Pumpkin Bread | My Everyday Breakfast this Fall

I shared this recipe a couple of years ago, but this year I've updated the photos with some pretty packaging.  I gave this loaf as a gift, wrapped in a cello bag and included a tea towel folded underneath.  

I created all of these gifts from essentials in my Fall Collection.  I especially love the colorful cotton twill tape used as ribbon.  It really has that old fashioned feel that I love for baked goods.

Top to Botton : Rust, Grey & Dust

Shop Cotton Twill Ribbon Here >

This brown and cream striped ribbon is another favorite of mine for Fall.  I used it here to wrap a Kraft box filled with Apple Spice Scones.

Shop all Fall Packaging Here >

I've been making Pumpkin Bread all season long.  Like a crazy person.  Seriously, about once a week.  It is so delicious with a hot cup of coffee in the morning.  I'm not a big breakfast person, but this is everything I want in the morning.  I warm it up with a little butter spread on top and enjoy it with my coffee on the back porch.  I've been packing it with nutritional value by making it with lots of walnuts, pecans, pumpkin (obviously) and going a little light on the sugar.  I've even made it with gluten free flour... my first experiment.  I have to say, the bread is so rich and dense, and full of flavor that the flour texture is easily overlooked.  

My Everyday
Pumpkin Bread

3 eggs
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon of vanilla
1 cup of pumpkin puree
1/3 cup butter, melted
1 1/2 cups of flour (gluten free, spelt or regular)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon of ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 cup of nuts (walnut and/or pecans)

*In the photos above, I baked the loaf to give as a gift using my Baking Baskets that have liners included - you bake right in the liner and basket.  I use the method outlined below for our "everyday" loaves.

Line a loaf pan with parchment paper, preheat oven to 350.
In a mixer or a bowl by hand, mix together eggs, sugar, vanilla and pumpkin.  Next add the butter and mix until combined.  Stir in the flour, soda, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, salt and nuts.  Stir until just combined.  Pour into pan and bake for 40-45 minutes.  Test with cake tester.

Stock up on my favorite loaf pans, parchment paper and other baking supplies, here >

Chocolate Chip Butter Cake with Cocoa Glaze

I have a feeling that most after school snacks these days look like fresh veggies and apples slices.  Or maybe a bar?  I don't know about you, but when I was in school I went home from school and I was starving!  And tired.  And in need of some comfort food.  

Aged Bread Boards, Set of 3
Checked Tea Towels

There is a reason that picture perfect days of the past featured fresh baked cookies coming out of the oven as the kids got off of the bus, ala June Cleaver.  I may wear leggings and sneakers most days instead of a dress and pearls, but I think June knew what she was doing.

Because I pack a healthy lunch for Emma, and we have relatively healthy homemade dinners at night (as long as pasta counts...), we don't shy away from a daily indulgence.  And a slice of warm, chocolate chip butter cake with glaze fits the bill.  You can skip the glaze, or dust on powdered sugar instead... I guess.

I love baking quick breads/pound cakes.  They are so quick to put together and there is something so simple about baking in a loaf pan that seems easier than a cake pan.  

I use a sheet of Parchment Paper ($10 for 100), cut to fit the Essential Loaf Pan, to make removing the cake simple.  Comes out perfectly every time.

Products Featured : 

Parchment Paper ($10 for 100)

Essential Loaf Pan

Aged Bread Boards, Set of 3
Checked Tea Towels

Chocolate Chip Butter Cake with Cocoa Glaze

12 tablespoons butter, softened
1 1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 cup of chocolate chips

.......

3 tablespoons of butter, melted

2 tablespoons of milk

2 tablespoons of cocoa

2 cups of powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350.

In a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.  Cream together butter and sugar for 3 minutes.  Add eggs.  In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, soda and salt.  In another separate bowl, combine milk, and vanilla.  Add half of the wet ingredients to the butter sugar mixture, mix for 5 seconds, then add half of the dry and mix for 5 seconds.  Repeat with second half, ending with dry ingredients.  Pour batter into loaf pan - I like to line mine with parchment paper.  Bake for 35-45 minutes until a cake tester comes out clean.

For glaze, melt butter with milk in a pourable measuring cup in the microwave.  Add cocoa and mix with a fork.  Microwave 30 more seconds.  Add powdered sugar and stir with a fork until smooth.  Add more powdered sugar or milk to achieve pourable constancy.  Also, reheat in the microwave if it sets up before you pour it over the cake.

