baked pumpkin doughnuts

Seriously. All things pumpkin lately.

I made these for our Halloween party a couple of weekends ago. This is an awful, embarrassing picture from my iPhone but it's the only one I have of them and I wanted to share the recipe.

Up until recently I had thought you needed a fryer to make doughnuts, so you can imagine my delight when I found out about the doughnut pan (thank you, said she said he). For only $10 you can get baked doughnuts and wave goodbye to fears of scalding yourself and burning down your house (again). I found this recipe by doing an internet search for pumpkin doughnuts, then made a simple cinnamon sugar glaze.

Super good.


Baked Pumpkin Doughnuts
via Taste & Tell Blog

Doughnuts
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ginger
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup pumpkin puree
2 eggs
2 tablespoons milk
1/4 cup butter, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract 

Preheat the oven to 350F. Prepare a doughnut pan by spraying with non-stick cooking spray.

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, salt, baking soda, nutmeg, cinnamon and ginger. Set aside.

In another bowl, cream together the brown sugar, butter and pumpkin. Add in the eggs, mix well, then mix in the milk and vanilla. Stir in the reserved dry ingredients.

Place the mix in a large zip-top bag. Cut off the corner and pipe into the doughnut pan. Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 10 minutes. Remove pan from oven, let rest for 5 minutes, then remove from pan and allow to cool completely on a wire rack. 


Cinnamon Glaze
½ cup powdered sugar
1 T. milk
½ tsp. cinnamon
¼ tsp. nutmeg

Mix until smooth and creamy.  The glaze should pour easily from a spoon.  You may need to add additional milk or powder sugar to get the right consistency.

key lime cheesecake with strawberries and blueberries

Birthday season is upon me. It seems I can only befriend Tauruses and Geminis. It makes sense, the Tauruses keep things steady and loyal while the Geminis spice up my rather fret-y and practical Virgo disposition. My good friend Jen's birthday on May 13th is the kick-off point, so I decided to go big. If anyone deserves some extra effort it's this girl. She loves key lime pie and cheesecake and I found a recipe that included both. Why not?

It was my first time making a cheesecake, so I was a little nervous but I hear it turned out alright. I had to drive to Des Moines this weekend (for another birthday party), so I wasn't able to try it. But don't feel too bad for me, I'm going out to dinner with Jen tonight and she promised to give me a piece afterward.*

The recipe called for mango ribbons, but that sounded incredibly hard with such a slippery fruit and also I just wasn't sure if Jen like them, so I opted for blueberries and strawberries instead. Feel free to try whatever. Also, I used bottled Key lime juice.

*Update: I did get to try the cheesecake and it was awesome. The crust turned out to be my favorite part, but I definitely recommend making this recipe.

Key Lime Cheesecake with Blueberries + Strawberries 

lightly adapted from Gourmet/May 2002

For crust
1 1/4 cups fine graham cracker crumbs (5 oz)
3 tablespoons sugar
1/2 stick (1/4 cup) unsalted butter, melted

For filling
2 (8-oz) packages cream cheese at room temperature
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
3/4 cup fresh Key lime juice (strained from about 1 1/2 lb Key limes) or bottled
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs

For topping
1/2 c blueberries
1/2 c strawberries, sliced 1/8"
1 tablespoon fresh Key lime juice (strained) or bottled
1/2 cup chilled heavy cream
1 tablespoon sugar
 

Make crust:
Preheat oven to 350°F and butter bottom and side of 9"-9 1/2"spring-form pan.

Stir together crumbs, sugar, and butter in a bowl with a fork until combined well, then press evenly onto bottom and one-third up side of pan. Bake crust in middle of oven 8 minutes and cool in pan on a rack.

Make filling:
Reduce oven temperature to 325°F.

Beat cream cheese with an electric mixer at medium speed until fluffy, then beat in sugar. Add lime juice, sour cream, and vanilla and beat until smooth. Mix in flour and salt at low speed, scraping down side as needed, until just incorporated, then add eggs all at once and mix just until incorporated.

Pour filling into crust and set springform pan in a shallow baking pan. Bake cake in middle of oven until set in center, 1 hour to 1 hour and 10 minutes. Cool completely in springform pan on rack. (Cake will continue to set as it cools.)

Run a thin knife around edge of cake and remove side of pan. If desired, transfer cake with a large metal spatula to a serving plate.

Make topping:
Gently toss blueberries + strawberry slices with lime juice.

Beat cream with sugar in a bowl until it just holds stiff peaks, then spread over top of cheesecake. Arrange fruit decoratively over cream.