eat me: apple crisp.

Fall is one of my favourite seasons.  I love the crisp air, the leaves, scarves.  I love getting to switch from bright colours to wine reds, blacks, greys and navys.  I love being cozy.  I also really love the desserts that come with cooler weather, now that turning on the oven is a welcome gesture.  Pumpkins, pies, tarts, and anything apple & cinnamon.  I never get tired of apples and cinnamon, and will happily eat them in a variety of recipes all year long.  However, they somehow taste better when the leaves start to fall.

Apple crisp is one of the best combinations of those two flavours.  Simple,warm, and a mix of sweet & tart it is the perfect treat for a fall afternoon.

Apple Crisp.  (modified from this recipe at Katy's Kitchen.)

6 apples.  I like to use 3 granny smiths and 3 gala apples so that it's not too tart.
1/2 C. brown sugar.
3/4 C. flour.
1 C.  rolled oats.
a little less than 1/2 C. butter, room temperature.  (I found the original recipe a bit too buttery so I took out a few tablespoons of butter. Do as you like.)
2 tsp.  cinnamon.

1.  peel and core the apples and place into a baking pan.  I used a 2.5" 8"x8" pan for this version, but I've also made it in a 9"x13" pan, it just resulted in a much thinner layer of apples and will cook a bit quicker.

2.  mix together the sugar, flour, oats and cinnamon.

3.  add in the butter in small pieces, cutting it in with a pastry blender or crumbling it in with your fingers, stop when the butter is evenly distributed throughout the mixture, making sure there isn't any large chunks of butter remaining.  pour over your apples.

4. bake at 350 degrees for 30 miutes, until the top is brown and crisp and the apples are bubbling.  If you're baking in a glass pan remember to turn the temperature down by 25 degrees.

Enjoy your apple crisp warm or cold, curled up with a blanket on your couch with your favourite person.  Enjoy!  xo, T.

three tips for restyling a thrifted dress.

So one of my most favourite places to wander around is the Goodwill store a few blocks down from where I work.  In my opinion it's the best one in the city, the secret's out guys, try not steal all the good stuff now.  Generally/every time I end up coming home with something from the kitchen section.  How could I pass up a vintage pyrex juice pitcher for 40 cents or an awesome floral fire king bowl for 35 cents? So impossible.

I occasionally will browse through the clothing, but generally it tends to be ugly things from the 90's.  I was born in the 90's.  I'm quite done with 90's clothing.  HOWEVER there is occasionally something interesting amidst all the velvet dresses and awkward two piece dresses.  And it is usually in the plus size section, so I have learned.  Most of my favourite thrifted dresses are some giant size, like the one in this post, it's like a size 14.  This dress is a size 22. Yeah.  But there are ways to make these awkward dresses into something really awesome!

There are generally three tips that I follow when restyling an old dress:

1_cut it. 

 So many of those dresses have great potential but are really weird lengths.  An instant way to make it a little more modern and wearable is to cut it to the same length as one of the dresses you normally wear and hem it.

2_add a belt.

Rarely are thrifted dresses the right size, especially if you're like me and find that all the things you like are 8 sizes too big.  Adding a belt defines your waist and changes the silhouette of the dress.  This works best with dresses that don't already have a defined waist, like sheath dresses.

3_do something interesting.

Sometimes after cutting and hemming your dress it still isn't quite right, it needs something a little extra to make it perfect.  This could be adding a ruffle along the hemline, cutting off the sleeves and finishing the edges, or changing the neckline.  A little extra sewing can make a big difference in whether you actually end up wearing that dress you thought was so awesome for 30 cents.

This is what the above dress looked like when I first bought it for 50 cents.  The fabric and the "made in canada" label intrigued me.  And I liked the buttons.



I think my face says it all.  It has a definite dessert travelin', biblical times, sheep herder feel.

Or at least it did.  Until I cut it into a mini dress.

This is how I made it so much sweeter, using the above three guidelines.

