Desserts

Dessert Recipes

Daring Bakers: Baumkuchen

The January 2014 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Francijn of “Koken in de Brouwerij”. She challenged us all to bake layered cakes in the tradition of Baumkuchen (tree cake) and Schichttorte (layered cake).

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The last Daring Bakers I participated in was in January of 2012.  That’s right.  2 years ago.  In January of 2012 we had just moved in to our rent house in Houston and not too long after I discovered I was pregnant with Betsy.  With a move and a new baby that year I was kept pretty busy.  By that time I was out of the habit and blogging wasn’t a priority, so 2013 came and went without any Daring Bakers challenges.  But with my resolution to blog more came a desire to get back into it.  I’d forgotten how many things I’d made that I’d never have made otherwise.  Thanks, Daring Bakers.  This is a fun group to be a part of and I’m glad to be back.  Hoping to continue participating this year without interruption…with the exception of the month of June.  And maybe July.  We’ll see how it goes.

Tree cake, or baumkuchen, is something I’d never heard of or seen before taking a look at the January challenge.  And to be honest, I might not have made it even if I had seen it somewhere.  The process of making the cake is time intensive, baking the cake in 10-12 layers, and the cake batter is more involved than cakes I’ve been making recently.  Separating eggs and beating egg whites to stiff peaks and folding them in is something my lazy self has not had the desire to do.  But it was a lot of fun and I actually enjoyed the entire process and the final result.

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One of the only problems I encountered is that I didn’t do a great job of estimating how thick to spread my layers in order to end up with 10-12 total.  My first layer was too thick, then the next 6 or so were too thin, and by that time I had so much batter left over that my final cake was probably 16 layers total and had baked for at least 12 extra minutes.  This made the bottom of the cake (the first layer I made) pretty dark.  I’m afraid this also made the cake just a tad dry.   I also chose not to glaze the cake with jam before glazing it with chocolate.  That would’ve likely added some moisture.  BUT the flavor of the cake is really amazing.  The almond flavor is present but subtle.  I ate all the edges I trimmed off just plain and they were terrific.  It’s a really dense and sturdy cake.  Great to enjoy with a cup of coffee or tea.

I used a recipe for my baumkuchen from Allrecipes that is very similar to the one Francijn provided but has cornstarch in the batter.  The cooking method I used was Francijn’s, baking each layer for 3-4 minutes at 450°F.  I glazed the cake with dark chocolate melted with a little vegetable oil and it came out beautifully and was a nice contrast to the sweet cake.

Here’s a little step by step.

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Batter and prepared pan

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Cake: baked and trimmed

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Layers

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Glazingbaumkuchen4

More Glazing

This challenge was a fun one and was definitely out of my current baking comfort zone.  A perfect Daring Bakers challenge.  Thanks, Francijn!

Baumkuchen

From allrecipes.com and Francijn

Ingredients

  • 14 tablespoons (2 sticks minus 2 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened
  • 5 1/2 ounces almond paste
  • 1 cup sifted confectioners’ sugar
  • 7/8 cup cornstarch
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1 pinch salt
  • 2 egg yolks
  • 6 egg whites
  • 3/4 cup white sugar
  • 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 8 ounces of good dark or semisweet chocolate
  • 2 teaspoons vegetable oil

Directions

  1.  Preheat oven to 450°F.
  2. Grease an 8×8 pan then line with parchment paper.  I used two sheets cut to the width of the pan and crossed them.  Trim excess overhang on all sides.  Grease the paper and set pan aside.
  3. Cream the butter until light and fluffy.  Add in the almond paste in chunks and beat until well combined.  You may see small chunks of paste, but no large chunks.  Scrape the bowl down.
  4. Add in powdered sugar, cornstarch, salt and vanilla and beat well.  Beats in the yolks, one at a time, until batter is smooth.
  5. In another bowl beat eggs whites until soft peaks form.  Slowly add in the granulated sugar and continue to beat on high speed until stiff peaks form.
  6. Fold whites gently into the batter, then sift flour on top and fold it in as well just until everything is evenly distributed.
  7. Spread some batter, enough to lightly cover the pan, onto the bottom of the prepared pan, being careful not to get batter on the sides of the pan (this batter burns and can then drop onto your cake and be baked in).  Bake for 3-4 minutes, until layer is lightly browned.  Continue spreading and baking layers until the batter is gone.  Aim for 10-12 layers total.
  8. Let cake cool for 5 minutes, then remove from the pan and let cool completely.  Trim the edges off (and save them for snacking!).
  9. Melt the chocolate and oil in a double boiler (or in a small saucepan over very low heat being extra careful not to burn it) until smooth and melted.
  10. Spread the chocolate onto the top and sides of the cake.  Let harden (I did this overnight) then flip cake over onto a sheet of parchment and spread chocolate onto the other side of the cake.  Note: You don’t have to glaze the bottom/other side with chocolate.  I covered the cake and chocolate overnight, remelted the chocolate the next day and glazed the other side.  Don’t try to glaze the bottom before the other chocolate is nice and set.
  11. Slice and serve.

