Pumpkin Pecan Roll with Maple Cinnamon Glaze

This is one of  my rare forays into bread baking. Possibly inspired by the Great British Bake off but mainly inspired by a jar of Pecan Pumpkin Butter I bought from America. I debated about what recipe to use it in and came up with pumpkin pie, pumpkin cookies or pumpkin cake but in the end I decided to make a version of cinnamon rolls using pumpkin, pecan and maple syrup. I have to admit that I threw the first lot of dough away as I was not happy with it and it just wouldn't come together. I made it the second time with the same ingredients and it worked beautifully. It definitely takes a little time to make your own dough but it's absolutely, totally worth it. The bread was so soft and light it felt like cotton wool on the inside. The pumpkin pecan filling was absolutely delicious and you can clearly taste the pumpkin with a hint of apple and spice. The maple cinnamon glaze complemented the flavours and my kitchen smelt heavenly whilst baking this. This is my first time trying the Clarks Pure Canadian No1 Light Maple Syrup. It comes in a lovely glass flask and tastes better than the regular maple syrup. The taste is purer and it smells divine! 

These rolls are perfect for a weekend breakfast or even at a Halloween party as it has very autumnal flavours. You can easily add some Halloween sprinkles or make an orange glaze (with orange colouring) for a more Halloween feel.  This success has now inspired me to try making more of my own bread so look out for more bread recipes in the future. 

I'm entering this to Treat Petite hosted by Kat from the Baking Explorer and Stuart from Cakeyboi. The theme this month is Trick or Treat. The deadline has past but Kat has kindly agreed to include this in the round up - thank you. 

I am also entering it to Let's Cook for Halloween hosted by Nayna from Simply Food.

 my lovely jar of pecan pumpkin butter

 I used my new (ish) Lekue bread maker which I bought from Lakeland - it's silicone and you can weigh and mix the ingredients in there and knead the dough...

 ... then close it up and leave it to prove! 

 it more than doubled in size yay! 

 roll out the dough

 add chopped, roasted pecans to the pecan pumpkin butter

 spread mixture evenly all over the dough

 roll up the dough like a swiss roll and slice 

 arrange in a tin leaving a small gap between each roll. Cover with a damp tea towel and leave it for another 30 minutes or so 

 

 you can see that the dough has expanded further to fill all the gaps. Brush with a beaten egg before baking

 drizzle maple cinnamon glaze on top 

  yum! 

 The bread is really soft and delicious and the filling is very tasty! 

Bread recipe from BBC Food

For the dough

500g strong white bread flour

1 teaspoon salt

50g brown sugar

1.5 teaspoon dried yeast

75g butter

200ml milk

1 egg

For the filling

1 jar of pecan pumpkin butter

100g pecans - lightly roasted and roughly chopped

1 beaten egg to brush on top of the the dough before baking

For the maple cinnamon glaze

60mls maple syrup

1-2 teaspoons ground cinnamon (adjust to taste) 

250g icing sugar

few tablespoons of milk (optional) 

• Start by making the dough - place the flour, salt and sugar in a bowl and mix. Add in the yeast and then rub the butter into the flour mixture until it resembles breadcrumbs. 
• Make a well in the centre and pour in the milk and crack in the egg.
• Mix together with your hands - don't worry if it's sticky, be patient and it will come together.
• Turn the dough out onto a clean surface ( I used a silicone mat) and knead the dough until it is smooth and elastic. This can take up to 10 minutes! 
• To test if it's ready, take a small piece of dough and stretch it as then as possible - you should be able to see the light through it and it should not break easily.
• Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl or in a silicone bread maker if you have one. Cover and leave to prove for about 90 minutes. 
• Prepare the filling by lightly roasting the nuts and then roughly chopping them.
• Scoop out the pecan pumpkin butter and add the prepared nuts. 
• When the dough is ready, punch it a few times with your knuckles to knock the air out 
• Roll the dough out to a rectangle as shown.
• Spread the filling evenly making sure to go right to the edge.
• Starting with the long side, roll the dough up into a sausage shape as you would a swiss roll.
• Cut into 12 equal slices.
• Place the slices with the spiral facing up in a lined square tin.
• Cover with a damp tea towel and leave to prove for a further 45-60 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 200C.
• The buns should have expanded and will feel springy to the touch.
• Beat an egg in a bowl and brush the tops of the buns.
• Bake at 200C for 10 minutes and then lower the temperature to 180C and bake for a further 15-20 minutes. 
• Make the maple cinnamon glaze by mixing the icing sugar with the ground cinnamon. Pour in the maple syrup and mix until smooth. 
• Add a few drops of milk if required. 
• Once the buns are ready, remove from the oven and drizzle the glaze on top.
• Best served warm but it kept well for a few days in an airtight container. 

Disclaimer: I was sent some Clarks maple syrup for review purposes including this Clarks Pure Canadian No1 Light Maple Syrup. This is not a sponsored post and all opinions expressed are my own. 

