Pumpkin Spice Cake with Honey Frosting (Everyday Food)

Pumpkin Spice Cake with Honey Frosting

John Barricelli made this on Everyday Baking (set your DVR for this PBS show). He made it in a 9-inch square, but I decided to make them easy peasy for my co-workers to eat (and I'm totally in this crazy miniature phase right now). You can find the recipe here on the Everyday Food website or here on the Martha Stewart website.

These were simple to make and the cake is very, very moist. It uses a whole can of pumpkin puree so it's full of pumpkin. You can whip this together in a big bowl (no KitchenAid needed)! And with melted butter in the batter, you don't need to bring anything to room temp.

The frosting is simple - butter, cream cheese and honey!

I didn't have enough mini pans so I ended up making 35 minis and 8 regular cupcakes. I baked the minis for 12-13 minutes and the regular size for 23 minutes.

A lovely fall treat - get the recipe here or here!
Happy Halloween!

Chocolate-Chocolate Cupcakes (Tuesdays with Dorie)

Poking a little fun at today's economic situation... :)

For this week's Tuesdays with Dorie selection, UCLA Bruin and incredible baker Clara of IHeartFood4Thought selected Chocolate-Chocolate Cupakes on pages 215-217 of Dorie's book, Baking: From My Home to Yours.

I have made these cupcakes, exactly per the directions, a bunch of times (here and here and here) and never had a problem. They are the bomb. However, lots of people had problems with them and I think I got baking-anxiety!!! :) My cupcakes weren't as good as before and the glaze was a joke (I ran out of bittersweet and used semi-sweet and my frosting seized or something totally messed up!)

I filled mine with some Nutella for way too much sweetness. I think it was a little much.

My gravestones are Pep Farm's Mint Milanos (really, you need to have the Mint ones so you can eat the leftovers...) Thanks Clara for a great choice, and check out the other Tuesdays with Dorie bakers!

Next week, we're making Rugelach and electing a new President! Can you believe we'll be posting on Election Day?! I voted early in Los Angeles last week and was so happy to see a bunch of eager voters there with me! I always get a bit emotional and sappy when I vote. My mom is a naturalized citizen and has never missed an election. As I stand in the little plastic voting booth, I think of all the people in emerging democracies waiting for hours in line to vote (sometimes in danger zones), and how lucky I am to safely cast my ballot each election. Although I encourage Californians to vote No on Prop 8 and No on Prop 4, it is more important that everyone exercise your right to bubble in, ink-a-vote, pull a lever or punch card your ballot.

My Mom's Apple Cake

Recently, Smitten Kitchen made her mom's apple cake. Go see it here. It is beautiful and looks so yummy. It is on my list of fall delights to make.

But that got me thinking of My Mom's apple cake. I don't know where she got the recipe...probably from an old PTA cookbook or from one of the neighbors. It was from the time of no KitchenAid mixers and everything was made in a green Tupperware bowl (which she still has, of course!)

This is very rustic (read: simple), light and easy to make. It's nothing fancy and full of apples - in fact, I think the cake is just an instrument to eat the apples. I remember my mom making this cake occasionally for my brother and me! :)

My Mom's Apple Cake
2 eggs
3/4 c oil
1 c sugar
1 t vanilla

sifted together:
2 c flour, 1/4 t salt, 2 t cinnamon, 1 t baking soda

4 large green apples
1 c walnuts (optional)

Peel and slice thin 4 apples (I used granny smith apples)

Beat eggs with oil until foamy. Then add sugar, vanilla, and sifted dry ingredients. Fold in apples and walnuts (I omitted the nuts because my co-worker can't have them).

Pour into greased 9 x 13 pan and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

Does your mom have an apple cake? What recipes do you like to make that remind you of your childhood and your family?

Nigella's Chocolate Chocolate-Chip Muffins

Chocolate Chocolate-Chip Muffins
It's chocolate for breakfast!