Thin and Chewy Chocolate Chip and Toffee Cookies

 

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In general I prefer a thick, soft and chewy chocolate chip cookie.  The flat crunchy kind aren’t what I typically make or choose to enjoy with a glass of milk.   I’ve made my fair share of chocolate chip cookies and have some favorite recipes.  These, these and these are probably the ones I’ve enjoyed the most.  Going back in the blog archives makes me nostalgic and a little embarrassed of my food photos and writing.  Yeesh.  But, this is why I blog!  Documenting the good and the not so good, and seeing how my cooking, blogging and photography has changed.  Anyway, back to the cookies.

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I made these cookies for a friend who recently moved into a new house.  I kept a few for myself.  They are thin, but still chewy, which I realize now is what I really crave in a cookie.  And they are buttery and sweet and delicious.  The small amount of toffee pieces adds something special to these.  The original recipe, from The Magnolia Bakery Cookbook, calls for mini chocolate chips.  I used regular sized chips and think that it’s really a personal preference.  With mini chips you’ll get chocolate in each bite.  With the big chips you’ll end up with some bites with no chips, but the bites with chips are super yummy.  I love big hunks of chocolate in a cookie.  I guess a solution for that could be to use more big chips…  Other than the chips and the addition of the toffee pieces, I didn’t do anything differently.  This is a terrifically simple recipe.  Enjoy!

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Thin and Chewy Chocolate Chip and Toffee Cookies

From The Magnolia Bakery Cookbook

Makes 24-36 cookies

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups flour
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 11 tablespoons unsalted butter,  softened
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup chocolate chips
  • 1/4 cup toffee pieces

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
  2. Combine flour, baking soda and salt in a bowl and set aside.
  3. Cream together butter and sugars until light in color, then beat in egg and and vanilla.
  4. Add the flour mixture and beat until combined.
  5. Mix in chocolate chips and toffee pieces.
  6. Use a cookie/ice cream scoop or tablespoon to drop scoops of dough onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment or a nonstick liner.  Space them a couple inches apart since they’ll spread during baking.  8 cookies per sheet works well.
  7. Bake for 8-10 minutes until lightly browned on the edges.  Let cool for a minute before moving to a rack.

Chocolate Mint Marshmallows

There is something truly special about real, fresh, homemade marshmallows in your hot chocolate.  Or hot cocoa.  Did you know there is a difference beyond personal word choice?  Me neither!  But these marshmallows really do melt differently than the store bought kind.  And the best part is, they’re not impossible to make at home!

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I’ve only made marshmallows once before, and I didn’t remember them being too terribly difficult, just time consuming.  Not a lot of active time, but a good 6-18 hours of wait time between putting the marshmallow goo in the pan and then cutting and enjoying them.  This time around was no different.  These are really not difficult to make in your own kitchen.  The only special equipment you need is a candy thermometer.

It’s kind of fun (especially if you’re a food nerd likes me who still finds beating egg whites to stiff peaks amazing) to watch such simple ingredients go from nothing impressive to a fluffy, sticky mound of marshmallow in just a few minutes.  And again, marshmallows aren’t difficult at all to make!  But you do need to plan ahead.  And you do need a candy thermometer.  You will be sad and lost without your candy thermometer!

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I found this tutorial from The Kitchn to be extremely helpful in making marshmallows and used their recipe as my base.  I’ve seen yummy variations including pretty pink peppermint marshmallows, toasted coconut marshmallows and even salted caramel marshmallows.  All of which I thought about making.  But I decided to try something a little different.  My undying love of York peppermint patties led me to make these.  They’re delicious on their own, but something really wonderful happens when the peppermint patties start to melt into your hot chocolate.  It’s heavenly.

One of the little bits of advice I’d give is to be patient in waiting for the sugar syrup to get to temperature.  It heats quickly to 200°F, but took a while to get to 250°F.  Keep a close eye on it after it gets to 230 or so, because it seemed to speed up then.  Also remember, no stirring.  It all comes out fine in the end.  Resist the urge.

These are another great gift idea for Christmas!  Wrap up a few in a glassine or poly bag and pair with some fancy hot chocolate mix and a cute mug.  Done.