1_using a rotary cutter and a ruler (and a cutting mat!) cut your new dress to your desired length, add an inch for hemming.  you can always cut it shorter, it's a lot harder to make it longer.  follow an existing dress if you're unsure of how long to cut it.  i cut mine pretty short, i don't really ever plan on wearing it without tights.

2_take in the sides.  i am all for flowy things. however, there was just a little too much fabric so I took in the sides, sewing about an inch away from the existing seam and then trimming the edges to 1/4" from the new seam to get rid of the bulk.  again, start small and try it on before taking it in some more.

3_you could either hem your dress at this point and be done with it, but i decided to add a ruffle to the bottom. start by cutting a strip of fabric to 3 - 4 times the width of your existing hem line and to whatever desired width, keeping in mind hemming will take up about an inch.  i didn't have any fabric that was long enough so i cut two strips that were four inches wide and sewed them together along one of the short edges.

4_hem the long edge.  i find it the easiest to sew 1/4 " away from one edge and then use the stitch line as a guide to fold the hem along that line so that the raw edge is pointing upwards. press.  fold over again so that the raw edge is now tucked in and not visible.  stitch about 1/8" away from the top fold.

5_sew the two short edges together and press seam open.

6_using a long stitch and without back stitching at either end, stitch around the top of the fabric.  then, gently pulling on top strings of either end gather the loop of fabric until it matches the diameter of your dress.  make sure the gathers are evenly distributed.

7_with right sides together, pin your ruffle to the hem of your dress and stitch using a regular length stitch.

8_trim threads, press ruffled edge down and you're done!  I decided to use an existing scarf as a belt but you could sew your own by cutting a strip of fabric to the desired length and then hemming all edges!

This little project took only a few hours and turned out to be something I would totally wear on a normal day!  I can't wait to see what I discover next time at the thrift store.  Have an awesome week, xo, T.

eat me:. mini chocolate pumpkin whoopie pies {& happy thanksgiving!}

Happy thanksgiving everyone, I hope y'all had a wonderful day.  I've had a lovely weekend getting to spend time with family, playing a million rounds of Dutch Blitz and getting to drink tea and watch movies while outside is a little cloudy and grey.

As mentioned last post, one of my most favourite parts of fall is getting to pick pumpkins, roast them and then make as many pumpkin flavoured things as possible.  Last year I made this cake which turned out amazing.  I was tempted to make again for this thanksgiving, but I decided to mix it up and try something a little bit different.  Namely, whoopie pies.  Whoopie pies have intrigued me for a while now, kind of like a bite-sized cake in the form of a sandwich cookie and absolutely nothing like pie, they seemed like the perfect treat for when you want something sweet and small.  And they are.  I was a little unsure about pumpkin frosting, but it is DELICIOUS and I would make it again in a heartbeat to frost any number of fall-flavoured cakes.

mini chocolate pumpkin whoopie pies. recipe adapted from martha stewart.

chocolate cookies.
1 3/4 C. flour.
3/4 C. cocoa powder.
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda.
1 tbsp. butter.
1/4 C. vegetable shortening.
1/4 C. sugar.
1/2 C. brown sugar.
1 egg.
1 C. milk.
1 tsp. vanilla.

in a mixer cream butter, shortening and sugars until pale and fluffy. add egg and beat for another few minutes.  sift together cocoa powder, flour, and baking soda.  mix together milk and vanilla.  starting and ending with the flour mixture, alternate between adding dry and wet ingredients to the sugar mixture.  mixing until just incorporated.  spoon two teaspoons at a time onto a greased or parchment lined baking sheet, spacing about two inches apart. bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes or until bottoms are darker brown but not burnt and tops spring back when touched.  let cool on a cooling rack before frosting.  makes about 40 cookies, enough for 20 finished whoopie pies.

pumpkin frosting.
1/2 C. cream cheese.
1/2 C. butter.
1/2 C. powdered sugar.
1/2 C. flour.
1/4 C. pumpkin puree.
a pinch of nutmeg.
a pinch of cinnamon.

in a mixer cream butter and cream cheese until fluffy, about five minutes.  add powdered sugar, flour and spices, mix. add pumpkin.  using an offset spatula or a piping bag spread the flat side of one cookie with frosting and place second cookie, flat side facing in, on top.