Oh Nigella! She's so one of my favorites! Always calm, fun and nice to others, I just want to hang out at her house. I especially want her midnight snacks. Whenever I watch her show, she is always making a midnight snack...or I just keep watching the same episode.

I wanted to make a muffin. I wanted chocolate. And wow. Nigella's recipe came up on the Food Network website!

This is super easy to throw together in the morning. I used 3/4 c of regular size Nestle semi-sweet morsels in the batter and 1/4 c mini morsels for the topping.

I got 15 muffins (her yield is 12). I think the 400 degree was too hot and the bottoms were a bit dry. I would lower the temperature to 350 or 375 next time.

Chocolate Chocolate-Chip Muffins...
Click here for the recipe on the Food Network website!

Martha Stewart's Chocolate Thumbprints

Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies

I'm slowly going through my Martha Stewart's Cookies book and decided to try these cute as a button cookies. You can find the recipe here!

The cookie is basically a shortbread filled with chocolate. I scooped the dough out with my mini-ice cream scoop and rolled them into balls.

Martha (yeah, I know it is her staff that write these books, but I still imagine Martha talking directly to me) says to pull the balls of dough out of a HOT oven after 10 minutes and then PLUNGE your thumb into the ball 'o fire. She even recommends keeping a bowl of ice water nearby to chill your thumb.

Woman! (yes, I'm speaking directly to you, Martha) I don't know what you learned in prison, but I'm not one for sticking my fingers into hot dough. I sorta need that thin layer of skin that is surely going to fry off so I can lick bowls of cupcake batter! Therefore, I used my wooden lemon reamer - what a perfect little fit too!

Ok. I have to tell you about my great find! A few weeks ago, I came across a garage sale and found an amazing set of vintage tupperware containers in these fantastic colors. And they were practically new! Whoo hoo!

The centers are filled with melted semi-sweet chocolate and corn syrup. I ended up with a bunch left over...I should have filled them with lots more chocolate. Overall, they were okay but not my top 10 favorite cookie.

Martha Stewart's Chocolate Thumbprints...
Recipe here and don't forget to save your thumbs while making these!

Pumpkin Muffins (Tuesdays with Dorie)

Dorie calls these, "Pumpkin Muffins."
I've renamed them "Super Delicious Tastes of Fall Pumpkin Muffin Delights!" Sure, a bit long, but a more accurate description!

Kelly of Sounding My Barbaric Gulp chose this week's recipe from Dorie's book, Baking: From My Home to Yours (page 13). Oh man. I love these muffins. It is my third time making them! I told you, I love these muffins!

I made them according to the recipe, but added pepitas (pumpkin seeds) on top. Next time, I will probably switch or combine the raisins with dried cranberries as many other TWD bakers did.

I made them once and baked them at the recipe's 400 degrees. However, I felt that was too hot and made them at 350 instead. Other TWD bakers took them out of the 400 degree oven early - so watch the time!

Nutty, raisiny insides!

Happy Fall!
Check out the other Tuesdays with Dorie bakers!

Martha Stewart's Boston "Scream" Pie (sorta)

Inspired by Martha Stewart's Boston "Scream" Pie

In the October 2008 issue of Martha Stewart Living, she has a cute Boston "Scream" Pie. It's a Halloween themed Boston Cream Pie: chocolate-pumpkin cake filled with a spiced pastry cream and topped with chocolate ganache.

Well... I came close!

By the way, I brought this into work on Wednesday, but I think this cake is really appropriate today considering the Red Sox and Tampa Bay game! What a comeback by Boston!

Cake: The chocolate-pumpkin layers (8-inch rounds) came out moist and a perfect blend of chocolate and pumpkin (it uses a full 15-ounce can of pumpkin puree!)

Filling: Okay, the spiced pastry cream...Ugh. I tried to make this TWO times but it was Fail. Fail. I thought I took it to exactly 160 degrees, but it jumped into the pastry cream abyss and fell way, way down into a truly messed up pile 'o yuck. Luckily, no photos of the mess!

