Trying recipes I found on Pinterest | 3. Pumpkin Dump Cake

It's been a while since my last Pinterest-inspired post but I had an Autumnal recipe that I was dying to try out before the Christmas season had chance to get underway fully - Pumpkin Dump Cake. I invested in a few tins of pumpkin puree whilst they were in the supermarkets over October so I could easily attempt pumpkin-related recipes. Pumpkin Dump Cake was a recipe that I came across whilst innocently searching pumpkin recipes on Pinterest. It seemed easy and looked delicious. One that I could certainly attempt.

I was aiming to take this cake to a bonfire party my friend was hosting but life got in the way and I spent my day at IKEA instead of whipping up this beauty. Rather than not enjoy its deliciousness, I decided to make it the Monday after when I had a cheeky day off.

Traced back to The First Year blog, this recipe is really easy to make, you've just got to ensure you've got all the ingredients. Which I guess you need to do for all recipes... Let's just get on with it, shall we?

To make this recipe you will need:

- One tin of pumpkin puree
- 285ml evaporated milk
- 1 cup of brown sugar
- 3 eggs
- 2 tbsp of pumpkin spice (great infographic for making your own here)
- 220g butter (melted)
- One box of plain cake mix (vanilla is fine)

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees and grease a large rectangular cake tin (or lasagne dish). Start by mixing the pumpkin, milk, eggs, sugar and spice together in a bowl until combined. Pour this into your dish, then sprinkle the cake mix across the top evenly. Get your melted butter and pour this over the cake mix ensuring that you evenly distribute this.

When you've done this, put this in the oven for 45 minutes to an hour checking that the centre has set, the edges are brown and then when you put a knife into the middle it comes out clean. I found that leaving this in for a little longer ensure it wasn't too soggy on the bottom was better, the top of mine didn't burn it just got a little crispier.

So, what was it like? It is such a strange recipe for sure, I never thought that adding the cake mix like this would work but it came out beautifully. The bottom had set like the filling of a pumpkin pie, gooey and delicious, and the top was crispy and sugary. Warming it up and pairing it with a dollop of ice cream was the perfect idea.

Although I'd never heard of 'Dump Cakes' before undertaking this recipe, I'll definitely be searching more out!

What about you? Is this something you'd attempt? Maybe I'll look for a Christmas variety for December...

Trying recipes I found on Pinterest | 2. Easy peasy Pumpkin Pie

Last week you will have seen the first post in my new series (Stuffed Pumpkin Peppers), trying recipes I find on Pinterest. After last week's spooky success, we're back today with another recipe.

Anyone who knows me will know that around this time of year I'm all about Pumpkins. It doesn't matter if it is decorative or edible, I have a certain yearning for anything pumpkin. I'm not sure why maybe it is since I've become a blogger, I just feel the need to have pumpkins in my house. But either way, I'm a little obsessed. I've already got my little munchkins from Aldi to adorn my coffee table and I'm ready to start decorating the house in all my Halloween/Pumpkin decorations brought down from the loft. 

Although I've maxed out on all things Pumpkin visually, I've not really had much experience of them in cooking/baking. There is, of course, the almighty Pumpkin Spice Latte, but as I don't like coffee, I've not had one. So in an effort to introduce more pumpkin into my life, I decided I must try the coveted Pumpkin Pie.

I found this super easy recipe on Pinterest, tracing back to American Heritage Cooking, and started on my mission to find all the ingredients. They were pretty easy to find once I stumbled upon canned pumpkin in Sainsbury's. I was going to do it the old fashioned way and cut up a pumpkin to roast (or steam) but this seemed a lot easier.

If you'd also like to make this pumpkin-spiced dream, then read on and get cooking!

You will need...

1 can of pureed pumpkin 
1 can sweetened condensed milk
2 large eggs, slightly whisked
1 rounded teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
½ teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
½ teaspoon salt
1 (9 inch) pie crust (shop-bought or homemade, preferably quite deep!)

Before starting this recipe preheat your oven to 220 degrees. Don't worry, we start high but then drop the temperature down after some time in the oven.

Next whisk all your ingredients together in a bowl, excluding your pie crust (obviously), making sure everything is well combined.

