The other day I was downtown running some errands and I stopped by Starbucks to get the first PSL of the fall this year. I remember not being a huge fan because of the amount of sugar content and well, because the taste of cinnamon was overpowering. I never felt the taste of pumpkin spice in the Starbucks PSL, however I liked it. I love cinnamon and I like lattes and cappuccinos (otherwise I am not a coffee drinker, nor lover).

But yesterday I had some free time in between studying Finnish and decided to make the real deal and show it to you here. It's just like having a bite of the pumpkin pie!

Now, making the syrup is the most important thing in the PSL. The other thing is just doing a regular shot of espresso or your favorite cappuccino without sweeteners.

For the Pumpkin Pie Spices (Add to a small container and mix all together - voilà!):

☂ 3-4 teaspoons of ground cinnamon (depends how much you love it)

☂ 2 teaspoons of ground ginger

☂ 2 teaspoons of ground nutmeg

☂ 1,5 teaspoons of ground allspice

☂ 1,5 teaspoons of ground cloves

☂ 1/2 teaspoon of ground cardamom

For the Pumpkin Spice Syrup (add these to a small saucepan, whisk them together over medium high heat until it thickens a little for around 5 minutes, reduce heat and whisk for other 3 minutes, retire from stove, place in sealed jar. You can keep this mix in the fridge for a month):

☂ 1 cup of water

☂ 133 g brown cane sugar (2/3 cups)

☂ 1/3 cup of pumpkin puree (bites of pumpkin blended well)

☂ 1 tablespoon of the previous Pumpkin Pie Spices

☂ 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract

For the final latte/cappuccino:

☂ 3 tablespoons of hot espresso

☂ rest of warm milk

☂ 3 tablespoons of the Pumpkin Spice Syrup

☂ whipped cream as topping (optional - but the Starbucks PSL has it!)

☂ a pinch of Pumpkin Pie Spices to sprinkle over the whipped cream

1. Add the hot espresso, the milk, the Pumpkin Spice Syrup, top with whipped cream if you wish and sprinkle some Pumpkin Pie Spices on top.

Enjoy!

I had some polenta left in the kitchen from the last time I made cornmeal and decided to give there a try as I've never tasted corn dog, the original american version. So, today for dinner we prepared few of these with a spinach salad and some pepperoni pepper.

Serve this with ketchup and if you really like it, with mustard.

✔︎ 128 g flour
✔︎ 128 g polenta
✔︎ 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
✔︎ 1/2 teaspoon salt
✔︎ 2 eggs
✔︎ 2 tablespoons of melted butter
✔︎ 240 ml milk
✔︎ 4 sausages / nakki (in Finland)

1. Preheat oven to 180 Celsius degrees. Prepare a muffin tray with muffin cups.
2. In a bowl add polenta and flour, the salt and baking powder.
3. In another bowl add the melted butter with the eggs and the milk. Mix until well combined.
4. Add the liquids to the dry ingredients bowl. Mix until batter is smooth. Taste and add more salt if needed.
5. With an ice-cream scoop, take batter and add to the tray until you fill as many as you can (this recipe makes around 10 muffins.
6. Cut sausage pieces and place them in the center of the muffins.
7. Bake for 15 minutes or until golden.

Enjoy! Hashtag your result #helsinGEEK! Serve them with turkish yoghurt and the pepperoni peppers or as I had them with a salad alongside.