So, I ended up making a spiced cream cheese filling: 1 block of cream cheese, 1 cup of powdered sugar (sifted), 1/4 t each cinnamon and ground ginger, and a bit of nutmeg and vanilla.

Cake + Filling + Ganache

Topping: I made the ganache in the morning before toting this heavy weight cake into the library. I cut the recipe in HALF and still ended up with too much. Wow, perhaps Martha and her staff have a chocolate addiction or something. (I only used cream and chocolate and skipped the corn syrup).

Boston "Scream" Pie. It's frighteningly good.
Recipe here on Martha Stewart's website!

Dark-Chocolate Cookies with Espresso (Everyday Food)

Dark-Chocolate Cookies with Espresso

If you get Everyday Food (one of Martha's publications), find the Dark-Chocolate Cookies with Espresso in the October 2008 issue (recipe found online here) and make these cookies!

There are a like a little chocolate caffeine shot!

This calls for 8 ounces of bittersweet chocolate - 4 ounces melted and 4 ounces chopped. I substituted the chopped chocolate chunks for 4 ounces of semi-sweet morsels.

The winner is the tablespoon of instant espresso powder. This adds a nice touch to all things chocolate. (The Barefoot Contessa always adds coffee to her chocolate recipe to deepen the chocolate flavor). The second photo is the batter before the addition of flour.

The insides are dark, chocolately, and moist. You can definitely taste the espresso flavor...making it a "grown up" cookie. Everyday Food makes them bigger...if you do make smaller cookies, watch the time so you don't overbake them!

Get caffeinated! Find the recipe here...or pick up the latest edition of Everyday Food!

Mother's Cookies - Wear it!

Wear your heart (stomach) on your sleeve (chest)!

The Goodbye, Mother's Cookies t-shirt

I received a lot of sympathetic responses to my Mother's Cookies demise post. And one of my photos was used on Serious Eats! (how cool is that?!)

On the Serious Eats post and from commentator Jess, I discovered there is a cool new shirt honoring my childhood (and adulthood!) favorite packaged cookie.

This shirt, by Cloth Moth has twelve of Circus Animals and the poetic words:

lights down.
little cookies.

The shirt is only $25 and will have to tide us Mother's Cookies lovers over until perhaps someone rescues the company from bankruptcy...Hint, Hint to those dolling out the $700 billion dollar bailout package!

Here's the link for ordering the shirt!

By the way, I discovered Mother's Cookies might be a West Coast thing...as my Los Angeles ex-pat friend Jennie in Kentucky discovered. She says, "I was going on and on about Mother's at work and they just looked at me." Well, if you don't know Mother's cookies, imagine THAT cookie. Yes, THAT cookie you had at every Brownie or Cub Scout meeting, during snack time at pre-school, at the PTA meeting, Tupperwear party, and perhaps the church social. Or, it's 2 am and you need a sugar fix...and you go to the dorm vending machine and there is a little packet of goodness just wanting to say "Hi and good luck on that exam." Believe me, Mother's is THAT cookie.

Lenox Almond Biscotti (Tuesdays with Dorie)

Lenox Almond Biscotti

For this week's Tuesdays with Dorie selection, Gretchen of Canela & Comino chose Lenox Almond Biscotti on page 141-143 of Dorie's book, Baking: From My Home to Yours.

I made the basic recipe and added 1/3 cup of dried cranberries. I also cut the almond extract to 1/2 t and added 1/2 t vanilla. This was the second time I made this...the first batch was an undercooked disaster and tasted too "almondy." I baked this batch for almost double the time (perhaps a little too much because they are a little brown!)

Dorie's recipe says, "Return the slices to the baking sheet - this time standing them up like a marching band." (I didn't understand this the first time, but after reading the TWD comments, I think this is what she means). However, I was able to get them into the oven....

But when I went to check on them after a few minutes, my marching band disbanded themselves.

Then I went to Plan B. I heard someone baked them on a rack to allow air flow. I added the "marching band" biscotti to ones I cut on the bias and flipped them several times during the second bake.

Check out the other Tuesdays with Dorie bakers!