Is It Pumpkin Spice Season Already?!?!?!
In a world where EVERYTHING seems to be controversial, CNN has gone in heavy on the story of “pumpkin spice season” beginning too early!
The news network breathlessly aired a story about plans for some companies to offer up the seasonal delight very soon! As they reported:
“Despite sweltering August temperatures, more stores are rolling out products in what was once the quintessential fall flavor: pumpkin spice.
IHOP will launch its fall-themed lineup on September 1, including pumpkin spice pancakes, pumpkin spice cold foam cold brew and maple pumpkin cheesecake-flavored pancakes.
And Krispy Kreme unveiled its fall menu even earlier, announcing the return of the pumpkin spice cake doughnut and pumpkin spice latte beginning August 12“
So, while October had been “pumpkin spice month”, those days seem to be over – and that means an insane array of “Pumpkin Spice” products as well…what began as a seasonal flavored “Caffe Latte” has become THIS:
Trust me, it gets even worse…more on that in a moment, but first, I vowed to cook with an item I bought just to show how wacky this craze has become:
Yes, you are looking at my “collectors can” of Pumpkin Spice Spam, and I realized I had just the recipe to do it proud – thanks to Patricia Wells!
Ready? Let’s go!
A Patricia Wells Shout Out!
First, it’s important to note that my “Pumpkin Spice Spam and Tillamook Cheddar Cheese Bread” is thanks to Patricia Wells, the terrific Food Author (“Food Lovers Guide To Paris” the first of dozens) and Chef – my wife Alex and I took a cooking class with Patricia at her home in the South of France, and she taught us to make a “Manchego Cheese and Chorizo Loaf” – I took that recipe and adapted it obviously!
The first thing I did to prepare for this dish was to line up all of my ingredients in the shadow of Patricia’s book of recipes from our culinary adventure with her. More on that later, but as you can see, we are ready to cook!
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees!
As the oven begin to heat, gather all of your ingredients:
A terrific looking group, right?
I always remind everyone to read the entire recipe first, so you can prep any and all ingredients to avoid a slowdown during the preparation of the dish.
To that end, I opened up my can of Pumpkin Spice Spam – after saving it for a year! Here’s my first reaction: I immediately get the very recognizable smell of Pumpkin Spice filling the room, even more so when I took the Spam out of its can:
Well, that was satisfying, wasn’t it? Next up, I wanted to prep the Spam and the Cheese, so they were both ready to add to the batter when I got to that point in the process:
Pre-cutting my Spam and Tillamook Cheddar Cheese only took a minute, but I wanted them to be ready to go when it was time to combine everything. I cut them into about half inch cubes as Patricia suggests – the size is all up to you, but you don’t want them to overwhelm the loaf when you cut a slice.
Now, onto the batter: in a large bowl, combine 1-1/4 cups of all purpose flour
2 teaspoons of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
Blend these together briefly, then add three eggs and combine it all, along with 1/3 cup olive oil.
Note: Patricia used 1/3 cup yogurt here as well, but you can use milk…I only used a little and it created a dense loaf, which you will see later.
Now, add your cubed Pumpkin Spice Spam and Tillamook Cheddar Cheese…try not to eat too many of them while prepping the dish, because it’s easy to do!
Mix all of the ingredients together, add more salt if you like, and at this point you can also add a variety of spices like Paprika or Oregano, or even green olives if you like…it’s basically a “meatloaf with dough!”
Grease a bread pan and pour the mixture in, and spread it around so it’s even across the surface.
Now, here’s where I hesitated – as you can see, the pan is only half full…while I was leaving some room for the loaf to rise, I also didn’t add a lot of baking powder to any of her recommended yogurt…just how disastrous a decision will that turn out to be? We will see!
Time to pop it in the oven for 25-30 minutes. A sensory note here: the bread smells very good as it bakes – the Pumpkin Spice aroma is quite satisfying – and not too much, just a nice “seasoning” in the air…
You will sense when it’s done, as the top begins to brown nicely and the edges bubble…I inserted a knife to get a sense of resistance and residue not he blade to ensure it was cooked through.
I took it out of the oven and removed it from the bread pan – so now it’s time to carve off a slice!
Here’s what I saw when I cut it open:
Cue The Cheesy Goodness!
There is nothing better than oozing cheese – adding some texture to the loaf – but let’s be honest: no matter how good it looks, how does it taste?
It was time to try it!
OK, let me begin by saying that I’m NOT a fan of Pumpkin Spice in general…pumpkin doesn’t do much for me and I don’t like cinnamon much, which is what this is…but guess what?
This tasted pretty good! And you know why? Because the Pumpkin Spice Spam is smooth and not overpowering at all – in fact, it’s a subtle taste that blends really well with the Cheddar Cheese – I really liked it!
As you can see, it’s a bit dense, so the addition of more milk or yogurt I think would have lightened it up a bit, but remember, it’s not a cake, it’s a bread, and in that regard I found it satisfying – maybe a poached egg over it tomorrow will be just what the Doctor ordered!
If this makes you hungry for more delicious Spam recipes, click here to see a spam bake!
Of course, you don’t have to mash up strange food combos – luckily that’s most a thing of the past – but if you DID then this is the one to do:
Why not a “Surf ‘n’ Turf” Burger?
I made this for my “52 In 22” cooking challenge and it not only presents well, it’s delicious!
Click here for the recipe:
As I told you, the bread recipe comes from Patricia Wells, and I’ve cooked with Patricia before, and will cook more of her great recipes going forward – remember this one?
Her provencal lamb over potatoes, onions and tomatoes is incredibly good – click here to see the entire recipe!
And here is the story of my Patricia Wells cooking adventure – which included my wife Alex harvesting fresh eggplant from her garden!
It was one of our favorite adventures forever!
See it all here:
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Categories: Bite Eat Swallow, Bite! Eat! Repeat!, Books / Media, Cookbooks, Food, Food Porn, Recipes, Wacky Food, World's Wildest Food
Bite! Eat! Repeat! 
I love pumpkin! I make a pumpkin curry soup that is so simple it’s laughable. LOL!
I love how that sounds! The pumpkin spice craze has gotten so out of control here…but if done right a hot coffee drink can be a nice thing once in a while!
I agree. Pumpkin is such a great vegetable and low calorie too!
Great point…
I’m still not convinced about Spam, John.
Completely understand Robbie, but know that it’s just a modern take on preserving food using salt…and for many parts of the world, the fact it can be stored at room temperature for extended periods has been an important aspect of living where they do..of course I made this because it was funny to me, but it did taste good! Thanks as always for the comment!
I know it was a vital food source during the war.
the bread sounds great !
It really is good and for many it’s all about the spam, which is widely condemned – but many Chefs are using it in fun ways – and this was my take on it! Thanks for reading and commenting!
Pumpkin spice yes but like Robbie I’m not convinced about spam…I know they used it in the war and my mother used it after the war…she never persuaded me to eat it though..lol…
Chefs in Hawaii have ben playing with it lately, as it was a staple of many south sea islands when getting fresh food was more difficult….thanks for the comment!
Yes its a shame they have to inport so much food spam being one of them…
Yes, and as it is pretty ingrained in their history it will continue to play a role in their diet, even with how much faster and more plentiful healthy food is now!