Halloween might be over, but this is no reason to stop celebrating the season of “pumpkin spice” with succulent recipes. Use your pumpkin leftovers to bake sweet Thanksgiving treats like this delicious “Pumpkin Bundt Cake” and “Pumpkin Swirl Brownies”. And you will realise our favourite orange autumn fruit is not just a fun Halloween scare, but the perfect ingredient for wonderful desserts! Yes, according to botany pumpkin is in fact no vegetable but a fruit. Either way, with these pumpkin cakes, Thanksgiving will be a succulent feast!

Pumpkin Spice Bundt Cake

Ingredients

• 1 cup (200 g) butter
• 1 cup (200 g) brown sugar
• 3 cups (360 g) flour
• 1 package vanilla sugar (about 8 g)
• 4 eggs
• 1 tbsp. pumpkin spice*
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 1/2 cups (350 g) pumpkin puree**

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 180 Degrees Celsius (356 °F).
2. Beat butter, brown sugar with a mixer until fluffy, add eggs (one after each other), vanilla sugar and pumpkin spice.
3. Add the pumpkin puree to the butter-egg mixture.
4. In a medium size bowl mix flour and baking powder.
5. Stir the flour into the mixture until blended and bake in the oven for 50-60 minutes.

GLAZE

• 50 g brown sugar
• 3 tbsp. heavy whipping cream (you can also use single cream)
• 1 tbsp. butter
• 1 tbsp. maple syrup
• 100 g sifted icing sugar

In a small pan, bring butter, brown sugar, 2 tbsp. cream and maple syrup to a simmer on medium heat. Whisk constantly for 1 minutes. Pour into a medium bowl and let cool slightly. Whisk in icing sugar, salt and remaining 1 tbsp. cream until smooth. Drizzle glaze over the cake and optionally decorate with chopped pecan nuts.

Pumpkin Swirl Brownies

“Use your pumpkin leftovers to bake sweet Thanksgiving desserts!”

 

PUMPKIN SWIRL

• 4 ounces (about 15 g) creme cheese
• 1/2 cup pumpkin puree**
• 1 egg
• 3 tbsp. sugar
• 3/4 tsp. pumpkin spice*
• Pinch of salt

BROWNIES

• 1/2 cup butter
• 6 ounces dark chocolate chopped (170g)
• 1 cup sugar (130 g)
• 3 eggs
•  1 tsp. vanilla
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour (100 g)
• 2 tsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 °F. Line a square baking tin with baking paper (8 inch, 20 cm)
2. For the swirl, combine creme cheese, pumpkin puree, 1 egg, 3 tbsp sugar, pumpkin pie spice and pinch of salt in medium size bowl and beat until smooth.
3. For the brownie, melt butter & chocolate in medium pan over low heat, whilst stirring frequently. Remove from heat; stir in 1 cup of sugar until well blended. Beat in 3 eggs, one at a time and blend well. Stir in vanilla, add flour, cocoa and 1/2 tsp of salt and stir until blended. Reserve 1/3 cup brownie batter in a small bowl; spread the remaining batter in the prepared pan.
4. Spread pumpkin mixture evenly over brownie batter. Drop reserved brownie batter by teaspoonfuls over pumpkin layer; us the tip of knife or fork to draw through top of both batters to marbleize.
5. Bake about 30 minutes until the edges begin to pull away from the sides of the pan (toothpick inserted near the centre will come out with fudge crumbs). Let the brownies cool and enjoy!

*Pumpkin Spice

• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp. ground ginger
• 1/8 tsp. ground cloves

**Pumpkin puree: Chop a Hokkaido pumpkin and cook  in some water until soft for about 10-15 minutes, use a mixer to blend into pumpkin puree.