Pumpkin Cupcakes

By: Genevieve Melzer

October is a wonderful month, the leaves start to change, the holidays are just around the corner and my birthday is at the end of the month. As a Halloween baby, I look forward to Halloween/my birthday every year. People have always asked me if I liked sharing my birthday with Halloween and I always respond the same. I love having my birthday on Halloween, everyone always wants to party and dress-up it’s the best birthday ever.

Due to fact I am a Halloween baby, I am a total pumpkin-holic, meaning I crave everything pumpkin when it is October and November. I love when I start to see pumpkins for sale and the stores launch their lines of pumpkin goodies.

I have seen pumpkin bread, pumpkin soup, pumpkin waffles, pumpkin ice cream, etc. and none of it is vegan. So this year I decided to make my own delicious pumpkin goody. I decided to tackle pumpkin cupcakes; I knew that I could make delicious vegan pumpkin cupcakes.

You will need:
1/3 earth balance (or another vegan butter)
3/4 cup coconut sugar
3/4 cup Organic pumpkin puree
6 tablespoons of almond milk (or another milk alternative)
1 tablespoon of Vanilla extract
1 tablespoon of pumpkin spice
2 teaspoons of baking powder
1 cup oat flour
1/4 teaspoon of salt

1. Preheat oven at 350 degrees and place cupcake liners in the cupcake tin (use a cupcake tin that makes one dozen cupcakes)
2. Cream the earth balance and sugar together.
3. Add pumpkin puree, almond milk and vanilla extract and mix well.
4. Sift in pumpkin spice, baking powder, oat flour and salt, stir until combined.
5. The batter is now ready to scoop into the cupcake liners. Scoop one large spoonful into each cupcake liner in the tin. If extra batter add to each cupcake.
6. Place in oven and bake for 25-30 minutes.
7. To make sure they are done, use a toothpick and place it in the middle of one of the cupcakes and push down, then pull the toothpick out. If it comes out clean they are ready.
8. Let cool for 30 minutes.



While your cupcakes are baking you can start on the glaze. The glaze is a maple-pumpkin glaze and very easy to make.



Maple-Pumpkin Glaze



Maple-Pumpkin Glaze





½ cup pumpkin puree



2 pinches of pumpkin puree



2 tablespoons of maple syrup

1. In a medium sized bowl put in the pumpkin puree

2. Add the pumpkin spice and maple syrup and stir together until completely combined.

3. When cupcakes are done and cool, use a butter-knife to spread the glaze on the cupcakes.

4. The best part…eat them up!

There you have it my recipe for Pumpkin Cupcakes with a maple-pumpkin glaze, I hope you try this recipe and enjoy it as much as I did. From Two Girls & One Organic Garden have a happy Halloween!





Roasted Corn and Quinoa Salad with a Mustard Dressing

By: Elizabeth Beals 

 It may be Oct, but it's still pretty warm in Northern California. We are reaching up into the 90s where I live. This
nice end of summer, beginning of fall salad works great for lunch. It's even better the next day.

 You can still find fresh corn and a great rainbow of bell peppers this time of year. In my garden right now we have Blue Jays, Spanish Sweet Reds and Orange bell peppers to choose from. 

 This recipe can be modified to your liking or based on what ingredients you already have on hand. The mustard dressing is an easy one to pull together and would go well with just a basic green salad.

Ingredients:

2 ears of corn; grilled with husks on, wrapped tightly in foil and cooked kernels removed from ear

1 tablespoon olive oil

salt and pepper

garlic powder

to sheets of foil, for the corn

1/2 cup cooked and cooled quinoa

1 1/2 cups of veggie broth or water

1 small red onion, finely diced

1 blue jay bell pepper (or yellow or red), finely diced

1/2 cup carrot, shaved

1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped

Mustard Dressing:

2 tablespoons spicy mustard

1/4 cup rice wine vinegar 

1/2 extra virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon fresh parsley, finely chopped

Tools or special equipment:

grill

sauce pan

sharp knife

whisk

1 large bowl (for salad)

1 small bowl (for dressing)

foil

About 30 mins of prep time. Corn and quinoa can be cooked and grilled ahead of time to make things go a bit faster. This salad will last about 3-4 days in the ice box.

Preparation and procedures: 

1.a. Pull back the husks to expose the silk hairs on the corn, but do not remove them. 

1.b. Remove the silk hairs and oil the corn. 

1.c. Sprinkle salt, pepper, and garlic powder on the kernels. 

1.d. Pull the husks back around the corn to protect it from the flames.

1.e. Tightly wrap the husks in foil and place on a med high grill for 20 minutes, turning once.

2.a. Rinse and drain quinoa before putting it in a sauce pan with 1 1/2 cups veggie broth or water.

2.b. Bring quinoa to a boil and cover reducing the heat to simmer. Cook for 25 minutes. Quinoa is done when you see little white tails pop out.

3. Finely dice red onion and bell pepper, shave carrots and finely chop fresh parsley, place in large bowl.

4. Whisk all dressing ingredients together in a small bowl and set aside.

5.When corn is cool to the touch, use a sharp knife and shave the kernels from the ear into the large bowl. 

6.When the cooked quinoa is cool mix it in the large bowl as well. Stir well. 

7.Can be eaten now or placed in the ice box for when you are ready. Don’t dress the salad until ready to eat.

Yield about 3 to 4 cups of corn, quinoa mixture