Pumpkin Apple Bread

Perhaps we are far enough away from the pumpkin spice madness to try one more pumpkin recipe. This could be helpful if you still have a little pumpkin--canned or homemade--left from all that holiday baking. These also make good take alongs for any New Year's Eve party you may be invited to. Not quite so sweet as all those cookies and maybe even a little "healthy" with all the fruit.

This is in the category of "quick breads" and really does come together quickly, especially if you have a processor or immersion blender to quickly chop the apples.

Pumpkin Apple Bread

1 c pumpkin puree

1/3 c canola oil

1 c sugar

2 eggs

1 1/2 c flour—may substitute whole wheat flour for up to half a cup of the flour

1 1/4 t baking soda

1 t cinnamon

1/2 t nutmeg

1/4 t cloves

1/4 t allspice

2 c (packed) cored, but not peeled apples, finely diced (about 2 large or 3 medium)

1/2 to 1 c chopped walnuts (optional)
1/2 to 1 c chopped dates (optional)

1.  Beat together the pumpkin, oil, sugar and eggs.
2.  When well-blended, gently add the sifted dry ingredients and mix until just blended.
3.  Fold in the apples and nuts and dates, if used.
4.  Pour into two well-oiled medium loaf pans, about 5 X 9. Bake at 350 degrees for about 25 to 30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  
5.  Allow to sit in the pans for about 3 or 4 minutes and then turn on to racks to cool.

Wrap tightly and refrigerate if kept for more than a day or two. As with most breads of this type, these loaves slice much better the next day.

Size changes:

For all sizes, bake at 325 degrees when using either glass pans or disposable aluminum pans, to avoid the crust getting too brown before the centers are done.
The recipe can be made in a single large bread loaf pan; allow about 35 to 40 minutes to bake.
"Mini" loaf pans can also be used with the recipe making about 6 or so. These should be baked for only about 20 to 22 minutes.
You can double this recipe and use three 5 X 9 pans for slightly higher loaves.

Butternut Squash Cake

The Monday after Thanksgiving, I stopped at my favorite orchard to pick up another bushel of apples for the apple-butter-making party we'd be having later in the week. While there, I thought I'd pick up another pumpkin or two, for a few cakes and other things. Unfortunately, that very morning they had decided to compost the few pumpkins they had left because there had not been any call for them after the holiday so no more pumpkins for me this year.  Since my "root cellar" garage has more than enough butternut squash for the season, that probably was just as well.

So today was the day to make squash cake. If that sounds bizarre to you, consider the great carrot cakes and pumpkin bars or muffins you have often enjoyed. Here's a great frugal secret: for many (most) of these desserts, you can easily interchange carrots, pumpkin, and butternut squash. Since all are relatively mild (especially the squash and pumpkin), the flavor differences will be very hard to detect.

Old-fashioned carrot cake is the kind of recipe least amenable to these substitutions, though you can shred raw pumpkin or squash chunks just as you would carrots. However, many years ago, I found a carrot cake recipe that used mashed, cooked carrots, and that has been a family favorite ever since. I most often baked it in a Bundt or angel food cake pan, but it also works well in a standard 9 X 12 pan, and that is how I prepared this squash cake today. Note the addition of a tiny amount of black pepper, not enough to really taste it but enough to add a little zest to the overall recipe.

The topping is my old standby, sometimes-it-hardens-and-sometimes-it-doesn't-fudge-frosting or, when it doesn't set, just fudge sauce. It's not really the recipe (many others in the family have used this repeatedly), it's me and my impatience with the cooking, cooling, and/or beating. No matter the final consistency, the flavor is wonderfully fudge-like, my favorite kind of chocolate.

I want to be upfront about my checkered history with the recipe. When I post recipes on this site, I check and double check to be sure they will turn out satisfactorily as given. Just be forewarned that this frosting may not reliably set up to a picture perfect finale. However, it is so very flavorful that I am including it, with the thought that most of you will probably do a lot better than I in getting it to set just right. Because, even if it doesn't, the flavor will be so good, you probably won't even notice.

Chocolate Butternut Squash Cake

2 c sugar
1 c butter or margarine, softened but not melted OR 1/2 c butter and 1/2 c canola oil
1/3 c baking cocoa
4 eggs
1 c cooked and pureed butternut squash
2 c flour
2 t baking powder
1 t cinnamon
1/4 t ground black pepper
1/2 c milk
1/2 c broken pecans or walnut pieces (optional)

1.  Cream the butter, cocoa,  and sugar together until very smooth. (A stand mixer is especially good for this.)
2.  Add the eggs one at a time, stirring well after each addition. Continue beating until the mixture is very light. (I once had a home economics teacher say that you should be able to take a bit of the batter between your fingers at this stage, and you won't be able to feel any graininess from the sugar, as it will all have dissolved. Not totally necessary, but this is the stage when you want to do most of the beating.)
3.  Gently stir in the squash puree, mixing until well blended.
4.  Sift the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and black pepper together. Add these dry ingredients to the egg mixture alternately with the milk, stirring well after each addition. Fold in the nuts if used.
5.  Pour the batter into a well-oiled and floured a 9 X 13 loaf OR 10 inch tube pan. (OR see NOTE below.)
6. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 to 45 minutes for the 9 X 12 pan or 55 to 60 minutes for the tube pan. Allow the cake to cool for about 15 minutes before turning it out of the pan.

