Category Archives: Thanksgiving

Pumpkin Spice Parfait

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Happy Thanksgiving ! I can’t believe is October already ! This year has gone by so fast ! Thanksgiving is a good time to take a step back and think about what’s important to us and be appreciative. We tend to get carried away with our busy daily lives. As I get older, I realize happiness can come from the simplest things. This is a quote that I read recently and couldn’t agree more….. “When things aren’t adding up in your life, start subtracting “. Sometimes we put so much weight on our shoulders that we are living less with more….

Here is a simple thing that makes me happy….my daughter’s drawing…..and yeah, the coffee too !

Ok, getting back to my Thanksgiving dessert for tonight. It’s a really easy one….. I put it together in like 30 minutes. Cause I’d rather spend more time with my family than in the kitchen all day !

Makes about 2-4 servings

  • 150 g pumpkin puree
  • 250 g soft cream cheese
  • 90 g icing sugar
  • 1 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • Pinch of nutmeg
  • Pinch of cloves
  • 12-16 ginger cookies
  • Whipped cream and toasted walnuts for toppings (optional)
  1. Whisk together cream cheese and icing sugar until smooth
  2. Mix in pumpkin puree and spices
  3. To assemble, coarsely crush ginger cookies, layer with pumpkin mixture top with whipped cream and toasted walnuts if desired
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Thanksgiving Pumpkin Cake 

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For Thanksgiving this year, I want to make something that I haven’t made before and is easy to put together. So I made this Pumpkin Cake ! I kept it light by using vegetable oil in the batter and just a small amount of butter in the frosting. I figured everyone might be running out of stomach space after a hearty turkey meal ! The maple walnuts are optional, but they are REALLY good and make the cake a lot more flavourful ! My daughter is usually my taste tester, but this time I got my mom to try it …..and she ate 2 big pieces of it, I guess that means it’s approved ! Happy Thanksgiving !

Makes one 8-inch square cake

For the cake 

  • 150 g canned or homemade pumpkin puree 
  • 200 g cake and pastry flour
  • 3 g baking powder
  • 3 g baking soda
  • 2 g salt
  • 5 g ground cinnamon
  • Pinch of ground nutmeg
  • Pinch of ground cloves
  • 100 g granulated sugar
  • 2 eggs, lightly beaten
  • 90 mL vegetable oil
  • 90 mL buttermilk
  • 5 mL pure vanilla extract 

For the frosting 

  • 250 g cream cheese, softened
  • 60 g unsalted butter, softened
  • 100 g icing sugar, sifted
  • 2.5 mL pure vanilla extract 

Optional toppings

Mix about 60 g walnuts with a tablespoon of maple syrup and toast in a 350°F oven for about 8 minutes.

  1. To make the cake, preheat oven to 350ºF
  2. Line bottom of baking tray with parchment paper, lightly grease and flour the sides
  3. In a large mixing bowl, sift together flour, baking power, baking soda, salt and spices
  4. Mix in sugar
  5. In another bowl, mix together eggs, oil, buttermilk and vanilla
  6. Add wet ingredients into dry ingredients, mix until just blended
  7. Fold in pumpkin puree
  8. Pour into baking tray and bake for about 25-30 minutes, let cool 
  9. Evenly trim off top and sides with a serrated knife 
  10. To make the frosting, beat together cream cheese and butter until creamy
  11. Add icing sugar and vanilla, beat until smooth
  12. Spread over top of cake
  13. Top with toasted walnuts if desired 

Pumpkin Cheesecake with Maple Caramel Sauce 

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Fall

October is a busy baking month for me. Thanksgiving, my daughter’s birthday, bake sale, Halloween…. all of them are happening this month. I am not complaining, in fact, I am enjoying it . Apples, pumpkins, corn, the spices, the Halloween decorations ….the aroma, the colours, the fun, I love them all ! For this Thanksgiving, I made a pumpkin cheesecake topped with maple caramel sauce. It is crunchy, creamy, sweet and a little spicy…..just delicious ! And it’s fairly easy to make ! It’s a great alternative to pumpkin pie.

Makes one 6-inch cake

For the crust

  • 120 g ginger snaps
  • 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

For the fillings

  • 250 g soft cream cheese
  • 120 g granulated sugar
  • 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon ground ginger
  • Pinch of ground nutmeg
  • Pinch of ground cloves
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 120 g pumpkin puree (homemade or canned)
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

For the maple caramel

  • 120 ml maple syrup
  • 15 g unsalted butter
  • 60 mL heavy or whipping cream

Pumpkin Cheesecake

To prepare the crust

  1. Crush ginger cookies into fine crumbs
  2. Mix crumbs with melted butter, press firmly into bottom of a spring-form pan or a cake ring (if you use a cake ring like I did, you have to wrap the bottom with parchment paper as it is bottomless)
  3. Bake for about 10 minutes, let cool

To prepare the cheesecake

  1. When crust is cooled, wrap bottom of cake pan with 2 layers of aluminium foil and place on a rimmed baking tray
  2. Turn oven down to 325ºF
  3. Using an electric mixer with the paddle attachment, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth
  4. Add flour, spices, salt,pumpkin puree and vanilla
  5. Add eggs, one at a time, mix until just blended, do not overmix
  6. Pour batter on top of crust and place the baking tray into the oven
  7. Pour about one inch of hot water into baking tray and bake for about 40-45 minutes (the top should be a little jiggly, do not overbake)
  8. Turn oven off, leave cheesecake inside oven with door ajar for another hour to cool gradually
  9. Take cake out, let cool at room temperature completely, then refrigerate for at least 3-4 hours

To prepare maple caramel

  1. Melt butter in a non-stick pan over medium heat
  2. Add maple syrup, when boil, turn heat down and simmer for about 3 minutes until thicken
  3. Add cream, stirring occasionally and continue to simmer until thick

When cheesecake is set, serve with maple caramel and whipped cream

Pumpkin Cheesecake

Pumpkin Tart

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It’s Thanksgiving tomorrow. My daughter drew a picture and wrote a list at school about what she is thankful for. She made a long list, but the one I like the most was “I am thankful for my hilarious brother!” For myself, I am most thankful for having two lovely kids….they make me laugh, cry….they give me the energy to keep going but they also burn me out……Hope everyone have a good Thanksgiving!
This is actually my first time making pumpkin pie.  I wasn’t sure how it would turn out.  So I decided to make a mini version to experiment.  And I have some tart shells left in the freezer, so it’s a perfect time to use them up! I prefer a sweeter and milder taste, so I didn’t use too much spices.  But you can adjust the amount to your own taste.

Makes about 24 tarts

  • 1+1/2 cup pumpkin puree, preferably homemade (420 g)
  • 2 eggs
  • 3/4 cup brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
  • pinch of nutmeg
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon cornstarch
  • 3/4 cup whipping cream
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 24 store-bought small tart shells
  1. Preheat oven to 350ºF
  2. Whisk pumpkin and eggs
  3. Add brown sugar, spices, salt and cornstarch, mix until blended
  4. Add whipping cream and vanilla, mix well
  5. Pour into tart shells and bake for about 25 – 30 minutes 
  6. Top with whipped cream when cooled