This is the latest installment of my Tales from the Trenches Series. An ongoing series where friends and readers share their stories and recipes about the great food they fit into family life. We all have tips and tricks to share with each other: when we cook, what we cook and how we cook the delicious food we love to eat. If you are interested in contributing a story and recipe please feel free to contact me. Today my friend Julie from Dinner with Julie is sharing a delicious Pumpkin Cake recipe with us in honor of the Naptime Chef Pumpkin Challenge Week.
Naptime Chef Pumpkin Week!: Don’t forget this week’s challenge to cook or bake at least one awesome dish with pumpkin this week. See official Pumpkin Challenge rules below and enter to win the awesome King Arthur Flour Halloween baking kit giveaway!
Julie, tell us a little bit about yourself:
1) How would you describe your approach to food in three sentences or less: I like food that is approachable, delicious, brings people together. It shouldn’t be stressful or put the cook under pressure or induce performance anxiety! Food should be a comfort and pleasurable experience.
2) What is your favorite winter dinner party menu? It always changes – I don’t have one favourite menu! Although I do love roasting a ham for large groups – it’s easy, delicious as it cools down, and makes both kids and grown-ups happy!
3) Sweet or salty? Both! But if I had to choose, sweet.
4) Favorite Cookbook? There are so many! Right now I’m pretty smitten with the Martha Stewart pie book – I also love Richard Sax’s Classic Home Desserts
5) Guilty Pleasure? Ice cream, although I’m fundamentally against the connection between food and guilt!
6) What is your favorite family recipe for making during your down time? My 13 year old niece loves to come over and bake chocolate chip cookies together. Sometimes we roll the dough into balls, freeze it and then dip in melted chocolate to make chocolate chip cookie dough “truffles”
As a kid, I wasn’t a fan of pumpkin. It too closely resembled its winter squash family members, which I despised. I’ve since grown into both – rich and nutrient-dense, pure pumpkin puree is one of my favourite additions to muffins, loaves and cakes. A pumpkin spice cake baking is the best possible potpourri, especially in the fall, when the days turn cold and the house needs warming. (I could still take or leave pumpkin pie – most often it’s left.)
But cake. I recently picked up a slice of divinely moist pumpkin cake from a gourmet take-out place nearby, and fell in love with it. So when my six year old asked if we could bake a cake, we did our best to recreate it. Who needs a birthday to bake a cake? We measured and stirred and licked the beaters, then went outside to play in the leaves as it baked.
