Crock Pot on Trial: Pumpkin Spice Latte

The fibers of the pumpkin will resist the
efforts of heat to break them down. 

Witness Called: Pumpkin Spice Lattes

I know I said that I would write about pot roast next, but I'm too nervous to tackle that dish just yet.  By all accounts pot roast is the crock-pot dish of choice and fame, and it seemed fitting that I try a few more recipes before tackling The Big One.

Pinterest strikes again!  And unfortunately not in a good way.  This recipe was not great.  I wondered how it was that pumpkin puree could be incorporated into a drink so that it would not have a strange grainy texture.  I thought if you cooked the living daylights out of the drink, perhaps the fibers in the pumpkin would break down and the drink would be extra smooth.  But just in case, I put my pumpkin mixture in the blender and gave it a whirl--perhaps, thought I, that would help.

Crock pot in action. 

It didn't.  The resulting drink was very odd and unpleasant in your mouth, taste entirely aside.

Also, any recipe that calls for eight TABLESPOONS of vanilla has flavor issues. 

Because I didn't have another recipe to test against it, I just made half on the stove and half in the crock pot.  The two versions tasted exactly the same and the regrettable texture was the same.  The only criteria to score this one on, therefore, is how easy it was to use the pot or crock pot.

I have to confess, I really thought I had the crock pot this time.  I thought I had all the evidence I needed to convict her.

I was wrong.

The first thing that happened was that the cooking milk on the stove formed a layer over the top of the cooking liquid.  I've experienced this with cooking milk before, and I feel that I ought to have known it would happen.  It's easy to skim off, but it's annoying and sort of gross-looking.  Ah, thought I, how stupid!  Of course it needs to be covered.  This can't possibly be a strike against the stove.  It's only fair to modify the recipe a little to accommodate the stove top method.  So I blissfully skimmed off the top and put the lid on.  Problem solved!  I thought.  Crock pot is going down!

Pumpkin makes a break for it. 

Unless you cover it, milk will form
 a skin on top as it cooks.

I sort of forgot about the luckless lattes as I drank cranberry wine and simmered my french onion soup. Next time I checked in on the stove-top method, I found that it had not formed a skin on the top, but that all the pumpkin had worked it's way up out of the liquid onto the sides of my pot.

Weird. Really weird.  It seems that this recipe does not work at all on the stove.  It's still a lousy recipe, but it proves,  at least, that there are some things that cannot be rushed.

Victory crock pot!

Other Crock Pot on Trial posts:

1. Mashed Potatoes
2. Pumpkin Spice Lattes
3. Balsamic Pot Roast

And, so we can end on a positive note (yes, I'm biased against my crock pot!!!), here's a picture of my sweetheart in action:

I call it "Soprano without a face."