Pumpkin Crepes

This fine and lovely Saturday morning I awoke dark and too early at 5:45 am.  Alas, these are the sorts of thing one has to deal with when your bed time the night before was 7:40 pm.  But I would never complain, especially since it gave me the chance to make some pumpkin crepe batter, let it rest for a generous hour, go through the ceremonious first couple of faulty crepes, and have a small stack ready just in time for my family of early risers.

Being pumpkin crepes, they came out thicker and moister than their non-pumpkin counterparts.  This made them perfect for folding, drizzling with maple syrup, and a handful of toasted pecans.

 If only I woke up at 5:45 am every day.

Pumpkin Crepes

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups whole milk at room temp
• 4 eggs at room temp
• 3/4 cup pumpkin
• 2 tablespoons melted butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg, freshly ground if possible
• 1/2 teaspoon ginger

Preparation

1. Mix together the wet ingredients in a bowl (one with a little spout for pouring if possible!)
2. Mix together the dry ingredients in a small bowl so that the spices are evenly distributed.
3. Mix the dry into the wet a little at a time with a whisk.
4. Cover and let rest for 30min-1 hour.
5. Preheat a non stick skillet over medium heat.  When hot, season the pan with butter and then pour 1/4 cup of batter, swirling around to make an even and thin crepe.
6. Cook for 1 minute, then flip over (careful!  since they’re moister they’re more fragile) and cook for another 30 seconds.
7. Continue cooking the rest of the batter, seasoning the pan with butter before each crepe, and stacking the cooked crepes on top of each other on a large plate.
8. Enjoy with whatever fillings/topping your taste-buds desire!

Pumpkin Oatmeal

Considering the other couple of hundred pumpkin oatmeal recipes out there, I just wanted to share some pictures of my version.  I dusted the top with cinnamon, cloves, and freshly grated nutmeg and then sprinkled it with some toasted pumpkin seeds and brown sugar.  Voila!

Bundts Fix Everything, Just Like Windex.

Last Thursday was not exactly a good day.  It was just one of those days in which nothing seemed to go as planned.  One of those days when your hair does not look as good as you had planned.  When you probably failed that english quiz you studied hours for.  When you repeatedly pronounced the word “mask” incorrectly in Spanish.  And yet, a small brown box is enough to put a smile on your gloomy face.  The long awaited bundt pan had arrived.

Therefore, it was only appropriate to bake a bundt for National Bundt Day, which was Sunday November 15.

Maybe Bundts make me so happy because ever since I watched”My Big Fat Greek Wedding” every time I hear the word bundt I think of that movie, and that movie was hilarious.  Even if you haven’t seen it (if you haven’t, rent it now), make this bundt.  It will still make you happy, even without having seen the movie.

Browned Butter Pumpkin Bundt Cake

• 1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) unsalted butter, melted and allowed to turn golden brown then cooled
• 2 1/4 cups organic all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 T cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp cloves
• 1/2 tsp ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/4 cups  pumpkin – one can
• 3/4 cup buttermilk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup dark brown sugar
• 3 large eggs

1. Preheat oven to 350F
2. Grease and flour pan
3. Mix dry ingredients together and set aside
4. Beat cooled butter and sugar until well mixed. Beat in eggs one at a time
5. Beat in vanilla
6. Fold in pumpkin
7. Add flour and buttermilk alternately and mix until smooth
8. Spoon into baking pan
9. Bake at 350F until done, about 50-65 minutes
10. Allow to rest for 5 minutes and then remove from pan to cool.

For the glaze I mixed together…

2 T maple syrup

1 cup Sugar

2 T milk

WARNING:  I added too much milk and it was not viscous enough so it just poured off the sides.  I would add a little bit of milk at a time until your desired consistency is reached.  Also, next time I might try adding some maple extract.