Spice Up Your Life: It's Pumpkin Season

By Kimberly Gamble

For a classic autumn day or simply for an excuse to get cozy with a significant other, look no further than pumpkin picking. Think this activity is just for your little cousins? Think again. Turns out Onondaga County has pumpkin patches out the ass. So hop in your roommate’s car and head out to one of these CNY gems to grab the gord that is guaranteed to be the bas for any delicious homemade treat.

To prepare your pumpkin for any recipe, rinse the outside with cool water, carefully cut off the top (a circle around the stem), and pull out all sees and strings. After you complete these steps, cut up the remainder of your pumpkin and start your recipe.

Dying to know what we’re doing with our little orange friends? We’re banking on Pumpkin-tinis and Pumpkin Cinnamon rolls. If you’re deeply intrigued, here are the recipes.

Pumpkin Pie-tini (serves one)

Ingredients:

1 oz milk

2 tbsp of pumpkin puree

1.5 oz of vanilla vodka

1.5 oz of crème de cacao

Instructions:

1. Shake milk and pumpkin puree over ice and mix. Pour the remaining ingredients and shake well.

2. Using a small amount of honey, cover rim of glass with graham cracker crumbs.

Pumpkin Cinnamon rolls with Caramel Frosting

Ingredients:

Cinnamon Rolls

1/3 cup milk

2 tbsp butter

½ cup canned pumpkin

2 tablespoons sugar

¼ tsp nutmeg

1 tbsp pumpkin pie spice

½ tsp salt

1 egg, beaten

1 package dry yeast (1/4 ounce)

2 cups bread flour (you can use regular all-purpose flour but bread flower makes them lighter)

½ cup brown sugar, packed

2 tsp ground cinnamon

2 tsp melted butter

Caramel Frosting

¼ cup butter

½ cup brown sugar, packed

2 tbsp milk

¼ tsp vanilla

¼ tsp pumpkin spice

1 dash salt

¾ cup sifted confectioners’ sugar

Instructions:

For Cinnamon Rolls

1. In a small saucepan, heat milk and butter until warm and the butter is almost melted, stirring constantly. In a large mixing bowl, combine pumpkin, sugar, nutmeg, pumpkin pie spice, and salt. Add milk mixture and best with electric mixer until even. Beat in egg and yeast.
2. Add half of the flour into the pumpkin mixture. Beat mixture on low speed 5 minutes, scraping sides of bowl frequently. Add remaining flour and mix thoroughly (dough will be very soft). Turn into lightly greased bowl, then grease surface of dough lightly
3. Cover and let rise in warm place until doubled, for about 1 hour. Punch dough down. Spray a surface with cooking spray or turn onto floured surface. Knead a few turns to form smooth dough, sprinklin in enough additional flour to make dough easy to handle. Roll dough into 12x10 inch rectangle.
4. In a small bowl, combine brown sugar and cinnamon. Brush surface of dough with melted butter. Sprinkle with brown sugar mixture. Beginning with long side of dough, roll up jellyroll style. Pinch seam to seal. With sharp knife, cut roll into twelve 1-inch slices. Place rolls, sliced side up, in a greased 11x17 inch baking pan. Cover and let rise until nearly doubled, 30 to 45 minutes.
5. Bake rolls at 350 degrees about 15-20 minutes or until golden. Remove from pan to waxed paper-lined wire rack. Let cool for 10-15 minutes.

For Caramel Sauce

1. In a small saucepan, heat butter until melted. Stir in brown sugar and milk.
2. Cook over medium low heat for 1 minute.
3. Transfer to small mixer bowl and cool mixture. Stir in vanilla, pumpkin pie spice, salt and confectioners’ sugar for desired consistency. Drizzle over roll