Bring Autumn Colors to Spiced Sweet

ooler temperatures, beautiful changing leaves and the familiar scent of pumpkin pie spice are all signs of fall. Whether you're hosting a pumpkin carving party or decorating sweet treats with family, celebrate the season with maple-flavored leaf-shaped cookies, pumpkin patch cupcakes and hot apple cider.

"The crisp air seems to inspire us all to start baking again," said McCormick Executive Chef Kevan Vetter. "Create an autumn frosting palate with our new Color from Nature Food Colors, which are made from ingredients such as beets and turmeric. You can combine the trio of starter colors – berry, sunflower and sky blue – to make everything from a maroon glaze for an Autumn Leaf Cookie to orange frosting for a Pumpkin Patch Cupcake."

The Color from Nature Food Colors can be used in icing, beverages and other no-bake recipes for best results. For more tips and recipes for the fall and Halloween season, visit McCormick.com or look for McCormick Spice on Pinterest and Facebook.

Glazed Autumn Leaf Cookies
Prep time: 30 minutes
Cook time: 10 minutes
Servings: 36 cookies

            2 3/4    cups flour
            1          teaspoon salt
            1          teaspoon McCormick Ground Cinnamon
            1/2       teaspoon McCormick Ground Nutmeg
            1          cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
            1 1/2    cups sugar
            1          egg
            2          teaspoons McCormick Pure Vanilla Extract
            2          teaspoons McCormick Maple Extract

Preheat oven to 325°F. Mix flour, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg in medium bowl. Set aside. Beat butter and sugar in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add egg, vanilla and maple extract; mix well. Gradually beat in flour mixture on low speed until well mixed.

Roll dough on generously floured surface to 1/4-inch thickness. Cut out leaves with 2- to 3-inch leaf-shaped cookie cutters. Place on ungreased baking sheets.

Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until edges start to brown. Cool on baking sheets 1 minute. Remove to wire racks; cool completely.

Prepare desired colors of glazes. Decorate cooled cookies with glazes.

Glaze Variations: For the variations below, dissolve the designated amount of the Color from Nature Food Colors with water in small bowl. Stir in any remaining ingredients until smooth.

To glaze cookies, hold a cookie by its edge and dip the top into the glaze. (Or spoon the glaze onto cookies using a teaspoon.) Place iced cookies on wire rack set over foil-covered baking sheet to dry. (The foil-covered baking sheet will catch drips.) Let stand until glaze is set.

Maroon Cookie Glaze: Use 1/2 teaspoon Berry color from McCormick Color from Nature - Assorted Food Colors, 3 tablespoons water (plus additional to dissolve color), 2 cups confectioners' sugar and 1 teaspoon cocoa powder.

Forest Green Cookie Glaze: Use 1/2 teaspoon Sky Blue color and 1/4 teaspoon Sunflower color from McCormick Color from Nature - Assorted Food Colors, 3 tablespoons water (plus additional to dissolve color), 2 cups confectioners' sugar and 1 teaspoon cocoa powder.

Pumpkin Cookie Glaze: Use 1 teaspoon Sunflower color and 1/4 teaspoon Berry color from McCormick Color from Nature - Assorted Food Colors, 3 tablespoons water (plus additional to dissolve color) and 2 cups confectioners' sugar.

Test Kitchen Tips:

• Use glaze soon after preparing. Do not refrigerate glaze, as it will begin to harden.
• Allow glaze to dry before storing cookies in airtight containers.

Pumpkin Patch Cupcakes
Prep time: 30 minutes
Servings: 24 cupcakes

            2          cups (4 sticks) butter, softened
            4          teaspoons McCormick Pure Vanilla Extract
            2          boxes (16 ounces each) confectioners' sugar, sifted
            3          tablespoons milk
            1 1/2    teaspoons Sunflower color from McCormick Color from Nature - Assorted Food Colors, divided
            1/2       teaspoon Berry color from McCormick Color from Nature - Assorted Food Colors, divided

            24        unfrosted cupcakes
            12        regular marshmallows, halved crosswise
            12        small chocolate flavored taffy roll (Tootsie Roll), halved crosswise

Beat butter and vanilla in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Gradually add confectioners' sugar, beating well after each addition and scraping sides and bottom of bowl frequently. Add milk; beat until light and fluffy.

Remove 2 cups of the frosting into medium microwavable bowl. Tint frosting orange using 1 teaspoon of the Sunflower color and 1/4 teaspoon of the Berry color. Set aside.

Tint remaining frosting green using another 1/2 teaspoon of the Sunflower color and 1/4 teaspoon of the Berry color. Spread top of cupcakes with green frosting. Using a fork, gently touch frosting in different directions to resemble grass spikes.