Pour your mixture into your pie crust and bake at 220 degrees for 15 minutes. Make sure to keep a watch to ensure it doesn't burn! When it's had its 15 minutes turn the temperature to 180 degrees and leave for another 35-40 minutes, or until a sharp knife comes out clean from the centre of the pie). If you don't want to put a knife in your pie, you an jiggle your pie. It's done when only the centre 1 inch diameter jiggles.

When your pie has cooled at room temperature, put this in the fridge in a sealed container, or cover with foil to make it last longer. It will also keep for several days at room temperature if you prefer.

The cooking process of this was super easy, although my pie rose really high in the oven, which you can see from the lumpy skin, which I'm not sure if it was supposed to, it came out cooked and ready to eat. 

Now for the taste test! As I don't like cream, I didn't have any with my pie, but I think that's the done thing. It is AMAZING. So spiced and lovely, the perfect thing for a cosy night in. I think I'm going to have a piece with some ice cream. I would say it is quite sickly, so have in small portions.

What do you think, are you going to try your hand at making a pumpkin pie?

Healthy Winter Warmer - Brown Rice Pudding

I'm a sucker for the cold weather. Forget Summer, I'm all about Autumn and Winter. I love the change in the weather, all the cosy jumpers and warm Autumn colours and of course snuggly nights in watching the dark nights roll in.

When this sort of weather comes around its time to bring out a different set of recipes. Out goes the salads and the picnics and in come the stews and the soups. I'm a huge fan of throwing loads of goodness together and making something delicious and warming.

Recently I've had a hankering for some rice pudding but I wanted an easy recipe that I could make at home. The typical rice pudding uses 'risotto' rice, lots of sugar, full-fat milk and cream which I wasn't really feeling. I wanted something I could make with my cupboard basics and came across this beauty of a recipe.

To make these little pots of joy you will need:
3/4 cup uncooked brown rice
2 cups milk
1/3 cup white sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg beaten
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Boil the brown rice until cooked. When it's done add 1 1/2 cups of the milk, the sugar and salt to the pan and cook over a medium heat until thick and creamy. Stir in the rest of the milk and the beaten egg, cook for a minute longer continuously stirring. Take off the heat and stir in the butter and the vanilla. Portion it up and serve with cinnamon or your topping of choice. Jam would also be perfect!

There you have a lovely winter warmer that isn't as bad for you as normal rice pudding but tastes just as good. Will you be having a go and trying it out for yourself?

Autumn Time Candles

When Autumn comes around it's time to change up the candles and bring in some cosy warming scents. I must admit I have a cupboard that is full of different candles, some new and some part used that I just switch up when I feel like it. I love buying candles. It's a little obsession. So as the temperatures have changed I decided it was time to invest in some new candles.

Yankee Candles is one of my favourite candle brands as they do lots of different scents and they are super strong. I love that they continue to bring out new scents as well as keeping the old faves.

I purchased Pain Au Raisin and Gingerbread Maple after watching Zoella's Autumn candle haul because I felt like I needed some new Autumn ones. They are both very sweet smelling but they aren't very sickly which is good. Gingerbread Maple smells of baking and very sweet syrup but isn't too overwhelming with the gingerbread. With Pain Au Raisin you can definitely smell a hint of raisin but it's nice as its subtly fruity. They both have a little bit of spice which makes them feel cosy and warming.

I've had this Christmas Eve candle since last year as I must have bought a few because it's one of my favourites.  Although not technically Autumn I think as it gets colder all Autumn/Winter candles go! This one is a hard one to describe but it's very different from the other two. It's fresh and a bit more perfumy. I think you should smell this one yourself to see what you think!

This little one I picked up from Aldi in the Special Buys as it smelt SO GOOD. I walked past and could smell it so I couldn't leave without it. I'm pretty sure I've seen these candles in other supermarkets so I suggest you search out this one. It is the White Vanilla Bean scent which smells lovely and sweet but homely. As it's an Air Wick candle it's very potent which is brilliant.

The last one is a candle I picked up from Tesco Extra whilst on a little shopping spree. You know when you go to Tesco and you want to buy something but don't know what, then you come out with a book, a candle and all sorts of other things. Yeah, this was bought on one of those times.

