Pumpkin pie is amazing, but that doesn’t mean you have to be tied to the classic dessert every Thanksgiving. There are plenty of fun and new ways to think outside the pie plate.
At restaurant Terra and Vine in Evanston, Executive Pastry Chef Rebecca Zuckerman has a pumpkin sundae on her menu. “I love sundaes and it’s a different play on a pumpkin dessert,” she said. “Typically, pumpkin desserts are pie or muffins, but a sundae seems a little out of left field to me. Sorry, I guess I’m still a little hung up on the World Series.”
Zuckerman’s sundae is made with pumpkin ice cream with spiced pumpkin seeds, praline caramel, gingerbread biscotti and whipped cream. “The sundae has all of the fall flavors that we all love just done a little bit differently,” she said. “The spiced seeds have a little cayenne in them to give the guest a ‘Mmm, what is that?’ moment.”
To make the spiced pumpkin seeds, Zuckerman uses 3 and 1/2 cups of green seeds (the ones without shells). She uses three large egg whites, 3/4 cup of sugar, one teaspoon of salt, 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper and two teaspoons cinnamon. She whisks the egg whites until they are broken up just a little bit. Then, she adds the seeds and stirs thoroughly. She mixes the sugar and spices together and adds them into the pumpkin seeds. She pours everything onto a parchment-lined baking sheet and bakes at 350 degrees for five minutes. She gives the seeds a little stir and lets them bake until they are brown and toasted. She lets them cool completely before sprinkling them on desserts.
For a whimsical touch to your Thanksgiving dinner table, try pumpkin whoopie pies. “They’re a fun, easy-to-eat treat that are nostalgic for some folks and a new treat for others,” said Chad Kruger, a co-owner of family-run Sweety Pies Bakery in Skokie.
“The smell of the whoopie pies is heavenly, it has that delicious pumpkin pie flavor and smooth cream cheese frosting that pair up so well,” Kruger said.
The pumpkin swirl cheesecake at Sugar Fixe in Oak Park is made with a traditional pumpkin cheesecake filling, but the crust is surprisingly flavorful because it’s made with crushed gingersnap cookies. “This is a cheesecake that is creamy, spicy and smells like fall,” Owner Cindy Summers said.
At Vie in Western Springs, Angelyne Canicosa is doctoring up her homemade sugared donut holes with smoked honey, bourbon toffee sauce, spiced pumpkin ice cream, toasted pumpkin seeds and that quintessential creamy fall treat — pumpkin butter.
“The flavors are mostly very familiar,” Canicosa said, “but the addition of smoked honey and browned butter in the pumpkin butter definitely give the dessert more complexity. We fry the doughnuts to order, so the warm doughnuts against the cold ice cream complement each other. We drizzle the bourbon toffee sauce on the doughnuts right before serving, so the salt in the sauce is also great with the sweetness of the doughnut sugar.”
Executive Pastry Chef Theophile Gallon is making a dessert of pumpkin ganache sandwiched in a light, fluffy pâte a choux pastry at Patisserie Coralie in Evanston. “It has a rich texture and taste once you bite into the maple brown butter caramel at the bottom,” he said.
Gallon’s individual desserts are shaped like little pumpkins and they even have tiny caps made with sugar that look like pumpkin stems.
Pumpkin Whoopie Pies
3 cups flour
2 tablespoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 cup sugar
More Top Picks Services Soils
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
3 cups pumpkin purée
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, salt, ginger and nutmeg. Set aside.
In a separate bowl, whisk the granulated sugar, the dark brown sugar, and the oil together. Add the pumpkin puree and whisk to combine thoroughly. Add the eggs and vanilla and whisk until combined.
Gradually add the flour mixture to the pumpkin mixture and whisk until completely combined.
Use a small cookie scoop or a large spoon to drop a rounded, heaping tablespoon of the dough onto the prepared baking sheets, about 1-inch apart.
Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, making sure that the cookies are just starting to crack on top and a toothpick inserted into the center of a cookie comes out clean. The cookies should be firm when touched. Remove from the oven and let the cookies cool completely on a cooling rack.
To make the filling, beat the butter on medium speed until smooth with no visible lumps, about three minutes. Add the cream cheese and beat until smooth and combined, about two minutes. Add the powdered sugar a little at a time, then add the maple syrup and vanilla and beat until smooth.
Cream Cheese Filling
3 cups powdered sugar
8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
4 ounces (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, at room temperature
3 tablespoons maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Mix all ingredients together.
Assembly: Turn half of the cooled cookies upside down. Pipe or spoon the filling (about 1 tablespoon) onto that half. Place another cookie, flat side down, on top of the filling. Press down slightly so that the filling spreads to the edges of the cookie. Repeat until all the cookies are used. Put the whoopie pies in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes to firm before serving.
Sweety Pies Bakery, Skokie