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Chocolate Mint Marshmallows

Marshmallow recipe from The Kitchn

Ingredients

  • 1 batch marshmallow base (ingredients and recipe below)
  • 1 bag mini York peppermint patties (about 27) unwrapped and roughly chopped

Marshmallow Base

For the gelatin bloom:

  • 3 tablespoons (typically 3 packets) unflavored gelatin powder (See Recipe Notes)
  • 1/2 cup cold water
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons vanilla extract

For the marshmallows:

  • 3/4 cup water
  • 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
  • 1 1/4 cup sugar cane syrup or corn syrup
  • Pinch kosher salt

For the marshmallow coating:

  • 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
  • 1/2 cup cornstarch

Directions

  1. Grease a 9×13 inch pan with cooking spray or shortening, making sure to cover every nook and cranny.
  2. Spread/sprinkle/place the peppermint patty pieces onto the bottom of the pan, covering as evenly as possible.  This will be hard since the candy will want to stick to everything but the pan.

For the Marshmallows

  1. Put the gelatin into the bowl of the stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Add 1/2 cup cold water and the vanilla to the gelatin and whisk with a fork. Continue stirring until the gelatin reaches the consistency of apple sauce and there are no lumps.
  2. Pour 3/4 cup water into a heavy bottomed 4-quart saucepan.  Pour the sugar, corn syrup, and salt on top and leave it.  Do not stir.
  3. Clip your candy thermometer to the side of the pot and place over medium-high heat.  Bring it to a full boil.  Do not stir.  As the mixture comes to a boil, dip a pastry brush in water and brush down the sides of the pot to keep the sugar from crystallizing on the sides of the pot.
  4. Continue boiling until the sugar mixture reaches 247°F to 250°F, brushing down the sides of the pot occasionally. Take the pan off the heat and remove the thermometer once it reached temperature.
  5. Turn on your mixer to low speed.  Slowly pour the hot sugar syrup into the gelatin, being very careful not to let the syrup spill on anyone, it is extremely hot.
  6. After all the syrup has been added, cover the bowl with a clean kitchen towel (to keep you and your kitchen clean!) and increase the speed to high.  The towel can be removed once the mixture begins to thicken.
  7. Whip for about 10 minutes.  No excuses.  Set a timer and don’t turn the mixer off until the timer says so.  You will have a beautiful bowl of white fluffy goodness.
  8. Remove the whisk and scrape off as much of the marshmallow as you can.  Use a spatula to scoop the marshmallow, which will be incredibly sticky, into the 9×13 pan lined with your peppermint patties.  Try to spread it as smoothly as possible without moving the patties too much.  Spray your hands with cooking oil and flatten and smooth the top of the marshmallow as much as possible.
  9. Leave it alone now for 6-24 hours, uncovered.  Away from toddler hands.
  10. Whisk the powdered sugar and cornstarch in a small bowl.
  11. Sprinkle the top of the marshmallows with some of the powdered sugar mixture. Turn the pan over onto your work surface or large cutting board.  This may require some coaxing from an offset spatula.  The patties will stick somewhat, so be careful not to lose a chunk by being too rough in removing the marshmallow block.  Once it is removed, sprinkle more powdered sugar onto the other side of the marshmallows, the peppermint patty side.
  12. Use a pizza wheel, knife or cookie cutters to cut the marshmallows.  Wet your utensil of choice between cuts to keep the marshmallow from sticking.  (If you use cookie cutters, make sure they’re large and not too intricate.  I tried a small frilly snowflake cutter with less than stellar results.  The heart cutter was easier.  Squares are easiest!
  13. After cutting, toss the marshmallows in the powdered sugar and place on a platter, cookie sheet or in the container you plan to keep them.  Repeat with the remaining marshmallows.
  14. Keep marshmallows in an airtight container for up to 3 weeks.

 

 

Caramel Pecan Turtles with Dark Chocolate and Sea Salt

Pecan-Caramel-Turtles

There is a story behind these tasty treats.  This was my second batch.  Not because the first was so delicious that it was eaten up before I could take any photos, though.  The first batch was an “Eat at your own risk” kind of candy thanks to an overcooked caramel that could probably have taken a tooth out.  I pride myself in being pretty good in the kitchen.  I’m not afraid of recipes that require some skill because I think that I have pretty good kitchen skills.  I know fancy cooking words and know the science behind some baking do’s and don’ts.  My first time making this caramel was a humbling experience, to say the least.  And we all need those experiences from time to time to keep us from thinking that we’re real good at something.

Some things to know before making these candies.

Lesson 1: Do not overcook your caramel!  Be patient and attentive, watch it like a hawk!  Candy is not forgiving.

Lesson 2: Go buy yourself a decent candy thermometer if you have any intention of ever making candy.  It is a necessity.

Lesson 2: Use a heat proof spoon to avoid losing half of the plastic part of your spatula in the hot caramel.

