pumpkin Archives - A Calculated Whisk

Pumpkin Alfredo with Seared Alaska Scallops

October 23, 2019 By Becky 2 Comments

This post is sponsored by Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute. I’m thrilled to be partnering with ASMI to share a series of delicious recipes highlighting sustainable, wild-caught seafood from Alaska.

Pumpkin Alfredo with Seared Alaska Scallops

This low-carb pumpkin alfredo with seared Alaska scallops and crispy sage is the perfect quick but fancy dinner for chilly fall evenings at home.

I’m here with your perfect fall dinner: pumpkin, creamy sauce, brown butter seared Alaska scallops, and crispy sage. This is one I could eat pretty much every day of the week because it’s so flavorful and healthy but takes less than half an hour to make.

Did you know that Alaska has sustainable fishing built right into its state constitution? That means seafood from Alaska is always wild caught and fished in a way that preserves the environment and marine ecosystem for generations to come. I’m so excited to be partnering with Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute to share a series of creative recipes with Alaska seafood and encourage you to #AskforAlaska while shopping and dining out.

October is National Seafood Month, so this is the perfect time to make sure you’re eating seafood several times a week. Why not start with this pumpkin alfredo with seared scallops?

Pumpkin Caramel Cheesecake Pie (Gluten-free, No-bake)

November 19, 2018 By Becky 8 Comments

This pumpkin caramel cheesecake pie requires no cooking, and all the layers are made in the food processor with no need to wash it in between. It’s the perfect last-minute Thanksgiving dessert! This pie was originally published in fall of 2013. I’ve tweaked the recipe and updated the photos.

This pie is so easy, and so good! If you already have your caramel sauce made (try salted caramel, salted maple caramel, or even store-bought), there is no cooking required–just a few rounds of food processing. And, in case you need another reason to make this, there’s pumpkin involved! There’s also caramel, whipped cream, and a delicious two-ingredient crust. The cheesecake layer is rich, but not overpowering–I think even people who don’t love cheesecake will probably love this.

Gluten-free Pumpkin Sheet Cake

October 26, 2018 By Becky 2 Comments

This easy gluten-free pumpkin sheet cake with whipped cream frosting is the ideal dessert to feed a crowd at Halloween or Thanksgiving.

My most perpetual pregnancy craving has been and continues to be cake. Last week I was desperate for some, and became fixated on making a sheet cake. Sheet cakes are really the best kind when you’re baking to satisfy a craving. Why? They’re huge and fast. There’s no need to prep more than one pan or stack and fill layers. It’s a snap to make them look nice with no piping. They also bake and cool super quickly because they just have one relatively thin layer.

Grain-free Instant Pot Pumpkin Pie

December 18, 2017 By Becky 25 Comments

This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

This grain-free Instant pot pumpkin pie is easy to make in your pressure cooker, and is the perfect size for an intimate holiday gathering. Recipe from Emily Sunwell-Vidaurri’s new cookbook, The Art of Great Cooking with Your Instant Pot.

It’s time for an Instant Pot dessert! I recently took a little poll over on Instagram stories, and found that 74% of you have an Instant Pot. If you’re among the 26% that doesn’t have one yet, you should add it to your Christmas list–it’s my very favorite kitchen appliance of all time because of its cooking speed, ease of use, and versatility. It sautés beautifully, plus it does the work of a slow cooker, rice cooker, pressure cooker, and more. And now, we’re using it as a pie maker!

Chocolate Pumpkin Crème Brûlée

October 18, 2017 By Becky 24 Comments

This post is sponsored by Rodelle.

This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

This chocolate pumpkin crème brûlée is a showstopping grain-free dessert that’s perfect for Halloween or any fall occasion. It’s also easy to make ahead of time!

Who’s excited for Halloween, all things pumpkin, and/or Season 2 of Stranger Things??

I am! I can barely think about anything other than the upside down. However, despite how pumped I am about the show’s return, I can definitively say that I am WAY MORE excited about this chocolate pumpkin crème brûlée. It’s the best dessert I’ve made in all of 2017 and possibly longer. It tastes amazing, it’s easy to make, and best of all, it’s really fun!

