Pumpkin Bars with Cream Cheese Icing

The other day I was chatting to the staff at my son's playgroup when pumpkins came up. We were discussing how true jack'o'lanterns are made from swedes/turnips/rutabagas NOT pumpkins. We who have only ever carved pumpkins have no appreciation for the blood (literally) shed for the creation of these Hallowe'en lanterns in years gone by, now a dying art since pumpkins flood the Scottish shops  in October. I did confess I tend to carve pumpkins out of interest for my children's safety and because you can cook a lot more tasty things with a pumpkin than you can from a turnip. The staff nodded, but then they confessed they had never actually eaten any pumpkin apart from pumpkin seeds. I decided this was no good, that something had to be done.

The easiest solution was these: Pumpkin bars. Easy to throw together, and generally popular with everyone (apart, perhaps, from anyone with a dairy allergy). I first had them when a friend brought some along to another playgroup and immediately asked for the recipe. I'll warn you though, it's Paula Deen....



She's made some not-so-great choices, I know, but she does have some good recipes. Well, I've heard she does, I think I've only tried this one and maybe one other one sometime. I did once gag when I looked at a few of her other ones. So...much...oil...and...sugar...

Speaking of which, you start this one off with some oil and sugar. And this is what it looks like when you've finally run out of your huge Costco bag of sugar and need to throw in some brown sugar.

Some Lidl eggs went in . Then a whole can of pumpkin. I really like that the recipe uses a whole can, so I don't have a partial can taking up space in my fridge/freezer, demanding I organise its use before it grows something/gets frostbite. Alternatively, you could steam, puree, and drain your lantern after hallowe'en and use roughly the same amount as a can of Libby's. Your choice!

Last, but not least, in went some flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Costco cinnamon is the best. Really. It's amazing. Go get some now. NOW.

Then in it went into my lined 9 X 13 pan. I love this pan, it makes American recipes possible on a regular basis.

It came out looking like this, then sank a bit, but I didn't care because the knife came out clean which means no one will get food poisoning. 

The icing was a simple mix of a tub of cream cheese (about 180g I think), with roughly the same amount of butter (more butter is required in the UK as we can't get firm blocks of cream cheese here), a splash of vanilla, and perhaps just short of a cup of powdered sugar (though the recipe called for 2 cups) all put into a food processor at room temperature and pulsed until smooth-ish. I then put it in a freezer bag, cut off the corner, and squirted blobs onto the cooled squares.

The staff said I was most welcome to bring these in again, anytime. And another friend who also sampled a portion asked for the recipe too, so Paula Deen, we salute you. 

Ingredients (adapted)

Bars:
4 eggs
1 2/3 cups granulated sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
15 -ounce can pumpkin
2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
Icing:
8 -ounce package cream cheese, softened
7 oz cup butter , softened
1 cup sifted confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F/180C

Using an electric mixer at medium speed, combine the eggs, sugar, oil and pumpkin until light and fluffy. Stir together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt and baking soda. Add the dry ingredients to the pumpkin mixture and mix at low speed until thoroughly combined and the batter is smooth. Spread the batter into a greased 13 by 10-inch baking pan. Bake for 30 minutes. Let cool completely before frosting. Cut into bars.

To make the icing: Combine ingredients in food processor and pulse until smooth. 

Passionfruit Cheesecake

I have loved passionfruit from an early age. This is not exactly shocking information, as I have met few who aren't impressed by its intense acidic, almost perfumed flavour. My own love affair began in my grandmother's garden, for there she grew a sizeable passionfruit vine, a luxury that seems too incredible to fathom. Each year she would carefully wait until the fruit had wrinkled enough to show it was at its peak flavour, then she would scoop out the inside, adding ample sugar to further enhance the flavour, and then can it in small glass jars. These we would wrap carefully and pack into our suitcases to come back across the Pacific Ocean, so that when we were looking for a taste of heaven we could add a spoonful to a scoop of simple vanilla ice cream and thus transform it into something worthy of royalty.