Lesson 3: Use parchment on your pans to make removing the finished caramels a breeze.

Lesson 4: Have everything you need ready to go so that making the caramel and assembling the candies is quick and easy.

I found this recipe on a blog called Alaska from Scratch.  It was my first time stumbling upon the site and it’s one I’ve now added to my blog reader.  The only thing I did differently was to use a different chocolate.  I was fortunate enough to come across Ghirardelli melting wafers at Target.  I think I might have audibly gasped as I saw them on the shelf.  It was a Christmas miracle!  It is way better than candy bark.  It hardens nicely, is easy to work with and actually tastes like chocolate.  They have white chocolate too!  Stock up.  I know I’m going to.

Giving handmade gifts at Christmas is something I really love doing.  Sometimes you know someone well enough to know they need a particular item, but other times you’re not sure what to get for someone and you don’t want to get them something they’re not going to use or that they’re going to throw out.  Food is almost never a bad gift idea.  It only takes up space for a short time, and the recipient is guaranteed to enjoy it.  These candies are a great gift to give.  Pack them into normal sized mason jars or cute baby ones if you’re giving them with something else or in a basket of other goodies.  You could easily use walnuts or almonds instead of pecans.  You could also make some with white chocolate and pack a few of each together.

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The caramel recipe is fairly simple, but be sure to keep a watchful eye on it and stir is constantly.  Make sure to have your pecans toasted and set up for topping before you even start the caramel.  Getting the chocolate melted before you start the caramel is also a great way to make the process fast and smooth once the caramel is done.  If you have another set of hands, set up a little assembly line.  The caramel does begin to thicken up and harden after you remove it from the heat so it’s important to work quickly.  If it does get too thick to drizzle onto the pecans, you can warm it (stirring constantly) over low heat until it thins a bit.  I had extra caramel that I spread onto some parchment, let cool and cut into little pieces.  The consistency was much different than the caramel on the candies since I’d warmed it again a couple times.  Another example of how finicky candy can be even with just a little more cooking.  It still tasted great, but wasn’t gooey like it should be.

The pecans are crunchy and delicious, the caramel is sweet, rich and gooey, the chocolate is nice and smooth and the little bit of salt on top is perfection.  These are wonderful little treats.  Enjoy!

Caramel Pecan Turtles with Dark Chocolate and Sea Salt

From Alaska from Scratch

Ingredients

For the Caramel:

  • 1/2  cup butter
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • pinch of salt
  • 1/4 cup honey
  • 7 ounces sweetened condensed milk
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

You also need:

  • 2-3 cups whole pecan halves, toasted
  • Dark chocolate candy coating
  • Flaked sea salt

Directions

  1.  Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment or nonstick silicone mats.
  2. Arrange pecans in clusters of 3, 2 next to each other and one on top, on the parchment.  They shouldn’t be too close so that the caramel does not run together.
  3. In a heavy saucepan over medium low heat, melt the butter, sugar, honey, salt and condensed milk together, stirring occasionally.
  4. You can begin to melt the chocolate in the microwave according to the package instructions while the caramel starts to cook.
  5. Once everything has melted together increase the heat to medium high and attach your candy thermometer to the pan.  Do not let the thermometer touch the bottom of the pan, you will not get a correct temperature reading.  Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring constantly with a heat proof spoon.
  6. The moment the temperature reaches 234°F, remove from the heat and mix in the vanilla.
  7. Spoon the caramel onto each pecan cluster, just enough to coat, a little more than a teaspoon.  If at first the caramel seems too runny, just stir and let it cool and thicken slightly.  Resit the urge to cook it any longer!
  8. Finish melting the chocolate (or maybe someone was doing this for you while you did the caramel!) then spoon the melted chocolate on top of the caramel.  Sprinkle each with a little sea salt and allow to set completely before eating or packaging up to give as gifts.

 

Gingerbread with Cream Cheese Glaze and Candied Ginger

During Top Chef season 5, I absolutely loved Carla Hall.  I thought she was the sweetest chef to ever grace the show, and her quirkiness was so endearing.  She seemed like someone I’d like to cook with, unlike some of the people on the show.  She’s now on The Chew, a daytime foodie talk show that I almost never watch, mostly because if my television is on when my kids are awake we are watching Jake and the Neverland Pirates, Peppa Pig or Umi Zoomi.  I happened to catch a part of an episode recently where she made gingerbread sandwiches, a gingerbread loaf with a couple of different fillings, lemon cream cheese and a cranberry compote.  The next day I bought the necessary ingredients.  But it took me a while to actually make the gingerbread.  I finally got around to it this week.