 

I LOVE this glaze.  I use it on Homemade Donuts, Chocolate Cupcakes & Cakes.   Even to dip graham crackers : )   Browse all of the recipes that I use the Chocolate Glaze on, here >

Pin this Chocolate Chip Butter Cake with Cocoa Glaze

Browse all of the my Dessert Recipes, here >

Browse all of the recipes that I use the Chocolate Glaze on, here >

Products Used : 

Parchment Paper ($10 for 100)

Essential Loaf Pan

Aged Bread Boards, Set of 
Checked Tea Towels

Apple Bread | Back to School

For our first "meet the teacher" day, Emma and I brought her this Apple Bread.  I thought it was a fun (and yummier) twist on the classic, take an apple to your teacher tradition.  

We baked it and wrapped it in parchment paper, then tied a ribbon and tag on it.  For a hostess gift, you could also present it with a tea towel tied in like pictured here.

I love these new tags with a surprise stripe on the back.  It adds just enough whimsy and fun to a classic card.  It comes in these 4 color ways as part of the Classic Home Collection (coming soon).  

I used this Beige Stripe ribbon.

Having these gift wrapping essentials around always make it easy for me to turn anything into a gift.  As you know, I would much rather make something than go out and buy something.

Apple Bread
4 small or 2 large loafs

2 Eggs
2 cups Sugar
1 stick of Butter (melted)
2 teaspoons Vanilla
2 Apples, peeled and diced
2 cups Flour
1 teaspoon Salt
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon
Powdered Sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Prepare loaf pans by lining them with parchment paper.

In a mixer, combine eggs, sugar, butter and vanilla.  In a separate bowl, stir together flour, salt, baking powder and cinnamon.  Add flour mixture into the butter and sugar mixture slowly.  Add apples in and stir just until combined.

Pour batter in the parchment lined pans.  Put the pans on a parchment lined baking sheet.

Bake for 20 minutes, or until tester comes out clean.

These small and large baking loaf pans will be available as part of the new collection.  I love the squared sides - they look very professional.  

I cut the parchment paper to fit each pan.

Lining them this way makes them easy to lift out of the pan and gives them a liner, much like a cupcake paper.

Bake them on a baking sheet to keep your oven clean if one should spill over while baking.  It also makes them easier to get in and out.

These checked tea towels are part of the new collection also and have coordinating napkins.

Fresh out of the oven!  This is Emma's photo.

 They lift right out of the pans because of the parchment liner.

I love homemade gifts!

Cinnamon Rolls from Frozen Bread Dough | Rhodes Bread Dough | Holiday Brunch

  

"Homemade" Cinnamon Rolls
from frozen bread dough

There is nothing quite like homemade cinnamon rolls.  My mom is famous for her homemade cinnamon rolls - she makes the dough from scratch and tops them with cream cheese icing (recipe here).  For those of us that don't have the patience (or time) to make homemade dough like my Mom, I have a great shortcut for you : frozen bread dough.

Frozen bread dough and I go back a long time.  At our first "supper club" back in 2006 (?) I made "homemade" bread from frozen bread dough.  The guys (including my future husband, who I hadn't started dating yet...) went crazy.  They said they had never tasted anything so amazing - it was soft, moist, light, chewy... they went on and on.  Mike still talks about that bread to this day - maybe that was what attracted him to me! Sadly, I don't think I've ever made it for him since that night - oops!  Guess I'll have to put that on our list.  His birthday is coming up!

The point to that story (sorry...) is that I believe the appeal of "homemade" bread is not the fact that it is made "at home," but that it is fresh baked.  I use that very same frozen bread dough to make cinnamon rolls that taste, look and smell just like homemade dough - but the hard part is already done for me!  All I have to do is thaw the dough, roll it out, butter cinnamon and sugar, rise & bake.  It really takes no time at all - it just has to be done the night before to allow for the rolls to rise. So, whether you want to call them "Homemade" or "Fresh Baked" Cinnamon Rolls - they will definitely be a "Keeper" recipe, I'm sure!

Stop by my Everyday Occasions, The Store for more of my baking essentials for making really easy "homemade" desserts.

"Homemade" Cinnamon Rolls

from frozen bread dough, makes 24 large rolls

3 loaves of frozen bread dough, thawed (it comes 3 to a bag)
8 tablespoons of butter, softened
1 1/2 cup of brown sugar
4 tablespoons of cinnamon
butter icing glaze (recipe below)

Thaw three loaves of frozen bread dough in the refrigerator or on the counter (there are directions for thawing on the bag).  Allow the thaw dough to rise for 1-2 hours in a warm area covered with a damp cloth.  Roll the dough out into a rectangle onto a floured surface.  Spread softened butter on the rolled out dough.  Sprinkle sugar, brown sugar and cinnamon over the dough.  Roll up the dough into a log.  Slice into 2-inch thick rolls.  Place into a buttered pan, or one lined with parchment paper.

