Three months of Catch-Up

First up: reporting in on Thanksgiving pies.

The Caramel Apple pie via Four and Twenty Blackbirds was a huge fail. It was unbelievably watery. And it wasn't just because I'm bad at caramel. I tried it a second time using storebought caramel. Still watery and didn't taste at all of caramel. My conclusion: if you want Caramel Apple Pie, make regular Apple Pie and pour some caramel sauce over it.

This Pecan Pie from smitten kitchen however? I'm never using another recipe. It's perfect. A little smoky, not too sweet, not gooey. I'll say it again. PERFECT.

December was busy but I did manage to make a Stump de Noël for our family Christmas party per my mother (The Pie Queen)'s request. Upped my decorating game by making these pine cones (or are they hedgehogs?), some with fudge centers, some with marzipan.

I thought I'd try rolling the cake while it was warm and using kitchen towels (a trick I probably saw on The Great British Baking Show--if you're not watching it, mend your ways!). Obviously, it still cracked like crazy, and, what's more, it stuck to the towels.

 Ah well, it all comes out okay in the end.

January brings my best girl's birthday. She requested a vanilla and chocolate cake with chocolate cream cheese icing. I complied and it was delicious. Those balls you see around the bottom of the cake? Those were meant to be candied hazelnuts with tall strings of shattery caramel that could sit on top of the cake and look dramatic and beautiful. As I think I've mentioned, I'm bad at candy. SO BAD. So they ended up being toasted hazelnuts with a soft sugary coating, dusted with cocoa and powdered sugar. They actually tasted good, but looked far less dramatic than I wanted.

When I was looking for a new Pecan Pie recipe around Thanksgiving, a friend recommended I try Kentucky Derby Pie. I finally got around to doing so in January. And I'm so glad I did. Wow. One of the few desserts that has disappeared pretty quickly from my house. My kids call it "cookie pie" because it tastes like chocolate chip cookies with pecans. I used half the amount of bourbon called for, and replaced with vanilla extract. I know, ME? *I* added less bourbon? Yes. And yet, it was the perfect balance of buttery and smoky and sweet and nutty and chocolatey.

February, at last. I was asked by the director of a play I'm doing later this year to make some pies for a read-through. He wanted pies with red fillings (if your stomach isn't weak, look up the plot of Titus Andronicus, know that I'll be playing Titus, and you'll understand). I have never really liked baked berry pies, and when I've made them they've been watery. But I wanted to do something other than cherry, so. I found this recipe for raspberry pie and was completely surprised (and delighted) at how easy it was. Not only that--not watery in the least. And not too sweet. I made this one with only raspberries but used the same recipe with a frozen triple berry mix for another pie. Both were completely delicious and have changed my mind about baked berry pies.

TGIP Ratings--lots of KEEPERS here. The fails I should have seen coming. 

Next up: Spring has sprung and I want something lemony. I'm debating between this, this, and this. Help me decide.

6 Months in Limbo

I have no other explanation.

So, how about 6 months in one post?! Pics and brief thoughts, here we go:

I have no idea when I made this or what the recipe was. But it looks pretty, doesn't it?

APRIL

Fairy Bites. I thought they were perfect for Easter. Along with the Carrot Cake Sandwich Cookies (I think they qualify as Whoopie Pies) below. Both were truly delicious.

Ordered this, but have yet to make anything out of it. I also have intentions to order just about every sprinkle she has in her etsy sprinkle store.

Chocolate Strawberry Oasis Pie. Another super delicious thing.

MAY

mr just wanted a simple chocolate cake for his birthday, so I made smitten kitchen's 'i want chocolate cake' cake. Yes, simple. Yes, delicious.

Think what you like, I'm not apologizing for that word up there. Cancer took my friend Mike, who gave me the recipe for this Texas Buttermilk Pecan Pie. I made this as a cheer-me-up in his last days.

JUNE (I have no idea what I did)

JULY

This amazing Tomato Pie. What an unexpected delight. I halved the amount of mayo and cheese and it was still creamy and unbelievably delicious. Tastes like summer.

I'm >this< close to perfecting my Rhubarb Pie recipe. I have succeeded with fresh rhubarb, now I have some experimenting to do with frozen to see if I can get acceptable results. More to come...

I made myself the most amazing birthday cake. This Blackberry Chocolate Cake that I've ogled for ages but was afraid of because it was a food styling challenge, so I didn't know if it would turn out well. IT DID. Seriously.

AUGUST

Sangria Cupcakes for my sister-in-law's birthday. I'm not big on baked fruits (other than cherries), so I was completely surprised and pleased with how yummy these turned out. Fresh tasting and perfect.

Seconda turned 13. This turned out to be WAY too much cake for a gaggle of teenage girls.

*phew* August is a big birthday month. My best boyfriend turned 40 and he's a manly man, so I made him this super dark, masculine cake. Cake portion of this Midnight Sin Chocolate Cake, topped with my own Coffee Buttercream. Just about the richest thing I've ever baked.

SEPTEMBER

I'm acting in a play right now about a woman who bakes to battle her "nerve-riddled insomnia" (she's managing the care of her mother, who is dealing with Alzheimer's). She recites the recipe for a Coconut Cake in the play and I decided I should try to make it. A few altitude alterations, plus a frosting recipe I threw together and it turned out delicious. Also super rich, but worth it. Here's a picture of the recipe, printed in the program (note, "unsalted butt" is a typo, in case you couldn't guess):

The cake recipe comes from the mum of this sweet (and super smart and talented) guy:

It's Autumn now. Pie season. Time for squash-y, nutty, cinnamon-y things. I've got one million irons in the fire, but still plan to bake when time permits. Otherwise I'll literally drive myself crazy. 