I hope you have a wonderful week full of things that bring you happiness. xo, T.

 

fall adventures:. pumpkin picking.

Every fall for as long as I can remember my family has driven out to Lockport on the thanksgiving weekend to eat at the Half Moon and pick out a few pumpkins from one of the family-run roadside stands along the way.  This year I requested that we go a week early so that I would have time to roast my sugar pumpkins and bake them into something delicious for thanksgiving!  Especially since this is the first thanksgiving in four years that I haven't had to spend at studio.  whoa.

This year we also stopped at Captain Kennedy's Tea House along the way, I have been literally going there since I was a baby.  That probably explains a lot.

It was the perfect Sunday fall afternoon, warm, sunny and full of beautifully coloured leaves.

I am very excited for this upcoming three day weekend, even though it did start snowing today. gross.  Fingers crossed for a sunny weekend though!  xo, T.

ps.  this is also my 80th blog post, somehow we're getting up there guys!  Thanks to everyone whose taken a peek at all of my little adventures!

eat me:.bread pudding.

So as the weather starts to cool down I start to want warm, comforting desserts filled with fall flavours, with nuts and apples and caramel.  And what better way to combine all of these flavours than in bread pudding?

Which leads to me to a confession, I had never had bread pudding until two months ago, at Stella's Cafe.  I always thought bread pudding would be a lame dessert, like who wants bread when you can have cake or pie or brownies?  I was so wrong.  Bread pudding is amazing.  After baking with cream , eggs and spices it turns into something moist and delectable, quite similar to cake actually, but way less work.

You definitely need to try bread pudding this fall, especially if it comes topped with caramel sauce and whipped cream!

bread pudding.  slightly adapted from martha stewart

1 day-old baguette, roughly cut into 1 1/2" cubes.  if you decide to make this the day of and your bread is fresh just cut it up, place on a baking sheet and bake at a super low temperature for a while.  the goal is to dry it out a bit but not brown it.
1 apple, cored and chopped into 1/2" cubes.
zest and juice of 1 lemon.
1 C. chopped walnuts.
5 large eggs.
3/4 C. sugar.
1 1/2 C. whipping cream.
1 1/2 C. milk.
1 tsp. vanilla extract.
a pinch of nutmeg.

place cubes of bread in a baking dish.  in a small bowl mix together apple, walnuts, lemon juice and zest, set aside. in a larger bowl mix together sugar, cream, milk, vanilla extract and nutmeg. add in apple mixture.  pour over bread, making sure all the bread is covered.  place the baking dish in a larger baking dish or roasting pan and fill the outer pan halfway with water.  this helps to allow the bread pudding to cook evenly. cover with tinfoil or buttered parchment and bake at 350 degrees (325 degrees if using a glass pan) for 45 minutes.  uncover and bake for another 15-25 minutes until top is brown and a knife inserted in the centre comes out relatively clean.  let cool for 20 minutes before serving.

caramel sauce
1 1/2 tbsp. butter.
1/2 C. whipping cream.
3/4 C. brown sugar.

heat everything in a small saucepan until combined and sauce is smooth and heated through.  pour into a small pitcher or bowl and let cool, giving it ample time to thicken up before serving.

whipped cream
1 C. whipping cream
1 pinch of sugar.

in an electric mixer whip ingredients on high until it thickens up and desired consistency is  reached.

serve everything together for a delicious fall dessert that is definitely worthy of thanksgiving or any other special celebration!  have a great week, xo, T.

d.i.y.: vintage book bunting.

