TASTE
Pumpkin pie spread adds spice year-round
By Elaine Magee
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Q. During the holiday season I enjoyed a pumpkin pie spread that a bagel shop in my town featured. Now that the holidays are over, I would like to make this spread at home. Can you whip one up for us?
A. Whip is right! The key to a nice pumpkin pie spread is a nicely whipped cream cheese. The trouble is, the whipped cream cheeses you can buy in the supermarket don't usually come in a "light" variety. So, we'll have to buy a light cream cheese and whip it up ourselves with an electric mixer, beating in good ol' calorie-free air.
The pumpkin pie flavoring will come from some brown sugar and a pumpkin pie spice blend.
Plus I added a dash of maple extract to give depth in taste and color to the spread.
Now you can enjoy pumpkin pie spread on your whole-wheat bagel (you all are buying the whole-wheat ones, right?) year-round. Now if I can only figure out an easy way to make those yummy pumpkin bagels so I can have them year-round.
WHIPPED PUMPKIN PIE CHEESECAKE SPREAD
In a small bowl, beat the block of cream cheese with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until fluffy (this takes about 2 minutes).
Combine brown sugar and pumpkin pie spice and blend together well with fork.
Add brown sugar mixture and maple extract to cream cheese in mixing bowl and beat on medium speed to blend well.
Serve immediately or keep covered in the refrigerator for several days.
Makes 1 cup of spread (8 servings, 2 tablespoons each).
(Two tablespoons of regular cream cheese contain around 100 calories, 10 g fat, 6.4 g saturated fat, and 32 mg cholesterol.)
Visit www.recipedoctor.com to find out more about Elaine Magee's newest cookbook, "Comfort Food Makeovers."
