Punkinnutters

In the spirit of friendly competition, I prepared these tasty morsels in response to Ken Albala's Homemade Sourdough and Lebanese Halwa-based Fluffernutter--which looks DELICIOUS! Since Fluffernutter traditionally makes use of commonly-available, pre-prepared ingredients, I tried to keep the variations to a minimum.

I started with the same Breton Mini base as in the previous post, then slathered on a layer or whipped creme cheese sweetened with locally-produced Maple Sugar from Fruth's Sugarbush in Vanlue, Ohio, then added another locally-produced product, Pumpkin Butter from Cooper's Cider Mill in Bucyrus, Ohio. Since Dave Cooper does an amazing job sussing the flavor out of the pumpkin, I did nothing else to it other than top it with a pan-toasted, maple sugar and cinnamon apricot kernel and a single lingonberry for a hint of seasonal tartness.

The flavor combination is amazing--if I do say so for myself--crunchy, smooth, fatty from the cheese, tart from the lingonberry. This morsel would be especially tasty if prepared with Amish goat's milk cheese or another soft chèvre. Also, the pumpkin butter could be substituted with apricot butter.

NC