Old-Fashioned Apple Pie

Two weeks ago, the family and I went apple picking and proceeded to pick approximately 42 pounds of apples in 15 minutes.

42 pounds of apples.

The pluses:

• We bought them locally.
• They are my husband's favorite variety. (Pink Lady)
• They were only $1/lb.
• They keep well in the fridge, so we'll have yummy apples for several months.

The minuses:

• Our fridge is full of apples.

This apple pie helped make a dent in about 3 lbs. of them, so by my calculations, I have about 13 more apple pies to go, give or take a couple for eating. 

This is one of my most favorite apple pies. The crust is flaky and tender, and the spices balance the tartness of the apples in a really beautiful way. If the crust is ready to go, the pie can be oven ready in about 15-20 minutes, which is dangerous. Very dangerous, indeed. 

Old-Fashioned Apple Pie

Ingredients:
Crust:

• 2 1/2 c. all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling
• 1 tsp. salt
• 2 sticks unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch dice and chilled
• 1/4 c. ice water (plus more as needed, added a tablespoon at a time)
• 2 Tbsp. sugar (optional) 

Filling:

• 3 lbs. of apples, such as Pink Lady, Granny Smith, Cortland, Jonathan, or a combination - peeled, cored and sliced 1/4" thick (about 6-8 medium-sized apples)
• 1 c. sugar
• 1/3 c. flour
• 3/4 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. nutmeg
• Pinch of salt
• 2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
• 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter, cut into small dice
• 1 lg. egg, beaten
• 2 Tbsp. turbinado sugar, for sprinkling

For the pie dough:

In a food processor, combine the flour and salt (and sugar, if using). Add the butter and pulse in 1-second bursts until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Drizzle the ice water over the dough and pulse in 1-second bursts until it just comes together. Do not process more than 30 seconds. Test by squeezing a small amount of dough together; if it is still too crumbly, add a bit more water, 1 tablespoon at a time. Turn the dough out onto a work surface, gather any crumbs and pat it into 2 disks. Wrap the disks in plastic and refrigerate until chilled, at least an hour.

For the filling:
Preheat the oven to 425°. On a floured work surface, roll out 1 disk of the dough to a 12" round, a scant 1/4" thick. Place the dough into a 9" to 10" deep-dish glass pie plate. Roll out the second dough to a 12" round. Transfer both to a parchment paper-lined baking sheet and refrigerate.

In a bowl, combine the apples with the sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Add the lemon juice and toss well. Let stand for 10 minutes, until the sugar dissolves slightly.

Scrape the apples and any juices into the pie plate and dot with the butter. Cover with the top crust and gently press the edges together. Trim the overhanging dough to about 1" and pinch to seal. Fold the dough rim under itself and crimp decoratively. Brush the pie with the beaten egg and sprinkle with the turnbinado sugar. Cut three small gashes in the top of the pie to vent the steam.

Bake the pie on the lowest shelf of the oven for 30 minutes. Lower the oven temperature to 365° and bake the pie for 45 to 50 minutes longer, until the fruit juices are bubbling through the steam vents and the crust is deeply golden on the top and bottom; cover the pie loosely with foil halfway through baking to keep it from getting too dark. Transfer the pie to a rack and let cool for at least 2 hours before serving.

Source: Slightly adapted from Food & Wine, originally contributed by Sassafras Bakery

Homemade Do-si-dos

And the season of sweet little girls peddling their cookie crack has descended upon us again. My adorable nieces are the cookie pushers of the family, so we have an inside track. I'm not as obsessed as others I've seen. A friend of mine (and former boss) had to do her cookie pick-up in a shroud of secrecy as no one was allowed to know the actual number of boxes she ordered during G.S. cookie time. If you have a freezer set aside for Girl Scout cookies, you might have a problem. :)

Thin Mints have been my forever favorite. I do love a good Samoa, but if I have to pick a box or two (and you know I do), Thin Mints are the chosen ones. This year, in an exercise of self-control, I limited us to a box each, plus one "share" box. I picked the usual, and Nate picked his usual, Do-si-dos. And the box for sharing? Thin Mints. Because I share, just not well.

And then there are these. These are what Do-si-dos wish they tasted like. They have the same peanut buttery, oatmeal enhanced cookie outside and a peanut butter creamy inside, but are leagues above and beyond anything the overpriced boxes could ever aspire to be. The cookie is rich and chewy. The filling is sweet and peanut buttery. It's pretty much the perfect peanut butter cookie. It could only possibly be improved by dipping half in melted dark chocolate. Oh be still my heart. And my arteries.

Bouchon Bakery says these are homemade Nutter Butters, but they're not. They are seriously homemade Do-si-dos. Make them. Tell me your thoughts. Be still your heart.