Cover with a warm damp towel and allow to rise 1-2 hours in a warm area.  If you are preparing the night before and baking in the morning, keep them in the refrigerator and let them rise about 1 hour before baking.  When the rolls have doubled in size, bake them at 350 degrees for 15-18 minutes until they begin to brown.  Top with Butter Icing Glaze.

Butter Icing Glaze

for cinnamon rolls

2 tablespoons of butter

2 tablespoons of milk

powdered sugar

Melt butter with milk in the microwave for 30 seconds.  Add powdered sugar until the glaze is the right consistancy - it should pour, but not be runny.  The heat from the cinnamon rolls will help the glaze to melt over them easily.  

 

Rhodes frozen bread dough can be found everywhere.  There are 3 loafs in each package.

I made a large batch and used all three loafs.  This is what they'll look like when they've risen.

I rolled them out 1 at a time.   This has the butter and sugar on it.

Now the brown sugar.

And the cinnamon.  Then roll up the dough into one long roll.

Your roll can be longer or shorter - it doesn't really matter.

I made different sized batches in different pans.  I plan to bake them and put them in the freezer for various occasions.  This one has 5 large rolls.

I like how to rolls bake in muffin pans - they are very pretty and more individual.

This is what the rolls look like when they have risen overnight - doubled in size.

Stop by my Everyday Occasions, The Store for more of my baking essentials for making really easy "homemade" desserts.

 

When I first started my catering business I wrote all of my favorite recipes in a little blue journal book so I'd have them with me all of the time.  Over the years I've shared a couple of recipes from this little journal, but not all.  Truthfully, when I started this blog (forever ago...?) I was a burnt out on all of those recipes I'd made hundreds of times.

Now, after a four year break from the catering business, I am ready to dive back in to some of those old favorites, because after all, they were really great recipes for entertaining.  This Chocolate Molten Cake recipe was one of my first and best go-to's as a caterer.  I always served it at dinner parties - with great success.  The ingredients and supplies are humble - chocolate chips and a cupcake pan!  They work great for parties because the batter is made in advance, then baked right before dessert and served warm.

I made these last year for a friends dinner.  While the recipe makes 6-12, they work great in the freezer.  Just bake all of them together, then freeze the leftovers.  You can reheat in the microwave for just 30-60 seconds.

Now, onto the recipe, perfect for any celebration....

Chocolate Molten Cakes

makes 6 medium cakes or 12 small individual cakes

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2 tablespoons of butter, melted
2 tablespoons of cocoa
......

3/4 cup of butter
12 ounce of chocolate chips
1/2 cup of heavy cream 
5 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
2/3 cup of flour

Prepare cupcake pans by coating the inside of each with melted butter by swirling it around.  Then sprinkle the insides with cocoa, coating completely. 

To make the batter, place chocolate chips in a microwave-safe bowl, then top it with butter and cream.  Microwave for 30 seconds at a time, stirring in between, until the chocolate is smooth.  When chocolate has cooled slightly, stir in eggs, sugar and flour.  Pour into prepared cupcake pans.  Refrigerate for 1 hour (at least) and up to a couple of days.

Bake at 450 degrees for 10 minutes for regular 12/pan size and 15-18 for jumbo 6/pan size, just until the outsides and most of the top have set, and the centers are still slightly runny.  You can insert the tip of a knife to test.   You just want a bit of the very center to be a thick pudding like texture.   Let them cool for 5 minutes, then place a sheet pan on top of the muffin pan and invert them.  

Serve with whipped cream, ice cream and dusted with chocolate or cinnamon.

 

Melting chocolate with the butter and cream this way is so easy - microwave! 

The pans buttered and cocoa-ed while the chocolate is in the microwave.

Perfectly melted. 

You can fill them almost all the way to the top - they don't puff too much. 

Cooling for 5 minutes to help them continue to set. 

Top with a sheet pan... 

Ready for the flip... 

Mid-Flip 

So, so good.  You really must try them. 

10 seconds later...

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Here is the easy-to-pin strip!

 

Our home is officially freshened for spring.  This season, I am embracing blues and fresh greens with plenty of pots full of lush plants.  I have vases full of daffodils and pitchers with tulips, buckets of blooming branches and planters planted with topiary.  Most importantly, the windows are open, the sprinklers are running (we need some rain!), the mornings and evenings are chilly, but the afternoons are warm.  We are ready for time in the garden, hosting friends for casual dinners and family for spring holidays.  Welcome, Spring!

Shop the Spring Home Collection >

This collection features new custom block prints for Spring with my favorites, blues and greens.  There are pillow covers, table runners, napkin sets, tea towels and fabric yardage for your special projects.  