Spiced Pumpkin and Apple Crumble Muffins

Steven Dotsch is the Speculaas Spice Master Chef at the Speculaas Spice Company. His inspiration to launch his Dutch grandmother's recipe of delicious, warm and sweet tasting speculaas mix in the United Kingdom comes from his love of eating truly authentic Dutch Speculaas - spiced biscuits.  He has now created a special spice mix which captures all of those flavours. It includes high grade cinnamon from Sri Lanka, cloves, ginger and 6 other spices. I started thinking about recipes to make with this spice and initially thought of cupcakes similar to my speculoos cupcakes. However, I had some pumpkin puree leftover from making my spiced pumpkin cream cheese swiss roll so I decided to create a recipe which included pumpkin puree. This is a very autumnal sounding recipe as it contains pumpkin, apple and a crumble topping. 

The spices smelt amazing and tasted even better. The spice mix worked well with the pumpkin and apple and I had a lot of compliments for these muffins. It's a very moist muffin which has a texture similar to bread pudding. You can clearly taste the pumpkin and the spices which really lifted the flavour of the muffin. I'd also recommend adding some pecan nuts which will give a crunch and another layer of flavour. My favourite part was the crumble topping which was sweet and crispy in contrast to the soft, dense muffin. 

I'm entering this to The No Waste Food Challenge which is run by Elizabeth from Elizabeth's Kitchen Diary. This month, it's guest hosted by Laura from I'd Much Rather Bake Than... I used up leftover pumpkin puree for this recipe and the end of a bag of oats for the crumble. The apples were also spare apples I had sitting on the table. 

 brown sugar, plain flour, milk, apples, eggs, pumpkin puree and spice mix 

 adding the spice mix to the flour

 adding chopped apples to the pumpkin mix 

 almost ready to bake... 

 adding the crumble topping 

 close up of the crumble topping 

 It has a bread pudding like consistency 

An original recipe by bakingaddict

For the muffins
225g plain flour
100g caster sugar
3 teaspoons speculaas spice mix
60mls milk
60mls vegetable oil
2 eggs
2 apples, peeled, cored and chopped
285g pumpkin puree

For the crumble topping
120g butter
120g brown sugar
80g flour
80g oats
1 teaspoon speculaas spice mix

• Preheat the oven to 180C.
• In a large bowl, mix the flour, sugar and speculaas spice mix. 
• In a separate bowl, mix the eggs, oil and milk with the pumpkin puree.
• Add in chopped apples.
• Now add the flour mixture to the wet mixture and mix. 
• Spoon into muffin cases. 
• Make the crumble topping by rubbing the butter and flour together until you get a breadcrumb consistency. 
• Add the oats, sugar and spice.
• Divide the crumble topping evenly between the muffin cases.
• Bake for approximately 18-20 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
• Allow to cool or eat warm. 

Disclaimer: I was sent a pack of speculaas spice mix for review purposes. I was not required to write a positive review and all opinions expressed are my own. This is not a paid post. 

Spiced Pumpkin Cream Cheese Swiss Roll

Quite a few months ago, I asked J to look through my new cookbook - The Hummingbird Bakery Home Sweet Home and bookmark recipes that he'd like to try. I've never actually gotten round to baking any of them for him so when I felt the urge to bake, I looked through the chosen recipes and decided on this particular recipe for a few reasons. Firstly, my co host Caroline has chosen the letter 'P' for AlphaBakes this month so I thought this would fit nicely. Secondly, as I mentioned in my previous post, I'd recently received goodies from America which includes pumpkin puree. Thirdly, I had all the ingredients to hand and it was a relatively simple recipe to make.

I've only made swiss rolls a handful of times with varying degrees of success. I learned from my last attempt to whisk the eggs and sugar for a long time- much longer than you think and it worked much better this time. This sponge is really fragrant with the ground cinnamon and pumpkin puree. It's filled with a sweet cream cheese filling which complements the sponge perfectly. This is a very autumnal recipe but I just couldn't wait to try it out. J was extremely pleased and gave it his seal of approval. 

As mentioned, I'm entering this to AlphaBakes hosted this month by Caroline from Caroline Makes and co-hosted by myself on alternate months. The letter is P for Pumpkin.

I'm also sending this to Vegetable Palette hosted by Shaheen from A2K - A Seasonal Veg Table. The theme this month is mellow yellows and orange. I always thought pumpkin is a vegetable but it's actually a fruit. It's definitely orange so it fits in with the theme.

As I've had this recipe bookmarked for months, I'm sending it to Bookmarked Recipes hosted by Jacqueline from Tinned Tomatoes.