Homemade Do-si-dos

Yield: 24 large cookies

For the cookie dough:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 4 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 pound (4 sticks) butter, at room temperature
• 2/3 cup creamy peanut butter, preferably Skippy
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup coarsely chopped peanuts
• 2½ cups quick-cooking oats

For the filling:

• ½ pound (2 sticks) butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup creamy peanut butter, preferably Skippy
• 3 1/3 cups confectioners’ sugar

For cookie dough: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder and baking soda; set aside. Using a mixer with a paddle attachment, cream together the butter and peanut butter. Add sugars and beat at medium speed for 4 minutes, scraping down bowl twice. At low speed, add eggs and vanilla. Add flour mixture and beat at low speed until well mixed, frequently scraping down bowl. Add peanuts and oats, and mix well.

Using an ice cream scoop 2 inches in diameter, place balls of dough on parchment-lined baking sheets at least three inches apart. Bake until cookies have spread and turned very light golden brown, about 10 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside to cool and firm up, 5 to 10 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool completely before filling.

For filling: Using an electric mixer, cream together the butter, peanut butter and confectioners’ sugar until very smooth.

To assemble cookies, pipe or spread a thin layer (about 1/8 inch) on underside of a cookie. Sandwich with another cookie. Repeat. 

Source: slightly adapted from Thomas Keller's Bouchon Bakery via The New York Times

For smaller cookies, use the small #60 (2 tsp.) size scoop and bake for 8-8½ minutes. Makes about 64 sandwich cookies.

Tiramisu Cupcakes

 

Happy 2013! We've been apart for a while, you and I, so I thought I'd make amends by introducing you to the tiramisu cupcake. Because what better way to celebrate the New Year than by tempting you to throw your diet (temporarily) out the window with the tiramisu cookie's cake-y cousin.

Let's talk this through, shall we? A delicate, spongy, egg-y cake slightly soaked with an espresso/Kahlua syrup, topped with a whipped mascarpone frosting and a dusting of cocoa powder. Worthy of a diet detour?

Uh, yeah.

But do me a favor and add just a little more of the whipped deliciousness to the top than I did.

Tiramisu Cupcakes

Yield: About 28 cupcakes

Ingredients:
For the cupcakes:

• 1 & 3/4 cups plus 2 tbsp. cake flour, sifted
• 1¼ tsp. baking powder
• 3/4 tsp. coarse salt
• 6 tbsp. milk
• 1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
• 6 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature, cut into pieces
• 5 large whole eggs plus 4 large egg yolks
• 1 & 1/2 cups sugar

For the soaking syrup:

• 1/2 cup freshly brewed very strong coffee (or espresso)
• 3 tbsp. Kahlua
• 6 tbsp. sugar

 For the frosting:

• 1 & 1/2 cups heavy cream
• 12 oz. mascarpone cheese, at room temperature
•  3/4 cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted

To finish:

• Unsweetened cocoa powder, for dusting

To make the cupcakes, preheat the oven to 325˚ F.  Line cupcake pans with paper liners.  Combine the cake flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl.  Whisk to blend; set aside.  Add the milk to a small saucepan.  Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean pod into the pan, and add the scraped pod to the pan as well.  Heat over medium-high heat just until bubbles appear around the edge of the pan.  Remove from the heat and whisk in the butter until melted.  Let stand 15 minutes.  Remove the vanilla bean pod and discard (or rinse and save for another use).

In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the eggs, egg yolks, and sugar.  Whisk lightly to blend.  Set the bowl over an inch or two of simmering water and heat, whisking occasionally, until the mixture is warm and the sugar is dissolved, about 6 minutes.  Return the bowl to the mixer base.  Whisk on high speed until the mixture is pale yellow and fluffy, and able to hold a ribbon when the whisk is lifted.

Gently fold the dry ingredients into the egg mixture in three additions.  Stir ¾ cup of the batter into the milk mixture to thicken, then fold the milk mixture into the batter just until evenly incorporated.  Divide the batter between the prepared liners, filling them about three-quarters full.  Bake, rotating the pans halfway through baking, until the cakes are set and light golden, about 20 minutes.  Transfer pans to wire racks to cool slightly before removing from the pans.

To make the soaking syrup, combine the hot coffee, Kahlua, and sugar, and stir until the sugar is dissolved.  Place the warm cupcakes on a wire rack and place a baking sheet underneath to catch dripping liquid.  Use a pastry brush to brush the soaking liquid onto the tops of the cupcakes, repeating until the syrup is used up.  (This took me about four or five cycles of brushing).  If necessary, poke each cupcake a few times with a wooden skewer to help the syrup soak in.  Let the cupcakes cool completely before frosting.

To make the frosting, add the heavy cream to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment.  Whip on medium-high speed until stiff peaks form.  Transfer to a separate bowl and return the mixer bowl to its base.  In the mixer bowl, combine the mascarpone and confectioners’ sugar and beat with the paddle attachment on medium-high speed until smooth and fluffy, about 2 minutes.  Fold about a third of the whipped cream into the mascarpone mixture with a spatula to lighten.  Gently fold in the remaining whipped cream until evenly incorporated.

