Pumpkin

Two Halloween favorites—candy corn and pumpkins—meet in these irresistible blondies.

Any kind of firm, sweet pumpkin or squash can be used for this recipe. If you want a shortcut, you can buy pre-cubed butternut squash. Just make sure the surface of the squash looks fresh and moist.

I think "pumpkin pots" might just be one of my new word combinations. Pumpkin pots. Pumpkin pots. Pumpkin pots. It just makes me happy the way the words flow together. It also makes me happy the way the flavors of the pumpkin, sausage, herbs, and eggs come together in this perfect little side dish for fall feasts.

This chocolate and pumpkin mashup is surprising yet delicious. It's so good that you don't have to brûlée the top,though that effect surely makes the pie a show stopper.

We make lots of things from scratch on Thanksgiving, but pumpkin purée isn't one of them.

For Halloween, we attempted to break the record for the world's loudest scream—the acknowledged "Scream of Ice Cream." To coincide with the attempt we created the world's first "ice cream soup," a bowl of steaming hot 
pumpkin soup with a scoop of pumpkin ice cream dropped in the middle. I loved it, but it left everyone else in meltdown. In the end we ran out of time to stage the world-record 
attempt, and killed off ice cream soup, but we kept spiced pumpkin ice cream alive.

Peruvian Doughnuts These doughnuts were inspired by the ones at Bolivar, the restaurant in New York City where I got my first professional experience cooking Peruvian food. The picarones at Bolivar were made with sweet potato and served with an anise-scented syrup; at Chifa we use pumpkin purée and serve them with a fragrant infused honey that features star anise as well as bay leaf and cinnamon. Any leftover honey can be used anywhere you would use regular honey; store it in an airtight container at room temperature.

This is perfect to serve with some quinoa or wild rice as a main to a non-meat eater, or as a side with some roast chicken for the carnivorous. It's also good served warm the following day with a little grilled tofu added.

Ice cream can take a break. These pumpkin cheesecake pops are the ideal finale to your Halloween celebration. If the combination of chocolate and pumpkin hits you as a bit unusual, trust us, it works really well. Consider the two an inspired duo, helped along by the sweet spices used in pumpkin pie. We love the finished pops either chilled or frozen. The funny thing about frozen pops? They could pass for ice cream! Editor's Note: This recipe is part of Gourmet's Modern Menu for Halloween: Spooky Snacks. Menu also includes Scary Barbecue Snack Mix and Mozzarella and Roasted Red Pepper Boo-schetta.

Rich chocolate brownies get jazzed up with fresh or canned pumpkin. Epicurious member Sharon Perry Murphy of Fort Knox, Kentucky, often bakes hers with fresh pumpkin, which is runnier. (To achieve the desired consistency with fresh pumpkin, Murphy recommends adding a little extra flour, 1 tablespoon at a time, or substituting 1 egg for 1/4 cup pumpkin.)

Foolproof and moist, this cake is suitable for birthdays or other celebrations. Tip: It’s better to underbeat the frosting than overbeat it for a frosting that’s easier to spread.

This needs to set up overnight, so start one day ahead.

At the first nip in the air, I start looking for fresh butternut squash at farmers' markets, just so I can make this soup. Considered a Thanksgiving classic, this versatile and universally loved soup is simply too tasty to enjoy only once a year. Now that peeled and precut butternut squash is available in grocery stores year-round, you can make this easy three-step—roast, blend, and simmer—soup anytime you like. Like apple or pear butter, pumpkin butter is gently cooked with some sugar until it's smooth and has a buttery texture. Look for pumpkin butter near the jams and jellies in your grocery store.

"When I was a little girl, my mom imparted her joy of baking by letting me help with my grandmother's pumpkin pie. It's the perfect starter recipe: Just measure, whisk, and bake. I passed this tradition on to my daughters when they were kids, and they've been in charge of making the Thanksgiving pie ever since." —Janet McCracken, deputy food editor

Empanadas de Calabaza
At our house we welcome fall with sweet, tasty empanadas made with fresh pumpkin. The pumpkin simmering with piloncillo, cinnamon, and cloves gives off a sweet and earthy scent, reminding us that fall has arrived. To this day, whenever I smell cinnamon it evokes great memories of mi mamá baking in the kitchen. During the fall she would request that I bring her a pumpkin so she could make her delicious homemade pies and empanadas. She preferred the green striped pumpkins or the dark green ones, saying they were meatier. But if I could not find those, the orange ones were acceptable. She always made things work.

(Calabaza en Tacha) The Days of the Dead (November 1 and 2) are not only one of the most dramatic of Oaxacan fiestas but among the most family-centered. Altars dedicated to los difuntos ("departed ones") appear everywhere—outside churches, on shop premises, and especially at family grave sites and in the home, where everyone is preparing for the annual reunion with late friends and relatives. At this time every marketplace in Oaxaca blazes with piles—absolute mountains—of fuschia-red cockscombs and intense orange marigolds. Tall sugarcanes with long fronds and huge banana leaves tower like jungles nearby. The flowers will be used to adorn the altars and the giant fronds to mark arched entries for the souls of loved ones to pass through. People buy their late cousin's favorite kind of cigarettes or their departed father's usual beer to place on the home altar. The other offerings usually include fresh fruit, candies in all kinds of macabre memento mori shapes, decorated breads made from a sweet egg-enriched dough like that for Pan Resobado, and this traditional spiced preserved pumpkin. Every home altar holds a plate of Calabaza en Tacha—an offering that represents about four days' labor of love. The pumpkin—I use a regular Halloween pumpkin or sometimes the green West Indian type—is soaked first in a solution of the same cal (slaked lime) used to treat corn for tortillas. The alkali makes it firm enough to absorb the sugar without disintegrating. Oaxacan cooks like to make the preserve very sweet; I have slightly reduced the amount of sugar. It may not be traditional, but I like to serve it with vanilla ice cream. I find that using fresh sugarcane as a support on which to arrange the pieces of pumpkin is a handy and flavorful trick (though not an indispensable part of the recipe). Look for it at Latin American and other tropical groceries; it can also be found as a specialty produce item in some large supermarkets.

This recipe is part of the Epicurious Online Cooking School, in partnership with the Culinary Institute of America. To watch it being made, and to learn how to make other dessert classics, check out the videos.