A colleague of mine at Registry Tampa Bay was wondering to a friend if it’s appropriate to publish a Friday Food Fight when there’s so much hurricane hardship going on. That friend replied, “There’s never a bad time to read about food.”

So that’s my raison d’être for this week. Restaurants were off the table due to storm prep and evacuation.

Seeing as it’s October, which is not only hurricane season but all-things-pumpkin season, we stopped at Trader Joe’s, Fresh Market and Whole Foods early Monday aftternoon to pick up seasonal desserts that feature pumpkin or pumpkin spice.

From there we waited in line to pick up sandbags, hustled around to several gas stations to find fuel (we did), packed our stuff, buttoned up the house as best we could (not very) and skedaddled out of town.

We brought the desserts to the home of the Connellys, friends who live on the east coast and had invited us to ride out the storm there. That’s where we did our taste-testing, on Tuesday afternoon. My accompanying beverage was whole milk.

Because this is not an apples-to-apples — or pumpkin-to-pumpkin — Food Fight, I won’t pick an outright winner. Instead, I’ll rank them in terms of my preference.

PUMPKIN SPICE TEA CAKE — FRESH MARKET

We didn’t have tea for our Pumpkin Tea Cakes ($6.99 for a package of six). Or at least I didn’t ask if there was any. I stuck with milk.

These cute morsels — a product of Wiley Road Foods of Manchester, N.H. — are encased in an orange shell to give a pumpkin-y impression.

My host informed me that it’s called fondant. Biting through its waxy texture was pleasurable, although the icing did not taste pumpkin-y.

The cake inside, a rich brown color, was hearty and moist, and tasted more of pumpkin than pumpkin spice. A good thing.

Summing up: These treats, which didn’t look that tantalizing, were suprisingly good.

PUMPKIN WHOOPIE PIES — WHOLE FOODS

These dessert sandwiches are products of Massachusetts-based (and women-owned) BisouSweet Confections. That’s appropriate because Massachusetts is one of the five states that claim to be the birthplace of the whoopie pie.

But only one, Maine, has named it the official state treat.

These Pumpkin Whoopie Pies ($7.99 for four) had a dark brown cake shell that did not say pumpkin. Some of the filling had a vaguely orange hue, which was vaguely unsettling, as if it had been sprayed on.

With the first bite, the filling squeezed out from within the cake and onto my hand. Not an auspicious beginning. The cake was dry(ish) and grainy. The filling had an indeterminate flavor that was cloyingly sweet. Summing up: these Whoopie Pies didn’t have much pumpkin character at all.

PUMPKIN TART — WHOLE FOODS

The store receipt said that this perfectly round confection was 2.2 inches, which I found to be a rather odd feature on a receipt. Nevertheless, it helps here, because you get a sense of the tart’s size. Small. They were arrayed in the dessert case — not on a shelf or table — and were sold one at a time for $2.25.

I purchased a single. It murmured, “put on some nice clothes, place a napkin on your lap, consume me with a knife and dessert fork — slowly.” Ahh, such elegance. I did none of the above.

The Pumpkin Tart ate as delicately as it looked: soft casing (not an iota of crunch, so I won’t call it a crust); a filling that was like a lighter, airier pumpkin pie; creamy vanilla icing that added another subtle flavor.

Summing up: The tart’s components blended to create a velevety profile. Lovely while it lasted, which was not long.

PUMPKIN KRINGLE — TRADER JOE’S

My sister-in-law, who grew up in Wisconsin, is wild about these kringles, which are made at OH Danish Bakery in Racine. By the way, kringle is the official state pastry of Wisconsin. They’re themed according to season. Hence, pumpkin. (I vaguely recall having kringle before but not this flavor.)

The oval-shaped beast ($9.99, one pound eight ounces) came packaged in a white paper bag and you slip it out horizontally. Knife and fork needed — to carve out hefty wedges.

The moist (not flaky) pastry gave way to a luscious pumpkin filling, which was thicker than that of pumpkin pie. The icing had a caramel tinge, and chopped walnuts added some welcome crunch. All of the elements meshed beautifully.

Summing up: A lovingly made pastry that was impressively large. All four of us had some — but mostly me — and the kringle provided comfort during a few days of hurricane angst.

And Now to the Rankings …

1. Pumpkin Kringle (At ten bucks, quite a value. Krissie, I hope you’re not jealous reading this.)

2. Pumpkin Tea Cake (More substantial and tasty than it looks.)

3. Pumpkin Tart (Nice but slight.)

4. Pumpkin Whoopie Pie (No big whoop.)

Milton update: Our home in Northeast St. Pete was spared. Just some branches in the yard. I hope you all had a similar result. My sympathies if you incurred substantial damage.

Many thanks to the Connellys for putting us up in style.