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Photos by Meredith Goad/Staff Writer
When the organizers of Pumpkinfest in Damariscotta asked me to help judge their dessert contest, visions of endless pumpkin pies haunted my imagination.
Maybe there would be a bread pudding here and there, but mostly I saw pie in my future.
Boy, was I wrong.
After watching the pumpkin parade on Main Street, I made my way over to the contest tent and actually gasped a little when I saw the table laden with 36 pumpkin desserts – 18 for judging, plus duplicates so the crowd could sample them too.
Folks in Damariscotta, it turns out, are not only really creative, they're very talented in the kitchen.
There were gorgeous pumpkin rolls and a pumpkin cannoli flan. There was a pumpkin walnut cake that contained a toffee crunch and was topped with a layer of streusel. One contestant entered two variations of the same dessert: "Chumpkins" were phyllo dough creations filled with pumpkin and chocolate; "Blumpkins" were the same pastry filled with pumpkin and blueberries.
And yes, there were pies, but they were pumpkin pies with a twist. One of them had raspberry filling on top.
That got me to thinking about alternative uses of pumpkin during this time of year, when pumpkins are everywhere.
SIMONDS SAYS, 'SOUP'
Pumpkin soup appears regularly on autumn menus, but cookbook author Cynthia Finnemore Simonds adds a little goat cheese to hers to give it some snap.
She also has a variation of roasted pumpkin seeds in her new book, "Delicious Maine Desserts" (Down East Books, $18.95), "that are to die for." Brown sugar gives them a little sweetness, and a touch of cayenne adds some zip.
"They are out-of-this world delicious, and they are so easy," she said.
Some other ideas from Simonds: Roast a pumpkin, add meatloaf to the hollow of the pumpkin and bake until it's done.
"You just slice the whole thing, and so you end up with a slice of meatloaf and pumpkin," she said. "Oh my gosh, so good."
She also suggested combining your favorite pecan pie recipe with your favorite pumpkin pie recipe. Bake the pumpkin pie halfway, then put the pecan pie filling on top and pop it back in the oven.
And now for something completely different: The winner of the Pumpkinfest contest was, believe it or not, a carrot cake.
No, my fellow judges and I had not lost our minds. The cake contained pumpkin to make it more moist, and to keep it dense enough to hold together well.
One thing that surprised me was how little pumpkin flavor there was in some of the desserts, even in some of them that contained large amounts of pumpkin. It's easy to overwhelm the pumpkin with nutmeg, cinnamon and other spices. The pumpkin flavor in the carrot cake was more subtle than in some other desserts, but you could definitely taste it.
I liked the originality of the recipe – the cake also contained coconut – and it was just plain delicious. My fellow judges, who are real judges, agreed. All three of us scored the cake in first or second place.
My fellow judges, by the way, were retired Superior Court Justice John R. Atwood and Maine District Court Judge Michael Westcott. (I tried making a joke about torts, but crickets.)
Christopher Lebel was the baker behind the carrot cake. Lebel and his sister are the owners of the Breakfast Place and Bakery in Damariscotta, but Lebel told me he hadn't made the pumpkin carrot cake in a few years.
He came up with the idea with a good friend about eight or nine years ago, when they were experimenting with carrot cakes.
"We used to put pineapple in it too, but the pineapple just made it almost soggy," he said. "With the pumpkin, it's really moist."
When it came time to recreate the cake for the contest, he had to call his friend, because he had not written down the recipe.
"I just make it as I go," he said,...
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