When I picked up this candle it immediately made me think that it smelt of something but I didn't know what. Again this is nothing like any of the candles already listed, it's very perfumey. Its a different scent for me and something I wouldn't normally pick but as it reminded me of something and it was black wax, I decided to pick it up. It is in the scent Amber Noir and I'm pretty sure it smells like one of Mum's hair products but in a nice way! One of those that you want on your hair so you can smell your hair all day. Again maybe this is one you have to smell in person!

So what are your favourite Autumn candles? Any recommendations for me?

Why I can't wait for Autumn

This year Autumn can't come quick enough. There is something about this Summer that has not been appealing to us Brits at all! I think we didn't really get a Summer, so it's about time we just got right into Autumn, okay Mother Nature? Bring it.

I hope that you are excited for Autumn too. I've started a Pinterest board filled with beautiful autumn images, cosy interiors and cute craft projects. Although we are only just into September and the leaves have not even started to fall from the trees, I can't wait to wrap up and welcome in Autumn. Here's why...

1. The colours. Autumn brings some amazing colours that I'm in love with including burnt oranges, deep maroon reds and dirty mustard yellows. From the fallen leaves to the clothes in high street shops, the beautiful Autumn colours are everywhere. This year I want to invest in some pieces in these colours and maybe a staple pair of brown boots!

2. Cosy nights in. No more will we think about going out on a night, the place to be will be in the comfort of our own homes. Investing in blankets, candles and good movies will be essential as we start to snuggle up on the sofa rather than braving the cold. I'll definitely have to go shopping for some real Autumn scented candles. I'm thinking cinnamon, woody hints and smokey scents.

3. New flavours. Bring back the hot chocolate, cinnamon, gingerbread and of course, pumpkin. Okay so these aren't new flavours but they get a bit forgotten during Spring/Summer. Now we can indulge in barista hot chocolate, oh and a little bit of salted caramel syrup? As well as this Autumn brings a lot of oranges; bigging up pumpkins, butternut squash and sweet potatoes at every meal!

4. Halloween. I love Halloween. It's time to be a big kid, decorate the house and dress up. I'm hoping to do something this year but even if I don't and I'm just handing out sweets I'm going to go big with my decorations. Matt doesn't know yet but there could be a skeleton or two hanging outside the house on the big night.

5. Comfort food. When the weather gets cold all anyone wants to do is eat all the carbs. It's understandable, we are starting to stock up for Winter. I'll be looking to beef casseroles, warming broths, soups and roast dinners. Of course, I'll still try and keep it healthy but I think diets change by the season and I'll definitely be adapting mine to Autumn.

So what are your favourite parts of Autumn? Are you excited?

Halloween preparation

Halloween is always a fun time of the year. Everyone is picking out their outfits, deciding what they'd like to be. Is it going to be creepy, silly or slutty? I'm staying in this year and wanted to halloween-ify my house as well as get ready for the nippers that will be knocking on my door all night. With this in mind, I took a trip to Asda and had a look online to find a few bits and pieces to get in the seasonal mood.
I love to carve a pumpkin. It's a challenge to get it just right, like the pictures of pumpkins you see all over. It's also nice to try something new, get creative and create a crazy pumpkin from scratch or maybe from a photo on the internet. Carving a pumpkin is one of the key parts of Halloween and I'm ready for it!

As we are now securely in Autumn I always feel the need to get the candles burning. Any shape or size and millions of them, all over the front room. Yes, it is a little bit of a fire hazard. I've picked up many autumn scented candles on my shopping trips but never anything that could be used exclusively for Halloween until now. I purchased this little guy from eBay but after looking through a magazine I've realised these are from Poundland! I felt a bit silly. But needless to say, this will be a part of my candle burning on all Hallows Eve.

As I'll be monitoring the door for little trick or treaters, I've decided to buy a few bits to jazz up the front of the house and of course, I had to pick up some sweeties! I wanted to go wild in Asda as they had some amazing items that were really quite cheap but as I wasn't having a party or anything I had to hold back! In the end, I picked up a Happy Halloween sign to hang by the door as well as some 'cobwebs' with spiders to decorate the entrance.
To give out the sweets from I've picked up a Halloween pumpkin bowl (which is for the kids to go treat or treating with but who cares ey!). I picked up a few bags of sweets which were only £1 each. I think when they run out the lights will go off. Well, I'm not getting up and down all night, I've got things to do!
So these are the little bits and bobs I've picked up to celebrate Halloween.
Have you bought anything new to celebrate Halloween?!