Finally, I'm also sending it to Blogger Bakespiration Challenge hosted by Stuck In The Tree.

 beat the eggs and sugar until pale and doubled in volume

 pour into a swiss roll tin - definitely worth investing if you make these frequently 

 rolled, cooled and unrolled cake

 spread cream cheese filling 

 and roll then dust with icing sugar 

Recipe from Hummingbird Bakery Home Sweet Home

 For the sponge
120g plain flour
2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
3 eggs
175g caster sugar (original recipe states 200g)
120g tinned pumpkin puree

For the filling
170g icing sugar, sifted
60g butter
300g cream cheese (origina recipe states 240g)

• Preheat oven to 170C.
• Whisk the eggs and sugar until pale, fluffy and at least doubled in volume. This will take a good 5 minutes in an electric mixer.
• Fold in the pumpkin puree with a spatula, followed by the sifted dry ingredients.
• Be careful not to overmix and knock out the air in the mixture.
• Pour into a swiss roll tin and spread the mixture evenly - this is important otherwise the cake will cook unevenly.
• Bake for approximately 12-14 minutes or until the sponge is cooked and bounces back slightly when touched. 
• Prepare a large sheet of baking paper with icing sugar on top.
• Place the sponge on top of the baking paper. Make a small slit on the shorter end of the sponge and roll up the sponge with the paper inside. 
• The cake will be very hot from the oven so you may need to use a kitchen towel or oven gloves. 
• Allow to cool in the rolled position.
• Meanwhile, make the filling by beating the icing sugar and butter together and then adding in the cream cheese and continue beating until smooth.
• Unroll the cake and spread the cream cheese filling on to the cake.
• Roll the cake again using the baking paper to help you. 
• Sprinkle with icing sugar before serving. 

Pumpkin Pie

Today is Thanksgiving so Happy Thanksgiving to everyone who's celebrating. It's mainly celebrated in America as a way of giving thanks for the harvest of the year. There are lots of traditional foods associated with Thanksgiving such as roast turkey and trimmings, pumpkin pie, pecan pie and sweet potato pie. My friend is hosting a Thanksgiving party tonight and I offered to make a pumpkin pie for the occasion. 

I bought a tin of pumpkin puree from America and it has a recipe on the back which I loosely followed. I added in some elements of a recipe on joyofbaking.com. I used my mum's recipe to make the crust and filled the base with crushed, roasted pecan nuts and ginger biscuits which hopefully gives added crunch, texture and flavour to the pie and prevents a soggy bottom as it will absorb the moisture of the filling. I added ground cinnamon, mixed spice and ground ginger to the filling. I managed to make a mini pumpkin pie as I had some leftover pastry and filling so I've already had a little taster and it tastes good. It does not have thepecan/ginger layer so I am curious to find out what that tastes like!  The pumpkin pie itself has a lovely buttery crust with a smooth filling and a hint of spice. It's not overly sweet probably because I reduced the sugar amount but goes well with sweetened spiced cream.  I'll update my blog later when I have photos of the sliced pie.

Happy Thanksgiving! 

 making the crust 

 adding spices to the egg and sugar mix 

 adding pumpkin puree 

 for the pecan/ginger base 

 smash into pieces 

 line tart tin with pastry 

 add a layer of pecan/ginger mix 

 add filling 

 freshly baked 

 crust looks good! 

 a slice of my mini pie

Update 29/11/13

 My first pumpkin pie! It was a huge success at the party (phew!) Everyone thoroughly enjoyed it mainly because it was light and not overly sweet. You can just see the pecan/ginger biscuit layer but it did not really add to the texture or flavour - I will double the amount and pre bake it slightly next time to see if that helps. The sweetened spiced cream definitely paired very well with the pie. 

Pie crust
200g plain flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
115g cold butter
2 - 3 tablespoons ice cold water

Topping for pie base (optional) 
25g roasted  pecans
25g ginger biscuits

Pie Filling
2 eggs
110g light brown sugar ( This is a reduced amount, would recommend 150g if you prefer a sweeter pie)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon mixed spice
1 can pumpkin puree
1 can evaporated milk

To Serve
300ml whipping cream
65g icing sugar, sifted
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

• Make the pie crust sifting the flour and salt into a bowl.
• Cut butter into cubes and rub into the flour until it resembles bread crumbs.
• Slowly add water one tablespoon at a time until a dough forms. 
• Shape into a ball and wrap in clingfilm.
• Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. 
• Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface and line a pie tin, pressing the corners into the tin. 
• To make the pie base topping, place pecan nuts and ginger biscuits in a ziplock bag and bash with a rolling pin. 
• Sprinkle the pecan and ginger biscuit mix over the base of the pie and press it down firmly. Place in the refrigerator to firm up. 
• Preheat the oven to 190C. 
• Make the filling by whisking the eggs and sugar together.
• Add the spices then the pumpkin puree and whisk.
• Finally stir in the evaporated milk.
• Pour the filling into the prepared pie crust and bake for 45-50 minutes.
• The crust should be brown on the edges and the filling should be set with a slight wobble in the middle. 
• Insert a sharp knife or palette knife into the filling and it should come out clean.
• Allow to cool completely.
• Pour whipping cream into a bowl and whisk until it just holds its shape. Add in sugar and cinnamon and continue whisking until it's a spreadable consistency. 
• Decorate with spiced whipped cream and pecan nuts.