Today’s video was made possible by the iconic Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte, I couldn’t have done this without all the folks begging me to make it and telling me it’s not really October until you’ve had a pumpkin spice latte!
I made a DIY version of a spiced pumpkin latte a few years ago, but I had to take it a step further. First up I made a homemade pumpkin spice recipe. I know you might ask why I can’t just buy pumpkin spice at the supermarket ready made, but this was really quick and easy, and you can also change how much of each spice you want in it too.
Then I decided to go for it and just do a whole meal with pumpkin spice! A pumpkin spice drink that isn’t a pumpkin spice latte, a pumpkin spice cake as an autumn dessert, and a slightly quirky but pretty awesome pumpkin spice pasta. I’ve typed up the recipes below if you want to give any of these a try.
DIY Pumpkin Spice Recipe
Like I said earlier, you can buy a pumpkin spice mix at some supermarkets, but if you want to make your own, here’s how, this part’s easy! Mix all the ingredients together and store in an airtight container. You could change the quantities of the spices depending on your preference, but these worked nicely for me.
Pumpkin spice roll cake/swiss roll
In a large bowl add the sugar, eggs, pumpkin puree, pumpkin spice, flour and bicarbonate of soda. Stir well to fully bond/mix until lump free. Pour onto a lined baking tray approx 10 x 15 inches, bake for 20 minutes at 170C fan/190C or equivalent until the cake is springy to the touch.
Meanwhile make the filling whilst it’s baking by mixing all the filling ingredients together in a bowl until smooth, if it’s a little runny add more icing sugar, thick add a splash of milk. It will firm up as it chills in the fridge though, put in the fridge for later.
When the cake is ready get a piece of baking parchment, in a bowl mix together the sugar coating ingredients – just a smidgen of the pumpkin spice mix will do and scatter over the area where you will put the cake. Turn it out upside-down from the tin onto the sugar so the baking parchment is facing upwards, peel it off and allow to cool for a few minutes.
Once cooler, but still warm, use a small rolling pin to help roll the cake up and leave it to cool on the seam with the baking parchment wrapped around it. Don’t touch this again until it’s cooled down now, it will help it set in the right shape so it doesn’t crack when the icing is inside! Once fully cooled unwrap the cake, remove the baking parchment, frost a layer of the cream cheese filling inside it and then roll it up! Nice!
Pumpkin spice vodka pasta
Cook the spaghetti to package instructions and reserve 200ml of the cooked pasta water. Add this to a jug with the vodka.
In a frying pan add the sage, butter and onion and fry for a few minutes until the onions just start to brown, stirring often. Add in the pasta vodka water mixture, and simmer gently for 5 minutes, add in the pumpkin spice, pumpkin puree, maple syrup and the cheese, heating gently, stirring to melt the cheese, once warm and bubbly remove from the heat and stir in the yoghurt, once combined add in the pasta and stir to coat.
Serve on a plate warm / hot – with extra pumpkin seeds, cheese and sage on top if you wish. It’s quirky, but a stonker!
Pumpkin Spice White Hot Chocolate
Warm the milk and cream together in a saucepan gently, stirring often, remove from heat just before reaching a boil. Pour over the chocolate chips whilst hot in a large bowl, adding in the extract and pumpkin spice mix. Stir to combine, top with whipped cream, marshmallows and more pumpkin spice if you wish. The pumpkin spice is more subtle in this one but works really nicely with the white chocolate!