pumpkin crunch

So I have pretty much all but told you that I am not going to be very helpful this Thanksgiving.  Even worse, my actual Thanksgiving food post(s) are going to come after Thanksgiving, at which time I am sure they will be so very useful to you.

But I have decided to offer you a little bit of help, in the form of a quick pumpkin dessert, perfect for an emergency if your aunt or mom and grandmother calls you having forgotten to tell you that she meant to ask you to make dessert.  Or, in my case, if your husband comes home needing a dessert to take to his office’s Thanksgiving lunch and between preparing food for actual Thanksgiving and making cakes for people’s birthdays (chocolate stout cake was in the oven yesterday…why oh why do I have to give it away to someone else today!) this is all you had time to do.

So here it is, your emergency pumpkin (non-pie) dessert for Thanksgiving.  Pumpkin crunch…a recipe that has apparently been sitting in my mom’s recipe notebook for ages but of which I have no recollection of.  And now suddenly it is all my family seems to want to make as far as entertaining goes this fall.

And I think there is a reason for that because let me just tell you how easy it is.  Mix the pumpkin up with the evaporated milk and eggs, sugar, and spice.  Pour it in a pan.  Sprinkle it with cake mix and pecans.  Pour over some butter.  And bake it.  Easy easy easy.

This can be served warm, cold, or at room temperature.  And no matter at what temperature you put it on the table, it will still be delicious: soft pumpkin custard topped by sweet cake and perfectly toasted crunchy nuts.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have some pumpkin pies to attend to.

Pumpkin Crunch

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Bake Time: 45 minutes

3 large eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
3 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1 (15 oz.) can pumpkin puree
1 (12 oz.) can evaporated milk
1 box yellow cake mix
1 cup chopped pecans
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, melted

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. In a large bowl, beat together eggs, sugar, and pumpkin pie spice.  Fold in pumpkin and evaporated milk, stirring until mixture is uniform.
3. Pour mixture into a 9 x 13 glass pan.
4. Sprinkle dry cake mix on top of the pumpkin mixture.  Then top with the nuts and pour melted butter evenly over the nuts.
5. Bake for 45 minutes until the cake on top is bubbly and buttery (it might be necessary to add a bit more butter in places where your butter seems not to have reached).  Serve warm or at room temperature (or cold).  Store in the refrigerator.