cardamom Archives - Spice Up Your Life

*For a decadent, delicious twist on the classic, this pumpkin caramel pie is a must-try. It takes a lot of extra time and steps, but the flavor combination is worth all the effort.*

It’s Friendsgiving season for Joey and me, so that means I’m playing around with some new pie recipes. Our poor friends never know what to expect when I show up, but being the troopers they are, I haven’t heard too many complaints, either.

This comes from the Milk Bar website. You can find the original at https://milkbarstore.com/blogs/recipes/hillys-pumpkin-caramel-pie. I added extra spices in my version below.

Pumpkin Caramel Pie

For a decadent, delicious twist on the classic, this pumpkin caramel pie is a must-try. It takes a lot of extra time and steps, but the flavor combination is worth all the effort.

Course Dessert

Keyword allspice, brown sugar, caramel, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, decadent dessert, ginger, heavy cream, Milk Bar, pumpkin, quick oats, roasted pumpkin, Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving dessert, vanilla, white chocolate, white chocolate chips

Ingredients

1 deep dish pie crust pre-baked and cooled completely
2 cups heavy cream
2 tablespoons powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

Pumpkin Ganache Ingredients

2 15- ounce cans pumpkin puree
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/3 cup light corn syrup
5 tablespoons butter
16 ounces white chocolate chips
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon cardamom
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon clove
1/2 teaspoon salt

Caramel Ingredients

1 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
6 tablespoons butter
1/3 cup heavy cream
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons vanilla

Streusel Ingredients

1/2 cup flour
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup rolled or quick oats
6 tablespoons butter room temperature
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon cardamom
1/4 teaspoon salt

Instructions

Overall Directions

There will be a lot of waiting between steps on this pie, but you can easily make all the components ahead of time and keep them in the refrigerator over the course of a couple days before assembling it at the end. You will want to use a deep pie dish for this recipe.

Pumpkin Ganache Directions

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
Spread all of the pumpkin out on the paper and roast for 20 to 30 minutes or until it is a deep orange color and is reduced down to about two cups.
Remove it from the oven and set it aside to cool.
Place the chocolate chips in a large, heat-safe bowl and set aside.
In a small pot, bring the cream, corn syrup and butter to a boil, stirring regularly.
As soon as it’s at a boil, remove it from the heat and pour the mixture evenly over the chocolate chips. You don’t need to stir. Just set it aside for one minute.
Add the pumpkin and seasonings, and stir. Using an immersion blender (or a normal one), blend until everything is completely smooth. Place the ganache in the refrigerator to completely cool.

Caramel Directions

Have the heavy cream, butter (cut into tablespoons), vanilla and salt measured out and ready. Set them aside.
In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, add the sugar, water and corn syrup. Heat it over medium heat, stirring to make sure the ingredients are totally incorporated. Keep stirring until the sugar dissolves. Once the mixture is clear and bubbling, do not stir any more. Just swirl the pot every few minutes, watching it closely. You’ll cook it until it reaches a golden brown color. You’ll know it’s ready when it’s a deep brown and there are just small bits of smoke coming up from the mixture. This could take as long as 10 minutes.
As soon as it’s to the point, remove it from the heat immediately and instantly toss in a tablespoon of butter, whisking vigorously. As soon as that pad is almost melted, follow suit with another, continuing until all of the butter is incorporated.
Now, drizzle in the cream, continuing to whisk.
Whisk in the vanilla and salt, and then pour the caramel into a heat-safe container. Let the caramel cool on the counter before placing the container in the refrigerator to cool completely.

Streusel Directions

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Prepare a rimmed baking sheet by lining it with parchment paper, and set it aside.
Add all of the ingredients to a mixing bowl and cut together with a fork or pastry cutter until everything is well incorporated and resembles large crumbs.
Dump the mixture into an even layer on the baking sheet and bake for 10 to 15 minutes, stirring every five, until the mixture is browned.
Remove from the oven, and let the mixture cool completely.