I love vintage books.   Especially ones with illustrations, the shading of vintage black and white prints is just so wonderful!  The only problem with these lovely novels is that the images and text are trapped inside, only to be seen by those who actually make the effort to read them.  And while I love reading and being immersed in the worlds that words create sometimes I just want to enjoy a book for the beautiful object that it is - which means unleashing all of its pages in some sort of craft! 

I chose to make some sweet paper bunting out of one of my favourite Nancy Drew books - the Clue of the Dancing Puppet.  I adored Nancy Drew as a child and I still have a good collection of my mom's old vintage yellow Nancy Drews.  Don't worry, I had two copies of this particular volume, so one is still in readable condition!  Bunting is a fun and simple way to show off some of your favourite stories and makes for a charming and whimsical backdrop for all kinds of parties and sweet things! 

Things you need:
_an old book you don't mind cutting up. [or you could always scan and reprint the pages to keep your book intact!].
_white glue and a glue gun.
_olfa/exacto knife and ruler [not pictured].
_scissors.
_buttons, lace, fabric, buttons, stickers, paper diecuts and other lovely things to embellish your bunting.
_ribbon. [not pictured].

1_cut out your desired pages.  i chose a mix of illustrations and text, i cut out 20 pages but you can do as many as you like. i also found it easiest to cut out the pages by scoring them with my olfa knife instead of just tearing them out.
2_cut your pages into triangles. i estimated the centre bottom point and then cut from each of the top two corners, but you could make a template or measure each page if you wanted to be more exact.
3_decorate, attaching elements with white glue.
4_cut a piece of ribbon to the approximate length you want your finished bunting to be. remember that you will leave spacing between each of your triangles and will want some extra on the ends to tie it on to things. i used 1" wide ribbon and chose to make two strands with 10 triangles each.  evenly space the triangles and glue to the wrong side of the ribbon with hot glue, gluing so that the top edge of the triangle is in the centre of the ribbon.
5_fold down the top edge of the ribbon and affix to each triangle with more hot glue.

I really love how this project turned out, the illustrations make me smile every time I look at them!  This bunting is currently hanging in my dining room waiting for our next family gathering at Thanksgiving!

ps. see those cake pops? there might be a recipe coming up soon so stay tuned!

Have a lovely week! xo, T.

eat me: sweet potato bourbon bundt cake.

So it is finally fall! Hooray! And fall means fall recipes, which for me generally mean things involving large amounts of cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg.  I don't really know why, but they're just the perfect comforting balance to the crisp fall weather outside.  My most favourite part of fall is that pumpkins are in season. I adore pumpkins.  Although I hate pumpkin pie.  Figure that one out, I think it's a texture thing. 

Anyways, we have not yet gone on our lockport adventure to pick pumpkins so I thought I would try out a new fall recipe, one with sweet potatoes.  As you have probably noticed from the chocolate beet cake and carrot orange muffins, I like baking with vegetables. Sometimes things get a little weird, but generally you always end up with something super moist and subtly delicious tasting!  This cake turned out really well and was super simple - no frosting, just dumping melted chocolate on top and watching it deliciously run down the sides.  As for the bourbon, it adds a nice warmth and spice and all the actual alcohol content bakes out, but it can easily be replaced with apple juice if bourbon isn't your thing.

sweet potato bourbon bundt cake. adapted and slightly modified from martha stewart.

1 C. brown sugar
1/3 C. butter
2 eggs
1 C. cooked and mashed sweet potato. (approximately 2 medium-sized sweet potatoes [yams] preferably organic.)
1 tsp. vanilla
2 3/4 C.flour
1 1/2 C. milk
1/3 C. bourbon
1/3 C. apple juice (or 2/3 C if not using bourbon)
1 tbsp. baking powder
1 tbsp. cinnamon
1 tbsp. ginger.
1 tsp. nutmeg.
1/3 C. chopped pecans + more for sprinkling.
1 C. dark chocolate chips or finely chopped baking chocolate.

cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. add eggs one at a time. add sweet potato. in a separate bowl mix together flour, spices and baking soda. starting with the dry ingredients alternate,adding to the butter mixture with the milk.  add bourbon and apple juice and mix until just combined.  stir in pecans.  pour into a prepared bundt pan and bake at 325 degrees until a knife inserted in the cake comes out clean, 50 - 60 minutes.  let cool in pan for 20 minutes before turning out onto a cooling rack.

to make the chocolate glaze melt the chocolate chips in a heat proof bowl in the microwave, stirring every 20 seconds until melted and smooth. to thin into a glaze pour in a few tablespoons of milk while stirring and mix until incorporated and smooth (it takes a bit of mixing!) repeat until desired thickness is reached.  pour over cake and sprinkle with chopped pecans.

enjoy! 

ps. - does anyone else feel that a bundt cake with glaze looks like a giant donut from above?  That is all I could think about while I was taking photos.  I have a weird mind.

Happy Fall! xo, T.

eat me:.chai ice cream.

So, I don't know about you, but practically overnight my life has changed to include boots, top buns, giant scarves and tea on a regular basis.  Guys, it's fall.  I love the cozy feeling that fall has, bundling up scarves and sweaters and walking through the leaves - without completely freezing in -40.  Fall is also the time where I start drinking tea again, sometimes even more than coffee.  I know, crazy hey?!  My most favourite tea is chai, so with the sun setting at 7:30 and me considering wearing mittens I decided it was time for one last kind-of summery/welcome fall treat.  This recipe has the same steps and structure as the chocolate ice cream we made last time just with a few different add ins! 

{Ps.  I know the number of posts lately has been lacking, I'm sorry!  Life got a little busy with new jobs and new relationships...but everything is starting to settle into place, including free time for crafts again! }

homemade chai ice cream.

2 C. heavy cream.
5 chai tea bags.
1-2 tsp. cinnamon.
1/2 tsp. ginger.
1/2 tsp. nutmeg.
1/4 tsp. cloves.
1 C. milk.
3/4 C. white sugar.
5 egg yolks.
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract.

in a sauce pan bring 1 cup of cream, tea bags and spices to a boil over medium heat, whisking constantly, simmer for a few moments and then let the tea bags steep while the cream cools a bit.  remove tea bags and pour into a heatproof bowl and add second cup of cream, mixing until smooth. place a strainer on top of bowl. in the same saucepan warm the milk and sugar. while that is warming lightly beat yolks, adding in the warmed milk mixture, stirring constantly. pour back into saucepan and heat over medium, stirring constantly until 170 degrees has been reached and mixture has thickened. make sure you are stirring constantly to prevent scrambled eggs are forming! pour through strainer and combine with other mixture. chill in an ice water bath. freeze in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions or follow these awesome steps to make it without an ice cream maker, it takes some more time but is super simple if you have a hand mixer or even a fork!

I hope you guys are enjoying your first fall days, I know I am! xo, T.

pumpkin picking adventures.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Two posts in a row, I am obviously very much procrastinating from school.  Especially attempting to decipher ridiculous old English books from the 1600's.  But anyways.

Pumpkins!

My love for them goes without saying.  One of my favourite parts of fall is going to Lockport to pick pumpkins.  We've gone driven out to Lockport to hang out at the Half Moon restaurant and look at old cars every thanksgiving weekend I can remember.  And for the last handful of years, pretty much ever since I began to really love baking, we've stopped at one of the little farms on the highway home to pick out our favourite pumpkins.  They lay them out in pretty little rows in their front yard and you get to meander around and pick the one you love, there are so many kinds!  It used to be a rather small operation, but it appears the secret is out because the highway was lined with cars when we arrived!

So much fun!

and yes, they have a giant cat made out of hay bales in their front yard.

Oh, and these are the monster cupcakes my mum made with my cousins yesterday to keep them amused for thanksgiving.  So much sugar.  So much fun. xo.

hearts and fall love.

It's been awhile.  I'm sorry.

Unlike last time I posted, when I only wished it was fall, it is actually fall for real now.  Which means multiple lovely things; like wearing tights and boots and colourful leaves...and that school has started.  Once again I have no life.

