Test kitchen.

 

Pregnancy has made me an early riser. I haven't missed a sunrise in weeks, and lately I've considered waking up at 8 am as me "sleeping in." (Past Honey just gasped.)

 

Not only have I been rising earlier and earlier, but I've been actually motivated (gasps by Present Honey) to do things at this early hour.

 

Today I woke up with a ridiculous overwhelming urge to bake. ALL THE THINGS.

 

So, once Doc left for work, I started off making a double batch of Pumpkin Honey Cornbread, and in case you were wondering from my last post about this cornbread, a double batch does fits perfectly in a 12 inch tart pan. Also, in case you ever wondered if whisking with a whisk and whisking with a fork are different, I can assure you from some of the very salty bites of this mornings cornbread that they indeed are. Lesson learned. 

 

 

But it didn't stop there. I then took to my pinterest fall recipes board and poured over every image. The requirements? The recipe I chose had to be something with pumpkin in it. (You're surprised, right?)

 

Being that I'm almost 35 weeks pregnant, I didn't want to take on too big of an undertaking as I've lately had the habit of biting off more than I can chew when it comes to everyday tasks, so I decided that today would be the day that I would perfect the ultimate Pumpkin Spice Latte at home.

 

 

Present Honey would like to inform Past Honey that did not actually happen.

Le sigh.

 

 

None of the recipes I tried yielded what to me would be the perfect fix for a pumpkin spice latte craving. Maybe for others they would be, but none were right for me. I'm not giving up on this endeavor, but I am annoyed that the first one I tried didn't sprout little rainbows of fall happiness in my tummy. It wasn't bad, but there were no rainbows.  

 

 

And want to know something else? [Cue rant.] I get annoyed when a recipe calls for pumpkin pie spice. It's not that people use it that annoys me, it's the mere existence of it as a single spice. Is that silly? Are my pregnancy hormones going off in a pumpkin filled rage? I think that the cinnamon and other spices involved should be given the respect of having their quantities listed separately. I guess I'm just a purist at heart. Since I haven't seen pumpkin pie spice here in France I now need to make our own pumpkin pie spice mixture, and then figure out the right proportions for my dreamboat pumpkin spice latte. Nothing that a Google search won't solve, but annoying nonetheless. And don't worry, when I do I'll be sure to share it with you. Maybe you'll even get some rainbows. Fingers crossed. [End rant.]   

 

Any of you out in the blogosphere have a killer pumpkin spice latte recipe that you'd be willing to share? Any one else against the societal attachment to pumpkin pie spice as a single spice entity?

 

Ok maybe I had too much coffee today.

 

A la prochaine friends...

 

Honey 

Pumpkin Honey Cornbread.

 

 

I've had a mean hankering for cornbread as of late, so when I came across this Pumpkin Honey Cornbread recipe from The Comfort of Cooking, it was a no-brainer that I needed to make this. After all, Doc did just bake and puree up 29 lbs. of pumpkin this weekend...

 

 

This recipe is not only really good, but it is also so easy to make - which is good being that my current stores of energy at almost 34 weeks pregnant are running pretty low. This is one of those recipes where you'll have the dishes all washed before the cornbread is even done in the oven sort of deals (for those of us sans dishwasher).

 

 

This isn't an original recipe to me, as mentioned above, though I did adapt it slightly when it came to what flour I used. I love this recipe because I think it's a basic enough starting point to jump off and create your own original cornbread recipes, which is exactly what I plan on doing in the coming weeks. There are so many amazing sounding combinations that I want to try, it's just a matter of having enough cornmeal to try them with (I have yet to find cornmeal in SwitzerFrance).

 

 

One thing I will say is this: this recipe is pretty perfect in its own right. My goal for the afternoon is to make sure Doc gets at least a slice...I'm not kidding. It is just really stinking good. I did however have higher hopes for the level of pumpkin taste that would come out of it. For some of you this may be the perfect amount of pumpkin, but for me, I think I'm going to try to tweak this, possibly tomorrow, to let the pumpkin shine through more. I'm not sure that I would have known there was pumpkin in it had I not been the one to make it. But that might just be me - I like strong tastes, strong spices, and to be able to be able to really tell what is in a dish that I've made. So look for another pumpkin cornbread recipe coming up soon here on the blog, one that will probably lean towards heavier pumpkin and spices. That being said, I will absolutely make this particular pumpkin cornbread recipe again in the future as it really is THAT good.

 

 

One last point before diving into the recipe - when I make this again I will double the recipe. Doc and I are eaters, and this cornbread would not be enough for the two of us (actually I guess it's 3 of us at this point). I made a mistake and used a 12 inch tart pan instead of an 8 inch one (because we don't have an 8-inch one), so the cornbread was essentially only as thick as a fluffy pancake/about 1/2 inch thick. If I double the recipe and use the same pan, I still think it won't be incredibly thick, but will be better suited to how much we tend to eat. Just wanted to point that out in case you are one of a family of good eaters as well, or whether you're trying to decide how much other food you want to prepare to go with this cornbread.  

 

 

Pumpkin Honey Cornbread:

(as adapted from The Comfort of Cooking)

 

Ingredients:

 

1/4 cup (or 57 grams) of melted butter 

1/3 cup non-bleached cane sugar

1 Tbsp. of Honey (I used a Bruyere Honey)

1 large egg

1/4 tsp. organic baking soda

1/4 cup of buttermilk*

1/4 cup of pumpkin puree

1 tsp. of salt

1/2 cup of yellow cornmeal

1/2 cup of organic whole spelt flour

 

*Are you an expat who just winced when you saw buttermilk as an ingredient? For three years I ignored recipes with buttermilk in it, because I knew that buttermilk doesn't exist here in SwitzerFrance. Joy the Baker wrote an excellent post on three easy-peasy buttermilk substitute recipes, which you can find here. We were completely out of milk (I swear it's like I'm married to a 17 year old growing boy with the way Doc takes down milk!), almost completely foiling my best laid plans, until I remembered that I had bought buttermilk powder packets back in the states a few years ago. Low and behold they were still good! It was a Rosh Hashanah miracle! Granted this wasn't the way I wanted to come up with the buttermilk for my first cornbread experience in France, but desperate times call for desperate measures. Next time I'll use the milk and lemon method...

 

Directions:

 

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F/177 degrees C.

 

2. In a medium bowl, stir melted butter, sugar and honey together.

 

3. Whisk in egg.

 

4. Whisk in baking soda, buttermilk, and pumpkin puree.

 

5. Next add the salt, cornmeal and flour. Mix, but don't overmix. Once the flour disappears stop mixing.

 

6. Grease an 8-inch baking pan. Pour batter into pan and smooth out the batter with a spatula.

 

7. Bake for 25 minutes or until the top becomes golden brown. Stick a toothpick through the center - if it comes out clean it's done. If not, let bake for another 5 minutes or so. Let cool for 5-10 minutes before dishing it up.

 

 

If you try it, let me know how it goes! I'm curious what you think about the pumpkin-y-ness of the recipe as is. And keep an eye out for another pumpkin cornbread recipe (and let's be serious, pumpkin recipes in general) soon to come! I'm excited to use this recipe as a jumping off point for other cornbread possibilities.

 

 

A la prochaine friends...

 

Honey