I still get excited whenever I see anything with passionfruit flavour, and I have noticed that Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood always give thumbs up to any dessert given to them that contains this marvellous fruit. The only real drawback is its expense - you can't exactly grow it in Scotland, and it is quite pricey if you need the dozen or so fruit required for any recipe.

Sometimes, you just have to treat yourself. My eye had always been caught by a Nigella Lawson recipe in How to be a Domestic Goddess for Passionfruit Cheesecake. I can't say I'm a huge fan of cheesecakes that veer away from the traditional New York variety, but this one seemed to be a guaranteed win: Nigella, cheesecake, passionfruit - three strong points in its favour. So finally I added 10 passionfruit to my online shopping order and waited for them to arrive so I could try it out.

I was all ready except for one thing: the springform tin. I had accidentally left mine at work, so I decided to improvise with a tart tin with a removable base. On went the fake Pam to ensure success in the cheesecake's removal:

And into a bag went some digestives. No graham crackers here, peeps.

After I'd taken out my aggression, they looked like this.

Then in went butter. The recipe didn't call for any sugar, but I usually use some and in retrospect think I should have thrown a tablespoon or so in. Live and learn.

The crumbled mix looked like so.

And into the tin it went, pressed down with the bottom of the glass.

Now, I HAD ordered 10 passionfruits, but my husband saw the bag and thought "oooh, I should have some of my 5 a day!" and stole a couple. He claims I should have told him they were for a recipe. I think he should have actually put away the shopping when it came and should have known that a bag of 10 passionfruit, a quantity I have never come close to purchasing before, would naturally be for a special recipe. Thankfully I only needed 7 for the filling itself, so his hide was saved.

So, so pretty. So, so tasty.

And into the big processor they went. I would have used the smaller bowl, but I can't find its blade right now in my chaotic kitchen of doom.

A quick whirrr and they were looking more juicy and less pulpy.

So I whipped up some cream cheese.

Added some sugar.

Mixed some more.

Then added 3 yolks (one at a time, stressing myself with the separating of eggs)

They made it a bit golden.

Then 3 whole eggs went in too.

And were stirred in at this point as it was getting a bit too bubbly for my liking.

The fruit was strained in with some lime juice.

I realise now I could have just added some bottled passionfruit juice here, as it's not too hard to find here and would have been cheaper and easier (and just as flavourful, I think). Next time.

Now just dive in and drink it all...

NO! Wait, I was kidding! GET OUT OF THERE!

Instead it went into the tart case...and there was waaaaay too much, as it is way shallower than a springform tin, so I made some ramekins and a teacup as well. Once they were in the oven I added boiling water to the pan to make a "bain marie". Who was this Marie, and why did she like baths of boiling water?

After a while, the small ones came out. They wiggled like jelly in the middle at the time of removal - this ensures they don't overcook. And oh, yeah, I kind of messed one up when I took it out. Still tasted fine.

Then their mother came out to cool.

They went in the fridge while my husband went out to buy me more passionfruit and thus prevent our divorce. Once he got back, I carefully removed the cheesecake from the tin, ensuring a perfect finish on the cake.

Err...when in doubt, just throw lots of fresh fruit on top.

No, those aren't frog spawn, they are little pieces of heaven, kids.

AND IT'S MINE!!!!!!!!!!!! ALLL MINE!!!!

I'll add the recipe later, when I can move again.

Pumpkin Cheesecake Snickerdoodles

Before kids, I never envisioned just how many times a year I'd be asked to produce something edible for fundraising or to simply feed the masses at an event.  Birthday treats have fallen out of fashion in the classrooms here thanks to nut allergies and healthy eating initiatives, but this does not mean there is no place for traybakes.

We had the nursery ceilidh last night, and as I faced the task of figuring out what to make, two voices were fighting for attention.  One my "baking ideas" board on Pinterest, and the other was a lingering bowl of jack-o-lantern remains in the fridge.  I eventually decided to satisfy both by trialling a recipe for cream cheese filled pumpkin snickerdoodles.

