PUMPKIN APLENTY
Gourds don’t need spice, but desserts are hard to pass up
Pumpkin spice may be overkill, but Houston spots are offering sweetenedup gourd desserts.
We’ve come upon the jacko’-lantern-time of the year, which means an embarrassing plethora of pumpkin spice products. And the inevitable pumpkin spice bashing.
I’m afraid I’m one of the haters. Seriously, does the world really need pumpkin spice pizza, potato chips and bagels? And are we stepping over the culinary trend line when we start subjecting our pets to pumpkin spice dog treats?
What the pumpkin spice overload masks with its whorls of caramel and showers of cinnamon and nutmeg is the essential goodness of pumpkin flavor itself. There is plenty of love left for pumpkin ravioli and lasagna, pumpkin risotto, pumpkin soup, pumpkin and lentil salad, pumpkin and bean chili and pumpkin polenta.
Still, the call to sweeten up pumpkin this time of year is not without its merits. Good pumpkin desserts are plentiful in Houston.
At Urban Eats, 3414 Washington, owner/culinary director Levi Rollins has introduced a variety of desserts, including pumpkin bread, butterscotch pumpkin cookies and gingersnap and pumpkin mini cheesecakes.
And pastry chef Susan Molzan at Petite Sweets, 2700 W. Alabama, has unleashed autumnal treats such as pumpkin cake balls pumpkin whoopee pies, pumpkin pie macarons, pumpkin snickerdoodle cookies and pumpkin latte ice cream.
Perhaps the most interesting tribute to the Great Pumpkin can be found at Beaver’s, 6025 Westheimer, where the new Pumpkin Frosé — house-made pumpkin spice paste, spiced rum and dry Riesling — holds forth. It might even be a pumpkin spice I can get behind.