Tag Archives: Autumn Baking

Pumpkin Spice Pavlova

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Serves 8-10; Curd makes about 2 cups

Ingredients

Pumpkin Spice Curd

  • 1 cup pumpkin puree (NOT pumpkin pie filling)
  • 1 cup white sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 egg yolks
  • 1 tablespoon orange juice
  • 1 tablespoon maple syrup
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon ground ginger
  • ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 1 stick butter, chopped into small pieces

Meringue

  • 3 large egg whites
  • ½ cup fine sugar
  • ½ cup dark brown sugar
  • ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar, or ½ tsp lemon juice or vinegar
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup whipping cream
  • 1 cup mascarpone
  • 1/2 cup pecans, chopped and lightly toasted
  • 2 oz dark chocolate, chopped
  • 2 oz white chocolate, chopped

Method

Pumpkin Curd

  1. Add all ingredients except the butte,  to the saucepan and whisk to combine
  3. Heat over a medium-low heat until the sugar has dissolved completely and it is slightly bubbling
  4. Continue to heat until the curd thickens slightly. When it’s ready it should coat the back of a spoon. Once you can draw a line on the back of the spoon with your finger without it running back together, it’s ready
  5. Remove from the heat. Add the butter in small chunks, stirring and letting it melt into the curd before adding the next few chunks
  6. Let cool completely and then put in the fridge to chill until you’re ready to use it

Meringue

  1. Preheat your oven to 250°F. Cover a large baking tray with baking parchment and trace a circle, about 9-10 inches in diameter, on to the paper. Turn the paper over so the drawn-on side is facing down but still visible
  2. In a clean, dry bowl of a stand mixer, using whisk attachment, whisk the egg whites until frothy, then add the cream of tartar and whip to soft peaks.
  3. Reduce the speed to medium-low and with the whisk continuously running, add in the salt and the sugars a spoonful at a time, until thick and satiny
  4. Spread the meringue inside the drawn circle, creating a nest by making the sides a little higher than the centre. Place in the oven and bake for 3 hours, then switch off the oven but leave the meringue inside until completely cool: this will take about 2 hours.
  5. Once cool, remove from the oven and set aside until ready to assemble

To Assemble

  1. Once your meringue has fully cooled, place the cream and mascarpone in a large bowl and whisk for about 1 minute, until stiff peaks form. Be careful not to over-whisk, If the mixture begins to split use a spatula to fold a little more cream into the mix to bring it back together
  2. Carefully spoon the cream/ mascarpone mixture into the centre of the meringue. Add a layer of the pumpkin spice curd on top – as much or as little as you like
  3. Sprinkle over ½ the dark and white chocolate pieces
  4. Add another layer of the whipped cream and finish by sprinkling with the remaining chocolate pieces and the toasted pecan pieces
  5. Serve and enjoy!

Tips:

  • Add you sugar in SLOWLY. I usually add it a Tablespoon at a time and let the mixture whisk for a couple pf minutes before I add the next. When all your sugar has been added you can check if its ready by dipping the back of a spoon (or your clean finger!) into the meringue mixture. Check by rubbing it. If it feels grainy- you need to whisk for about 2-3 more minutes. If it feels smooth – you’re good to go!
  • I know it sounds a long time but cooking (and cooling) your meringue as per the recipe ensures you’ll have the crispiest shell, with a chewy inside, and minimal cracks. But don’t panic! If you’re meringue does crack, or break, you can piece it back together and under the filling no on will know! Pavlovas are best when they look rustic anyway.

Pumpkin Nanaimo Bars

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And here we go again. After the summer that wasn’t it’s time to seek solace in all things autumnal. Shades of ochre and ember signaling days dwindling in trade for shaking out cozy TV blankets; warming comfort foods and pumpkin. All things pumpkin! As much as we deride it Pumpkin, or more to the point Pumpkin Spice, has a unique and habitual place in our hearts.

Yes- we role our eyes with derision at the comically esoteric figure of “Becky” swaddled in her fall knitwear, demanding her PSL but we’ll all still be in the coffeeshop line-up with her- upsizing our regular morning caffeine to the mythical spice-laden liquid crack of meme heaven. Aside from the trees, foodie feeds all over social media turn fall shades of red and orange, taken over by recipes and plates of pumpkin inspired/ derived foods and bakes. How do we love pumpkin? Let me count the ways.

You may be thinking I’m lining up for an utterly dismissive and scathing post on pumpkin affairs, but let me say no. I’ve become as much a fan of warmly spice fall bakes as Becky (albeit with less of a penchant for chunky knit cardigans). So here we are at this recipe- my love for the Canuck stalwart that is the Nanaimo Bar embracing the gentle spiced earthiness of pumpkin. The first attempt at this recipe had me overshooting the mark on the addition of the pumpkin puree. The filing layer wasn’t so much the familiar creamy spreadable mixture as it was pourable, in fact pretty much bordering on soup. So- it was back to the recipe board with that one! After some tweaking a more workable result was achieved- creamy, orange-tinted and subtly spiced.

Keep these bars in the fridge to avoid them becoming too soft and undesirably squishy. I personally think the creamy pumpkin layer tastes so much better when chilled too. But that’s just my personal preference and I guess the only way for you to find out is for you to make them yourself- so what are you waiting for?

Makes 18 bars

Ingredients

Base layer

  • 1/2 cup butter, melted
  • 1/3 cup cocoa powder, natural
  • 1/4 cup fine sugar
  • 1 large egg, beaten
  • 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
  • 3/4 cup sweetened shredded coconut
  • 1 tsp ground ginger

Middle layer

  • 1 cup icing sugar
  • 1/2 cup butter, softened to room temperature
  • 3 Tbsp pumpkin purée
  • 2 Tbsp custard powder
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
  • 1/2 tsp ground ginger
  • 1/4 tsp ground cloves
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • Pinch salt

Top layer

  • 6 oz semi-sweet chocolate, broken/ chopped into pieces
  • 1 Tbsp corn syrup
  • 2 Tbsp butter

Method

To prepare the base layer

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 9 inch square baking pan with parchment paper 
  2. In small saucepan over medium heat, combine butter, cocoa and sugar, stirring occasionally until butter has melted and mixture is smooth. Set aside to cool
  3. Stir in egg, graham cracker crumbs, ground ginger and coconut
  4. Transfer to your prepared pan. Press firmly and level as much as possible
  5. Bake for 10 mins, then remove and leave to cool completely

To prepare the middle layer

  1. In bowl of a stand mixer with paddle attachment, cream together icing sugar, butter, pumpkin, custard powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves, vanilla and salt. Spread the mixture evenly over bottom layer; smooth and chill for at least an hour

To prepare the top layer and finish

  1. In a bowl set over barely simmering water, melt chocolate, corn syrup and butter together, stirring occasionally, until smooth and shiny. Pour over the pumpkin layer and smooth
  2. Chill in the refrigerator overnight, or 2 hours minimum. Cut into bars (6 x 3). Keep the cut bars in a covered container either in the refrigerator (3 days) or frozen (3 months)

*To cut the bars, run a sharp knife under hot running water until the blade is hot. Quickly, and carefully, slice down through the bar layers into the number required- here is use 5 x 2 cuts to give 18 bars.