Transfer the frosting to a pastry bag fitted with a plain round tip.  Pipe a large dollop of frosting on top of each cupcake.  Refrigerate until ready to serve.  Just before serving, dust the cupcakes with unsweetened cocoa powder.

Source: slightly adapted from Martha Stewart’s Cupcakes via Annie's Eats

Rustic Peach-Blueberry Tart

Summer has arrived, and with it comes a beautiful bounty of produce. I have been waiting ever so patiently (because really, what choice did I have?!) for peach season to begin. As strawberry season was on its way out, I lamented that loss, but kept consoling myself with the fact that peaches were just around the corner. So I do not exaggerate when I say that there was much rejoicing when Branstool Orchards announce that they would be bringing peaches to the farm market this week. There may have even been clapping and high-fiving with the kids. An overly excited response? Not if you've not had the intense pleasure of biting into a Branstool peach. {swoon}

I knew that while most of those peaches were going straight from knife to belly, a couple of them would make their way into this beautifully rustic tart I saw in "The Back in the Day Bakery Cookbook" a couple days before. As luck would have it, some beautiful blueberries were also at the market this week, so it was sealed. As it was just the four of us, I actually halved the recipe (entire recipe given below), but added in an extra peach as the ones I used were a tad on the small-medium side. I didn't realize it as the picture was taken, but I'd actually cut right where the fold was, making the crust appear much thicker than it actually was throughout the rest of the tart. Sorry 'bout that. In most pieces, the fruit extended all the way to the edge of the crust. The sugar-crusted, flaky, cornmeal-enhanced crust.

I'll be honest: I fully expected the girls to pick out the fruit and juices and leave the crust.

But they didn't.

There was actually an "oh, this is so good" uttered while munching. And my oldest told me "While I don't like pie, I really like this." A win on so many levels.

Rustic Peach-Blueberry Tart

Serves: 6

Ingredients:

• 2 ripe peaches, peeled, pitted, and sliced
• 2 c. fresh blueberries
• 2 Tbsp. granulated sugar
• 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
• The tiniest bit of fresh grated nutmeg
• 1 recipe Cornmeal Crust, unbaked (recipe follows)
• 1 egg, beaten, for egg wash
• 2 tsp. vanilla sugar, or coarse sugar for crust

Put the peaches and blueberries in a medium bowl, add the granulated sugar, vanilla, and nutmeg, and toss to coat the fruit. Let the mixture macerate for 1 hour.

Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat the oven to 425°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment (or alternatively, roll out the dough directly on the parchment/silicon baking mat you will later transfer to the baking sheet. This is my preferred method as it saves me from transferring the dough after it's been formed. I was also light-handed with the flour, which made this work. If you are heavier-handed with flour, transfer after rolling.)

On a lightly floured work surface (or parchment/baking mat, if using), roll the dough into a 12"-in circle. Place the dough (and parchment) on the baking sheet.

Using a slotted spoon (reserve the fruit juices in the bowl), spoon the fruit into the center of the dough, leaving a 2" border all around. Gently fold the edges of the dough over the fruit, overlapping the dough as necessary, and press gently to seal the edges. Pour the reserved juices over the fruit.

Brush the crust with the egg wash and sprinkle with the vanilla sugar. Bake for 25-35 minutes, until the crust is golden brown. Remove from the oven and let cool for 5 minutes. Serve the tart warm, or cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to 3 days.

Cornmeal Crust

Makes one 14" crust

Ingredients:

• 1 1/3 c. unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1/3 c. yellow cornmeal
• 3 Tbsp. sugar
• 1/4 tsp. fine sea salt
• 8 Tbsp. (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cubed
• 1/4 c. ice water, plus more if necessary

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cornmeal, sugar, and salt. Using a pastry cutter, cut in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse oatmeal. Add 1/4 c. ice water, stirring lightly with a fork until the flour is moistened, then gently knead the dough 4 to 6 times in the bowl until it comes together. You may have to add up to an additional 2 Tablespoons of water if the dough seems dry.

Shape the dough into a ball and flatten it into a thick disk. Wrap it in plastic and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to 1 day. You can also freeze this dough for up to 1 month. Before using, defrost overnight in the refrigerator, then let the dough cool to room temperature, 10 to 15 minutes.

On a lightly floured work surface, roll the dough into a 12" circle. Bake according to instructions above.

Source: Ever so slightly adapted from The Back in the Day Bakery Cookbook

Roasted Strawberries

It's kind of hard for me to believe that it's not even June yet and strawberry season is about over here in the Midwest. When does that ever happen? I knew we had to get to the fields to pick some berries before the season was officially over. We chose one of the hottest days we've had this year (fail), went on one of the busier days (fail), got lost and relied on our GPS rather than our common sense (fail), and forgot water bottles (ultra-fail). Couple that with being told that it was already going to be "a tough pick", we came into the field defeated.

Not to be deterred, we listened to our children whine for over an hour while my husband and I scoured the thistle for berries. Our haul? 11 pounds of sweet, sweet berries. And their taste made all the blood, sweat, and bleeding ears worth it. I follow a number of food blogs, and one universal theme kept recurring: I had to try roasting fresh picked strawberries.

