My favorite season of the year!

Fall. Autumn. Indian Summer

whatever you call it…it’s just beautiful here in Northern Central Pennsylvania.  Was excited to get some shots of my daughter and fiance for her engagement pictures

I’ve been busy designing some fall inspired jewelry!

The crispy taste of Autumn ~ My Favorite  Recipes! 

Pumpkin Pie Muffins 

1 15 oz can pumpkin puree

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3/4 cup evaporated milk

2/3 cup all purpose flour

2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 12 cup muffin tin with silicone liners, foil liners sprayed with cooking spray or just spray the cups with cooking spray. Either of these three methods will make it easy to take the cupcake out after it’s cooked. Paper liners make it difficult to remove the cupcakes.

Mix the pumpkin, sugar, brown sugar, eggs, vanilla extract and milk. Add the flour, pumpkin spice, salt, baking powder and baking soda to the mixture. Fill each muffin cup with 1/3 cup of the mixture. Bake for twenty minutes and let cool for twenty minutes. Remove cupcakes from pan and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes. Top with whipped cream and sprinkle more pumpkin pie spice on top and serve. Makes 12 cupcakes.

Hidden Hill Farm Hot Spiced Cider
1 gallon good cider (if you can find local pressed, it’s so much better)

1/8c brown sugar

1/4-1/2c orange juice or one orange sliced

1/2t ground cloves

1/2t ground nutmeg

1/2t pumpkin pie spice

10-13″ of cinnamon sticks or 1 t ground

Heat to boil and serve – we served Kraken Black spiced rum on the side with shot glass for the adults  Just delicious…and needless to say, it was gone early! This is an easy bring along for your parties!

Grammercy Tavern Gingerbread

1 cup oatmeal stout or Guinness Stout or be creative and use your favorite Pumpkin Ale

1 cup dark molasses (not blackstrap)

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

2 tablespoons ground ginger

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

Pinch of ground cardamom

3 large eggs

1 cup packed dark brown sugar

1 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup vegetable oil

Confectioners sugar for dusting

Preheat oven to 350°F. Generously butter bundt pan and dust with flour, knocking out excess.

Bring stout and molasses to a boil in a large saucepan and remove from heat. Whisk in baking soda, then cool to room temperature.

Sift together flour, baking powder, and spices in a large bowl. Whisk together eggs and sugars. Whisk in oil, then molasses mixture. Add to flour mixture and whisk until just combined.

Pour batter into bundt pan and rap pan sharply on counter to eliminate air bubbles. Bake in middle of oven until a tester comes out with just a few moist crumbs adhering, about 50 minutes. Cool cake in pan on a rack 5 minutes. Turn out onto rack and cool completely.

Serve cake, dusted with confectioners sugar, with whipped cream.

Grammercy Tavern is a famous restaurant in NYC and this shared recipe is just amazing!  It’s by far the best Gingerbread Cake I’ve ever had or made.  It’s heavy, moist and has this deep rich flavor that entices you keep taking bites.  You could serve it with a lemon sauce but I think its great with a fresh whipped cream.