This table is set with a row of potted tete a tete (mini daffodils) in Small Rustic Pots down a Green Lily Runner.  I love the aged finish these pots have, they truly look like weathered antiques.  Creamware Platters hang in the background - one of my reasonless favorites.

The front door is holds a Hanging Basket full of forsythia for now.  In a couple of weeks, it will change to cherry blossoms.  Our front steps are set with two Planters from the Large Medallion Set (that comes with one this size, and one larger).  The larger two are on our back porch.  

The Rattan Baskets (set of 2, nesting) are back in stock.  The larger of the set is a permanent fixture on our ottoman, always filled with various reads and toys ; )

Now onto the pillow covers.  The pillow covers!  Here, the Privot Berry 22" square cover is paired with the Light Blue Leaf Rectangle cushion cover.

Light Blue Leaf Collection

Light Blue Leaf 22" Square Cover, $42

Light Blue Leaf Rectangle Cover, $32

Napkins, Set of 4, $32

Tea Towel, $8

Napkins, Set of 4, $32

Rustic Pot, Medium, $15

Tea Towel, $8

Privot Berry Pillow Cover Collection, $32-42

Privot Berry Pillow Cover Collection, $32-42

Privot Berry Napkins, $32

Cupcakes on the smallest of the Bread Board Set.

Tea Towel, $8

This green color turned out a little brighter than I had intended, but I think it feels fresh and springy!

20" Square Pillow Cover

24" x 14" Rectangle Pillow Cover

Napkins, Set of 4

Runner, 108 x 20"

Watering Pitchers, $18-32

Tea Towel

Planter Boxes

 I am so thrilled with these.  The smaller (Petite Medallion Planter, $45) is an 8x8x8" cube, and holds a 6" potted plant perfectly.  The larger (Petite Orchard Planter, $80) is a 12x14x12" cube that holds an 8-10" potted plant.  I am using these indoors right now for topiary, but will likely move them outdoors with boxwood and some sort of trailing flower in a couple of weeks.

I love how they add a stateliness to any area, like our entry.

Petite Medallion Planter, $45

Potted Gardenia Topiary in the Orchard Planter that will move outside once summer is here, with a large watering can... to help me remember to keep it watered ; )

Petite Orchard Planter, $80

I love these "short" flower buckets.  They are the perfect size to plop in a potted herb from the grocery store, or in which to keep my cleaning supplies or packets of seeds.  I've even used them to keep a bottle of wine chilled for an outside party.

You might remember seeing these Tall Floral Buckets in the photos of my Workshop/Pop-up Shop.  They come as a set of 3 for $84 (various sizes, this being the largest).  I have a lot of plans for them - umbrella stand, hanging on pegs to hold gardening tools, blooming branches, and, of course, flowers.

Here, Mr. poses for his picture with the set of all three of the Tall Buckets (that come as a set) are pictured together.

Chatham Blue Wrap

I have three new colors of wraps for this season, beginning with an all-time favorite, Chatham Blue Wrap.  This goes with everything, including my signature dark jeans with white shirt.  I wear it with workout clothes and a puffer vest during the week and throw it over my shoulders with a blouse for every other occasion.  I love these!

Privot Berry Wrap

I can't wait to pair this with white jeans.  It would look great with white on white, a bight coral top or a light blue shirt (another favorite of mine).  This is definitely going to become a staple.

Goldenrod Wrap

This is my springy wrap.  I've mentioned that I don't own too many colors in my wardrobe.  This pale yellow brings a springy feel to any outfit.  I'm picturing it with a navy pencil skirt and cream silk blouse for Easter.

New Stitched Ribbon Collection

I've added a new collection of ribbon this spring.  I love the simple, stitched look of this ribbon.  The colors are beautiful, and it will add a homemade touch to any gift, napkin or bundle of flowers.

Lemon Cupcakes topped with Swiss Buttercream, recipe coming later today.

Striped Cupcake Wrappers in fun spring colors.  I have used the blue and yellow for the cupcakes above, and will save the other colors for other occasions.

All of the supplies can be found, here, in the Baking Supplies Collection.

Kraft Windowboxes

Bread Board Collection

Creamware Platters

Willow Hanging Basket

 

Classic Cream & Sugar

Gold Frames & Botanical Prints Collection

Le Pens + Tablets Collection

Le Pens + Tablets Collection

Dinner Planning Tablet 

Grocery Tablet

Clear Bottle Collection

Market Totes

I'll be sharing some step-by-step blog posts for some of the projects featured in this collection today and tomorrow.  In the meantime, enjoy browsing the Spring Collection : )

Shop the Spring Home Collection >