There appear to be two different methods when roasting berries: higher heat for a shorter time, or low heat for a longer time. I had the time, so I went with low and slow.

And the result? Swoon.

My girls and I loved them. My oldest actually did the happy food groan when she was eating them and said how much she loved the warm berries with the cold ice cream. My youngest polished off her sundae in record time and then both girls headed over to the stove to eat berries directly off the cookie sheet. I was even warned not to eat all the leftovers myself. Me?! Do they think I have no self-control around such deliciousness? They know me too well. :)

Roasted Strawberries

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 lbs small fresh strawberries
• 1/4 cup demerara sugar (or white sugar)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt (optional)
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper (optional)

Preheat oven to 225°F. Wash, drain and hull strawberries. Divide berries in a single layer on one or two baking sheets  (I lined mine with parchment paper for easier clean-up). Place in the oven and slow-roast for 45 minutes. Strawberries will not release much juice during this part.

Remove from oven and sprinkle sugar evenly over the berries. Season lightly with salt and pepper (optional), and stir gently. Return pan(s) to oven and roast about 30 minutes more.

Remove pans from oven and allow to cool for at least ten minutes. Strawberries will release more juice during this resting period. Transfer to a bowl or jar and use a spatula to scrape all of the sauce from the pan. Enjoy warm, or refrigerate until ready to use.

Will keep up to one week in an airtight jar in the refrigerator. In addition to all the yummy recipes linked above, I would recommend eating these berries on some pancakes or waffles, in a bowl of oatmeal, or just out of the jar.

Source: Simple Bites

Per Simple Bites: This is the basic recipe, but feel free to get creative by adding a splash of balsamic vinegar or a sprinkling of cardamom, or what ever complementary flavor you like. 
 

Red Velvet Cupcakes

As Easter approached, I remembered I had these beautiful cupcake wrappers my mom had purchased last year and knew I couldn't let this year pass without using them. But which cupcake to choose? A delicate vanilla bean? A strawberry cupcake with strawberry buttercream? A rich chocolate with ganache? There were too many choices, so I asked my girls what kind of cupcake they wanted for Easter.

Here's how the conversation went down:
Me: "So girls, what kind of cupcakes should we make for Easter?"
My Big Girl (without missing a beat): "Red Velvet!!"
Me, knowing she had never had a red velvet cupcake before wondered how on earth this could've possibly entered her subconscious: "Red velvet? Really?"
MBG: "Yes, that's what I want. It has to be red velvet. Easter is about Jesus and His death on the cross, so we need a red cupcake. You know, for his blood."
Me (also never having had a red velvet cupcake and worried about how much it would dye the cupcake papers): "Are you sure you don't want a nice vanilla with chocolate icing?"

I couldn't sway them. They were committed. It was Jesus cupcakes or bust.

I did a bit of homework before settling on Annie's red velvet cupcakes, and I really couldn't have been more pleased with the results. I'm no red velvet expert, but we all thought they tasted delicious. The icing was the perfect topper, too: creamy, just sweet enough, and piped beautifully onto the cupcake. And, as it turned out, they were a most delicious way to remember that Easter is more than eggs and bunnies, even if they are decorated beautifully with them. :)

Red Velvet Cupcakes 
(aka Jesus Cupcakes)

Yield: About 24 cupcakes

Ingredients:
For the cake:

• 2½ cups cake flour
• 1½ cups sugar
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tbsp. cocoa powder
• 1 tsp. salt
• 2 large eggs
• 1½ cups vegetable oil
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 2 tbsp. (1 oz.) liquid red food coloring, or ½ tsp. red gel-paste food color
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 tsp. distilled white vinegar

For the frosting:*

• 8 oz. cream cheese
• 5 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract (use clear for a prettier colored icing)
• 2½ cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted

Preheat the oven to 350° F.  Line cupcake pans with paper liners.  In a medium bowl, combine the cake flour, sugar, baking soda, cocoa powder and salt; whisk to blend.  In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the eggs, vegetable oil, buttermilk, food coloring, vanilla and vinegar.  Beat on medium speed until well blended.  Mix in the dry ingredients on low speed and beat until smooth, about 2 minutes. The batter will be runny.

Divide the batter evenly between the prepared liners.  Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 18 minutes.  Let cool in the pans 5-10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

To make the frosting, combine the cream cheese and butter in the bowl of an electric mixer.  Beat on medium-high speed until well combined and smooth, about 2-3 minutes.  Mix in the vanilla extract.

Gradually beat in the confectioners’ sugar until totally incorporated, increase the speed and then beat until smooth.  Frost cooled cupcakes as desired

*Per Annie: If you are big on frosting as I am, you may want to increase the quantities by 50%.  That is what I typically do for a batch of 24 cupcakes.  I usually end up with some left over, but I would rather have too much frosting than not enough!

