Pumpkin Coffee Cake with Pecan Streusel

Happy Halloween, season of all things spooky and pumpkin! While I'm not actually super big on pumpkin, I couldn't resist making this cake after going apple and pumpkin picking and sampling all the baked goods at the orchards. There's nothing better than the smell of spiced cake in the kitchen as the weather cools down.



I have to admit, it took me several tries to get this recipe right. Way too much pumpkin puree the first time and the cake was just a dense, gloppy mess. The next couple tries were pretty good, just not quite what I wanted. Finally, the fourth cake was everything I was looking for, not too dense, lightly sweet and spiced with a nice crunch from the pecans. The perfect fall afternoon snack with coffee! Or perfect breakfast, warmed up in the toaster oven. Really, this is an anytime of day kind of cake.

Fresh Apple Cake

A few weeks ago at a family bbq, my aunt told me how one of her favorite desserts was this apple cake that a friend would make her every fall. Seeing as how the apple is New York's state fruit and I live close to several orchards in my area, I decided to come up with my own recipe for this apple cake!

Tiramisu

Aside from ice cream. tiramisu has to be one of my favorite desserts. It's light and creamy and even after a big meal, I can never refuse a piece! If I see it on a menu I have to order it and every place has their own version. My favorite tiramisu actually comes from a local health food store in my area. It's rich, but still airy and I've been trying to recreate it at home.

Maple Brown Sugar Ice Cream

It's cooling down, but I'm still making ice cream. It's one of those year round foods!