To make the pumpkins, microwave the orange frosting on HIGH 10 to 20 seconds or until runny. Using a fork, dip marshmallow halves into frosting mixture, then place on top of frosted cupcakes. Let stand until pumpkin frosting has dried. Press a tootsie roll half in center of each pumpkin for the stem. Decorate leaves and vines with remaining green frosting, if desired.

Spiced Caramel Apple Cider
Prep time: 5 minutes
Servings: 4

            4          cups apple cider
            1/4       cup caramel topping
            1          teaspoon McCormick Apple Pie Spice
            2          teaspoons McCormick Pure Vanilla Extract

Bring apple cider, caramel topping and apple pie spice to simmer in medium saucepan. Stir in vanilla.

Pour into serving cups. Serve topped with whipped cream, additional caramel topping and apple pie spice, if desired.

Flavor Variations: For the variations below, use the following extract in place of the vanilla:

Spiced Caramel Orange Cider: Use 1/4 teaspoon McCormick Pure Orange Extract.

Spiced Caramel Maple Cider: Use 3/4 teaspoon McCormick Maple Extract.

Spiced Caramel Rum Cider: Use 3/4 teaspoon McCormick Rum Extract.

Sweet Shortcuts: Easy ideas for award-winning desserts

No matter the season or the reason, no party is complete without dessert. The trick to making the most out of your celebrations is finding ways to trim your kitchen time so you can enjoy the festivities, without sacrificing quality or flavor in your favorite sweet treats.

Many dessert recipes require multiple time-consuming steps, but using canned fruit can help cut down on prep work and provide you and your guests with a refreshing, delicious treat.

Fresh fruits are popular ingredients for desserts, but it can be difficult to know whether you're choosing a ripe, sweet fruit. For example, pineapples have several potential indicators of ripeness, such as a sweet smell coming from the bottom of the fruit, the rind yielding slightly to pressure or a yellow, golden color rising toward the crown. An alternative such as Dole Canned Pineapple lets you know you're getting pineapple that is at its sweetest, because the canning process locks in flavor when the fruit is perfectly ripe.

In addition to baked recipes, canned fruit is also well-suited for other desserts, such as fruit salads, baked muffins and breads, or even as a dessert topping. Whether you're creating a blue ribbon recipe for a local competition – such as one of the most famous award-winning desserts, Pineapple Upside Down Cake – or delivering a delicious dessert to the family table, Dole Canned Fruit is the perfect ingredient.

Find more tips for your next gathering from the expert chefs at Dole Packaged Foods' test kitchen at dolesunshine.com.

Old-Fashioned Upside Down Cake
Prep time: 20 minutes
Total time: 35 minutes
Servings: 8

            2/3       cup margarine, divided
            2/3       cup packed brown sugar, divided
            1          can (20 ounces) Dole Pineapple Slices
            10        maraschino cherries
            3/4       cup granulated sugar, divided
            2          eggs, separated 
            1          teaspoon grated lemon peel
            1          teaspoon lemon juice
            1          teaspoon vanilla extract
            1 1/2    cups all-purpose flour
            1 3/4    teaspoons baking powder
            1/4       teaspoon salt
            1/2       cup sour cream

Heat oven to 350 F.

In 10-inch cast-iron skillet, melt 1/3 cup margarine. Remove from heat. Add brown sugar and stir until blended.

Drain pineapple slices; reserve 2 tablespoons syrup. Arrange pineapple slices in sugar mixture. Place cherry in center of each slice.

Beat remaining 1/3 cup margarine with 1/2 cup granulated sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg yolks, lemon peel, lemon juice and vanilla. Combine flour, baking powder and salt. Blend into creamed mixture alternately with sour cream and reserved pineapple syrup.

Beat egg whites to soft peaks. Gradually beat in remaining 1/4 cup granulated sugar to make stiff meringue. Fold into batter. Pour over pineapple in skillet.

Bake 35 minutes, or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let stand 10 minutes then invert onto serving plate. Serve warm or cold.

Chocolate Mandarin Orange Cake
Prep time: 10 minutes
Total time: 45 minutes
Servings: 12

            2          cans (15 ounces) Dole Mandarin Oranges, divided
            1          box (2 layer) devil's food cake mix
            3          eggs
            1/2       cup vegetable oil
            1          orange, peel grated (optional)
            1          package (4-serving size) vanilla flavor instant pudding
            2          cups frozen whipped topping, thawed
            1          cup heavy whipping cream
            1          cup semisweet chocolate

Heat oven to 350 F. Spray two (9-inch) cake pans with cooking spray. Drain mandarin oranges, keeping fruit and syrup reserved separately.

