Pumpkin Cake

Had enough of pumpkin? Haha

Ingredients:

• 3/4 stick butter (3/8 cup)
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup pumpkin
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• Optional: walnuts with cinnamon and brown sugar. Like the mixture here.

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 350F
2. Mix butter and sugar.
3. Blend in everything else including nut mixture.
4. Sprinkle some of the nut mixture on top if you want.
5. Pour into small pan and bake for 30-35 minutes.

Pumpkin Cheesecake

It is the season of pumpkins.
So here you go. I got this from the food network, but 2/3rd the recipe. I also put in whipping cream as opposed to sour cream. Also, as I was mixing I added differing amounts of the items to get a nice consistency.

Ingredients

• 2 graham cracker crusts
• 2-8oz cream cheese
• 1 1/3 cup pumpkin filling
• 2 eggs
• 1/3 cup whipping cream
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cinnamon
• 1 tbsp. flour
• 1 tsp vanilla

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 300F 
2. Beat cream cheese and sugar.
3. Add in the rest of the ingredients.
4. Pour mixture into crust.
5. Bake for 2 hours.
6. Turn off oven and open door. Leave cheesecake in for 30 minutes.
7. Then leave outside of oven until completely cooled.
8. Place in fridge.

I also added some toffee to one of the cheesecakes. You can also add walnuts or pecans. Basically anything you want.

Enjoy. :-)

Pumpkin-Layered Toffee Cheesecake

I like pumpkin pie. I like cheesecake. Here you go:

I found the recipe here, but halved it and changed some stuff. 

Ingredients

• Gharam-Cracker crust
• 1-8 oz Cream Cheese
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup toffee
• 7/8 cup pumpkin filling (12.5 oz)
• 3/8 cup of whipping cream (1/3 cup butter + 3/4 cup milk --> 1 cup whipping cream)
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/4 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp. ginger
• 2 eggs
• Dash of salt

Instructions

1. Pre-heat oven to 300F.
2. Blend cream cheese and 1/4 cup sugar. Mix in 1/2 tsp. vanilla, 1 egg, and 1/2 cup toffee. Pour into crust.
3. Mix remaining ingredients. Pour gently on top of cream cheese.
4. Bake for 2 hours and or until mostly set.
5. Turn off oven and open door. Leave pie in for 30 minutes.
6. Take out and leave outside for 1 hour.
7. Put in fridge for a few hours and serve!

Look at how beautiful those layers are! 

A little look into my kitchen..

So I had this idea of posting about the different items that I use in my kitchen. 

There are some that are pretty cool to have, and then there are some I couldn't do without! 

Cookie cutters are the most amazing little things. Especially with children. They go crazy over the different little shapes. They also have fun cooking with you. I tend to buy the random cookie cutters I find on sale. Hence the "holiday shapes." You can also use the cookie cutters to cut sandwiches into fun shapes.

Cookies cut into shapes are fun to ice and design in awesome ways. You can also sprinkle some colored sugar. Just make sure you sprinkle them as soon as they come out of the oven.

Hey! So what is exactly are these?! They are brownie/cake cutters.  The squiggly one helps you cut the brownies into awesome shapes. Where as the rod one helps you cut in a neat manner.

And now to the baking pans. 

My many baking pans.

Hey! Each one serves a very specific purpose.

Pan number 1:

Why worry about cutting your pie or cake into perfect little pieces when the pan can do it for you? 

Then serve your pie without having to worry about popping it out of the pan.

I like this type of pan because you can also use it to serve the pie or cake.

Ok, are these not the cutest little things you have ever seen?!

I have not attempted to bake with them, but they are perfect for Jello! 

So I have plenty more things to show you, but I will save that for later! 

Now tell me what are your favorite kitchen utensils?