Pumpkin Squares with Cider Caramel Sauce

Pumpkin Squares:

1 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1 (15 ounce) can of pumpkin
2 large eggs
Heat the oven to 325. Grease a 9 by 13 baking pan and set aside. Combine first six ingredients. Add oil, pumpkin, eggs and whisk until the batter is evenly blended. Pour the batter into prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake the cake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 30 minutes.

Cider caramel sauce:

1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1 tablespoon cornstarch
2/3 cup apple cider
2 tablespoons heavy cream
1 tablespoon butter
salt to taste
In a medium-size saucepan, whisk together the brown sugar and corn starch. Add the cider and stir ewell to dissolve the other ingredients. Cook the mixture over medium-high heat, whisking constantly, until large bubbles form around the perimeter of the pan, about 3 minutes. Reduce the heat to low and allow the sauce to continue to simmer until it thickens, about 2 minutes more. Remove the sauce from the heat and whisk in the cream and the butter. Let the sauce cool slightly, then taste it and add a pinch of salt, if necessary.

Serve warm with vanilla ice cream on top and drizzle with warm cider caramel sauce.

Pumpkin Roll with Cream Cheese Filling

This recipe comes straight from the can of Libby Pumpkin. It's probably one of the most tried and true recipes for pumpkin roll that is out there. I love how moist and light the cake is in this recipe and how thick and creamy the filling is. I hope you enjoy it.

* 1/4 cup powdered sugar (to sprinkle on towel)
* 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
* 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
* 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
* 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 3 large eggs
* 1 cup granulated sugar
* 2/3 cup LIBBY'S® 100% Pure Pumpkin
* 1 cup walnuts, chopped (optional)
* 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
* 1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
* 6 tablespoons butter or margarine, softened
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 1/4 cup powdered sugar (optional)

DIRECTIONS

1. PREHEAT oven to 375 degrees F. Grease 15 x 10-inch jelly-roll pan; line with wax paper. Grease and flour paper. Sprinkle towel with powdered sugar.
2. COMBINE flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves and salt in small bowl. Beat eggs and sugar in large mixer bowl until thick. Beat in pumpkin. Stir in flour mixture. Spread evenly into prepared pan. Sprinkle with nuts.
3. BAKE for 13 to 15 minutes or until top of cake springs back when touched. Immediately loosen and turn cake onto prepared towel. Carefully peel off paper. Roll up cake and towel together, starting with narrow end. Cool on wire rack.
4. BEAT cream cheese, powdered sugar, butter and vanilla extract in small mixer bowl until smooth. Carefully unroll cake; remove towel. Spread cream cheese mixture over cake. Reroll cake. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least one hour. Sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving, if desired.

Baklava

The credit for this one goes to my old favorite of Allrecipes.com. If you have never tried Baklava you are missing out on it's flakey, buttery goodness. This is a simplified version of how to make Baklava that turns out delicious. I prefer to have lot's of flakey layers of the phyllo dough and I butter each layer individually, but you can do them 2 at a time to save time like the recipe advises. If you want to get a little more advanced you can play around with the syrup you spoon over at the end adding cinnamon, nutmeg, honey, lemon, and cloves, you get the idea. You can add a whole new dimension to the dessert with the subtle flavors of the syrup.

• 1 (16 ounce) package phyllo dough
• 1 pound chopped nuts
• 1 cup butter
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup honey

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F(175 degrees C). Butter the bottoms and sides of a 9x13 inch pan.
2. Chop nuts and toss with cinnamon. Set aside. Unroll phyllo dough. Cut whole stack in half to fit pan. Cover phyllo with a dampened cloth to keep from drying out as you work. Place one sheet of dough in pan, butter thoroughly. Repeat until you have 8 sheets layered. Sprinkle 2 - 3 tablespoons of nut mixture on top. Top with two sheets of dough, butter, nuts, layering as you go. The top layer should be about 6 - 8 sheets deep.
3. Using a sharp knife cut into diamond or square shapes all the way to the bottom of the pan. You may cut into 4 long rows the make diagonal cuts. Bake for about 50 minutes until baklava is golden and crisp.
4. Make sauce while baklava is baking. Boil sugar and water until sugar is melted. Add vanilla and honey. Simmer for about 20 minutes.
5. Remove baklava from oven and immediately spoon sauce over it. Let cool. Serve in cupcake papers. This freezes well. Leave it uncovered as it gets soggy if it is wrapped up.

