Here's some Halloween cauldron magic you can make with your kids: a pumpkin spice cobbler (with lots of real pumpkin) that's so delicious, you may never want to buy cobbler from the store ever again. It's easy and fast to make, and it's a great way to demonstrate how useful a cast iron cauldron (in this case, a dutch oven) is in your kitchen!
This is an easy dutch oven cobbler made with pumpkin and pecans. As much as I enjoy peach cobbler, people only seem to use pumpkins for pumpkin pie and jack-o-lanterns, so I'm glad to make something a little different with this pumpkin. This was prepared on Halloween morning in only a little more than an hour, from beginning to end -- because what better time is there to use a cast iron cauldron than Halloween?
Pans needed: 1 cast iron dutch oven, preferably 10 inches in diameter. 3 bowls: 1 large bowl for mixing ingredients. 1 smaller bowl to mix wet ingredients. And 1 more small bowl to prepare the topping.
Ingredients
Dry ingredients:
- 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 4 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon ground cloves
Wet ingredients:
- 1 cup pumpkin puree
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/2 cup melted butter or vegetable oil
- 3 teaspoons vanilla extract
For the topping:
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup chopped pecans
- 2 1/2 cups very hot water
The final important ingredient:
- 2 1/2 cups very hot water
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Melt some butter, and crush half a cup of pecans. Of course, there's nothing wrong with just buying chopped pecans at the store.
In a large sized bowl, stir together dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, salt, sugar and spices. This is one of the easiest desserts you can make in a dutch oven, since it's just a matter of mixing the ingredients together. I prefer to make my pumpkin spice from scratch rather than using generic "pumpkin pie spice," because it tastes better this way.
In a smaller bowl, stir pumpkin, milk, melted butter and vanilla together to combine. Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and mix. And as much as I enjoy peach cobbler, people only seem to use pumpkins for pumpkin pie and jack o' lanterns, so I'm glad to make something a little different with this pumpkin. It's still no more than mixing together the wet ingredients and the dry ingredients, and what we have is a very thick batter.
From here, prepare a very simple topping for the cobbler, by mixing together white sugar and brown sugar. Then add the pecans. Once it's mixed together, spread it over the top of the batter.
Here's we do a bit of magic, by pouring very hot water into the dish. DON'T STIR THE MIX! This may look like far too much water, but it's actually going to cause the cobbler to rise as it bakes. You have to trust the recipe and don't mix it in. Just place the pot into the oven, and bake it for 40 minutes.
And here, ready to serve, is our piping hot pumpkin cobbler. This is very easy to make and of course it's delicious, especially when topped with a scoop of ice cream.