But it's been rather wonderful, although it has been rather crazy and now that interm reviews are over, (yay!) I decided that I finally deserved a little break to do something fun, non-structural and incredibly frivolous!

I have been rather obsessed with Elsie's blog at A Beautiful Mess lately.  I love everything about her and her blog, her clothes, her craft projects, her store, her super great tattoos.  I somewhat want her life.  Anyways, all her adorable little projects and brightly coloured outfits inspired me to do something wonderful and lovely with my little bit of free time this week and so this is what resulted!

I had seen little projects for painted tights and jeans before so I thought I would give it a go and see what happened. 

I rather adore them. 

Everyone in my household is incredibly confused as to why I would want hearts on my tights, but they make me the happiest!

So if you happen to also love hearts, craft projects, frivolous things and confusing everyone around you with your choice in outfits, here you go!  Also, we should probably be best friends.

1.  cut out a little template out of card stock, don't make it too big since it will stretch out.   When my tights were lying flat the heart had about 1/2 inch extra fabric on either side and it was the perfect size!   I picked a heart but you could pick anything!

2.  while wearing your tights make a mark in pencil roughly where you want your hearts to be.  I marked off just below the knee and at the ankle.

3.  Trace your template to your heart's desire!  I traced three on each leg.



4.  paint in all your little hearts with fabric paint.  I used a crimson red, flat, flexible fabric paint.  Make sure you put a thin piece of cardboard between the layers of fabric in the tights so that it doesn't bleed through.  I used the piece of cardboard that came in my tights as a template to cut a second piece!



5.  let the paint dry according to manufacturer's directions, mine had to dry for four hours.

6.  your super sweet tights are done, yay!

I'm super happy with how they turned out!  Some white shows through when you wear them because the hearts stretch out, but I'm okay with that.  I like somewhat imperfect, worn things! 

I also got a chance to paint my nails yesterday, so very happy!  You have no idea how big of a deal it is to have this much free time.  Oh, and this is my favourite locket, my grandma "thrifted" it from the house next door before it got condemned.  I love my family.

Happy fall!  Hopefully a few more pictures will appear on here in the next little bit before life is insane again, I still have some summery ones I want to show you.  xo.

pumpkin cake.

Even though it has been incredibly hot the past few days in my mind it's pretty much fall. 

Although I love beaches and being warm all the time I adore fall more.  All the things I do in the summer - bike rides, wandering aimlessly through pretty little neighbourhoods, being outdoors all the time, flowers, pretty little projects, baking - I can do in the fall, but with tights and boots on, which means I can wear way more of the pretty dresses in my closet!  My family also gets visibly less upset when I go to turn the oven on to bake something. 

Both things make me extremely happy.

One of my very favourite fall things is pumpkins.  I love pumpkin.  Pasta, cookies, cupcakes, anything.  And, since I refuse to bake anything with canned pumpkin I get very excited when the little orange squashes start appearing at the farmers market!

Amazingly, when I went this saturday my favourite organic mennonite farmers had boxes and boxes of perfect little baking pumpkins.  Needless to say I was ecstatic. 

Unfortunately, I was so excited to roast the pumpkin and make something delicious that I didn't take a photo.  Visualize the prettiest little 4 lb pumpkin and you'll be on the right track.

roast pumpkin

To roast the pumpkin I cut it in half, scooped out all the seeds (which you can roast later!), cut off the stem and put the halves face down on a baking sheet.  I placed the baking sheet on the highest rack and turned the to high, ie. just below broil.  It took about 45 minutes to roast this 4 lb pumpkin.

The skin will get charred and black, but when you flip it over (let it cool before you do this, since it's crazy hot) the flesh will be lovely golden orange and super soft, it should peel away easily from the skin.  If it isn't soft enough put it back in the oven for a bit.

I usually just scoop out the flesh, mash it with a fork and keep it in the freezer to use whenever!