NOTE:  Combine about a tablespoon of flour and a teaspoon or so of cocoa and use this mixture to dust the pan instead of plain flour.

Chocolate Fudge Frosting

1 1/2 c sugar
1/4 c baking cocoa
2 t cornstarch
1/2 c milk
1 T butter
1 t vanilla

1.  Combine sugar, cocoa, and cornstarch in a large, heavy pan. Pour in the milk, and stir until well blended.
2.  Boil the mixture over medium heat, until it forms a soft ball in cold water. Stir occasionally to keep from sticking.
3.  Remove from heat and allow to sit (stirring occasionaly) until cool. One way to cool this quickly is to put some ice cubes or crushed ice in a very large bowl or pan and place the saucepan of frosting in the center. The main problem with this approach is that some water could splash into the frosting, almost certainly assuring that you will not be able to get the frosting to "set."
4.  Beat in the butter and vanilla and continue beating until the frosting is shiny and smooth. If you have a small electric beater, that can be a good tool at this point, as you will need to beat for a few minutes to really get the thickness you want. Spread immediately on the cake--usually easiest to do while the cake is still warm, but not hot.

A few additional thoughts for newer cooks:

How do I "sift" the dry ingredients together if I don't have an old-fashioned flour sifter?
The reason to do this sifting step is to be sure to get all the dry ingredients--especially the baking soda or baking powder in these recipes--completely mixed. You can duplicate the sifting action by combining the dry ingredients in a large bowl and mixing thoroughly. The best tool for this is actually just a plain fork from your table. If you notice any lumps (especially likely for the soda and baking powder at times), be sure to use the fork to completely break them up.

How do I know if the frosting has reached "soft ball" stage?
As I noted above, I may not be the best person to ask this, as I don't think I have always achieved it! However, here's a nice, scientific, site that provides perhaps more than you ever wanted to know about this. https://www.exploratorium.edu/cooking/candy/sugar-stages.html

This video actually shows what that "soft ball" should look like.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fe0xNKsZ7WA

If you find yourself impatient in watching it (as I did!), that represents the same kind of impatience you'll probably need when waiting for the frosting to really be cooked enough.

Why do I need to do more than just oil the pan? 
 You will probably ask this question only once, before you try to turn a cake out of a pan in one piece! Sometimes, you may get lucky and be able to get a whole cake on to the plate, but much more often, only oiling the pan will result in a large chunk of the cake stuck to the bottom of the pan.

So, if the recipe directions tell you to oil and flour the pan--do it! The best way to accomplish this is to use a small spoon to shake a little flour over the pan. Then tap the pan and swirl it around to get the flour evenly applied. Add more flour as needed and then shake off any excess--you really don't want to have lumps of flour on the crust of your baked cake either.

I have added a NOTE to this recipe that suggests mixing flour and cocoa to use to dust the pan instead of plain flour. This is a relatively new hint for me, and I really, really recommend it for any chocolate cake. I had read about using cocoa instead of flour for doing the dusting, but I thought it might work to just use some of each. Sprinkling the two separately was hard to make the coating evenly distributed--as illustrated below. However, the cocoa did make a much more attractive crust than flour alone. Mixing just a little of both came out to be a really nice application.

Freezing Avocados

The day after the Super Bowl, I stopped in at my local Fareway and discovered they were clearing out some beautiful avocados for 25 cents each. (They also had big bunches of cilantro at 3 for $1 along with their usual good specials.)

Unable to pass up such a bargain, I brought home 12 large avocados and let them soften a few days. After I had made a few batches of guacamole and had enjoyed others in salads, I started to wonder if I could freeze the eight still sitting on the counter, now perfectly soft and ready to eat.

According to the California Avocado Board--who better to know--I could actually freeze these without making them into guacamole. Their instructions are here:

http://www.californiaavocado.com/blog/september-2015/how-to-freeze-california-avocados

Reading through their site, including many of the comments that suggested variations, I decided to try this approach:

1.  Place a small amount of lemon juice in a shallow dish. I used ReaLemon straight from the refrigerator.
2.  Wash each avocado and cut in half. Remove but retain the pit.
3.  Put each half cut side down in the lemon juice. Add the pit and roll it around a bit to get lemon juice on most of the surface.
4.  Cut pieces of plastic wrap about 6 to 8 inches X he width of your wrap. Lay a piece of the wrap across the cut side of one half. Press the pit into the depression from which it came.
5.  Carefully fold the wrap back over the pit, taking care not to pull the wrap away from the first half.
6.  Place the other half back onto the side with the pit and press tightly. Press any overhanging plastic wrap around the sides of the avocado.
7.  Place the wrapped avocados in a freezer weight plastic bag and seal, pressing out as much air as possible. (I put the freezer bag into yet another heavy plastic bag, just to be sure.) Label and freeze immediately.

So, did it work?

Yes, decidedly so.  The last of these kept for several months, coming out of the freezer as well as any purchased frozen avocados. They were perfect for guacamole, avocado toast, etc. Though I didn't slice any of the thawed ones for a salad or other garnish, I believe they would have worked well in that way too, if sliced and served while still not quite thawed.

I have successfully repeated this approach, but they do take a bit more freezer space than just mashing the avocado and stirring in a little lemon or lime juice before packing into plastic bags and freezing them into compact, flat little packages. The secret to either approach is to be sure to package the avocado in an air-tight manner, to keep browning to a minimum.