Source: Annie's Eats, originally from Apple a Day adapted from Saveur, via The Way the Cookie Crumbles, frosting adapted from Confections of a Foodie Bride

Lemon Crinkle Cookies

Spring is more than in the air here in the Midwest. My daffodils and hyacinths have come and gone (over two weeks ago!), the grass has already been mowed, and I've had to weed my garden. Twice. What a strange, kind of wonderful start to the year. While my husband mourned the lack of snow this past winter, I was doing jubilant dances as I didn't have to shovel once.

My youngest and I made these delicious cookies on a cold winter's day, and they tasted so much like spring that I couldn't decide whether to share them sooner or later. I chose later. :)

The cookie is pretty much the perfect lemon cookie: As you bite into it, it's slightly crunchy, but that yields to a chewy interior. And Lauren (whose blog this recipe came from) remarked that just out of the oven, it tasted a lot like a lemon bar, and I couldn't agree more. My little taste tester gave her approval.

Lemon Crinkle Cookies

Yield: 2-3 dozen

Ingredients:

• ½ cups Butter, Softened
• 1 cup Granulated Sugar
• ½ teaspoons Vanilla Extract
• 1 whole Egg
• 1 teaspoon Lemon Zest
• 1 Tablespoon Fresh Lemon Juice
• ¼ teaspoons Salt
• ¼ teaspoons Baking Powder
• ⅛ teaspoons Baking Soda
• 1-½ cup All-purpose Flour
• ½ cups Powdered Sugar 

Preheat oven to 350° degrees. Grease light colored baking sheets with non stick cooking spray and set aside. Alternatively, use parchment paper or a Silpat baking mat.

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in vanilla, egg, lemon zest and juice. Scrape sides and mix again. Stir in all dry ingredients slowly until just combined, excluding the powdered sugar. Scrape sides of bowl and mix again briefly. Pour powdered sugar onto a large plate. Roll a heaping teaspoon of dough into a ball and roll in powdered sugar. Place on baking sheet and repeat with remaining dough.

Bake for 9-11 minutes or until bottoms begin to barely brown and cookies look matte {not melty or shiny}. Remove from oven and cool cookies about 3 minutes before transferring to cooling rack.

*If using a non stick darker baking tray, reduce baking time by about 2 minutes.
  
Source: Lauren's Latest

King Cake

My love affair with king cake started about seven years ago. My husband and I had picked one up from a Giant Eagle bakery and we loved it! Sadly, that was also the last year we ever saw one there.

Every year around Mardi Gras, I kept my eyes opened for just the right cake. We've tried several, but none were that good or very memorable. Last year, I went a step further in my search. I contacted several Giant Eagle stores around town hoping to surprise my husband with the real deal. I was so excited when I found one store had the materials to make us one! We were so excited to have our beloved original cake get in our bellies. Only it wasn't our beloved cake. It was completely sub par: dry, bland, mediocre.

This year, I decided enough was enough. It was time to take matters into my own hands. Armed with a delicious sounding (and looking!) recipe from Bunkycooks, I set to work. I had the dough made and rising in about 30 minutes. While the dough rose, I assembled my filling, cleaned up the kitchen, and perused Pinterest, not necessarily in that order.

The dough took about an hour and a half to rise, and was a dream to roll out,  needing very little flour. The entire assembly process for two cakes only took about 15 minutes. After a 45 minute rise, they were ready for the oven. 25 minutes later, they were out of the oven and ready to get fancy. Yea Mardi Gras!

The results were sublime. King cake is a bit of a misnomer as this is definitely a sweet bread, but what a delicious sweet bread it is. The filling which includes brown sugar, raisins, and pecans is so good; the hint of nutmeg in the pastry was just perfect; and the incredibly simple powdered sugar/water icing brought it all together beautifully. I daresay, it was even better than the original king cake we had spent so many years looking for. My good friend Jo declared that making this should become a new tradition and I couldn't agree more.

Even though Mardi Gras is over for this year, do yourself a favor and don't put off making this until next year. Through it together, top it with some pretty pastel icing and call it "Easter Cake." People will thank you. Or throw some green sprinkles on there and it's "Shamrock Cake." Halloween? You know what to do.  

King Cake

Yield: 2 cakes

Ingredients:
Pastry:

• 1 cup milk
• 1/4 cup butter
• 2 (.25 ounce) packages active dry yeast
• 2/3 cup warm water (110° F)
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
• 5 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Filling:

• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 Tbsp. ground cinnamon
• 2/3 cup chopped pecans
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 1/2 cup melted butter 

Frosting:

• 2 cup confectioners' sugar, divided
• 2- 2½ Tbsp. water, divided

Directions
For pastry:
Scald milk, remove from heat and stir in 1/4 cup of butter. Allow mixture to cool to room temperature. In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in the warm water with 1 tablespoon of the white sugar. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.

