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Real Pumpkin Pancakes

Sunday pancakes are a bit of a family tradition. I can remember Dad yelling "PANCAKES" and all of us rubbing the sleep out of our eyes, and running down the stairs to plates full of warm, stacked pancakes. The first one down could usually claim the Sunday comics, and first dibs on the syrup. Brothers being brothers, we also competed to see who could out-eat the others. Fortunately, I think Dad usually ran out of batter.

Last week, a co-worker brought in a pumpkin pie - a real pumpkin pie, she noted. Not one of those pumpkin-in-a-can pies. After I got her notes, I was excited to try making real pumpkin. The idea for pumpkin pancakes quickly followed.

Getting out of bed on a cold Sunday morning is never easy. But these warm pumpkin pancakes certainly helped!

WHAT TO GRAB:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
2 large eggs, separated
1 cup shaken buttermilk
3 tablespoons melted butter
1/2 cup pumpkin puree (recipe follows)

HOW YOU DO IT:
PUMPKIN PUREE
Pie pumpkins - unlike their carving cousins - are smaller and have a thicker skin. A good pie pumpkin is around 6 to 8 inches in diameter. The pumpkin should have a good orange color and no soft spots.

1. Rinse the pumpkin off, and cut the pumpkin into quarters, vertically. This is probably the hardest part of the whole recipe. These guys have a thick skin! I recommend a serrated knife and patience. Scrape the strings and seeds out of the pumpkin, and place the segments, rind-side up, in a large baking pan.

2. Bake the pumpkin at 350 degrees for 50 minutes to 1 hour. The pumpkin meat will be tender to a fork when it's done, and the rind will be a nice golden brown.

3. Scoop the meat into a large mixing bowl and blend until smooth. I used an immersion blender for convenience, but a food processor would work equally well. You can freeze the leftover puree until needed.

4. Set aside a 1/2 cup of the puree for our pancakes!

HOW MUCH YOU GET:
From two pie pumpkins, I got six cups of pumpkin puree. I measured the remaining amounts in 1-cup bunches (a huge convenience down the road), and froze them.

HOW YOU DO IT:
THE PANCAKES

1. Sift together the dry ingredients - the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices, in a medium mixing bowl.

2. Whisk together the egg yolks, buttermilk, pumpkin, and butter, in a large mixing bowl, until smooth. Whisk in the dry ingredients, in batches, until well combined.

3. Beat the egg-whites until soft peaks begin to form. Fold the beaten egg whites into the batter until just combined.

4. Grease your griddle, and pour the batter! I used about a 1/4 cup of batter per pancake. I cooked them for about 90 seconds on one side, and then 60 seconds on the other.*
*If you're making a bunch of pancakes - and why wouldn't you - you can keep the pancakes warm in a 250 degree oven, until ready to serve.

5. Drizzle with syrup and serve!!

HOW MUCH YOU GET:
This recipe will make about 10 to 12 pancakes.

Sweet Potato Bundt Cake

Like any good American, I often buy things I don't necessarily need. And I'm particularly susceptible to this urge when I'm around kitchen gadgets. Exhibit 1 would be my recently purchased 10- to 12-cup Bundt pan. Fortunately, the Food Network came to my rescue.

For as long as I can remember, I've loved sweet potatoes. In grade school, our class was putting together a cook book, and we were all asked to bring in our favorite recipe. All the kids brought in recipes for typical kid fare: grilled cheese, ice cream sundaes, macaroni and cheese - normal kid stuff. My recipe involved a root vegetable: sweet potato pie.

After typing 'Bundt Pan" into the Food Network's search engine, I stumbled upon a recipe involving sweet potatoes. I figured I'd give it a try, and make good on my recent purchase. This recipe turned out really well, so I'd thought I'd share. Credit goes to Dave Lieberman.

WHAT TO GRAB:
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 to 2 cups of cooked sweet potato meat (3 sweet potatoes)
3 eggs
3/4 cup water
1 3/4 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup golden raisins
1 cup toasted walnuts, chopped

FOR THE GLAZE:
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 to 3 tablespoons spiced rum
1 cup confectioner's sugar

HOW YOU DO IT:

1. Bake the sweet potatoes at 420 degrees for 1 hour 20 minutes. Set aside to cool.

2. Turn the oven down to 325 degrees and grease your Bundt pan.

3. In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.

4. In a separate, and LARGE mixing bowl, lightly mash the sweet potato. Whisk in the eggs, warm water, sugar, oil, and then vanilla extract (in that order).

5. Stir the dry ingredients into the sweet potato mixture, until well combined. Fold in the walnuts and raisins, and spoon into the prepared Bundt pan. Give the pan a good tap on the counter - it'll help get rid of air bubbles.

6. Bake for about 1 hour or until a cake tester comes out clean. (I needed an extra ten minutes - so don't begrudge the cake a few extra minutes). Let the cake cool in the pan for about 20 to 30 minutes. Once cool, invert onto a cake stand.

7. Once cool. make the glaze: Melt the butter in a medium saucepan and combine with the rum. Off the heat, whisk in the confectioner's sugar until smooth.*
*I halved the amount of butter and sugar, because I thought the original amount overwhelmed the cake. Also, do not make the glaze ahead of time - it will congeal into a gross lump!

8. Pour the glaze over the cooled cake, slice, and serve!