Let's Celebrate Fall

Fall is my favorite time of the month.  The sticky August heat wave comes to an end, and the cool fall breezes sweep through the air.  The leaves start to change colors and, in time, illuminate the streets with breathtakingly beautiful colors.  Apples are in season and pumpkin patches are on my mind. 

I loved taking trips to the apple orchard and pumpkin patch as a kid.  We’d pick apples all afternoon followed by a glass of cider.  Then we’d get to pick out the biggest (best) pumpkins in the patch.  When we got home, the house would fill with smells of apple crisp while we carved the pumpkins with dad on the front porch.  We’d slide the candles into the pumpkins, light them, put the tops back on, and line them up on the steps.  As the sun set, our porch would glow with our freshly carved pumpkins – it always made our Victorian house seem slightly eerie, but in a perfect way.  Isn’t that the whole point of Halloween? 

Mom would make pumpkin pies and pumpkin desserts.  Her pies are the best.  The perfect amount of pumpkin, the flakiest crust and just the right amount of spice.  Oh how I love you, fall.

Today screams fall.  The temperature has dropped, the leaves have begun to fall and people have dusted off their jackets.  To evoke my favorite memories from this time of year, I’ve made a pumpkin gooey butter cake. 

A crust of butter, sugar, flour, egg and milk is patted down on the bottom of the pan.  I pour on top a pumpkin, cream cheese, powdered sugar mixture with, you guessed it, more butter.  Next, sprinkle on the chocolate chips.  I used a combination of milk chocolate and white chocolate chips to kick this dessert up a notch. 

Exactly as I thought it would, the house filled with that delicious pumpkin smell.  This pumpkin gooey butter cake is precisely that – pumpkin, gooey, butter crust, delicious.  I think I’ll have seconds.