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This gingerbread isn’t sweet.  There’s no sugar other than what’s in the ginger beer and the molasses.  It’s very spicy and dense, so it pairs well with the light and sweet cream cheese glaze.  The candied ginger provides texture and makes the mini muffins especially lovely.  While this wasn’t what I was expecting when I made this bread, it is a nice cold weather treat and would be perfect paired with hot chocolate and eaten in front of the fire.  Have I mentioned that it’s 76 here with 80% humidity?  I won’t be sitting in front of a fire anytime soon, but if your weather permits it, please sit in front of a fire and drink hot chocolate for me.

I ran into some issues when I made this bread, so be warned.  If you go to The Chew’s website and follow the instructions for this bread without reading the comments you will be a sad and sorry baker.  And possibly an angry baker, if you’re anything like me.  Shouldn’t they have people whose job it is to read and test the recipes they post on their site?   After mixing up the batter I thought that it looked like an awful lot for one 9 inch loaf pan (which is what the original recipe calls for).  So I filled my pan about 3/4 full and still had a ridiculous amount of batter left.  I could have easily filled another loaf pan, but instead opted to make some mini muffins.  Then I looked at the comments and realized that almost every person complained about the same thing, way too much batter for 1 loaf.  I still had some batter left over, but had made such a mess of my kitchen by this point that I didn’t want to get another thing dirty.  Remember to ALWAYS read comments on a recipe before you make it.  I’m glad I read them before pouring all the batter into one pan.  It would’ve been a disaster.

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 Gingerbread with Cream Cheese Glaze and Candied Ginger

From Carla Hall on The Chew

Makes 2 9-inch loaves or 1 9 or 10-inch loaf and 24 mini muffins

Ingredients

For the Gingerbread

  • 2 cups dark molasses
  • 1 cup butter
  • 1/4 cup strong Ginger Ale or Ginger Beer
  • 4 1/2 cups cake flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 4 teaspoons ground ginger
  • 4 teaspoons freshly grated nutmeg
  • 1 teaspoon ground allspice
  • 1 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 cups sour cream or buttermilk
  • 4-5 pieces of candied ginger, chopped, for garnish

For the Cream Cheese Glaze

  • 4 ounces of softened cream cheese
  • 4 tablespoons of powdered sugar
  • 3-4 tablespoons of milk
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

For the Gingerbread

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F and grease and flour your pans.
  2. Combine butter, molasses and ginger ale in a saucepan and heat over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the mixture boils.  Remove from the heat and let cool to room temperature.
  3. Sift flour, salt, spices and soda together in a large bowl and set aside.
  4. Transfer the molasses mixture to the bowl of a stand mixer (or a large bowl if you’re using a handheld mixer.
  5. Beat the eggs into the molasses mixture until well combined.
  6. Add the dry ingredients alternately with the sour cream/buttermilk in 5 total additions, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients.  Continue to mix on medium low speed until thoroughly combined.
  7. Bake loaves for 45-55 minutes.  A toothpick inserted into the center should come out clean.  Bake mini muffins for 10-12 minutes.
  8. Let cool for 10 minutes before turning out onto wire racks to cool completely.

For the Cream Cheese Glaze

  1. Beat cream cheese with powdered sugar until smooth.
  2. Add milk 1 tablespoon at a time until desired consistency is reached.
  3. Spread onto cooled gingerbread loaves or mini muffins.
  4. Use candied ginger to garnish loaves and muffins.

Apple Pie Bars

When it becomes seasonally appropriate I immediately start cooking and baking comfort foods.  I cannot wait until it’s cool enough to cook a pot roast!  This one.  It’s beyond terrific.  But it’s 85 in Houston today, so even though we are technically in the season of fall, it doesn’t feel like it here and the thought of having the oven on makes me uncomfortable.  I know I shouldn’t complain because it’s not totally abnormal, this is what you get in Texas (certain parts of Texas at least…I miss you, Amarillo).  But soon enough we’ll have highs in the 50s and I’ll be able to wear jeans without sweating and I’ll be able to make these for a party where everyone is in boots and scarves and sipping hot chocolate and frolicking in the leaves.

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These bars are simply perfect with their buttery shortbread crust, sweet apple filling and crunchy oat topping.  The ingredient list is basic and they aren’t at all difficult.  Served with some sweetened whipped cream or vanilla ice cream this is my idea of the perfect dessert.  If you have an apple pie craving but don’t have the time to make one, these are a perfect substitute.  I’ve used “perfect” three times so far.  And they truly are wonderful.  I want one right now.

I tried them a second time with cherry filling and made a half batch.  Half of them fell apart on their way from pan to plate, so I need to do some tinkering with baking time and some amounts.  But they were delicious and everyone who tried them sang their praises.  With the crust and topping you could use any kind of fruit filling, but the apple is nice for this time of year.  Please share if you try out anything spectacular!  Enjoy.