In a way, I wish I hadn't.  For cookies, these are really quite time consuming.  

First I put the spices, baking powder, salt, and flour into a bowl.

Then in a separate bowl went the butter, caster sugar, and brown sugar.

The recipe said to use a stand mixer, so I glowered at the instructions as I put my wooden spoon to use creaming the butter and sugars together.

In went the pumpkin.  No, it's not Libby's.

After mixing in the pumpkin, it looked kind of curdled and gross, and it didn't improve when I added an egg.

It said to add the flour mix gradually, but I just dumped it all on and hoped for the best.

It improved dramatically, but still had tiny lumps of my imperfect pumpkin puree.  The mix then went into the fridge.

In a separate bowl, I put some sugar, cream cheese, and vanilla for the filling.

There was a lot more filling than I needed in the end, but getting rid of it was not a problem.  It also went into the fridge, and I went out to get my daughter from nursery.

After lunch, she helped stir up the coating of sugar, cinnamon, ginger, and allspice.

Then it was time for assembly.  No quick spooning of dough onto the prepped trays, nooooo...I had to create two little discs, spoon some filling into the middle of one...

Then put the other one on top, pinching the sides together...

Then I made it into a ball and rolled it in some sugar.  Yes, that spoon is from a bottle of children's medicine.  They are handy teaspoon measures, I tell you.

Then it went onto the tray and my daughter got to mash it down with the bottom of a glass.  Very, very time consuming.

We managed one batch before school pick-up time, and then did the second batch in the oven when we got back.

Naturally I had to do a bit of quality control.  They were good for snickerdoodles, but not enough of a spicy, pumpkin flavour for me.

I brought them along to the ceilidh and they all went, but so did everything else, so it just means they were edible.  One teacher did come along to compliment me on them, which was nice of her.  Here's the recipe as I had it off Pinterest - I'd recommend boosting the spices, but then it will be less of a snickerdoodle and more of just a pumpkin spice cookie.  The choice is yours...

Pumpkin Cheesecake Snickerdoodles

Ingredients

3¾ cups all­purpose flour

1½ tsp. baking powder

½ tsp. salt

½ tsp. ground cinnamon

¼ tsp. freshly ­ground ground nutmeg

1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 cup granulated sugar

½ cup light brown sugar

¾ cup pumpkin puree

1 large egg

2 tsp. vanilla extract

Filling Ingredients:

8 ounces cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Cinnamon ­sugar coating:

½ cup granulated sugar

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

½ tsp. ground ginger

Dash of allspice

Instructions

1. In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg together. Set aside.

2. In a kitchenaid mixer with a paddle attachment, beat together the butter and sugars on medium high speed until

fluffy about 2­3 minutes.

3. Blend in pumpkin puree, beat in egg and then add vanilla. Slowly add dry ingredients on low speed just until

combined. Cover and chill dough for an hour.

4. To make the cream cheese filling, blend cream cheese, sugar and vanilla together. Chill for an hour.

5. Preheat oven to 350 and line your baking sheets with parchment paper. In a small bowl, combine the sugar and

spices for the coating and set aside.

6. To make the cookies, take a tablespoon of the cookie batter. Flatten it like a pancake and place a teaspoon of the

cream cheese in center. Form another tablespoon of the cookie batter into a flat pancake shape and place on top of

the cream cheese. Pinch the edges together sealing in the cream cheese and roll into a ball. Roll in the cinnamon

sugar coating and place on the prepared baking sheet 2 inches apart.

7. Repeat until the dough is gone and flatten the cookie dough balls with a heavy bottomed glass or measuring cup.

8. Bake the cookies for 10­-15 minutes or until the tops start to crack. Let cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes and

transfer to a wire rack. Enjoy!

Notes

Recipe Source Bakeaholic Mama