Baking with pumpkin Making your own fresh pumpkin pure is EASY. Flourish. Pumpkins, pumpkins, everywhereBut what do you DO with them aside from admire their cheery, bright orange presence on your doorstep, and eventually carve them into a jack o lantern Well, you can actually cook pumpkin and make it into all kinds of wonderful treats, from pie and scones to muffins gluten free and bread and soup and well, suffice it to say we have 5. Or fruit. But vegetable is more alliterative, so lets stick with that. See the pumpkins pictured above That monster in the back is great for jack o lanterns. How To Keep Baking Powder Fresh' title='How To Keep Baking Powder Fresh' />But its not particularly good for cooking. The smaller pumpkins in front are much more appropriate. If you want to make your own pumpkin pure, choose a sugar pumpkin, which is smaller, about the size of a volleyball more or less. Youll usually see them labeled as cooking, pie, or sugar pumpkins, and theyll weigh in the 4 to 8 pound range. Can you make pumpkin pure from a big non sugar pumpkin Sure. The pure wont be as flavorful, thats all. How To Keep Baking Powder Fresh' title='How To Keep Baking Powder Fresh' />Heres a 5 pound sugar pumpkin. I bought it from one of the sports teams at our local high school, which did a pumpkin fundraiser. Good idea, eh Pierce your pumpkin all over with an ice pick or sharp pointed knife you want to get into the hollow interior. Microwave the pumpkin for about 1. Why Because it cuts the oven baking time just about in half. If you dont have a microwave or dont want to use it on your pumpkin, you can skip this step. Notes One reader reports the stem of her pumpkin caught fire in the microwave, so best to remove the stem, if youre worried. And, if youre baking a large pumpkin, cut it into manageable chunks, pieces you can fit onto baking sheets. Skip the microwave step above, and simply bake in a 3. Baking soda and baking powder, whats the difference Heres how to substitute one for the other, how to test if your baking soda and powder are still good, and how. Dont let leftover ingredients go off just because you cant use them all at once. Here are smart ways to keep food fresh. Keeping your home smelling fresh Once you have solved the issue you will need to take on a new regimen for routinely keeping your house smelling fresh. F oven until tender. Cut the pumpkin in half, and scoop out the seeds Im using a serrated grapefruit spoon here, which works well. Save the seeds you can roast and snack on them later. Baking Powder Biscuit Recipe. How to make Homemade Biscuits from scratch. Make these Easy Biscuits with only a few ingredients at home Griddle Cakes and Waffles Griddle cakes, as made today with Royal Baking Powder have become most popular. Properly made they are delicious, healthful, appetizing and. Comments about NYX Professional Makeup Studio Finishing Powder Translucent Finish I was in need of a loose setting powder and I was excited about trying this one. How to Keep Protein Powder Fresh. Whether youre just an occasional protein shake drinker or buy your protein powder in bulk for regular use, its important to keep. Place the pumpkin, cut side down, on a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake in a preheated 3. F oven for about 4. Remove it from the oven, scoop out the flesh, and pure it in a food processor or simply mash it. Place it in a sieve, put a plate on top, and weigh it down. Set it over a bowl to catch the juice. Let the pure drain for 3. Oh, and save the juice if you like, too you can use it in bread dough, where it adds healthy beta carotene. How much thickened pure can you expect to get Figure about 2. My 5 pound pumpkin yielded 1. So, what next Baking Is there any difference between baking with homemade pumpkin pure, vs. Theres definitely a difference in color homemade on the left, canned on the right. But will that color difference translate to the finished product And how about flavor Check out the pumpkin scone dough made with homemade pure vs. But once the scones are baked not so much. The color difference is more apparent in the pumpkin doughnuts, with homemade pure lending a more golden hue. But flavor I couldnt tell the difference, so long as the canned pure is good and fresh. Dont rely on the good by date on the can if youve had pure sitting in the pantry for awhile, do yourself a favor taste before using. If its at all metallic tasing, chuck it out, and buy new. Or even better, make your ownThe last thing you want to do is ruin a good recipe by using old, bad tasting pumpkin pure. Pumpkin Cake Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting, anyone But wait a minute lets not forget those seeds. Take the scooped out seeds and any stringy pump, and place them in a large bowl. Add water. Whisk by hand, until the seeds separate from the pulp. Or use your stand mixer, equipped with the whisk attachment or beater blade, to do the job. It only takes 2. 0 to 3. The detached seeds will float to the surface of the water, where theyre easily skimmed off. Place them in a strainer to drain. Scoop the seeds into a bowl, and toss them with olive oil and a bit of salt I like to use garlic oil. Spread on a lightly greased baking sheet, and roast in the oven, along with the pumpkin. Watch closely theyll cook much more quickly than the pumpkin, needing only about 2. F to go from raw to roasted. Remove the roasted seeds from the oven when theyre golden brown some will be browner than others, so just go for a happy medium. Cool and enjoy. And speaking of cool if you dont use that fresh pure right away, freeze it itll stay good in the freezer for at least 3 months. I like to freeze pumpkin in 6 ounce packets, as two of my favorite pumpkin recipes the scones and baked doughnuts mentioned above use about 6 ounces and 1. Canned Sweet Potatoes With Marshmallows. Happy pumpkin bakingHomemade Baking Powder Recipe. Out of baking powder, or trying to avoid some of the ingredients in store bought baking powder Heres how to make your own in less than a minute. Ingredients. 1 teaspoon baking soda. Preparation. Mix the baking soda and cream of tartar together until well combined. This will give you one Tablespoon of baking powder. If you plan to store your baking powder, add a teaspoon of corn starch to the mixture, and stir. This will absorb any moisture from the air, and prevent the baking powder from clumping or reacting before you need it. Store in an air tight container between uses. Want to make a bigger batch Just stick to the ratio of two parts cream of tartar to one part baking soda, and itll come out great. Since baking powder loses its potency over time, its best to make no more than you can use in a month. Use Fresh Ingredients. Your baking powder will only be as good as the ingredients that you put into it, so make sure your baking soda and cream of tartar are fresh. Reasons to Make Your Own Baking Powder. Aluminum free. It doesnt contain sodium aluminum sulfate, like most store bought baking powders. Corn free. Just leave the corn starch out, or use arrowroot powder in its place, and your baking powder wont contain corn. Buy arrowroot on Amazon. Gluten free. If you add the corn starch, it will contain corn gluten, but thats not the type of gluten that affects people with Celiac disease or gluten sensitivity. Just make sure the package says your corn starch was produced in a gluten free facility, so you dont have to worry about cross contamination, or go ahead and leave the corn starch out, if you prefer to avoid all forms of gluten. GMO free.  as long as you use a corn starch without GMOsNo metallic taste. Some people say they can taste the aluminum in commercially produced baking powder. Since theres no aluminum in this recipe, you wont have to worry that your baked goods will come out tasting tinny. Note This recipe will give you single acting baking powder, which means it will react when it comes into contact with the liquid in a recipe. For this reason, its important to add your baking powder towards the end, and to get your baked goods in the oven as soon after as possible. Store bought baking powder is typically double acting. A second acid in the baking powder reacts when its heated in the oven. If youre looking for a good double acting baking powder, I recommend the Rumford brand. Its aluminum free, non GMO, gluten free and contains no preservatives or additives. It does contain corn starch, however, so it wont work for people with corn allergies. Most grocery stores carry it. If you dont see it in the baking section, check the natural foods section. Its in a red can. See Also What to Do If You Add Too Much Baking Powder.