Fake Thanksgiving 2010

Back in August, Hubby's sister L got engaged and moved to North Dakota with her fiance, S.  He's a teacher and found a job there for this school year.  Obviously we don't see L & S very often now, so it's exciting when they come back to visit.  In mid-November Hubby's sisters L & M, and his brother R, are going to Europe for 2 weeks.  This means that they'll be gone for Thanksgiving, and with E & C living in Virginia we will be the only ones around for Thanksgiving this year.  L is coming in to PA a few days before going to Europe, so we've decided that we'll have fake Thanksgiving with everyone 2 weeks before the actual holiday.  

I offered to make something for dinner and Hubby's mom asked for a couple of pumpkin pies.  Easy enough.  But I couldn't leave it at that, so I went in search of a pumpkin pie that was a little bit different (last time we were in PA for Thanksgiving I made a 4-layer Pumpkin Cake).  So while I made two regular pumpkin pies using the classic Libby recipe, I also made a Streusel-Topped Pumpkin Pie, from Pillsbury's website.I ended up using the frozen deep-dish crust from Pillsbury that comes in the aluminum tin, all you have to do is fill.  This was easier for me because I am not entirely sure where all of my pie plates are packed...  I also omitted the orange zest from the topping because we didn't have any.  

The pie tasted great and I was glad I made it the night before, because sitting in the fridge overnight seemed to make the topping yummy.  It tasted like it held a lot of the moisture into the filling, which made the pumpkin taste really creamy.  I plan to make this again for real Thanksgiving, and I'm going to use more brown sugar and a little more butter in the topping so that the pie has more of the baked crumbly goodness on top.

Streusel-Topped Pumpkin Pie

originally from the Pillsbury website

serves 8

Filling

1 can pure pumpkin (15 oz)

1 can evaporated milk (12 oz)

1/2 cup sugar

2 eggs, slightly beaten

1 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

1/4 tsp salt

Streusel Topping

1/4 cup packed light brown sugar

2 tbsp AP flour

2 tbsp butter or margarine, softened

1/2 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 425.  If using refrigerated pie crust, unroll into a 9-inch glass pie plate.  If using the frozen crusts in the tin, keep them in the freezer until you're ready with your filling.

In a large bowl, mix the ingredients for the filling until well-blended.  Pour into the crust-lined pie plate.

Bake 15 minutes at 425, then lower the temperature to 350 and bake for another 15 minutes.  While the pie is baking, mix the streusel ingredients in a small bowl.

Sprinkle streusel over pumpkin filling.  Bake for another 15-20 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean.  Cool completely, about 1 hour.  Serve with whipped cream or Cool Whip.

The Great Pumpkin Cake

So I started this post on November 3rd, a perfectly reasonable amount of time after I actually made this cake.  Life is overtaking me!

On Halloween we headed to Hubby's parents' house for Sunday dinner.  His brother and sister-in-law were visiting from Virginia for the weekend and we hadn't seen them in a few months so we decided to make the trip for a few hours.  We hadn't done a family Sunday dinner in a very long time!  It was a great meal and so nice to see everyone.

I am on the Kraft recipes mailing list and received an e-mail on Friday night with Halloween recipes, and as soon as I saw the Great Pumpkin Cake I knew I had to make it for Sunday's dinner.  I had bookmarked this cake a long time ago but never made it, so this was a great reminder.  I later realized how awesome it is that I've gotten to a point in my cake decorating career that something like this is easy peasy for me and is something I can "whip up" on short notice.  I immediately had Hubby text his mom to tell her I would take care of dessert.  Kraft indicates "any cake flavor" for this recipe, so I searched their website for a good-looking pumpkin cake and used that.  I forgot to put in the chocolate chunks, but oh well.  It was still tasty!

Great Pumpkin Cake

originally from Kraft website for design and cake recipe

serves 16

Cake

1 pkg spice cake mix

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup oil -- I always substitute unsweetened applesauce for oil

4 oz (1/2 bar) low-fat cream cheese 

1 cup canned pumpkin

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground ginger

6 squares semi-sweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

Frosting

8 oz (1 bar) low-fat cream cheese

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) softened butter -- I always use unsalted butter when baking

4 cups powdered sugar

Red & Yellow Food Coloring -- I used liquid but you could also use paste

1 Comet Ice Cream Cone

Preheat oven to 350°F.  Prepare cake mix as directed on package, adding only the water and oil (or unsweetened applesauce).  Add the cream cheese, pumpkin, cinnamon, and ginger.  Beat on medium speed until well blended.  Stir in chopped chocolate.  Pour into greased 12-cup fluted tube pan or 10-inch tube pan. 

Bake 40 to 45 min. or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.  Cool 10 min.  Remove from pan; cool completely on wire rack. 

For the icing, beat cream cheese and butter in medium bowl with mixer on medium speed until well blended.  Gradually add sugar, beating until well blended after each addition. Remove 1/2 cup of the frosting; place in small bowl.  Add green food coloring; stir until well blended.  Spread half of the green frosting onto outside of ice cream cone; set aside.  Cover and reserve remaining green frosting for later use. 

Add red and yellow food colorings to remaining white frosting to tint it orange.  Spread onto cake to resemble pumpkin.  Invert ice cream cone in hole in top of cake for the pumpkin's stem.  Pipe the reserved green frosting in vertical lines down side of cake.

Pièce de résistance - part 2

Now, what I know you've been waiting for!

For L's bridal shower cake I made a 2-layer 9x13 marble cake with chocolate buttercream frosting.  These were two firsts for me, as all my cakes up to this point were 8-inch rounds with white buttercream.  I used yellow icing for the border and for the writing, and the gum paste flowers from Shop Bakers Nook.

Unfortunately I don't have any pre-decorated photos because at this point it was closing in on midnight and I just wanted to make sure I got it all done. 

The flower placement was definitely one of the more intensive pieces.  I was
very picky!  I love the date written around the curve of the petal.

On display at the shower, with cupcake placements.