Pumpkin Pie spice=my secret weapon

A few months ago I decided to make some vanilla cake loaves and wanted to make them with a fall flavor, I love pumpkin during the Fall season. Ive read that a lot of pumpkin recipes uses a lot of spices that goes into them, that can get expensive. I went through my spices and saw that I had pumpkin pie spice, so I added a few teaspoons to the batter, and it gave it the perfect pumpkin flavor.


I made a vanilla buttercream and added some of the pumpkin pie spice to the buttercream, and it topped the cake off with a pumpkin paradise. I was wondering has any one else I guess you can say sort of cheated and used pumpkin pie spice for a pumpkin dessert?

 

Yeah, I have, hehehe! I've even tried that with some smoothies and pies! But I actually made my own pumpkin spice mix, it's not so hard, all I need was 4 to 6 different spices. I also like to make my own taco mix, as well as my own coffee creamer mix. Hehehe, you could say I love mixing and making stuff

 

During the holiday season, I try to use pumpkin pie spice where ever I can get away with it. The stuff is delicious and makes most desserts taste like a fall harvest treat. I even love to have pumpkin pie spice in my coffee.

 

Glad I'm not the only one who uses pumpkin pie spice!

 

Can you use pumpkin pie spice in drinks? Those pumpkin holiday coffees are kind of expensive.

 

I assume you can, I haven't tried it in coffee drinks. If you can use it in frostings and cakes then I say go for it!

 

I'm not a fan of pumpkins because I have a detailed history of raising them in gardens and smelling them constantly as a child, and we ate so many forms of pumpkin it ruined my overall taste but I have to say that sounds good, if I could enjoy it again.

My secret weapon using pumpkin anything has to be pumpkin hot chocolate. It blends real well with the thick consistency and generally the only time I like anything remotely pumpkin.

My true secret weapon are extracts of many different varities - mint, peppermint, vanilla, chocolate, peach, strawberry - the list goes on. Generally using what I feel goes "best" with each dish

 

That's the beauty of it using different extracts it's amazing how much flavor it puts into a dish.

 

And most people believe you have to use a lot. Like my Elementary School Art Teacher told me, "A little dab will do ya." (speaking about using a small amount of glue) - same concept in extracts. Even the wrong amount too much can kill an entire dish. Some people just keep using it like a Worcestershire bottle, shooting shots of it out at a time. Thats when I get a bit nauseous.

 

I agree with that, to much will overpower the whole thing. When I was using the pumpkin pie spice, I would put a little bit at a time in mix it up and give a taste test to see if I needed to add more. I've seen a lot of people go crazy with extracts myself and I want to say okay enough is enough!

 

Another secret weapon is just knowing timing inherently based on the equipment you use. Each oven and brand is different in how long/how high you should cook something. They say a watched pot never boils; but I say it's better to be watching to make sure it doesn't boil over.

 

I agree 100 percent, I had to learn that lesson the hard way when got our stove replaced. When I started using the oven I would trust that it would be in sync with the temp boy was I wrong, I not only watch my creations cook but cut the time in half and go from there. I don't ever want to make that mistake again!

 

And most people don't know for Casseroles and toasted dishes (In the Oven) turning on broil before pulling it out helps to heat the top and crisp it down. Most people just bake it for a certain duration of time which isn't bad, but the top will be just like the middle - soupy, and you'll have to wait for it to set. With broiling not only does the top crisp off, it sets down fast when you yank them from the oven.

Secret weapons, away~!