Dana here. Yes, folks, it's that time of year again! Pumpkin spice everything!!! Pancakes, chai, cookies, pork loin, and of course coffee. I sometimes wonder if the hysteria is self-sustaining. Like, because everyone else in the world seems to love pumpkin spice, more people latch onto the trend. Or is it truly a perfect storm of the best season (IMHO), delicious spices, and the jolliest of the gourd family? Aww, look at those guys. They're so excited for autumn!
As some of you know, Heather and I have a friendly competition every year to see who can get their hands on a PSL from Starbucks first. There's a delightful added difficulty factor because some Starbucks will slide you one before they're officially released if you ask nicely. Well, that's been my experience anyway. I've won the last few years. It helped that I worked right near a Starbucks all that time. This year, though, Heather beat me! She called me
This time, we're reviewing Home-Made Pumpkin Spice Latte Syrup from Kim at The Baking ChocolaTess.
Ingredients
1/3 cup pumpkin puree fresh or canned
1 cup sugar or splenda
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/4 cups water
1 teaspoon cinnamon
(I only did 1/2 teaspoon. See commentary below)
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
Instructions
Combine all ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil.
Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally to keep syrup from burning.
Let mixture cook together like syrup and begins to coat the spoon (for about 10-15 minutes), then remove from heat.
Refrigerate in a heat-proof container.
The syrup will thicken a bit in the refrigerator, but will become syrup again when heated.
My initial impression upon reading this recipe was, "You cook the pumpkin?!" In my experience, that gives the pumpkin a not-very-nice, cooked squash flavor. Somehow, that didn't happen here. Maybe because you're using stovetop heat instead of microwave? I don't know, but three cheers for this recipe! Heather made it first and said she thought it needed a bit less cinnamon, so that's what I did when I made mine. I can't speak to Heather's because I wasn't there to try it, but mine turned out divine!
Hey guys! Heather popping in here to add my $.02. I made the recipe exactly as written, and yes, there was too much cinnamon for me. IMO the recipe as written is like a pumpkin chai, which is delightful, a smidge of cardamom and it'd be a proper pumpkin chai. It's still a delightful melange of spices, just a bit heavy on the cinnamon for me and what I like in a PSL.
This is the advantage of being a younger sibling: you can learn from your older siblings' faults. You really should have thought about that before being born first, Heather!So the recipe is brilliant. You get all the magical fall spices and a hint of pumpkin-y-ness...kind of like drinking a pumpkin pie. Oh! I need to try it with whipped cream on top. I bet that would be amazing! With just a sprinkle of extra cinnamon. Nomminess! You do still have the problem of stuff sinking to the bottom, but just give your cup a wee swirl and you're good to go. Then just grab a book or a friend, wrap up in a cozy sweater or flannel shirt, and you're off!
*Wanna hear something weird? About a year ago, I posted a recipe for pumpkin spice latte syrup, sans the pumpkin...autumn spice syrup? Anyway, in that post, I announced the release of my book, Out of the Shadows. Well, Shadows has a little sister now!
Into the Fire released on September 5th, and I am so excited! Continue Lenore's journey as she avoids assassins and searches for lost Old World technology in southern Invarnis. She definitely discovers coffee while she's there, but no pumpkin spice lattes. Get it and Out of the Shadows on Amazon. And that recipe is here if you'd like to have a look.
Thanks for reading!
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