Let me walk you through the layers. On the bottom there’s a chocolate sauce. This is not just ANY chocolate sauce, though. It’s an intensely-chocolatey-but-not-too-rich chocolate sauce, like what you might have gotten on your sundae at a really good old-school ice cream parlor.

Initially, I was worried I wouldn’t love the sauce. It’s cocoa-based, so there’s no melted chocolate, and there’s also no cream and just a tiny bit of butter. When I tasted the sauce on its own I was happily surprised by how good it was, but when I tasted it along with the finished crème brûlée I was blown away by how much I loved it. With the addition of chocolate extract and without the distracting richness of cream or cocoa butter, the chocolate flavor shines through in a way it doesn’t in most chocolate desserts. I know this may sound paradoxical, but the chocolate flavor is richer because the sauce itself isn’t that rich. As a foil for the super creamy pumpkin layer, it’s just perfect.

Paleo Pumpkin Swirl Brownies

October 17, 2016 By Becky 8 Comments

It’s been a busy couple of weeks over here, but I wanted to make sure I popped in to let you know about these pumpkin swirl brownies, which I shared as a guest post over on Empowered Sustenance. They’re paleo, nut free, and super fudgy–perfect for Halloween or anytime.

You can get the recipe right here! Hope you have a great week, and I’ll be back soon with another new recipe.

Baked Pumpkin Custards with Maple Mascarpone Whipped Cream

October 1, 2016 By Becky 30 Comments

This post is sponsored by Cost Plus World Market.

These gluten-free baked pumpkin custards with maple mascarpone take just ten minutes to prepare, and are the perfect way to end a fall dinner.

Fall is finally here, and it’s no longer taboo to eat pumpkin spice everything! The first thing I like to whip up when the weather turns is these baked pumpkin custards with maple mascarpone whipped cream. The pumpkin custards are scrumptious, perfectly spiced, and super smooth—like pumpkin pie without the tedious process of making a crust. And the maple mascarpone whipped cream is rich and lightly sweetened, with just enough maple flavor in each bite to remind you that you’re eating something autumnal.

These custards are perfect for Halloween, Thanksgiving, or any special fall occasion, especially when baked in these adorable ceramic pumpkin bakers. To make this treat extra fun, I like to pick up a few different toppings to add even more texture and flavor and let each person mix and match to their heart’s content. Here I used crumbled gluten-free gingersnap cookies (leave them out if you’re avoiding rice flour), crystallized ginger chips, and pumpkin pie almonds, but any seasonal candy or cookie is a great bet. Shaved dark chocolate or chopped pecans would be delicious, too!

Pumpkin Crème Brûlée Pie Bars

October 31, 2015 By Becky 32 Comments

This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

These grain-free pumpkin crème brûlée pie bars combine the best elements of crème brûlée and pumpkin pie, and are made with an easy press-in cocoa crust.

Guess what? I finally got a kitchen torch. I say finally because–as I tend to do lately when considering buying new kitchen gadgets–I went back and forth about it for several months.

My friend Andrea is a great baker and a fabulous cake decorator, and she’s had a kitchen torch for a long time. After interrogating her about where she got it, how much it cost, how hard it was to use, and how often she used it (yes, my friends ARE extremely patient–why do you ask? 😉 ), my friend Lucy and I went over to her place and tried it. Andrea had custards all ready to go, and we each torched our own right before we ate them.

You probably guessed this already, but they were outstanding.

The kitchen torch was much easier to use and much more fun than I had expected. Of course you need to be careful, but it’s not scary at all to torch desserts, and the actual fire-blasting part takes less than two minutes. (In case you’re wondering about all the questions I mentioned above, Andrea found her torch at a yard sale a couple years ago and got it for about ten bucks. I got mine on Amazon for $28, but it’s on sale for $25 right now.) Read More…

Paleo Chocolate Pumpkin Muffins

October 23, 2015 By Becky 13 Comments

Today is an exciting day–it’s the first time I’ve ever had a guest author here on my site. Lauren Lester, one of my very favorite paleo bloggers, created this recipe for paleo chocolate pumpkin muffins. Read a little more about Lauren at the bottom of this post, and check out her blog Wicked Spatula for more delectable paleo recipes and gorgeous photographs! Take it away, Lauren…

I’m so excited to be guest posting today on A Calculated Whisk! I’ve been a fan of Becky’s recipes for a while so when we started chatting about swapping guest posts I was thrilled. I’ve got a great fall recipe for you today and if you’d like to check out Becky’s Chicken Apple Sausage that she’s sharing on my site Wicked Spatula you can head on over there as well!

