Pumpkin S'mores Cake

I'm not quite ready to leave fall behind yet. It's not officially over for another week or so. Just enough time to squeeze in a few more pumpkin baked goods.

This cake is super light & fluffy, despite being made with whole grain flours. There's also banana (which you can't taste, if you're against banana flavor), pumpkin, & a variety of warming spices, all with great health benefits to get out of a yummy piece of cake.  I wouldn't call it a health food, but at least it has some healthy aspects. You won't even realize there's anything healthy at all once you take a bite!

As for the topping...who doesn't want to remember summertime with the s'more combination? It goes well with the soft, pumpkin cake; the perfect blend to remind us of summer & fall.

Enjoy!

Pumpkin S'mores Cake

Inspired by How Sweet It Is

Serves 20

2 c loosely packed brown sugar
2 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 c unsalted butter, melted and cooled

1 ripe banana, mashed
1 1/2 c pumpkin puree
1 1/2 c white whole wheat flour

1 c spelt flour
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/8 tsp ground cloves

1/8 tsp ground nutmeg

1/8 tsp ground ginger

1/2 c unsweetened almond milk

1/2 c semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 c miniature marshmallows
1 full sheet graham cracker, crushed

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Coat a 9x13 baking pan with cooking spray.

Whisk together the eggs & brown sugar in a large bowl until no lumps remain. Add vanilla & butter, whisking to combine. Add pumpkin puree. Once combined, whisk in both flours, baking soda, baking powder, salt & spices. Stir just until no dry spots remain, then add milk & whisk until batter is smooth. Pour into prepared baking pan. Bake for 40-45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean & the edges pull away from the sides of the pan.  Remove from oven & sprinkle with chocolate chips. Let cool completely on a wire rack.

Once cake is cool, sprinkle with marshmallows. Broil for about 3 minutes, watching very closely, until marshmallows are lightly toasted. Do not walk away while broiling! The marshmallows will go from toasted to burnt very quickly. Top with crushed graham cracker, slice & enjoy!

Alex's Ultimate Pizza Crust

I hope everyone had a great weekend! What did you do?

My beautiful roomie from college came to visit and we packed the weekend with our favorite things to do together!

Fashion - I'm not very good at following all the latest trends and keeping my closet current, but that's why I have Alex. She cleaned out her closet and brought me a full tote bin + a bag of clothes + a bag of shoes. Yes!! Friday night I tried everything on and decided what fit and what I liked. Then we cleaned out my closet and got rid of some hideous clothes and shoes. Whew! It's so refreshing to clear out. We ended up with 5 big bags of shoes and clothes to donate. We added a few pics to my Pinterest account with some fashion tips for me. Apparently I need to own more than 2 belts.

Cooking - We always love working in the kitchen together. Senior year of college we had an apartment and we cooked almost every night.

• Alex loves macaroons, so when I found a recipe for Almond & Coconut Macaroon Granola I knew we had to make it. The house smelled so good! Plus it was quick and easy to make.
• Saturday night we made black bean burgers from my new Peas & Thank You cookbook. They held up great on the grill & Alex liked her first bean burger so much she copied down the recipe to try at home! On the side we had kale chips & grilled sweet potato beer fries - I might share the recipe with some how-tos in the future...keep your eye out! :-)
• On Sunday, we made personal pizzas. I always use Alex's pizza crust recipe, but it's even better when she makes it for me! (Recipe below!)

S'Mores - Please note, this does not fall in the same category as cooking. S'mores are a tradition. We made them every Wed. night in college, but they're sooooo much better over a campfire than they were in the dorm microwave!

Roller blading - In college, we would go roller blading a couple times a week. It's still one of my main forms of exercise, but she lives in the country and doesn't get to go very often. We squeezed in a workout between rains on Sunday. Then a couple hours later the sun came out! Should've waited...

Laughing - Constantly. Her laugh is contagious. :-)

Alex's Ultimate Pizza Crust
Makes 2 medium thin crust pizzas

1 c warm water
1 pkg active dry yeast
1 1/2 c whole wheat flour
1 c unbleached white flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 T extra virgin olive oil

In a large glass bowl, combine water and yeast and let set for about 10 minutes or until the yeast begins to bubble. Add flours, salt, and olive oil. Stir, then knead for 5 minutes. Remove dough to an oiled bowl; cover and let rise for 1 hour or until doubled in size. Divide in half, roll into balls, and cover. Let rise for 15-20 min. Shape into a pizza crust and top with desired ingredients. Bake at 425*F for 12-17 minutes.

