The Saga of the 37 Pumpkins - Installment No. 29 - Pumpkin Cake Donuts or Muffins

What if? what if? 

And what was he to believe? He'd been transported from the only home he'd ever known to a strange land, where nothing was anything like it was back in the patch, besides the pumpkins, and even they gradually transformed, practically to the point of being unrecognizable. 

What rules can there be in a world where nothing is guaranteed? 

Somehow, he would communicate with the Keepers. Surely, doing so was no more impossible than Cucurbita transforming into a pumpkin pie. 

He imagined that he heard her voice:

"Imagine yourself in the days of the patch. Had someone come to you and asked if it was possible to be abducted from that place, you'd not have even understood the question. Yet now, that having happened is the substance of our lives. Once something is proven possible, no one can honestly go back to saying that it is impossible- but the conclusion that something is an invitation for change."

Patch remembered something she'd said after her change:

 "I could be a yellow blossom wavering in a spring breeze, I could be an ugly old squash, I could be a jiggling pile of pumpkin puree and evaporated milk, and I'd be the same to you."

"I heard you," Patch whispered. 

Someone had been transformed. That smell was in the air again; that pleasant, spicy one. Patch continued towards it at a faster clip than ever before, his mind whirling.

For the complete Saga archives, click here.

Pumpkin Cake Donuts or Muffins

(My family doesn't own a donut pan, and made this recipe using muffin tins. They were light and delicious and perfect for a chilly morning's breakfast.) 

Ingredients:

For the donuts

• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 3 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 1 1/2 cups pureed fresh pumpkin (you can substitute canned)
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon plus heaping 1/4 teaspoon each ground nutmeg and ground ginger
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder 
• 1 3/4 cups + 2 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour

For the Coating

• 3 tablespoons cinnamon-sugar

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease 2 muffin tins. If you have donut pans, you will use 2 pans.

Beat together the oil, eggs, sugar, pumpkin, spices, salt, and baking powder until smooth. Add the flour, stirring just until smooth.

Fill the muffin tins 3/4 full; if you are making donuts use a scant 1/4 cup of batter in each well of the pan. 

Bake. Muffins will need to bake for 23 to 25 minutes until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Donuts will take approximately 15 to 18 minutes. 

Remove muffins or donuts from the oven, and after about 5 minutes, loosen their edges, and transfer them to a rack to cool.

While muffins/donuts are still warm, but not fragile, gently shake them in a bag with the cinnamon-sugar. 

Serve warm or cool completely, and store covered at room temperature for several days.

This recipe makes 12 doughnuts or 15 muffins.

Recipe Source: King Arthur Flour

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