HEY STEEMIANS! How about a pumpkin treat for Halloween?!
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ALL CONTENT IS MINE AND ORIGINAL! All of these food photos were taken with my Nikon D5300 and my favorite Lens, the Nikon AF-S FX NIKKOR 50mm f/1.8G. Most every time, I cross post on my personal blog which you can find in my INTRO POST.
I’ve got something delicious to share with you…….but it’s only a trifle!
Hehe, sorry for the pun intended, I couldn’t resist. Alright, correct me if I’m wrong, but I feel like the passing of October and Halloween mark the point in the year at which it’s completely acceptable to switch on all of our holiday gears. Don’t you agree? If you don’t it’s probably still best to just nod and pretend that you do because I don’t think I’ll be able to contain my excitement either way. I guess you could say that I’m just a lot more fun this time of the year because it’s my absolute favorite!
I really wish I could tell you how ready and on top of things I am for the next two months. I know they are going to be crazy busy,(for you too I’m sure) but…….um…..I’m totally not ready. Yeah, I have way more things on my mental to-do list than are humanly possible to accomplish before the end of the year. Hey, it’s okay though because this whole season makes me so happy I probably won’t have time to care!
For example, right now I’m daydreaming about all the fun flavors that go with this time of year. Wow, there are just so many too, like pumpkin!, and cinnamon spice!, and eggnog!, and cider!, and caramel!, and peppermint!, and fudge!, and gingerbread!, and snickerdoodle!, and, AND!!!!, well the list goes on and on so I should probably stop here. Oooooh but I can’t forget maple!
What makes the sweet, sticky substance that is maple syrup so amazing? For me, it’s like one of the closest things on the planet to bottled happiness. The scent alone screams warmth and comfort every time you smell it, and I love that you can use it for so many things! In the States I think it’s most commonly poured over breakfast food items like waffles and FRENCH TOAST.
I’d say that pancakes are probably the top of the list though, and personally, unless studded with chocolate or berries I was never a huge fan of pancakes. The main reason I liked them as a kid was that they served as a vehicle for eating maple syrup. Haha, I was the kid who got asked if I’d like some breakfast with my syrup. Clearly, Buddy the elf and I would be bffs.
For this recipe I really wanted to combine a bunch of my favorite seasonal flavors into one thing, but also do it in a way that didn’t showcase only one flavor while overpowering the others. After getting feedback from all of my awesome taste-testers I feel really confident in recommending these trifle to anyone who loves maple and pumpkin spice. The maple pudding gets paired with squares of my favorite recipe for soft pumpkin bread, and then it’s layered with fluffy whipped cream and crunchy pecans. So basically I’m telling you that these have a balanced amount of everything you could ever hope for or dream of in a trifle.
If you already have some leftovers from your own favorite pumpkin bread recipe then by all means go for it, this is a great use for them! Also, for some reason I’ve yet to get a trifle dish for recipes like this even though I really want one, but if you do have a trifle dish that would be a faster and easier option for serving a group. Keep in mind that you may want to double the recipe depending on how big your dish is.
RECIPE
Prep Time: 40 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 3 hours
Yield: 6 - 8 servings
Ingredients
Pumpkin Bread:
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
5 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon each of cloves, nutmeg, ginger, and allspice or 1 teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 cup flour
Maple Pudding:
3 1/2 cups low-fat milk
5 egg yolks
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 1/2 teapoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon pure maple syrup
2 tablespoons butter
Whipped Cream:
2 cups heavy whipping cream
1/4 cup sugar
1 cup raw or toasted pecans, roughly chopped
Instructions
Pumpkin Bread:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 C) and grease a 5x9-inch loaf pan. Whisk together oil, brown sugar, and egg in a medium bowl. Add spices, salt, vanilla, and soda. Stir in flour and pumpkin puree. Pour batter into pan and bake for 35 to 45 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove pan from oven and cool completely.
Maple Pudding:
- Whisk milk, sugar, salt, egg yolks, and syrup in a large mixing bowl. Slowly whisk in corstarch until very smooth. Pour mixture into a saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring constantly, over medium heat until the first bubble pops and splutters. Continue stirring rapidly for about a minute until it starts to get fairly thick, then remove from heat and stir in butter and vanilla. If lumps have formed pour pudding through a sieve into a clean bowl or if your pudding is smooth you can skip the sieve. Cover with plastic wrap directly on top to prevent it from forming a film. Allow it to cool until you can handle the bowl comfortably with your hands, then place in refrigerator to chill for at least 2 hours. (If your in a rush you can put in the freezer for about an hour to chill it faster.)
Whipped Cream:
- Pour cream into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment fitted with whisk attachment and beat on high for 1 to 2 minutes until soft peaks form. Add in sugar and beat until you get fluffy stiff peaks, about 1 more minute. Chill until ready to use.
Assemble:
Once your pudding has cooled, use a sharp knife to loosen the pumpkin bread from pan and then cut it into small cubes. Layer your pudding, pecans, whipped cream, and bread in individual glasses or one large dish. Cover and refrigerate trifles if not serving immediately.
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