We have nothing against pumpkin pie. We simply don’t think it should have an exclusive contract with the pumpkin. Our kitchen has produced two other pumpkin desserts that deserve a turn, and both owe their place here to Andrew’s enthusiasm for baking.
That enthusiasm is especially amusing because he once wanted very little to do with pumpkin. A disappointing early encounter with pumpkin pie apparently cast a long shadow. Happily, that chapter is closed. These days, pumpkin can arrive in a layered cake with brown butter frosting or in a sandwich cookie with cream cheese filling.
For the Dessert Table
This is pumpkin dressed for company: two cake layers, brown butter cream cheese frosting, and a topping of pecans, pepitas and crystallized ginger. Andrew doubled the topping in our original version. Canned pumpkin purée saves the work of roasting a pumpkin without sacrificing the spirit of the recipe.
Click here to read the full recipe on Chewing The Fat
For a Platter of Treats
Spiced pumpkin cookies sandwich a generous cream cheese filling in this recipe from Baked’s Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito. Andrew made them for a Thanksgiving leftovers party, which rather stretched the definition of leftovers. Use pumpkin purée, not pumpkin pie filling, and let the cookies cool completely before filling them.
Clich here to read the full recipe on Chewing The Fat
The cake is the choice when you want a centerpiece. The whoopie pies are easier to pass around at a party or offer as one of several desserts. Whichever you choose, look carefully at the can: pumpkin purée and pumpkin pie filling are different products. Both recipes call for the purée. Let the recipe supply the sweetness and spice.