Chocolate Peacan Cake

When I saw this recipe initally I knew it would be a showstopper, and that it is. This is a very easy cake to make, but looks like it took much longer to make than it did. I've seen this recipe posted on numerous sites like taste of home, and all recipes, but I got the initial idea from the Pillsbury folks. I don't know why but I love whipped cream as icing, I always have, especially when it comes to cakes, perhaps it is because it isn't quite as sweet as traditional frosting and so you get to taste more of the cake, but once again it adds just enough to this recipe to make it delicious. Give it a try next time you are having guests over and want to impress. I also included a link to the Pioneer Woman for her tutorial on how to make Chocolate Curls, it's an easy tutorial to follow, if you want to make your own.

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 3/4 cup chopped pecans
• 1 (18.25 ounce) package devil's food cake mix with pudding
• 1 1/4 cups water
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 3 eggs

• 1 3/4 cups heavy whipping cream
• 1/4 cup confectioners' sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Pecan Halves, for garnish if desired
• Chocolate Curls, for garnish if desired
  

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). In a saucepan, combine the butter or margarine, 1/4 c whipping cream and brown sugar. Cook over low heat until the butter is just melted, stirring occasionally. Pour into two 8 or 9 inch round cake pans. Sprinkle evenly with the chopped pecans.
2. In a large bowl, combine the cake mix, water, oil and eggs at low speed until moistened. Beat 2 minutes at the highest speed. Carefully spoon the batter over the pecan mixture.
3. Bake at 325 degrees F (165 degrees C) for 35 to 45 minutes, or until the cake springs back when lightly touched in the center. Cool 5 minutes. Remove from the pans and cool completely.
4. In a small bowl, beat the 1 3/4 cups whipping cream until soft peaks form. Blend in the confectioners' sugar and vanilla extract. Beat until stiff peaks form.
5. To assemble the cake, place one layer on a serving plate, praline side up. Spread with half of the whipped cream. Top with the second layer. Frost with the remaining whipped cream. Garnish with Pecan halves and chocolate curls. Store in refrigerator.

Apple Strudel Muffins

Guess what we're having for breakfast.

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/4 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 1/2 cups chopped apples
• 
  
• 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon butter

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease a 12 cup muffin pan.
2. In a medium bowl, mix flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
3. In a large bowl, beat together butter, sugar and eggs until smooth. Mix in vanilla. Stir in apples, and gradually blend in the flour mixture. Spoon the mixture into the prepared muffin pan.
4. In a small bowl, mix brown sugar, flour and cinnamon. Cut in butter until mixture is like coarse crumbs. Sprinkle over tops of mixture in muffin pan.
5. Bake 20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. Allow to sit 5 minutes before removing muffins from pan. Cool on a wire rack.

Coconut Cake

This is one I could not pass up. When I ran across this recipe at Soloman Family Recipes, I knew I had to try it. If you have ever tried Coconut Cream you will know why. It is very rich and moist with the coconut cream infusing the cake, so if you don't like coconut, this is not your recipe. It kind of reminds me of one of my favorite cakes that my best friend growing up's mom use to make, if you put the crushed pineapple on it, it would be pretty close to it. I might just have to try that next time. This cake is wonderful and I hope you enjoy it.


1 Duncan Hines Coconut Supreme Cake Mix, prepared as directed on box
150z. can Cream of Coconut (found near your Margarita mixes on the drink isle)
12 oz. Cool whip or real whipped topping
Sweetened flaked coconut

Directions
Bake cake as directed in a 9x13 pan. While the cake is still hot, poke holes in it and pour cream of coconut over cake. Let Cool completely. Spread on whipped topping and sprinkle with flaked coconut. Refrigerate for several hours or overnight.

To add another dimension, try adding crushed pineapple to the top of the cake, and then spreading the whipped cream on and topping with the coconut, it makes for a tropical delight!

Pumpkin Torte

Though this might look intimidating, I promise it's super easy, and will earn you rave reviews at your holiday party's this year. It is beautiful to look at, and the flavors are so subtle yet melt in your mouth. Definitely a keeper!

1 package (18-1/4 ounces) yellow cake mix
1 can (15 ounces) solid-pack pumpkin, divided
1/2 cup milk
4 eggs
1/3 cup canola oil
1-1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice, divided
1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1 carton (16 ounces) frozen whipped topping, thawed
1/4 cup caramel ice cream topping
1/3 cup chopped pecans, toasted

In a large bowl, combine the cake mix, 1 cup pumpkin, milk, eggs, eggs and 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice; beat on low speed for 30 seconds. Beat on medium for 2 minutes. Pour into two greased and floured 9-in. round baking pans.
Bake at 350° for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks to cool completely.
In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese until light and fluffy. Add the confectioners' sugar, and remaining pumpkin and pumpkin pie spice; beat until smooth. Fold in whipped topping.
Cut each cake horizontally into two layers. Place bottom layer on a serving plate; spread with a fourth of the filling. Repeat layers three times. Drizzle with caramel topping; sprinkle with pecans. Store in the refrigerator.