THE OBLIGATORY PUMPKIN POST

 

It is fall here in the northwest. Half the trees are on fire, and the mornings are foggy, but the afternoons have a sticky warmth.  Basically it is the time of year where you need a sweater in the morning, and by the end of the day, you are praying no one in the office can see just how sticky sweaty you are.

Then there is the Pumpkin.  You can’t even say October without someone trying to shove a Pumpkin Spice something down your throat.  Normally, I am not into that basic life.  But after living in Arizona for the past five years, where you pretend there is a fall, I was ready to live it up.

I drug Tom down to a pumpkin patch, smelled the crisp fall leaves, and basically attempted to quit sneezing. But we had a great time.  Pumpkins acquired, we now needed to amp up the inherent Fall-ness of our house. 

Out comes the Halloween décor. We drug out all the boxes, shook off the dusk, and got our spooky town all set up.  I do Halloween on a really subtle scale, you know, minimal.  Bahahahahaha

Let me tell you, I have two floral arrangements, some paintings, placemats, and a freaking cauldron.  And I wasn’t kidding about the spooky town.  We have a whole set up now, and collect more ever year.

Still though, I wasn’t fully feeling the fall effects.

Was it crafting I was looking for??  I made a creepy drippy candle centerpiece from toilet paper tubes, paint and some hot glue.  It was getting better but still not their.

I think I had hit the inevitable.  I didn’t want to admit it, but I knew I was going to have to go there.  A pumpkin spice recipe. SMH

Ok, think Jamie, think.  If I was going to truly call fall into my home, I was going to have to make something that would waft through the whole house, and fill every crack with its fall scent.  I could do a pumpkin pie, but it wasn’t Thanksgiving.  I could make a pumpkin late, but there are already too many Starbucks in this town.

As I sat staring at the items in my fridge it finally dawned on me.  I would make pumpkin pastries.  But it was late in the afternoon on a Sunday, and I wasn’t about to bust out a homemade pastry dough. I did have crescent roll dough though.  That would have to do. It took some trial and error and they might be a bit ugly, but in the end I landed with a pretty spectacular pumpkin Danish.  I had some cream cheese lying around, and something about the cinnamon aroma made me want to balance it all our with a creamy, almost cheesecake filling.

From the rate at which these disappeared at the office the next day, I would say it was a hit.

I think I finally found the Fall.

Here is the recipe:

 

Pumpkin Spice Cheesecake Danish

1 block Cream Cheese (I use Neufchatel cheese), room temp

1 Egg

1 Tsp Vanilla

¼ Cup of Sugar

1 tsp Corn Starch

½ Cup Pumpkin Puree

½ tsp Vanilla Extract

½ tsp Cinnamon

1/8 tsp Cloves

1/8 tsp Allspice

¼ tsp ground Ginger

Pinch of salt

1 Tbsp Sugar

2 Tubes of Crescent Roll Dough

For the cheesecake filling:

Mix together Cream cheese, egg, vanilla, ¼ cup of sugar, and corn starch.  I did this by hand, but if I am being real, use a hand blender.

For the pumpkin Filling:

Mix Pumpkin, vanilla, cinnamon, cloves, allspice, ginger and salt.

 

Ok now for the pastry.

Unroll your crescent roll dough and pinch together all the lines so you are left with a big square of dough.  I then attempted two shapes.  For the first can, I sliced my dough into squares, about 8.  I then dolloped a tablespoon of the cheesecake filling and a tablespoon of the pumpkin in the middle of each square.  Picking them up, I folded up the corners to get a kind of parcel.  I then placed these on a baking sheet with foil, but parchment would be best.  I then baked these for about 13 mintues or until golden brown.  Just keep an eye on them.

For the second shape, I rolled out my dough again, but instead of squares, I made four rectangles.  I then added little slits so I could fold over the edges of dough, creating a bit of a pocket. In the pocket I put the same amounts of each filling, smoothing them over the opening.  Then I sprinkled with sugar.  Again, I baked for about 13 minutes until they were golden and crisp.

At first these will seem a little liquidy.  I found they were better the next day, when they cooled and the filling was able to solidify a bit.

All in all, I think I was able to hit the fall vibe I needed.

 

Until Next Time,

 

The Evergreen Lady