dont’t judge me. Y’all will be glad to know that I no longer smoke Virginia Slims foot-longs or any other carcinogen.

Soup Draft

Ingredients

2 small pie pumpkins
1 butternut squash
3-4 large carrots
2 onions
3-4 tablespoons olive oil
4 cups chicken or vegetable stock
3-4 cups water
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon ginger
salt and white pepper to taste
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 cups heavy cream plus another 1/4 cup or so for serving
pistachios and sour cream to garnish optional

Pumpkin Creme Brulee

October 1, 2015 by rachelle 30 Comments

Happy Fall Y’all!

Seriously? OMG! My sincerest apologies. I know how corny that was and I’m pretty sure I saw that phrase painted on a wooden block in a cluttered up dust collector (A.K.A. knick knack) store or maybe on a magnet somewhere. I just couldn’t help myself because my crazy enthusiasm for the pumpkin makes me kinda bonkers.

Let’s rephrase…..

Happy October! I just get so totally excited every year in October because it becomes socially acceptable (FINALLY) to cook, bake, and do all things fun with pumpkin!

Now, please don’t misunderstand me here. I LOVE LOVE LOVE every single thing about pumpkin! I’m completely guilty of baking with it all year long. In fact, I also sometimes confess publicly to this lawless misconduct and published Pumpkin Whoopie Pies on this here website back in August of 2014. I also shared a Pumpkin Soup in February of this year.

I’m such a rebel.

I have never been a rule follower and I’m socially unacceptable on a disturbingly regular basis. It was difficult to restrain myself from going rogue and posting pumpkin recipes on the 4th of July, and I had a lot of built up pumpkin neglect frustration, so I needed something ridiculous and epic.

Pumpkin Creme Brulee was how I rolled.

Happy Fall, Y’all! Hehehe

Pumpkin Creme Brulee

Ingredients

2 cups heavy cream
2 tablespoons vanilla bean paste
1 can pumpkin
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
3/4 cups sugar plus a couple of tablespoons more for finishing
8 egg yolks

Instructions

Preheat oven to 300
Heat cream over low heat, add vanilla, pumpkin and spices, bring to simmer, remove from heat and set aside and let cool slightly
Whisk together egg yolks and sugar - it will become a light yellow color
Add 1/2 cup of the cream to eggs, whisking constantly
Continue to add cream 1/2 cup at a time, while whisking constantly
Microwave water in measuring cup to boiling or boil on stove top
Set ramekins in a baking dish, transfer custard to ramekins (I used a large measuring cup for easy pouring), set dish on oven rack, pour water in baking dish halfway up sides of ramekins
Bake at 300 30 - 40 minutes, depending on size of your ramekins
Carefully remove the ramekins (I used a large spatula) and cool completely on a wire rack
Refrigerate overnight
Remove from refrigerator about 30 minutes prior to serving
Just before serving sprinkle evenly with a thin coating of sugar - I used about 1 1/2 tablespoons for each one, but you can make it thicker or thinner if you want
Using a kitchen torch, melt the sugar until it forms a thick crust
Serve immediately

Notes: The custard mixture made 4 cups of liquid prior to baking. I only had 4 large shallow ramekins, so I had some leftover and just pour it into pudding cups. It would have made 6 if I had more ramekins – note to self – buy more ramekins!

fall

Pumpkin Ale Butterscotch Donuts Recipe

Ingredients

Instructions

Pumpkin Spice Whoopie Pies Recipe

Ingredients

For the Pumpkin Cakes

For the Filling

Instructions

For the Pumpkin Cakes

For the Filling

For the Assembly

Apple Bread Pudding Recipe

Ingredients

Instructions

Caramel Apple Baked Donuts Recipe

Ingredients

Instructions

Easy Caramel Apple Puff Pastry Turnover Recipe

Ingredients

Instructions

Easy Slow Cooker Homemade Apple Sauce

Ingredients

Instructions

Pumpkin Beer Risotto

Ingredients

Instructions

Soup Draft

Ingredients

Pumpkin Creme Brulee

Ingredients

Instructions

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