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Apple Pie Bars

From More from Magnolia

Ingredients

Crust

  • 1 cup unsalted butter, cut into small pieces and softened slightly
  • 1 pinch of salt
  • 2 cups flour

Topping

  • 1 1/2 cups flour
  • 1 cup packed brown sugar
  • 2/3 cup old fashioned rolled oats + 3 tablespoons
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, cut into small pieces, softened slightly

Filling

  • 1 can (21 ounces) apple pie filling

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
  2. Make the crust: Combine the butter, flour and salt in a large bowl and beat with an electric mixer until crumbly and well combined.  (You can do this with a pastry blender as well.)  Pat the dough into the bottom of a 9×13 inch pan so that it is even and firmly packed.  Bake for 20 minutes, remove from the oven, and allow to cool for at least 30 minutes.
  3. Make the topping: In the same bowl, mix together the flour, brown sugar, oats, cinnamon and salt.  Use a pastry blender to cut in the butter until mixture is crumbly and well combined, use your hands if necessary.  Set aside while the crust cools.
  4. Place the apples on top of the cooled crust, spacing them evenly and leaving about 1/4 inch edge around.  Spread any remaining sauce from the can evenly over the apples.  Gently spread the crumb topping evenly over the apples, then sprinkle with the remaining 3 tablespoons of oats.
  5. Bake for 45 minutes, remove from the oven and allow to cool before cutting into squares.

Vanilla Birthday Cake with Vanilla Frosting

This vanilla cake was one of the many sweet treats we had at Betsy’s 1st birthday party, but the only one I made from scratch.  I am a sucker for cake mixes a lot of the time. They’re easy, reliable, and pretty tasty.  But there’s something about a scratch cake that is just special.  And if there’s a time to have a special cake, it’s at a birthday party!

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This vanilla cake is from The Magnolia Bakery Cookbook.  I picked the cookbook up after a trip to visit my sister in New York where I went on a cupcake tasting tour (guided by yours truly with only one participant…myself).  I tried Magnolia Bakery, Cupcake Cafe and Billy’s Bakery.  I think there was one other?  I don’t remember.  I’ve had 2 kids since then.  But Magnolia is one of the best and the shop is darling and wonderful.  It’s definitely a fun place to visit…unless you end up fighting someone for a cupcake after waiting in line for hours.  The first time I went there was hardly a soul in the place and so it was a very pleasant experience for me.  Another time I was going to go with my sister and as we approached the store and saw the line we turned around and returned empty handed.  Workdays are probably a good bet, but I’m not making any promises since I don’t have enough experience.  I do think it’s safe to say that weekends will always be crazy.

To make this cake a little special I dyed the layers in shades of purple.  It didn’t turn out as “ombre” as I would’ve liked.  The colors are too close to the same shade, so if you decide to try the ombre cake make sure that the batters are very different from each other.

The vanilla buttercream is from the same cookbook and is tremendously delicious.  I love frosting.  This one comes out beautifully white, especially if you use this vanilla.  This clear vanilla has a nostalgic flavor for me and is different than pure natural vanilla.  In most cases I prefer natural vanilla, and often I use this vanilla paste because I love the vanilla bean flecks.  But with a classic vanilla birthday cake I think the clear vanilla is the way to go.  Use what you have, but do give the clear vanilla a try if you see it somewhere!

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This is definitely a cake I’ll come back to and recommend others try when they want to bake a cake from scratch.  It’s really not terribly difficult or time consuming and it’s a nice change from a box cake.  Eat up and enjoy!

Vanilla Birthday Cake

From Magnolia Bakery Cookbook

Ingredients

  • 2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
  • 2 cups white sugar
  • 4 eggs, at room temperature
  • 1 1/2 cups self-rising flour
  • 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 cup whole milk, room temperature
  • 1 teaspoon clear vanilla extract

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
  2. Grease three 9-inch cake pans, line the bottoms with a parchment circle, grease parchment and flour the pans.  Set aside.
  3. Combine the flours in a small bowl and set aside.
  4. In a large bowl, cream the butter until light, then gradually pour in the sugar and beat until light and fluffy, 3-4 minutes.
  5. Add the eggs, one at a time, and beat well after each.  Scrape the bottom of the bowl and beat again to combine.
  6. Alternate adding the flour and milk in 5 parts, beginning and ending with the flour, beating until just combined in between additions.  Fold the batter a few times with a large spatula to make sure it is mixed well.
  7. Now you can either dye your layers or divide the batter between the pans and bake for 20-25 minutes or until toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
  8. Remove from the oven and let cool on racks for 15 minutes.  Run a butter knife around the edges and remove the cakes from the pans.  Peel off the parchment and let cool completely.

