fall dessert – Luv Cooks

WOW.

Umm- are you guys busy these days? I mean- is your holiday season flying by like Santa on a jet ski? Yep, #sameboat. I actually just had to practice some deep breathing a bit ago to calm down about ALL that awaits me on my to-do list between now and December 25.

But you know what? There is HOPE. That’s right, there is a beacon of light that lies across that sea of gift wrap on your living room floor. It’s going to simplify your life, take one MAJOR requirement off of your shopping-bag laden shoulders, and allow you to breeze through the most pressure-filled of Christmas feats- the holiday dinner.

That’s right. The once-a-year celebration that involves your family, your friends, and those relatives that you haven’t seen in years but somehow arrive at your doorstep hungry and ready for ALL the egg nog. The people that you truly love and want to feel special around your table. The people you text on the daily. That dinner. The solution? Hormel is here to save the day- and help you feed everyone on your gift list with no host-stress. Pun intended:)

This season I had the chance to partner with Hormel for these easy holiday dinner tips to utilize all I’ve gleaned from my work as a food and prop stylist to create a holiday menu that is both easy to do and will formally establish you as the Holiday Hosting Queen or King. These dishes make simple, fresh tweaks to Hormel foods that are sure to please your fave people. It’s a menu that includes:

Orange and Rosemary Glazed Hormel Cure 81 Ham: This ham is already cooked, and our glaze only has two ingredients! All we have to do is glaze and bake.

Golden broccoli and cheddar rice cups: Perfect for portioning out your buffet- especially when your relatives really love the sides; as in, ahem, maybe don’t leave much for those people behind them in line.

Fresh Sautéed Asparagus with Lemon Zest: Fresh trimmed asparagus + butter+ lemon zest. Voila!

Salted Maple Butter Sweet Potatoes: Utilizing ready-to-go, mashed potatoes takes the boiling and the pulverizing out of the equation for you. Save that bicep strength for unwrapping presents later!

Sautéed Apples with Vanilla Bean Ice Cream and Candied Pecans: Sweet apples with creamy ice cream and candied pecans. Yessss pleeeassee!

To see the WHOLE menu and all of the how-to tips, click here: Hormel Holiday Ham Dinner Hacks!

Oh AND surprise!! The Hormel team also took some sweet behind-the-scenes photos I thought you guys would dig.

Let the film roll begin!

Broccoli Cheddar Rice Cups — Our broccoli-cheddar beauties baking up in the oven.

Our Cherrywood Cure 81 ham and glaze ingredients awaiting their glorious debut. — Our Cherrywood Cure 81 ham and glaze ingredients awaiting their debut.

Warm cinnamon apples with vanilla ice cream melting into the fruit, topped with candied pecans for our dessert. Yummmmmmm. — Warm cinnamon apples, vanilla ice cream and candied pecans for dessert.

Fresh sautéed asparagus with butter and lemon zest deliciousness.

Sweet, caramelized glazed ham in all it's glory. — Sweet, caramelized glazed ham in all it’s glory.

You guys, my amazing readers and watchers- I couldn’t be more thrilled to share this video, and this season, with you. You and my friends and family- you guys are the ones that make holiday food special for me. And the fact that Hormel has made an effort to make this easy for all of us- well, I’d say that’s Luv Cooks style: having a blast, cooking delicious food, and making the people around us feel special.

So, from my kitchen to yours, may your table be full of the food, sparkle and loving warmth of a hope-filled season. I can’t imagine anything more delicious.

A Happy Pumpkin Dessert — Layers of sponge cake, pumpkin butterscotch, and whipped cream nestled together.

This is a special week because 1.)We can eat as much Halloween candy as possible in one sitting without feeling guilty (which for me involves copious amounts of candy corn) and 2.) We celebrate pumpkins.

There is something nostalgic and happy about pumpkins. They remind me of everything great about fall- hay rides, adorable kids in costumes, cooler air and the smell of sun-burnt leaves. They also remind me of the time as a kid when I tried to scoop out the inside of a pumpkin and eat it.

I was also known to eat dirt from our garden believing in my small brain it was Oreo crumbs. But, I digress.

I learned my lesson the hard way and that pumpkin seeds are meant to be roasted before swallowed. And since then, it has also stirred a fascination in me to cook with pumpkin- it’s slightly sweet, spicy-creamy taste is so reminiscent to me of fall and bonfires and starry nights.

Layers Up Close — This was the most epic shot of a pumpkin trifle ever.

So, in celebration of fall, candy, and fun here is a great pumpkin trifle recipe I made this week for my small group of wonderful ladies who deserve brilliant fall desserts. If there was ever a time to be happy about pumpkins, raw or otherwise, it would be now.

Pumpkin Butterscotch Trifle (This recipe was adapted from A Taste Of Home’s version)

What You Will Need

2 to 3 cups cut-into-cubes spice cake (I made Duncan Hines spice cake from the mix)
2-1/2 cups cold milk (I used low-fat, because in my mind it makes this healthy)
1 can (15 ounces) solid-pack pumpkin
4 packages (3.4 ounces each) instant butterscotch pudding mix (I used Jello Cook and Serve)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg (I used a scant 1/4 teaspoon here and added a bit of freshly grated nutmeg to mine)
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
2 cups heavy whipping cream
A splash of vanilla extract
A trifle dish (or huge salad bowl; or one of those plastic pumpkin things you put candy in. Be creative as you celebrate your dessert!)

What You Will Do

Cut your cooled spice cake into four sections. From each section, cut the cake into one or two inch squares. You should have four piles of cake squares.
Put the bowl you are going to make whipped cream in, along with the beater, in the freezer.
Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine the milk, pumpkin, pudding mixes and spices; beat until smooth. Once the ingredients are combined, pour your pudding liquid into a medium-sized saucepan and bring the mixture to a boil (this should take a about two minutes on medium high; watch it though because it bubbles quickly).
Once the mixture starts bubbling, stir it frequently, making sure that the bottom of the pudding doesn’t burn, until it becomes pudding consistency. I stopped cooking mine once it felt about like the texture I would serve it if it was cold. And it’s even better if you get a little bit of darker edges around the sides and bottom of your pan. This will give your mixture a nice roasty flavor.
Take the pan off of the heat to let your pudding cool. If you like, you can put it in the fridge to quicken the cooling process.
In the meantime, take your mixing bowl and beaters out of the freezer. Whip the cream and a splash of vanilla until stiff peaks form.
Commence eating candy.

Once your pumpkin pudding is cooled:

Make one layer of your spice cake cubes in the bottom of your serving bowl.
Spoon half of your pudding over your cake layer. Then sprinkle that with a second layer of cake cubes (ok, cake cubes is just fun to say).
Top your second layer of cake cubes with half of your whipped cream.
Sprinkle with a third portion of cubes. Top with the remaining pumpkin mixture, then the rest of the whipped cream.
My whipped cream got a bit out of control and was overflowing my dish, but in the original recipe I found I think you are supposed to sprinkle another layer of cake cubes on top. I thought it was prettier with cinnamon, so you can either top it with cinnamon or the rest of the cake cubes. But then that would be a lot of cake cubes.
Double-cover your trifle with plastic wrap and chill for at least 2 hours before serving. Yield: 12-15 servings

Tag: fall dessert

Happy Pumpkin Week!