In large bowl, combine cake mix, juice from one can of mandarin oranges, eggs, oil and orange peel; beat 2 minutes.

Pour cake mix into prepared pans. Layer mandarin oranges from one can over each cake and gently submerge them into cake batter.

Bake 25-30 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes. Remove from pan onto wire rack; cool completely.

Pour 1/2 cup reserved juice from second can of oranges in bowl with pudding mix; whisk 2 minutes, or until pudding mix is completely dissolved. Remove 12 orange slices from second can and dry with paper towel; set aside. Fold in whipped topping and remaining mandarin oranges. Spread mandarin frosting on top of first layer of cake and out to edges. Place second layer on top of first layer.

In small saucepan, heat cream until just beginning to steam, but do not boil. Remove from stove and stir in chocolate. Stir until well-blended. Pour chocolate mixture over cake and garnish with reserved mandarin oranges. Refrigerate half hour before serving.

Fabulous Carrot Cake
Prep time: 15 minutes
Total time: 40 minutes
Servings: 16

            1 1/2    cups butter, softened, divided
            1          cup packed brown sugar
            1          cup granulated sugar
            4          eggs
            1          can (20 ounces) Dole Crushed Pineapple, drained
            4          cups shredded carrots
            1          cup Dole Seedless Raisins
            2          teaspoons vanilla extract
            3          cups all-purpose flour
            2          teaspoons baking soda
            1          teaspoon ground cinnamon
            1          teaspoon ground ginger
            1/2       teaspoon salt
            1          package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
            1 1/2    cups powdered sugar
            1          teaspoon grated lemon peel
            1          tablespoon lemon juice

Heat oven to 350 F. Grease and flour two (9-inch) round pans.

In large bowl, beat 1 cup butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs. Fold in crushed pineapple, carrots, raisins and vanilla.

In medium bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger and salt. Gradually add to pineapple mixture and fold until well-blended. Pour into prepared pans.

Bake 35-40 minutes, or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool in pans 15 minutes. Remove from pans; cool completely on wire racks.

Beat cream cheese with remaining 1/2 cup butter until smooth. Beat in powdered sugar, lemon peel and lemon juice until smooth. Frost completely cooled cake. Garnish with additional crushed pineapple and grated carrots, if desired.

Note: Cake can be baked in 13-by-9-inch pan. Bake 50-60 minutes at 350 F. Cool completely in pan on wire rack.

Make This Halloween A Monster Mash of Color and Flavor with McCormick® Food Colors and Extracts

Let’s get ready for Halloween! Who doesn’t have a baking shelf stocked with McCormick food colors and flavor extracts? I have all the basic primary colors, and tons of fall flavors! McCormick tells us how to scare up some spooky fun with what might already be in your cup board:

Jack-o-Lantern Orange. Banshee Black. Frankenstein Green.

This is the colorful monster mash of Halloween, encouraging creativity in everything from costumes to decorations to tasty treats. The results are sometimes wicked and sometimes whimsical — and, with the help of McCormick, always colorful and flavorful.

“McCormick orange extract and food colors are the perfect combination for Halloween,” said Mark Garcia of the McCormick Kitchens. “And, our Creepy Crawly Cake Truffles make great use of this combo. Not only are these bite-sized spiders, ghosts and bats fun on the outside, they also hold a surprise on the inside: a bright orange-flavored cake. This is just one of many playful ‘tricks’ you can try with food color and extracts on Halloween.”

For more treats that’ll turn your festivities into a delicious graveyard smash, try these recipes from the McCormick Kitchens developed especially for the season:  

·         Creepy Crawly Cake Truffles: Transform orange-colored (and flavored!) cake balls into edible monsters with sweet decorations like melted chocolate, black licorice and jelly beans. Create the mini vampire bats, spiders and ghosts or experiment with creatures of your own to match your costume.

·         Black Velvet Whoopie Pies: Dive into the spirit of the season with a tempting new take on red velvet cake. These mini cake sandwiches pop with Jack-O-Lantern Orange, Frankenstein Green and Electric Purple fillings that can be customized to your taste with flavors like Orange, Lemon and Raspberry.

·         Orange Hocus Pocus Fizz: Rim this tantalizing cocktail of rum, coconut and pineapple with black sugar for a sweetly spooky beverage that’ll be the hit of the land. Leave out the rum for a virgin “mocktail” all your little ghouls and goblins can enjoy.

·         Harvest Scarecrow Cookies: It’s fun and easy to “dress” vanilla sugar cookies as sweet scarecrows by adding shredded wheat “straw hair,” a sugar wafer “hat,” and a smiling red licorice face.