When yeast mixture is bubbling, add the cooled milk mixture. Whisk in the eggs. Stir in the remaining white sugar and salt. Combine the flour and the nutmeg. Beat the flour/nutmeg mixture into the milk/egg mixture 1 cup at a time. When the dough has pulled together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 8 to 10 minutes. Alternatively, if using a stand mixer, switch to the dough hook and mix at medium speed for 6-7 minutes, or until smooth and elastic.

Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with a damp cloth or plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 1.5-2 hours. When risen, punch down and divide dough in half.

Preheat oven to 375°. Grease 2 cookie sheets or line with parchment paper.

For filling:
Combine the brown sugar, ground cinnamon, chopped pecans, 1/2 cup flour and 1/2 cup raisins. Pour 1/2 cup melted butter over the cinnamon mixture and mix until crumbly.

To assemble:
Roll dough halves out into large rectangles (approximately 10x16 inches or so). Sprinkle the filling evenly over the dough and roll up each half tightly like a jelly roll, beginning at the wide side. Bring the ends of each roll together to form 2 oval shaped rings. Place each ring on a prepared cookie sheet. With scissors or a very sharp knife, make cuts 1/3 of the way through the rings at 1 inch intervals. Let rise in a warm spot until doubled in size, about 45 minutes.

Bake in preheated oven for 25-30 minutes. Push the doll or large pecan, if using, into the bottom of the cake. Frost while warm with the confectioners' sugar blended with 1 to 2 tablespoons of water.
 
Note: My cakes took about 25 minutes to bake. I covered them with aluminum foil at about 15 minutes to avoid excessive browning, and rotated the pans top to bottom/left to right halfway through baking.


Note: When you are ready to ice the cakes, you will want to make the icing separate (1 c. powdered sugar and 1 Tbsp. water) for each cake, especially if you are going to sprinkle them with colored sugars. The icing hardens pretty quickly.

Source: Bunkycooks

Apple Pie Cookies

Who doesn't love apple pie? Well, me, for one. It has never been one of my favorites. Give me a peach or cherry pie any day, but apple.... nah. That is, until more recently. It's been growing on me, and has encouraged the purchase of my fair share of Cortland, McIntosh, Granny Smith, and Honey Crisp apples this year.

When I saw these apple pie cookies on Smitten Kitchen, it was love at first sight. Pastry wrapped cinnamon and sugar apple slices, topped with coarse sugar.... Yes, please.

The crust is the star of this show, so I'd encourage you to make your own crust instead of going with store-bought. If you've not had success in the past or are fearful of failure, let me share with you the key to a flaky crust: cold everything. The butter, flour, water, your hands. Everything. You want to see the butter chunks in your crust. Also, having a beloved recipe helps, and I happen to have just that!

Sassafras Bakery's pies are delicious and their crusts are sublime. The owner of Sassafras Bakery, AJ Perry, recently shared her signature apple pie recipe with Food & Wine magazine, so I went with her crust on this instead of the one published on the original recipe. See those flaky layers above. Sweet, sweet, buttery, flaky layers.

Just out of the oven, they tasted just like an apple pie. As they cooled, the apple flavor was less dominate, so I think next time I will slice my apples just a little thicker than the original 1/8" the recipe calls for.

Smitten Kitchen has some great step-by-step photos showing how to put these beauties together. They are a little more complicated than your standard cookie recipe, but it's worth a little extra work for some extra flaky layers. Portable pie yumminess for the win.

Apple Pie Cookies

Yield: Approx. 20-24 cookies

Note from Smitten Kitchen: "Promise me that you won’t mess around with soft pie dough, here or anywhere. The single easiest way to master pie crusts is to decide at the outset that you won’t waste your energy on limp, stretchy dough. As soon as your dough softens, transfer whatever you’re doing to the freezer for two minutes to chill it again. Soft dough is hard to work with. It’s stretchy and doesn’t cut clean shapes, it gets sticky and you compensate by over-flouring it and that stickiness is those tiny bits of butter that will be your layers of flakes later disappearing, melting before they hit the oven and sealing into zillions of buttery pockets. It will also annoy you and make you think that you’re bad at working with pie dough but you’re not. You’re just warm-blooded and you need to put the pie dough back to chill for two minutes."
Ingredients:
Crust:

• 2 1/2 c. all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling
• 1 tsp. salt
• 2 sticks unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch dice and chilled
• 1/4 c. ice water (plus more as needed, added a tablespoon at a time)
• 2 Tbsp. sugar (optional) 

Filling:

• 3 medium apples, whatever you like to bake with (I used Granny Smith)
• Squeeze of lemon juice (optional)
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• Few gratings fresh nutmeg

To finish:

• 1 large egg
• Coarse or granulated sugar for garnish

Other items needed:

• A couple baking sheets covered with parchment paper
• Rolling pin, pastry brush (for egg wash), fork (for crimping and dipping) and sharp knife (to make slits)
• Two round cookie cutters of different sizes. I used 2 1/2-inch and 1 1/2 to 1 3/4-inch rounds. You’ll want to make sure there’s at least a 3/4-inch different in the sizes, as you’ll need the extra margin to crimp your dough. 

