Sour Cream Pumpkin Bundt for National Bundt Day

Today is National Bundt Day.  Duty calls.  I made a bundt.  I am trying to stay seasonal, so what would make the most sense?  You guessed it, pumpkin!  When I want to make a bundt, my first stop on the internet is always Mary's blog.  She could be considered the queen of bundts and boy does she love pretty much all things bundt related.

She recently posted this recipe for Sour Cream Pumpkin Bundt which she got off of the Libby's website.  I would never in a million years think to pull something off of a branded website.  Since reading Mary's post, I have actually perused a few of the sites, just to see what their ideas are for the holidays.  Some interesting, some not so interesting.  Yet, none the less, good info and always inspires new ideas.

Regardless, this cake is a winner.  And as I have mentioned in the past, bundts are easy and they are always a crowd pleaser.  This one certainly pleased a crowd.  I made three minor alterations to the recipe.  I added dried cranberries to the streusel, cut back a little on the streusel ingredients, and replaced sucanat with white sugar.

We are having friends for brunch Thanksgiving weekend.  I may just have to make this again!

Sour Cream Pumpkin Bundt
adapted from here

ingredients:
streusel
2 tsp. butter, cold
1/3 cup brown sugar
3/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp. ground allspice
1/3 cup dried cranberries, chopped

cake:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tbls. ground cinnamon
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
2 cups sugar (I used sucanat)
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temp.
4 large eggs, room temp.
1 cup pumpkin puree
8 oz. sour cream
2 tsp. vanilla extract

instructions:
• preheat oven to 350*.  butter & flour a 12 cup bundt pan
for the streusel
• combine all dry ingredients and whisk.  cut butter into dry mixture until crumbly.  add dried cranberries. set aside.
for the cake
• whisk flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt. set aside
• cream sugar and butter together in the bowl of an electric mixer until fluffy.
• add eggs one at a time.
• add pumpkin, sour cream, and vanilla.  scrape sides of bowl and mix again until incorporated.
• spoon half the batter into the prepared pan
• top with streusel mixture. don't let streusel hit the side of the pan.
• cover with remaining batter.
• bake 55-65 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.
• cool for 30 minutes in pan, then remove from the pan and cool completely.
for the glaze
• combine 1 1/2 - 2 cups sifted powdered sugar with 2-3 tablespoons of milk.  mix completely.
• spoon over cake and let drip down the sides.

Enjoy!

Pumpkin Soup + Halloween Traditions

We had a weekend filled with Halloween celebrations and traditions.  The week started out with a visit to the pumpkin patch   The farm that we traditionally visit is about an hour away and it is well worth the drive.  It is a huge farm with old fashion fun and games; a huge corn maze, tomato shooting, hay rides, shaved ice, and acres of pumpkins to choose from.  Eli is 12 and he still looks forward to our yearly tradition of spending an afternoon simply having fun.

When Eli was very young, my mom started a tradition of carving pumpkins with the kids. We try to do carve as close to Halloween as possible.  If we do it too far in advance, the bugs take over and it is not such a pretty site. It's our job to get the pumpkins but it is mom's job to purchase the kits.  She and the kids mull over the pages in the book and decide which pattern to recreate.  In the past, our pumpkins could have won prizes.  This year...not the case.  They actually sucked.  They were so bad, they were funny.  The kids didn't have the patience this year and I think mom was simply tired.  None the less, we still set them out on the porch, lit a candle and enjoyed the light!

The day of Halloween was filled with anticipation, parties and dressing up.  Isaac went to his friend Gaby's for a pre-dinner extravaganza.  His friend's costumes were amazing and it turned out to be a great group of adults.  We both thoroughly enjoyed!

"the joker", banana head, the devil, and Darth Vader

After that, Eli was off to his friend, Jamie's.  Jamie and her dad create this amazing haunted house.  My friend Joanne had commented that "Halloween had thrown up on their lawn".  However, I totally disagreed.  It was fabulous.  I was a tad jealous (unfortunately, I did not get a photo).  It was the grave yard of all grave yards and it was super festive.  I loved it.  Eli ended up going trick or treating with all his "gal pals".  When he came home he was happy, happy, happy.  And then his molar tooth fell out.  I decided to peek through his candy bag.  I saw all the OPEN WRAPPERS!  He easily could have eaten a pound of candy!  No wonder, his tooth fell out!

In the past years, we have always entertained the neighborhood.  Some years I would make huge vats of chili with all the fix ins, other years it would be pulled turkey sandwiches, and then there were those years of baked ziti and lasagna.  Whatever worked for a crowd, I did it.  Yet, this year, since the kids were going to be spread out a bit on Halloween night, I choose to create something quiet, that we adults could eat at our leisure.  I made a pot of pumpkin soup (usually ends up on our Thanksgiving table), a huge salad, a hunk of bread and and apple cake (post to follow).  I love this soup.  It isn't heavy, it could be vegan (replace the butter with coconut oil) and it is hearty.  I have been making this soup for over 20 years and to this day, I still look forward to eating it.

Puree of Pumpkin Soup
yield: 1 quart

ingredients:
4 Tbls. unsalted butter or coconut oil
1 large onion, diced
1 medium leek, white part only, chopped
1 pound canned pumpkin puree
4 cups homemade veggie stock
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. curry powder
1/2 tsp. cumin
1/4 tsp. white pepper
1/4 tsp. ground ginger
1 bay leaf

instructions:
• in a large stock pot, melt the butter.  saute onion and leeks until soft.  stir occasionally to avoid burning.
• stir in pumpkin puree, stock, all the spices, and the bay leaf.  bring to a boil.
• lower the heat and simmer, uncovered for 15 minutes.
• remove the bay leaf and puree the mixture in batches in a blender.

if you desire a creamer soup, add some half and half after it is pureed and cook for a few minutes over low heat.