It's that time of year - please add your favorite pumpkin recipes, too.

Pumpkin Breakfast Cake

1 teaspoon butter
1/4 cup regular oats
3 tablespoons brown sugar
3 tablespoons chopped pecans
3 tablespoons butter, softened
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 1/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon pumpkin-pie spice
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup pumpkin
1/2 cup buttermilk, sour milk, or clabber


Preheat oven to 350°.

Melt the 1 t butter in bottom of a 9-inch round cake pan. Mix oats, 3T of the brown sugar, and pecans. Sprinkle oat mixture over bottom of pan, and set aside.

Beat 3 T butter, the white sugar, and 1/4 c brown sugar until very well blended. Add the egg, and beat well.

Mix flour, baking powder, pumpkin-pie spice, and soda. Add the flour mix to the butter mix alternately with the pumpkin and buttermilk, beginning and ending with the flour mixture.

Spoon batter evenly over oat mixture. Bake at 350° for 40 minutes or until it passes the toothpick test. Cool in pan 5 minutes, and invert cake onto a platter or plate.

Pumpkin Cheesecake

Crust:

1 c graham cracker crumbs
1/2 c smashed ginger snap cookies (I use homemade and let them sit out to get stale)
1 T sugar
5 T melted butter

Filling:

2/3 c brown sugar
1/2 t cinnamon
1/4 t ginger
1/8 t cloves
1/8 t nutmeg
1/4 t salt
1 lb cream cheese, softened
3 eggs
1 t vanilla
1 c pumpkin

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and place the oven rack in the center of the oven. Butter an 8 inch springform pan

For Crust: In a medium sized bowl mix the graham cracker crumbs, ginger snap crumbs, sugar, and melted butter. Press it into the bottom of the pan.

For filling: In one bowl, mix the sugar, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, and salt.
In another bowl beat the cream cheese until smooth and gradually add the sugar mix. Beat until creamy and smooth. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each. Mix in the vanilla and pumpkin.

Pour the filling over the crust and place the spring form pan on a baking sheet to catch any drips. Place a pan, half full of hot water, on the bottom shelf of the oven to provide steam. Bake for 30 minutes and then reduce the temperature to 325 degrees and bake another 10 - 20 minutes, or until the edges of the cheesecake are puffed but the center is still wet and jiggles when you gently shake the pan.

Harvest Bread or cake

(I make this in a loaf pan for quick bread, or in a bundt pan and glazed for cake)
1 3/4 c flour (sifted)
1 t baking soda
1 t cinnamon
1/2 t salt
1/2 t nutmeg
1/4 t ginger
1/4 t ground cloves
1/2 c butter
1 c sugar
2 eggs
3/4 c pumpkin
3/4 c walnuts, chopped fine


Grease bottom of 9x5 inch loaf pan. Mix flour with soda, salt and spices. Cream butter. Add sugar and cream well. Mix in eggs and beat well. Add dry ingredients alternately with pumpkin, beginning and ending with dry ingredients. Stir in 1/2 cup walnuts. Pour in pan. Sprinkle with 1/4 cup walnuts. Bake in 350 degree oven for 65-75 minutes. Cool. Let stand at least 6 hours before slicing.



SPICE GLAZE FOR HARVEST LOAF CAKE:

Combine 1/2 c powdered sugar, 1/8 t nutmeg and 1/8 t cinnamon. Blend in 1-2 T cream (or milk) until consistency of a glaze.