It’s officially pumpkin season in London, when Halloween (and Thanksgiving) give the city’s restaurants and bakeries license to go beyond its more pedestrian preparations. Spooky specials may come and go with Halloween, but bakeries — both bricks-and-mortar and independent micro stations — will be letting imaginations run wild before and after the 31 October.
Using activated charcoal to make a canvas as black as night, or adding seasonal squashes to sourdough to give an appropriately orange hue, the bases are just half the story, with red and purple jams, compotes, and syrups coming into play. And given the fact that America naturally takes things more seriously than the U.K. come Thanksgiving — the holiday with origins in an uneasy, temporary alliance between 17th-century English settlers and members of the Wampanoag Confederacy — there’s a raft of pumpkin pies and other seasonal desserts taking centre stage, too.
So whether stuffed doughnuts, creative sandwiches, seasonal babkas or taking on the task of making a pumpkin spiced latte taste good, here are all the specials to try in London.
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