pumpkin-ade

You know the saying: when life gives you lemons, make lemonade.

Well life (actually, a good friend) gave me a huge can of pumpkin before she moved home to Canada and so I have no choice but make things with pumpkin. She must have had lofty ambitions of making dozens of pumpkin pies because this can was like 2 lbs...and since every recipe I've found calls for 1/2 cup of pumpkin, its going to take awhile to use it all up.

Living with limited resources and options, I have become much more experimental in my cooking. So here's a look at what happened this weekend:

1) Found a recipe for pumpkin fudge (because who doesn't love fudge) and had evaporated milk on hand for what seemed like a simple recipe.

2) I did not have cornstarch. Nor am I sure what it is called in Spanish (rather often, a deterrent for going on a hunt!) Ended up substituting flour...maybe my downfall.

3) I do not own a candy thermometer and so tried my hand at the "soft-ball" test in cold water. Wasn't sure how to read the results...so...lets just say my fudge did not set.

4) I now had a pan of what resulted as deliciously sweet pumpkin goo...but not usable...and really, it just feels like you are in-taking way more calories when it's not the consistency of fudge.

So what is a girl to do? 

Make some pumpkin-ade with my pumpkin fail!

I took a yellow cake mix I had on hand, whipped that up in a few minutes and started experimenting with my pumpkin swirl cupcakes.

The first round was about 1/4 batter in the bottom, layer of pumpkin "fudge" and more batter on top.

What I did not count on was that my heavy filling would SINK to the bottom. 

Then I got wise and just put a blob on top...better results, but still need some work.

However, the taste is exactly what I was going for. They are fluffy, moist and have just the right amount of spicey-ness. Not up to par with what my sister can whip up in her kitchen and with a one-year old child in tow--but I try!

Now to find testers who are willing to eat their cupcakes with a fork :)