It isn't a lot of work and leaves you with very delicous, beautiful pumpkin to use for whatever your heart desires.

Doesn't this make you so excited for fall?

What my heart happened to desire on this particular day was cake.  Layer cake with large amounts of frosting.  Not cupcakes with delicate little swirls, but an entire cake that I could frost with an offset spatula and mass quantities of buttercream.  I really wanted to frost something, it's a very calming experience.

However, the dilemma was what cake recipe to use?  Instead of looking for hours through multiple food blogs and getting incredibly distracted I decided to modify a Martha Stewart recipe I had for pumpkin cupcakes.  Like I said, I really wanted to frost something.

The result was pumpkin layer cake with chocolate cinnamon buttercream.  It was rather delicious!

Enjoy!

mix your dry ingredients together.  cinammon, ginger and nutmeg make me instantly think of fall.

mix your sugars with your (lake) of melted butter.  add the dry ingredients and mix.

mash the pumpkin and add it to the batter.  it becomes the most beautiful orange colour - and tastes rather delish!

spread the batter evenly into two circular cake pans.  I ran out of flour so I dusted my pan with cocoa.

bake until set and let cool.  because of the pumpkin and whole wheat flour the cakes won't rise very high.

place one cake on a cake stand/plate and frost the top with a good amount of buttercream. 
place the second cake on top.

frost the top and sides with an offset spatula and the remaining frosting.

 As mentioned above this cake recipe was modified from this Martha Stewart cupcake recipe.  I changed around some of the ingredient measurements and also swapped in some whole wheat flour.  I was slightly hesitant that it would make the cake really dense and heavy but it didn't and it slightly balances out the large amont of butter used!

pumpkin layer cake

modified from Martha

1 cup flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ground allspice

3/4 cup packed light-brown sugar

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1 cup salted butter, melted and cooled

3 large eggs, lightly beaten

2 cups pumpkin puree

milk

Whisk together the flours and spices.  Since I was a bit afraid how the whole wheat flour would react I sifted it to remove some of the bran/hull so it would be less dense.

In another bowl whisk together sugars and melted butter.  Add eggs.  Add dry ingredients a little at a time and mix until batter is smooth.

Stir in pumpkin puree.  Batter will be quite thick.  I slowly added small amounts of milk to the batter to bring it more to the consistency of brownie batter.  Start with a tablespoon, mix, add a bit more (I think I used 1/4 cup) and keep going until its not as dense but is nowhere near soupy.

Grease and flour (I used cocoa powder because I was out of all purpose flour) two 8 inch circular pans.  Pour an even amount of batter in each and smooth over.

Place in an oven pre-heated to 350 degrees.  Bake for 20-25 minutes or unitl tops of cakes are golden and a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean.

Let the cakes cool in their pans for about 20 minutes and then turn out, running a knife along the edges of the pan to loosen the cake.

The cake will be short and dense and kind of sticky from the oil in the pumpkin and the butter but I promise you that its cooked!

Let cool and frost.

chocolate cinnamon frosting - chocolate and cinammon is my favourite combination, and I thought it would go especially well with the flavours in the pumpkin cake.

modified from my favourite frosting recipe.  I use the same base for every buttercream but this time the flour is replaced by cocoa powder.

3 cups icing sugar

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1/2 cup butter

1/4 cup milk

a lot of cinammon

Mix icing sugar and sifted cocoa powder.  Add butter and beat until it begins to get smooth.  Add milk a little at a time until its thinned out but is still quite stiff, you don't want it running off the cake!  Add the cinammon.  I started with a tablespoon and kept adding more because I really wanted to taste the cinammon.  In the end I probably used 3 tablespoons but definitely start with one and add a bit at a time tasting along the way because it will quickly go from just right to way too much spice!

Frost the cake!  You can leave it in the fridge while your cake cools and let it come to room temperature before frosting.

Slice yourself a lovely little piece, sit in the warm almost-autumn sun and get very excited about the lovely cool weather, leaves and boots that lie ahead!  xo.