For the pie dough:
In a food processor, combine the flour and salt (and sugar, if using). Add the butter and pulse in 1-second bursts until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Drizzle the ice water over the dough and pulse in 1-second bursts until it just comes together. Do not process more than 30 seconds. Test by squeezing a small amount of dough together; if it is still too crumbly, add a bit more water, 1 tablespoon at a time. Turn the dough out onto a work surface, gather any crumbs and pat it into 2 disks. Wrap the disks in plastic and refrigerate until chilled, at least an hour.

Meanwhile, get everything else together: Line up six small dishes. In the first one, pour some water. Leave the second one empty; you’ll use it for your apples in a bit. In the third one, mix the sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and any other spices you like in your pie, such as a pinch of cloves. In the fourth one, place a little bit of flour to dust your surface and dip your fork for crimping. In the fifth one, whisk an egg with one teaspoon of water until smooth. In the last one, or in whatever container you keep it in, add some coarse or regular sugar for decorating the tops of the pies.

On a well-floured counter, roll out your pie dough pretty thin, a little shy of 1/8-inch thick. Lift and rotate your dough as you roll it, to ensure that it rolls out evenly and so you can be sure it’s not sticking in any place. Use the larger of your two cookie cutters [mine was 2 1/2-inch) to cut as many rounds as you can from the dough. Transfer them to parchment-lined baking sheets and keep them in the fridge until you need them. Once you’ve finished the first packet, repeat the process with the second packet of dough.

Prepare your apples: Peel your apples. Cut thin (about 1/8-inch thick) slices from one side of whole apple, stopping when you hit the core. Repeat on opposite side. I got about 10 usable slices from each side of my small-medium-ish apples. Use the smaller of your two cookie cutters (mine was about 1 2/3 inches) to cut the apples into cute little discs that will fit inside your pie cookies. Place them in your second bowl, covering them with a few drops of lemon juice if you find that they’re browning quickly.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

And now, assemble away! Grab your first disc of chilled dough and lightly dampen it on one side with the water. This is to help it seal. Take your first disc of apple and toss it in the cinnamon spice sugar. Place it on the damp side of the bottom disk. Place a second disc of dough on top; I found it easiest to seal it by picking the whole thing up (this is when you’ll be glad that your dough is cold and semi-firm; if it’s soft and getting sticky, chill it until it’s easy to pick up) and press the tops and bottoms around the apple with your fingers.

Back on the floured counter, cut decorative slits in your “pies”. Dip your fork in the flour and use it to create a decorative crimp on the sealed edges. Brush your cookie with egg wash and sprinkle with coarse sugar.
Replace on baking sheet and chill while you prepare the others.

Bake your apple pie cookies for 25 minutes, or until puffed and bronzed and very pie-like. (If this is your first batch, peer in at them at 20 minutes, to make sure your oven doesn’t run hot.) Transfer to a cooling rack to cool before eating them if you have that kind of willpower.

Do ahead: These will keep for a few days at room temperature. You could also make a larger batch of these, doing everything but brushing them with egg and sprinkling them with sugar, and keep them frozen until needed. Bake them directly from the freezer, just adding a couple minutes to the baking time.

Source: Crust slightly adapted from Sassafras Bakery's recipe. Filling and process from Smitten Kitchen.

Simple Cookie Glaze

My youngest daughter just celebrated her fifth birthday. I would love to freeze time and keep her little forever, but since I can't, I'm trying to just enjoy it as much as I possibly can.

Since we've already established I am no good at stopping time, I can at least share with you a recipe for a cookie glaze that stops in it's own tracks. Really. It's nice and thick, spreads incredibly easy, but then stays where it's supposed to. To make it even more wonderful, it hardens into a pretty (and stackable!) finish.

The birthday girl insisted on a pink icing with sprinkles, but you can make it any color your heart desires. The King Arthur Flour site even shows pictures of cookies decorated with several colors, making it a quick fix for your Christmas sugar cookies.

I wanted a little citrus-y flavor in our icing, so I added some Fiori di Sicilia flavoring from King Arthur, but I would imagine that the sugary glaze would be good either by itself, or with a little vanilla/almond/random other flavor extract added. I found it super easy to just dip the cookie in, scrape the excess off, and let the glaze settle into itself on the cookie. The key is to follow the measurements below pretty close to exactly in order to ensure the consistency is thick enough not to run off the cookie, but thin enough to spread cleanly. It's kind of magical to watch, and totally rewarding after going through all the work of making cutouts.

Simple Cookie Glaze

Yield: 2/3 cup

Ingredients:

• 2 ¼ cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
• 2 Tbsp. light corn syrup
• 1 ½ to 2 Tbsp. plus 1 tsp. milk
• Food coloring (optional)
• 1/8 tsp. Fiori di Sicilia extract or other extract (optional)

In a small bowl, whisk together the confectioners' sugar, corn syrup, and 1 1/2 tablespoons of the milk, and optional extract until smooth. Add food coloring, if desired.  