Alright, is there anything better than a warm muffin early in the morning? I personally don’t think so, especially when they’re filled with dark chocolate. These Paleo Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Muffins take one step further into fall heaven with the addition of pumpkin and pumpkin pie spice. Before going Paleo last year muffins were a breakfast staple. I would pick up a few mixes for the week and with only 30 minutes of effort I’d have breakfast ready for the entire week. We all know Paleo baking baking isn’t that simple though. Usually there are precise measurements, speciality ingredients, and one too many bowls if you were to ask my husband. Read More…

Parsnip and Pumpkin Soup

October 19, 2015 By Becky 15 Comments

This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Parsnip and Pumpkin Soup | acalculatedwhisk.com

This comforting soup combines parsnip and pumpkin in a healthy and beautiful bowl of fall goodness.

Did you miss me? I’m finally back from the longest posting hiatus of my three-and-a-half-year blogging career. I really missed sharing recipes, but have been spending a ton of time behind the scenes getting ready for the transition to WordPress. Between that, my full-time day job, trying to unpack from our move, and my efforts to get a little shut-eye, there just hasn’t been any time left. I’ll be around more now that some of the chaos has died down, though (and if you’re ever looking for me when it’s quiet over here, I’m probably still posting all of my breakfasts on Instagram).

So, what do you think of the new site? I still have a lot of work to do fixing little formatting issues in older posts and adding back in some of my sidebar content, but I’m really happy with the change so far. If you happen to notice broken links, have any other issues, or just want to give me some feedback, feel free to send me an email. One thing I’m really excited about is the recipe formatting plugin I’m using in this post, which allows you to get a printer-friendly version of the recipe with a single click. As soon as I find time I’ll be updating older posts so that they’re easy to print, too.

In other news, my cookbook comes out in just over two weeks on November 3rd! It’s been upgraded to release day delivery on Amazon, so if you pre-order, you can get it right on release day without any extra delay for shipping!

Paleo Pumpkin Pancakes

November 17, 2014 By Becky 15 Comments

I’m a little late to the pumpkin party this year. I bought a couple of cartons of pumpkin puree over a month ago because I knew the pumpkin cravings would eventually hit, but wasn’t sure when.

I made it through all of October and the first half of November without making a batch of my paleo pumpkin spice ice cream, a pumpkin and pecorino soufflé, or a pumpkin caramel cheesecake pie. I didn’t just not make any of those things–I didn’t even want them. It was like I was over pumpkin.

Pumpkin Soup with Crispy Shallots

January 12, 2014 By Becky 6 Comments

My mom got me a sugar pumpkin to use as a centerpiece for Thanksgiving, and it’s been cheerfully sitting on my windowsill ever since. It still looked perfectly fine to me (turns out pumpkins last 8-12 weeks), so the other day I decided to roast it. If you have a pumpkin kicking around your house, you should, too! Then you can make this soup. Roasting is much better than rotting, which is what will happen if you put off roasting your pumpkin for too long. Why waste a source of delicious food? While you’re at it, roast the seeds, too. I tossed mine with ghee and sprinkled them with garlic powder, salt, pepper, and sage, and they were amazing!

If you already got rid of all your pumpkins, don’t despair. Canned pumpkin is available in stores year-round, and will work just fine in this recipe.

Pumpkin is great, but the real star of this soup is the humble shallot. When you fry shallots for a long time over low heat, they turn a wonderful shade of golden brown and develop an even richer savory flavor. After that, when you let them dry on paper towels, they crisp up. Not like potato-chip crispy, but a wonderful kind of chewy-crispy–and they’re WAY more delicious than potato chips. You may want to make extra, because with a little salt sprinkled on top, they’re pretty much better than bacon.