Assembly Directions

In a mixing bowl, beat the whipped cream, powdered sugar and vanilla until stiff peaks form. If the whipped cream isn’t sweet enough, add a bit more powdered sugar until it’s to your liking. Set it aside.
Spread the caramel evenly into the bottom of the pie crust.
Next, carefully spread the ganache over the caramel layer. Top that with the prepared whipped cream, and sprinkle the streusel on top just before serving. Store the finished pie or any leftovers in the refrigerator in an airtight container.

This was fabulous. It was an elevated version of the old classic—plenty of pumpkin-y goodness with lots of extra flavors and textures included.

It was also a big hit at Friendsgiving. Unfortunately, they’ll all have to make this themselves if they want it again, though. I’m afraid they’re stuck being guinea pigs for the foreseeable future.

This piece first appeared in print Nov. 28, 2024.

Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.

*Homemade chai lattes take a bit of effort, but the warm fall spices, along with the feeling of accomplishment from creating it yourself pays off in the end.*

Before I married into the Young family, I was pretty coffee agnostic. I would basically drink whatever was in front of me and be happy with it.

The Youngs, though, are coffee people, by which I mean they know how to make a fantastic cup of the stuff. If you want proof, just pop by my father-in-law’s coffeeshop, Scuttlebutts, if you’re ever in Hutchinson. You’ll see what I mean.

One of the glorious coffee drinks I have discovered now that I know what good coffee is all about is actually made with tea: the dirty chai. It sounds awkward to order, but it’s just a chai latte with a shot of espresso.

If you’re not familiar, chai is a highly spiced tea with a lot of delicious, autumnal spices—cinnamon, ginger, cloves, etc.—all the good stuff from a proper loaf of pumpkin bread.

And I discovered this week that it’s way easier to buy a chai latte than make it from scratch, but it does make you feel very accomplished once you have a steaming cup of your own, homemade tea.

So if you want to give chai a shot in your own home, the recipe I tried this week comes from the blog “The Fresh Cooky” by Kathleen Pope. You can find the original post at https://www.thefreshcooky.com/homemade-chai-tea-latte/#recipe. I added extra spices in my version.

Homemade Chai Latte

Homemade chai lattes take a bit of effort, but the warm fall spices, along with the feeling of accomplishment from creating it yourself pays off in the end.

Course Drinks

Keyword cardamom, chai, chai tea, cinnamon, cloves, Darjeeling, ginger, honey, latte, nutmeg, vanilla

Ingredients

2 cups water
3 Darjeeling blend tea bags
4 one-inch slices fresh ginger peeled
1 two-inch cinnamon stick
8 whole cloves
2 teaspoons cardamom
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 heaping tablespoon sugar
1/4 cup honey
dash of nutmeg
2 cups milk

Instructions

Pour the water in a medium-sized saucepan, and bring it to a rapid boil over high heat.
Add in the tea bags, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, vanilla, sugar, honey and nutmeg and stir to combine.
Reduce the heat to low and allow the mixture to simmer for five to six minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add the milk and return the mixture boiling, stirring often to keep the milk from scalding on the bottom of the pot.
Once the mixture boils, remove it from heat and use a slotted spoon to remove the tea bags (carefully squeeze them out into the pot), ginger, cinnamon stick and cloves. If you want absolutely no remnants of the other spices in your cups, carefully run the mixture through a sieve lined with cheesecloth or a coffee filter. (I didn’t bother with this step.)
Serve the chai lattes hot or let it cool and refrigerate it to serve it over ice.
Keep any leftovers in the refrigerator. (This made about four eight-ounce servings.)

This was a good, solid chai latte. Honestly, I like mine way spicier and probably would have doubled the spices that I used yet again, but this one had just the right amount of fall flavor to help me feel better about the colder weather. I sprinkled just a little cinnamon on the top of each cup for effect, too.

It did receive a thumbs up from Joey, so while I didn’t have the true coffee guru of the Young family try it, I figure his son is the next best thing.

At the end of the day, considering the effort of making my own chai latte at home, though, I think I might stick to our local coffee shops most of the time. I’ll save this recipe for any future days of being snowed in.

This piece first appeared in print on Nov. 17, 2022.