Pumpkin Whoopie Pies.

Halloween is my favorite in every way. I love bats, jack-o-lanterns, ghosts, skeletons, you name it, but  the best thing about Halloween is pumpkin. Cans start arriving in the Grandfield house as early as September and nothing beats that beautiful orange puree.

 

In the spirit of the newly chilly weather and my most favorite Halloween approaching quickly, I have to make as much pumpkin products as possible. It should be glorious.

Number one on the list happen to be these cute pumpkin whoopie pies sandwiched with vanilla buttercream. They’re pretty perfectly spooky, and I think everyone needs a whoopie pie in their life occasionally. I particularly enjoyed eating the spicy pumpkin batter with a ridiculously huge spoon. An afternoon well spent.

PUMPKIN WHOOPIE PIES

*whoopie recipe adapted from Marthastewart.com*

makes twenty-two 3″ complete whoopies pies

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon ground ginger
• 1 tablespoon ground cloves
• 2 cups firmly packed dark-brown sugar
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 3 cups pumpkin puree
• 2 large eggs
  
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat; set aside

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda,cinnamon, ginger, and cloves; set aside. In another large bowl, whisk together brown sugar and oil until well combined. Add pumpkin puree and whisk until combined. Add eggs and vanilla and whisk until well combined. Sprinkle flour mixture over pumpkin mixture and whisk until fully incorporated.

Using a small ice cream scoop with a release mechanism, drop heaping tablespoons of dough onto prepared baking sheets, about 1 inch apart. Transfer to oven and bake until cookies are just starting to crack on top and a toothpick inserted into the center of each cookie comes out clean, about 15 minutes. Let cool completely on pan.

VANILLA BUTTERCREAM

• 2 sticks butter, firm but not cold
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 3.5 cups confectioners sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1.5 tsp milk

Beat together butter and salt with paddle attachment until light and fluffy. On low speed, slowly incorporate confectioners sugar, just until combined. Add vanilla and milk and mix minimally. Frosting should be thick like ice cream.

Assemble:

Spread a dollop of buttercream on flat side of a whoopie cookie and smooth equally with a butter knife. Top with another whoopie cookie. Repeat until all cookies are used.

EAT.

 

Strawberry Cake.

It seems that all too often a weekend free of school turns into a weekend full of baking for me. But I dont mind in the least. This weekend I felt like I needed to get my artistic side together and decorate a cake, even if it had to be a small 6″ one, (the smaller the more adorable anyway). The idea of chocolate or vanilla cake seemed extremely boring to me, and the beautiful strawberries in our fridge beckoned. I answered their call.

This batter makes me crazy happy. Everytime. Bright pink and addicting. Tastes like the most perfect strawberry ice cream. Yum. I wanted to increase the strawberry flavor so I added strawberry jelly in with the strawberry puree. The addition was successful.

 

I always have fun decorating a cake, this was no different. Just a simple white buttercream slate and black piped hearts. The pink on the inside made it interesting enough I thought. Cute and exceptionally delicious, I thought my weekend time was well spent. I think those who ate some thought so too.

            

STRAWBERRY CAKE:

Note: I halved this recipe to make two 6″ layers, same with the frosting. Full recipe makes three 8″ round layers.

CAKE (adapted from Sky High)

4 1/2 cups cake flour

3 cups sugar

5 1/4 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 tsp salt

3 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 1/2 cups pureed strawberries, frozen or fresh

1/2 cup strawberry jam

8 egg whites

2/3 cup milk

red or pink food coloring

VANILLA FROSTING (adapted from Martha Stewart Cupcakes)

3 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature

4 cups confectioners sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

3 tablespoons warm tap water

CAKE PREPARATION

1. Preheat the oven to 350»F. Grease and flour three 8-inch round cake pans.

2. Put the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large mixer bowl. With the electric mixer on low speed, blend for 30 seconds. Add the butter, strawberry puree, and strawberry jam and mix to blend the ingredients. Raise the speed to medium and beat until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes.

3. In another large bowl, whisk together the egg whites, milk and food dye to blend. Add the whites to the batter in two or three additions, scraping down the sides of the bowl well and mixing only to incorporate after each addition. Divide the batter among the three prepared pans.

4. Bake the cakes for 30 to 34 minutes, or until a cake tester or wooden toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow the layers to cool in the pans for 10 to 15 minutes. Invert and turn out onto wire racks. Let stand until completely cooled.

 

FROSTING PREPARATION:

1. With an electric mixer, beat butter on medium-high speed until pale and creamy, about 2 minutes.

2. Reduce speed to medium. Add the confectioners’ sugar, 1/2 cup at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down sides of bowl as needed; after every addition, raise speed to high and beat 10 seconds to aerate frosting, then return to medium-high. This process should take about 5 minutes. Frosting will be very pale and fluffy.

3. Add vanilla, and beat until frosting is smooth. If frosting seems very thick and stiff, I add, one tablespoon at a time, some warm tap water. Keep adding until frosting reaches desired spreading consistency.