Campfires & S'mores

Two marshmallows on a stick over a roaring fire. This is summer. There's nothing better.

 Really, what's not to love about a really good s'more all toasty from the fire? Especially when the chocolate is dripping out the sides and you have to lick around it like an ice cream sandwich or else your pants and shoes are going to be covered in goo.

If the whole fire in your yard/patio creeps you out, try these! Jessica has a ton of s'more recipes, but that's the closest to the real thing. Remember this post, where half of the things on it were s'more related? Yeah, I must've been ready for summer.

  

I happen to like a good roaring fire, whether it's hot out or cold out. There's something addicting about the flames. They're mesmerizing to me.

Bonafide campfire in the middle of nature, compliments of the Bup and Dad, who made sure it stayed alive while we roasted and chatted.

 

Sometimes I like to go out of my house, onto my patio, and enjoy a fire there, too.

With coffee, because if it's hot outside and there's heat from the fire, I should warm my insides, too.

::drip:: as I sweat the evening away ::drip::

One of the keys to a perfect s'more is laying out your graham cracker and chocolate so that it starts to melt. The worst experience ever is having a piping hot marshmallow and putting it on a frozen chocolate bar. The marshmallow oozes out the sides before the chocolate has a chance to bond with it.

Okay, I still want to eat that. Maybe it's not actually the worst experience EVER...just not quite as perfect.

Enjoy one for me at your next campfire!

It's Friday! A perfect night to find a peaceful spot and relax by a fire with s'mores.

Peaches 'n Fluff

Let's talk about peaches.

Fresh, juicy peaches.

Ooey gooey marshmallow fluff fruit dip.

Crunchy graham cracker crumbs.

Together.

Bliss.



My mom makes a fresh peach dessert that I love. It's one of those once a year (maybe twice if you're lucky)  desserts because for it to be good, it needs ripe peaches. The in-season kind that dribble down your chin and arm when you eat them. I remember coming home from school and Mom would have a bowl of peach halves cleaned and waiting on the table. I'd eat the whole bowl. It was usually at least 4 peaches at a time, and they were wonderful. I miss that! Now I have to clean my own and they just don't quite taste the same.

Mom, are you reading this? Can you have a bowl of peaches for me next time I come over?




Back to this dessert. It had a really hard to remember name: "Peach Dessert." The first time I saw the recipe I was devastated. No wonder I didn't like that one layer! It had a raw egg in it. Yikes. No, what I loved was the way the peach juice saturated the graham cracker crumbs and made them just perfect. Then the creaminess of the whipped cream brought everything together. But that custardy layer I could do without.



So last year I tried to recreate it without the custard. I used all the same ingredients otherwise, but for some reason it wasn't right. The graham crackers didn't change into peach deliciousness like they were suppose to.



This morning, I had a revelation. I have leftover Fluff Fruit Dip! I substituted that for the whipped cream and it was peach heaven. I'm renaming the dessert and never using whipped cream again.

Ok, so I would totally eat this if Mom made it the original way. She doesn't use the raw egg anymore.



Peaches 'n Fluff
Serves 2 (or 1 hungry girl!)

4 peaches, sliced*
1/2 c graham cracker crumbs
1/2 c Fluff Fruit Dip (or about 2 T cream cheese + 8 T marshmallow fluff)**

In a medium bowl (with lid, if possible), layer ingredients. Start with half of the graham cracker crumbs. Next add 2 of the peaches. Pour on half of the Fluff Fruit Dip. Repeat, reserving about 1 T of graham cracker crumbs and a few peach slices for decoration. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour to allow the flavors to meld and the peach juice to work it's magic on the graham cracker crumbs.

*This works best of you slice the peaches over the dessert while you're making it. The juices drip onto the graham cracker crumbs instead of being wasted on the cutting board. As always, be very careful when using a sharp knife with wet hands!

**I haven't tried it yet but I think you could just use marshmallow fluff alone. It would be a little sweeter, but definitely delicious!

Peaches n' Fluff