Is it sweater weather yet?

Time for cosy baking?

There is finally a chill in the air (edit: there was when I wrote this, but its warm again so who knows what is going on), which means one thing; cosy season is finally here! I shall, from here on out, be found only in warm jumpers, wrapped in blankets and baking delicious things. Okay the latter isn’t anything new but you get the point. Autumn is here! That means lots of warming spices, root vegetables, pies and lots of puddings served with lashings of vanilla custard. Unsurprisingly this is my favourite season, it feels like the season designed specifically for baking.

To get us in the spirit of the season it’s also time for our first pumpkin recipe. Now, whilst the craze of the PSL (pumpkin spice latte for the uninitiated) is well and truly established here in the UK, getting your hands on canned pumpkin puree can still feel a little tricky. Whilst still not the most common of sights on UK supermarket shelves, it has started to appear with some regularity, you just need to know where to look. I have found that from Sept-Dec its a safe bet that you’ll find canned pumpkin in most large Waitrose supermarkets and in years past some Tesco supermarkets (not seen any evidence of it yet this year, but I have heard a rumour sainsburys are currently stocking it). You can also, of course, get it from Ocado and Amazon. You can also make your own puree, by simply roasting your own pumpkin and then pureeing the soft flesh. To be honest, this week has been manic and I haven’t had the time to roast pumpkin every time I tested this recipe and sometimes there is something to be said for a quality and consistent product that everyone can get their hands on, the shortcut is completely fine.

For these muffins I wanted to pack in as much flavour and texture as possible, so not only do the muffins have pumpkin and an array of spices to give flavour they are also made with olive oil to give a wonderful background flavour. Why use tasteless vegetable oil when a beautiful olive oil can layer in more flavour and make something even more special? Beyond the muffin itself I stuffed them with a simple cheesecake mixture, because if the choice is between cheesecake and no cheesecake you better believe I will always opt for adding cheesecake. To give the muffins one final element I added an easy streusel topping which, in my mind at least, gives them more of a bakery style feel.

Before we get to the recipe just wanted to say a quick thank you to everyone who left a note about or ordered some of the merch. The response has been amazing and I cannot wait to see some of you wearing it! If you missed the news you can find the full range of merch here!