Pumpkins are the symbol of fall season
Pumpkins are the symbol of fall season. Such a bright fun color of orange to
sit on our doorstep or arrange in a center piece and large enough to carve into
a face. For Halloween, we visit a pumpkin patch to pick out the perfect size and
shape for our jack 'o lantern. In fact, pumpkins are as much fun to look at as
to eat. So the obvious answer is to create treats that look like pumpkins and
taste like pumpkin. In fact, bake your own pumpkin patch this year.
The easiest pumpkin patch to create is with cupcakes. Using a
pumpkin cupcake pan,
bake your favorite cake mix and decorate with orange tinted buttercream icing.
Decorate with round tip or icing decorations. This cupcake pan forms the top of
the cupcake into the outline of a pumpkin. No extra shaping needed! An easy
pumpkin patch for a party!
How about a bread pumpkin patch. With the
Pumpkin Loaf Pan,
a beautiful pumpkin patch design is baked right into the loaf. Perfect for
pumpkin bread or any other quick bread.
If you like cheesecake, you can have a cheesecake pumpkin patch. The nonstick
mini pumpkin
cheesecake pan makes 12 perfect 2-1/4" diameter cheesecakes. After baking
just push removable discs up from the bottom of the pan and the cheesecakes will
lift out! This pumpkin patch dessert is perfect for clubs or card parties.
Maybe you want a pumpkin patch full of cakes? With the
multi-cavity 3-D
pumpkin pan, bake 4 pumpkin cakes at once. These cakes actually are three
dimensional and look like pumpkins after you decorate them. Each cake is 3-1/2"
in diameter - a nice size for one or two to share. Assemble the shaped top and
bottom cake halves with a thin layer of frosting. Decorate as pumpkins or as a
jack 'o lantern.
For smaller pumpkins, use our
brownie bundt™ cake
pan and make mini pumpkin bundt™ cakes. Trim bottoms of the individual cakes
until flat, and assemble top and bottom with thin layer of frosting or
chocolate. Simply dip in
orange
confectionery coating and top with cinnamon stick. Add a green leaf with a
decorating tip and you have the perfect individual desserts for fall!
To rule over your sweet pumpkin patch, create the mother pumpkin....
1. Pour your batter into the two sides of the
Great Pumpkin 3-D Pan. Bake as directed. This will make a 6" diameter cake.
If you want an even larger cake, use a
regular bundt™
shaped cake pan and bake 2 cakes to put together following the directions
below.
2. After the cake has cooled, using a serrated knife, trim the bottoms of
both halves so they are flat. Spread frosting or melted chocolate evenly on the
flat bottom of one of the cakes. Invert the remaining cake onto chocolate so
that a pumpkin shape is formed. Place cake onto a wire rack.
3. Now to color the pumpkin orange. Here are a couple of ideas.
- You can melt orange confectionery coating, thinned with paramount crystals
to coat the cake.
- To make an orange butter glaze, combine 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon of milk
and a few drops of orange liquid food coloring until the mixture is a pumpkin
color; set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together 4 cups confectioners' sugar
and 1 cup melted butter. Add reserved milk mixture, and continue whisking
until smooth. Working quickly, carefully pour orange butter glaze over the
cake, tilting the cake as necessary to coat all sides of the cake.
- Use an orange glaze and sprinkle with orange sanding sugar to get a deeper
and more rich pumpkin color.
- Use a thin orange-colored icing to top off the cake.
4. Now add decorations as you wish. If you have some artificial decorations
to add to make the pumpkin more real that is great. But if you want the cake to
be entirely edible try using some maple leaf cookie cutters to make edible
leaves. Add these to the top of the cake. The leaf-shaped cutters can also be
used to mold chocolate or green confectionery coating. Use a pastry bag with a
round decorating tip to decorate top and sides with vines. For the stem - get
creative - perhaps an iced upside-down cupcake or cinnamon sticks will work for
you.
