baked pumpkin french toast

Sunday mornings, in our home, are slow mornings. They're for sipping coffee while flipping pancakes and whisking eggs and crisping bacon - a big breakfast to sit down and enjoy together before heading to church. There are some Sunday mornings however, when I don't have time to sit and spend an hour at the stove (or don't feel like it!). This is the perfect breakfast for that kind of Sunday morning. The kind where you'll be spending a great deal of time getting Thanksgiving dinner ready, and the thought of doing another big meals is just a bit overwhelming. Or maybe you have guests, and you want something special to serve, but would still like to sit and visit over coffee? Being able to make this the night before means that by the time your coffee has finished brewing, the oven has already preheated and you've popped it in!

I tried this recipe for Pumpkin French Toast first, and then tweaked it, which I will post below. The first was tasty, but it was for doing one at a time on the stove top. I wanted something I could bake in the oven - in this case, in a 9" cake pan. I also tried it in a 9" x 13" baking dish and it worked well. The trick was good old parchment paper. I simply lined a greased cake pan, fanned all the dipped bread as best as I could, and then baked it. To remove, I simply lifted it out of the pan, peeled away the parchment and quickly set it on a cake plate.

I prefer Brioche when making my French toast, so that's what I used for this. Also, while this is called Pumpkin French Toast, the pumpkin flavour is subtle. It's really more of just a lovely autumn flavoured French toast.

Baked Pumpkin French Toast

Set aside 16 slices of brioche. Roughly a large loaf.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk the following together:

5 large eggs

2/3 cup of cream (you could use milk)

1/2 cup canned pumpkin puree (pure, not pie filling)

3 tbsp white sugar

1 tsp vanilla

2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ginger

1/4 tsp nutmeg

Quickly soak a few slices of day old brioche and then arrange in buttered and lined dish. Repeat, until all slices have been arranged. It was easiest for me to do about 10 slices around outside, up the sides to make an outer edge. Then, tuck the remaining 6 slices on the inside, between every other outer piece or so, to make a tighter inner circle that is overlapped. Really, this isn't so important, it's just how I preferred it. You could even just line them up in rows in a square baking dish. Pour whatever liquid is remaining evenly over the top.

Cover with tin foil and bake in a preheated oven at 350' for about 35 minutes, or until puffed and no longer soggy. I removed the tinfoil for another 5 minutes or so of baking to crisp up the edges a bit.

Remove after a minute of cooling, and place on a serving plate. Serve warm with syrup and whipped cream. I added a splash of maple bourbon to mine.

The first time I tried it, I added pecans to the top. I enjoyed that, but the boys aren't crazy about them, so I left them off this time.

I liked that we could just cut wedges and add a dollop of cream. It was a really simple thing to put together and an even easier breakfast to serve the next morning - perfect for the holidays!

a classic pumpkin loaf

A staple in the kitchen, once the words pumpkin and spice start popping up everywhere it seems, is a classic pumpkin loaf.

I have tried a few different recipes, but my go-to recipe is from Martha Stewart Living. It's not just that it turns out perfectly every time, or that it makes two perfect loaves (which seem to last just as long as one loaf), but that it's a pretty straightforward recipe that I know by heart, so it's just comfortably familiar.

Pumpkin Bread

from Martha Stewart Living

Preheat oven to 350. Butter two loaf pans.

Melt 1 1/2 sticks of unsalter butter (12 tbsp) and set aside

Set aside 1/2 c. of buttermilk and four eggs.

In a bowl, sift the following:

3 1/4 c. flour

3 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

1/4 tsp. allspice

3/4 tsp. kosher salt

In the bowl of stand mixer, mix the following to combine:

1 15 oz can of pure pumpkin, not pumpkin pie filling. (*note - In Canada, our common tin of E. D. Smith's pure pumpkin is actually 796 mL, which means you only need a half can for this recipe.)

1 c. of dark brown sugar, packed

1 c. of white sugar

Add butter and the 4 eggs. Scrape down bowl and mix thoroughly.

Alternate dry ingredients with the 1/2 c. of buttermilk, finishing with the remainder of dry ingredients.

Mix just until combined. Scrape down bowl. Divide evenly between two pans. Smooth out tops and bake in middle of top rack for roughly an hour. The recipe calls for 70-80 minutes, but I start checking at 60 minutes. Insert a toothpick to check if loaves are done. Cool 10 minutes and then remove from pan to finish cooling.

The loaves get the perfect, muffin-like top, and are nice and moist. Another reason I love the recipe is because it's so versatile. A slice is perfect with a generous amount of butter, stored in your pocket for a nice walk or as a quick breakfast on the go, or to make it a little more special, some swirled cream cheese frosting and a sprinkle of toasted walnuts does the trick. Either way, it won't last long.

It's also the perfect after school snack with a cup of tea.

And if the smell of pumpkin bread baking isn't enough to send you searching for your pile of knitted sweaters and Hunter boots, seeing the garden take on it's fall hues will do the trick.

pumpkin spice cupcakes with maple frosting

September has arrived, and with it, all the classic autumn recipes. And with the arrival of cooler weather, I don't mind having the oven on.

The first truly fall recipe I wanted to make again were these Pumpkin Spiced Cupcakes with Maple Frosting from Barefoot Contessa. This time I made mini cupcakes for with tea after our first day of school, and they turned out perfectly. I just adjusted the baking time.

Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes with Maple Frosting - Barefoot Contessa

The frosting recipe is amazing, and it made so much extra that I put half of it in the fridge to use another time. Also, I love how perfect cupcakes look with uniformly piped frosting, but sometimes, getting those swirls just right is so satisfying.

Now her recipe calls for a Health bar on top, and in Canada, we don't really have them. We have Skor bars, which I think are similar. I happened to have a container (or three) of English Toffee from when I went to Trader Joe's last week, and that worked perfectly!

This recipe is truly worthy of a signature "How easy was that?".

Pumpkin Loaf

I feel like, up to this point, with the exception of my quick night away, I've tried my best to not go too pumpkin crazy, but as it is officially Fall, I intend to fully indulge in all things pumpkin.

As promised, here is the recipe for this delicious Pumpkin Loaf I enjoyed this morning. It's dense, but super moist, and it doesn't have a strong spice flavour (even though I doubled the spices in the original recipe).

The recipe was found on Pinterest and adapted from the original recipe found here. I halved the recipe successfully, and immediately regretted that decision.

PUMPKIN LOAF

makes one 9" x 5" loaf

Preheat oven to 350'  and grease pan. Set aside.

In large bowl, mix:

1 cup pure pumpkin

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/3 cup water

2 eggs

In small bowl, mix:

1 3/4 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. pumpkin spice

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

Add dry ingredients to wet, and mix to combine. Pour into prepared pan.

Bake for 55 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean.

Let cool.

I've been looking through all my cookbooks, page marking the Fall recipes I'm looking forward to trying.

Fittingly, we spent our first day of Fall at the Fall Fair, completeing a scavenger hunt. The pumpkin loaf made a tasty snack!