Spread one cookie with glaze, using a table knife or offset spatula. If it doesn't smooth out after 1 minute, dribble in additional milk, 1/2 teaspoon at a time, until the glaze reaches the right

Some notes for KAF:

• Be sure you measure accurately here. Too little milk, and the glaze won't spread nicely. Too much milk, and it will be thin, spotty and develop splotches overnight. 
• Once the glaze has hardened, you can color on it with food-safe markers, or you can pipe another color over the top with Royal Icing. You can sprinkle sugar on top of the wet royal icing for a sparkly effect.

Source: King Arthur Flour

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies with Maple Cream Cheese Filling

Fall is my favorite season: leaves changing, OSU football (though that hasn't been much to celebrate as of late. Geesh!), cooler nights, and all the tasty pumpkin and apple treats. It seem as though my Google Reader is overflowing with sumptuous treats to try, but this one practically begged to be tried.

A perfectly spiced pumpkin cake-like cookie, sandwiched with a smooth and beautiful cream cheese filling screams fall to me like nothing else. My friend Jo said they tasted a lot like a little pumpkin roll and I completely agree. As it turns out, I really needed some fall goodness in my life and promptly inhaled more of these than I care to admit in such a public forum. They are addictive. You've been warned.

If you need a little extra fall goodness in your life too, these are a great place to start. I used both my mini scoop and my cookie dough scoop to make several different sizes and it worked out perfectly. The recipe yielded a ton of these tasty treats (something close to 38-40 mini sandwiches and 10 regular sized) and was pretty simple to put together. All the cookie ingredients are mixed with a whisk, and a mixer is only needed for the icing. The icing included maple syrup to give it that extra little something-something, but mine got lost in there somewhere. Next time I make these, I'm pulling out the Grade B maple syrup and using that instead.

They seemed to keep fine for about two days in the fridge. After eating our fair share and sharing with friends, family, and neighbors, we didn't have any that lasted past two days. :)

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies with Maple Cream Cheese Filling

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

Ingredients:

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 2 TBSP cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• ½ tsp ground fresh nutmeg
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup dark brown sugar, firmly packed
• 1 cup canola oil
• 3 cups chilled pumpkin puree
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350°F. Prepare to baking sheets lined with parchment paper. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, and spices. Set aside. In a separate bowl, whisk to sugars and oil together. Add the pumpkin puree and whisk to combine thoroughly. Add the eggs and vanilla and whisk until combined. Sprinkle the flour mixture over the pumpkin mixture and whisk until completely combined.

Use a small ice cream scoop with a release mechanism to drop heaping TBSP (or smaller) of the dough onto the prepared baking sheets, about 1 inch apart. Bake for 12-15 minutes, until the cookies are just starting to crack on top and a toothpick inserted into the center of a cookie comes out clean. Remove from the oven and let the cookies cool completely on the pan while you make the filling.

Maple Syrup Cream Cheese Filling
Ingredients:

• 3 cups powdered sugar
• ½ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
• 3 TBSP maple syrup
• 1 tsp vanilla

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter until smooth with no visible lumps. Add the cream cheese an beat until combined. Add the powdered sugar, maple syrup and vanilla and beat until smooth. Be careful no to over-beat the filling, or it will lose structure.

To assemble:
Turn half the cooled cookies upside down. Pipe filling (about a TBSP) onto that half. Place another cookie, flat side down, on top of the filling. Press down slightly so that the filling spread to the edges of the cookie. Repeat until all the cookies are used. Put the whoopie pies in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes to firm before serving.

Source: Culinary Concoctions by Peabody, who adapted it from Baked: New Frontiers in Baking by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito

Easy Chocolate Marshmallow Fondue

My mom gave my husband and I this fun little fondue pot for our anniversary this year. Our daughters instantly wanted to break it in as they are no strangers to the deliciousness of chocolate fondue. Mama didn't raise no fools, if you know what I mean. :)

The girls helped me prep the ingredients and create our "dippers" list (I had our 7-yr. old write them down to encourage her to spell/sound them out). Then they watched in anticipation as we poured the chocolate-marshmallow fondue goodness into the bowl.

It was finger-licking good!

Easy Chocolate Marshmallow Fondue

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

• 6 oz. milk chocolate, broken
• 2 Tbsp. milk
• 5 large marshmallow, cut up
• 2 Tbsp. whipping cream
• Cubed fruit, cake, graham crackers, or marshmallows for dipping

Place the chocolate into a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave for 30 seconds, stir, add the marshmallows and milk, and microwave in 15 second increments, stirring after each increment, until the chocolate and marshmallows are melted. Add whipping cream as needed until smooth. Re-warm an additional 15 seconds if needed, then place in fondue pot or bowl over a lit candle. 


Serve with fruit, angel food cake, graham crackers, marshmallow, cookies, etc. for dipping.

Source: Slightly adapted from Tasty Kitchen