·         Candy Corn Cupcakes: Inspired by Halloween’s signature candy, these bright cupcakes feature vibrant layers of orange and yellow cake topped with creamy white frosting and sprinkles.

Monster Color Mash-up 
Need to tint frosting a freaky Frankenstein Green? Looking for the perfect potion to turn your cakes Jack-O-Lantern Orange? McCormick’s Monster Color Mash-Up has your recipe for spot-on sweet and spooky Halloween colors.

MONSTER COLOR  MASH-UP:	WHITE CAKE MIX (1 package)	GERMAN CHOCOLATE CAKE MIX (1 package)	WHITE ICING (16 oz. container)	CHOCOLATE ICING (16 oz. container)
Frankenstein Green*	100 drops neon green		25 drops neon green
Jack-O-Lantern Orange	50 drops yellow 25 drops red		25 drops yellow 12 drops red
Autumn Red		1 (1 oz) bottle red		100 drops red
Banshee Black		3 Tbsp black		50 drops black

*Neon green is included in the McCormick Neon Food Color and Egg Dye package

NOTE: 1 tsp equals about 100 drops.

Fleischmann's® Yeast Releases 1,000th Recipe on Breadworld.com

I love homemade bread! Now that’s it’s beginning to feel like fall, it’s time to fire up the breadmaker and churn out some crusty goodness to go with my famous slow cookersoups and stews., and

Fleischmann's^® Yeast, the most trusted brand of yeast since 1868, is the only yeast I use in  my recipes. And now it’s celebrating a very modern milestone: the brand's 1,000th recipe is being added to Breadworld.com, one of the largest sources of yeast-based recipes on the Internet.

Launched in 1995, Breadworld.com was one of the first recipe websites and quickly became a valuable resource for bakers of all skill levels. Featuring a database searchable by keyword or category, step-by-step instructions, full-color images and videos, and holiday-specific recipes, Breadworld.com is a one-stop-shop for everyday baking, special occasion inspiration, and bread-baking information.

"Fleischmann's Yeast is known for quality and reliability," said Beth Witherspoon, registered dietitian and editor of Fleischmann's Knead to Know Newsletter. "We extend this heritage to our recipes, rigorously analyzing every Breadworld.com recipe in our professional Test Kitchen so home bakers can confidently create great-tasting breads and baked treats."

17 years after launching Breadworld.com, Fleischmann's is releasing its 1,000th recipe, a versatile Pretzel Bread that is a savory sandwich bread, unique and flavorful as a dinner side, and easy to make for snacking. 

Fleischmann's knows the importance of homemade foods in providing nourishment and bringing families and friends together. Join Fleischmann's Yeast in the fight against child hunger. This year, Fleischmann's has donated $200,000 to Share our Strength's No Kid Hungry® campaign. Together we can make a difference! Show your support and learn how you can help at NoKidHungry.org.

Download the Pretzel Bread recipe (#1,000) at http://breadworld.com/Recipe.aspx?id=1000. For more information about Fleischmann's, visit www.Breadworld.com. Fleischmann's^® Simply Homemade^®  bread mixes (www.simplyhomemadebread.com), 

PR Newswire (http://s.tt/1n94A)

Satisfying the Sweet Tooth Without the Sugar

Low carb diets are hard when you’ve got a sweet tooth! Sure, there’s sugarless sweets out there, but they’re budget busting expensive! But I’ve found a solution in Pillsbury’s sugarfree cake mixes and brownie mix. The cake mixes come in yellow and chocolate. Unfortunately, the gourmet flavors and the fun flavors aren’t available in sugarless versions yet.

Fortunately with basic flavors, you can be creative to change them up. Sugarfree chocolate and vanilla frostings are available so you can make up a straight up traditional pan cake. I haven’t done that yet as I’m not a fan of mounds of frosting. But I have found some creative alternatives.

I typically back cakes in my bundt cake pan. I could eat plain hot cake, but to compromise with John, I drizzle frosting on them – vanilla and chocolate work well on the chocolate mix. With yellow, I stick to chocolate.

My favorite way to make these cakes is to top them with no sugar added fruit. This works great on the yellow mix. Or fill the bottom of the pan with no sugar added fruit pie filling and pour the cake mix on top. I’ve done used blueberry and cherry pie filling on the yellow mix and cherry pie filling with the chocolate mix. Flipping the cake out of the pan is a little tricky – I use an oversized plate (bigger than my cake plate) to avoid spills. The results are amazing!

This photo doesn’t do it justice.

Be warned: These delish deserts are low sugar, but not low calorie.