pumpkin coffee cake

Fall is here, though you might not know it by the ridiculously warm weather we are having in SoCal. But fall means pumpkin time! I finally got to make something with pumpkin this past weekend. I decided to make a tasty looking coffee cake that I saw at Recipe Girl. It was pretty tasty (and my co-workers decimated it). It wasn't my favorite though. I think I wanted something more like a pumpkin cake and this is like a coffee cake with a layer of pumpkin pie filling in the middle. Delicious but not what I had been craving. I think pumpkin donuts or pumpkin cupcakes are going to be next on my list. 

What are some of you favorite fall recipes?

Pumpkin Coffee Cake

adapted from recipegirl.com

Yield: 12 servings
Prep Time: 20 min
Cook Time: 50 min

CAKE:
1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup granulated white sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 large eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup sour cream
One (16 ounce) can unsweetened pumpkin puree
1 large slightly beaten egg
1/3 cup granulated white sugar
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

STREUSEL TOPPING:
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1/3 cup butter, softened slightly
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts, optional
Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325°F. Spray a 9x13-inch pan with nonstick spray.

2. Prepare cake: Use an electric mixer to cream together the butter, sugar and vanilla in a large bowl; add eggs and beat well. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda. Mix dry ingredients into the butter mixture half at a time, alternating with half of the sour cream. In another bowl, combine pumpkin, egg, 1/3 cup sugar, and pie spice. Keep separate.

3. Prepare topping: Mix the topping ingredients together with fork or hands until crumbly. Set aside.

4. Spoon half of the batter mixture into the prepared pan. Sprinkle half of the streusel topping over the batter. Spread the pumpkin mixture over the streusel. Carefully spread the remaining batter over the pumpkin mixture. Sprinkle remaining streusel on top.

5. Bake 45 to 50 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

persimmon love

to me, fall means cooler weather, changing leaves, and PERSIMMONS! these lovely, strange fruits only come around once a year and only for a very short time. mid to late october are usually the best times for them. growing up we had a large persimmon tree in the backyard which would bear hundreds of persimmons. we gave plenty away but i also ate my fair share. unfortunately my family no longer lives at that house but, my parents are friends with the new owners. this means that i still get my annual persimmon fix (the store selection is never as good and i am always disappointed). we have both the hard variety and the soft variety of persimmon at our old place. i actually only eat the hard ones (peeled) and give the soft ones away. i did take a few this year though to see if maybe i could make some persimmon bread or something from them. here are some pics from our fruit picking adventure to the old house.

pretty leaves in front of the house

big basket of the hard variety of persimmons

unripe soft variety persimmons

soft persimmons on the tree

tell me, do you like persimmons? what is your favorite seasonal fruit?