To Dye the Cake Layers

Supplies:

  • 4 small bowls
  • 4 small spatulas or spoons
  • purple (or any color) gel color
  • toothpicks
  1. Take about 1/2 cup of batter and put it into a small bowl.
  2. Dye the cup of batter by scooping some gel color out of the pot and mixing it in very well.  You want this to be dark, a little darker shade than you want your darkest layer.  Adjust by adding more batter or more color.
  3. Divide the rest of the batter evenly into three small bowls.
  4. Take your dyed batter and add one spoonful to the first bowl, 3 spoonfuls to the second bowl and 5 spoonfuls to the third bowl.  Divide any remaining colored batter among the bowls to achieve shades that are very distinct.  Fold gently until the color is evenly distributed.  Be careful to not overmix.
  5. Transfer the batter to the prepared pans and bake as above.

*If you’re analyzing these instructions you’ll realize that after adding the colored batter your bowls of batter won’t be divided equally anymore.  You’ll have more batter in the darkest layer.  So just go with it and accept that they won’t be exactly the same OR you can divide the batter a little unevenly to begin with and then even it out with the colored batter.  That method would involve too much brain power for me.  The reason I did not add the color directly to the batter is that you have to do more mixing to get a solid and even color, and overmixed cake batter can lead to a heavier cake texture.  This less precise method led to better overall color in my cakes and the cake was still light.

Vanilla Buttercream

Ingredients

  • 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
  • 8 cups powdered sugar, sifted
  • 1/2 cup whole milk
  • 2 teaspoons clear vanilla
  • pinch of salt

Directions

  1. Beat the butter until creamy.
  2. Beat in 4 cups of the powdered sugar, the milk, salt and vanilla until very smooth and creamy.
  3. Add the remaining sugar, one cup at a time, beating well, until it reaches the desired consistency.

Blueberry Breakfast Cake

When berries of any kind are in abundance and being sold for cheap I grab them up.  Last week I bought 2 pounds of blueberries for something like $2.  I’ll eat them by the handful, put them in my yogurt, and in salads.  Betsy likes them, too.  When half the container was gone I decided to do something a little more exciting with them and made this cake that I’d had bookmarked in my Fine Cooking magazine for the past 2 weeks.  Thanks to Sarah who helped me get it done after overestimating my ability to tackle 5 things at once.

Blueberry-Breakfast-Cake-2

This was super simple and beautiful.  You could easily serve this at a brunch for guests as a lovely alternative to blueberry muffins.  It’s delicious for breakfast, but also a nice evening dessert served with a little ice cream or sweetened whipped cream.  To keep the berries from sinking to the bottom, toss them in a little flour after rinsing and patting them dry.  Enjoy!

Blueberry-Breakfast-Cake

Blueberry Breakfast Cake

From Fine Cooking, Issue 124

Ingredients

  • 1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1-1/4 cups granulated sugar
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/2 cup whole milk
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 cups fresh blueberries, rinsed and patted dry
  • powdered sugar for dusting

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F
  2. Grease a 9 inch springform pan with shortening or butter.
  3. Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a large bowl.  In a small bowl whisk cooled butter, milk, eggs and vanilla.
  4. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry and mix until just combined, do not overmix.
  5. In a small bowl, toss the blueberries with a spoonful of flour, then fold the blueberries gently into the batter.
  6. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan and spread evenly.
  7. Bake for 40-50 minutes, until the top is browned and a toothpick insterted into the center comes out clean.
  8. Let cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then remove from the pan and let cool on the rack.  Dust with powdered sugar if desired.

Pineapple Upside Down Cupcakes

Throwing food away, especially fruits, vegetables and meat, really bums me out and I get kinda mad at myself for not making better use of it and being a better planner.  I’ll just get too excited about all the fruit that looks good at the store and wind up with way more than our family of 4 can consume before it goes bad.  Thankfully our son would eat nothing but fruit if we’d let him, so he helps out a lot when we have a surplus.  I’d bought a container of fresh pineapple for a fruit salad and had over half of it left.  I’d mixed some of it in with coconut yogurt (a terrific tropical summertime breakfast by the way) but wasn’t going to use it up in time that way.  Solution?  Cupcakes.

pinappleupsidedowncupcake

These were tasty and I’d make them again.  They are sweet, but not too sweet.  One cupcake for dessert was the perfect size.  The cake has great moist texture and all the cupcakes came out cleanly.  Some of the topping got stuck in the pan and so I had to fix a couple of them.  But overall these were pretty easy and quite lovely.

The original recipe, found here, uses canned pineapple.  I’m sure they’d be great with canned pineapple, but if you have access to fresh you should use it.  I ran out of cherries and so a few of the cupcakes just had pineapple…and I kind of preferred them that way.  While there is something wonderfully nostalgic and lovely about the cherry in the center of the pineapple ring I like the simplicity of the pineapple by itself.

pineappleupsidedowncupcakes

The only change I made was to use a little less butter and brown sugar in the topping.  It calls for 1/2 tablespoon of butter and 1 tablespoon of brown sugar in each cup.  That just seemed like a lot to me.  I had to eyeball the butter, a little less than 1/2 tablespoon per cup.  And I used about 2 teaspoons of sugar in each cup.  I guess that’s not a huge change and it probably doesn’t make any difference…

I filled the cups 2/3 full.  While filling them up I realized that there was going to be a lot of batter left over, enough for 2 or 3 more cupcakes.  They baked right up to the top of the cups, so each one could have used a bit more batter, but better to have them too short than overflowing.  Enjoy!

Pineapple Upside Down Cupcakes

From Spoonful.com

Ingredients

Battter

  • 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) butter
  • 1/2 cup milk (2% or whole)
  • 1 cup flour
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 2 eggs
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Topping

  • 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) butter
  • 1/2 cup (2 teaspoons per cup) brown sugar
  • 6 maraschino cherries, halved
  • 4 fresh pineapple rings, cut into quarters

Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
  2. Place the butter and milk for the batter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Warm the mixture, stirring occasionally, until the butter melts.  Place in a bowl and let cool.
  3. While the butter cools, prepare the topping. Spray the muffin pan with nonstick spray.  Place a little less than 1 tablespoon of  butter into each muffin cup then sprinkle 2 teaspoons of brown sugar over the butter. Place the pan in the oven until the butter melts, about 3 minutes.
  4. Arrange the pineapple and cherry on top of the melted butter.  This may take a little finagling depending on the size of your pineapple pieces.  Set pan aside while you finish the batter.
  5. To finish the batter, whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. In a large bowl whisk together the eggs, sugar, and vanilla extract until smooth.  Add 1/3 of the flour mixture and stir just to combine.  Then add 1/2 of the milk mixture, stir just to combine.  Follow by 1/3 of the flour, the rest of the milk, then the rest of the flour, stirring between additions.
  6. Pour the batter into the muffin pan, dividing it evenly among all the cups. Bake the cupcakes until they’re lightly browned, dry around the edges, and pulling away from the pan a little, about 25 minutes.
  7. Transfer the pan to a rack to cool for 5 minutes. Use a butter knife to carefully loosen each cupcake from the edges and bottom of the pan, then place a cookie sheet over the top. Invert the pan, turning the cupcakes out onto the cookie sheet, then flip them pineapple side up to cool completely.  You may need to replace some of the pineapple if it sticks in the pan. Serve at room temperature.

 

 

 

Salted Chocolate Chip Coconut Oil Cookies

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Coconut Oil.  Apparently it can do almost anything.  It can make your hair long and luxurious, get rid of stretch marks, help nursing moms increase their milk supply and bring about world peace when applied daily.  I’ve been seeing it everywhere lately and thought I’d give it a try as a replacement for butter in cookies.

These were delicious and I would definitely make them again.  The coconut oil gives them a subtle coconut flavor without the texture and chew of coconut flakes and a richness that is different than that of butter.  Sprinkling a little flaked salt on top before and right after baking really makes these special.  Ben, who doesn’t always love sweets, enjoyed the combination of salty and sweet and I think he ate more than just the one obligatory cookie.  And that is saying something.

Guittard milk chocolate chips (the ones in the silver bag with blue label) are my favorite and using them in these cookies didn’t hurt in making them extra super tasty.  They’re a little larger than the typical chocolate chip and so delicious and creamy.  I’ve been known to sit with a bag of these and snack my way through half of it.  Which is why when I am going to buy a bag to make cookies I buy a second bag for snacking.  No lie.  It might be a problem?  If you’d rather, dark chocolate chips would also be wonderful I am sure.  Enjoy!

Salted Chocolate Chip Coconut Oil Cookies

Makes 18-24

Ingredients

  • 2 2/3 cup flour
  • 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup coconut oil (softened if needed)
  • 1/2 cup white sugar
  • 1 1/3 cup brown sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla
  • 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips
  • flaked salt

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 325°F.
  2. Beat together coconut oil and sugars, then beat in eggs and vanilla until well mixed.
  3. Add in the flour, baking powder and salt and mix just to combine.
  4. Stir in the chocolate chips and coconut.
  5. Scoop by rounded tablespoons onto parchment lined cookie sheets and sprinkle each cookie with a bit of salt flakes.
  6. Bake for 10-15 minutes (depending on size) until edges are just browned.  Remove from the oven and immediately sprinkle a bit more salt on each cookie.
  7. Let cool and enjoy!