Next up: Sweet Potato Speculoos Pie. I just can't find anything wrong with that idea.

No Meat Mincemeat Pie

This is how this recipe started. 

It's an old Baker family recipe that's been handed down to me. It strikes me that older recipes are a little less exact than recipes we write now. Maybe baking was as much oral/practical tradition as it was written, I don't know. But this seems like a recipe written more as a reminder than as instructions for someone who has never made it before. At any rate, it's a dessert pie THAT CONTAINS MEAT. Which doesn't go over too well with my people.

But...I like the spiced fruits and other flavors in mincemeat. Everything except the meat. So I wanted to try a little revamp.

Here's what I came up with:

No Meat Mincemeat Pie (in progress) *click here for printable version*

Pie pastry for 1 9-inch, 2 crust pie

2 c. peeled and diced Granny Smith apple (½ inch dice)

1 c. golden raisins

½ c. dried tart cherries (or more)

¼ c. currants

¼ c. chopped figs (or more)

2 T. finely chopped lemon rind

¼ c. brown sugar

¼ c. white sugar

½ c. apple juice

1 T. cinnamon

¼ tsp. each mace, nutmeg, allspice

juice and grated rind of 1 orange

1 tsp. salt

1 T. bourbon

2 T. butter cut into 8 pieces

Stir all ingredients except butter together in a saucepan and boil until apples start to soften and juice is reduced by about half. Pour into a 9 inch pie crust and dot the top with butter pieces. Top with second crust (vented). Bake at 400 for 45 to 50 minutes.

You'll notice it's pretty unrecognizable compared to the original recipe. It's almost like the beginnings of the fruitcake I make. Which isn't a bad thing, in my opinion. Now, a couple of things: 1. This was my first attempt. There was *something* missing. Something that I couldn't quite put my finger on. Possibly the depth the molasses brings. Next time around, I'm going to try adding a tablespoon of molasses and see where that gets us. I'm also going to add a little more of both figs and cherries (hence, the "or more" instructions). 2. This is kind of a "throw in what you like" pie. Don't like raisins? Leave them out! Prefer dried apricots to figs? Throw them in! I think the point is to end up with approximately this amount of dried fruit (2 cups total). Same with spices. You like ginger? Throw it in there!

I guess it really needs a new name. Spicefruit Pie? You people must be more clever than I am--come up with something!

TGIP Rating--No Meat Mincemeat Pie--KEEPER/EXPERIMENTER. I need to try some more options before I'll call this one finished. And I need to have the Pie King try it.

Next up: Well, as you probably know, this Saturday is the ultimate Pi Day (3.1415). Seems like I need to make an epic pie. I've been wanting to try Momofuku's Crack Pie for ages. Now's the time.

Cherry Limeade Cupcakes

First off, you should know that Cherry Limeade is probably my favorite thing in the world. Okay. ONE OF my favorite things. So, this cupcake recipe was sort of a "OF COURSE I want to make that and why didn't I think of it myself" proposition. 

Positives first: I've never used a recipe that so precisely yielded exactly what it promised. I tripled the recipe. Enough batter for EXACTLY 36 cupcakes and the perfect amount of frosting to frost those 36 cupcakes. Brilliant. Turns out, I made a dozen more than I should have and they ended up here 3 days later:

But that's on me. I should have sent the extras home with this one. He looks like he could use an extra cupcake or 12, doesn't he?

The cake itself was lovely, not too sweet, nice level of lime-y-ness. Also, they're pretty to look at (even if I didn't do all the garnishing I could have and even though my cherries didn't have stems) (which, why didn't they?!):

Now, for the negatives. Which, there's only one and it's a niggling little thing: I need more cherry in my cherry frosting. And maybe less generalized sweetness. 

Fortunately, these were very quick and easy to whip together, so I can try again. I might try a little cherry extract along with the maraschino cherry juice. And I might see if I can reduce the powdered sugar and still get the right texture. Because the idea is perfection. I think I just need to tweak it for my personal tastes.

TGIP Rating--Cherry Limeade Cupcakes--Almost there. Almost. I'll take another crack and see if I can't make them perfect FOR ME. As the recipe stands right now, they are probably perfect for somebody else. Maybe even you.

Next up: A beloved and generous friend has gifted me with pounds and pounds of rhubarb this summer. I'm a relative newcomer to it, so I'm improvising much of the time, but I'm doing my best to solve the mystery that is "pie plant" (I kind of love that that's what rhubarb is called in some circles). I'm guinea-pigging my friends and loved ones and working toward the perfect rhubarb pie recipe. And then you'll have it too!

Linzer Torte

This is my last baking project of 2013! And it sort of sums up where I think my baking is headed. I think.

I have never tasted a Linzer Torte before now. I've had cookies that are sort of reminiscent of it (in both flavor and design), but that's the closest I've come. It has always seemed like an exotically European dessert and, it turns out, that's exactly what it tastes like. In all the best ways. Yes, the crust is a little difficult to handle. But other than that, it's a very easy recipe. And frankly, the fact that the crust behaves the way it does isn't really a big deal. By the time it's all put together and baked, you can't tell what is crust and what is filling, and whether your lattice is an honest-to-goodness lattice or a cheat (spoiler, mine was a cheat).

The taste is sweet, but not too sweet. The texture is complex and nutty and crunchy. It tastes distinctly European, and I don't even know how to describe what I mean by that. Just trust me.

And here's why I think it's a good summation of my baking style--it's rustic. Not particularly fancy-looking. But the taste is perfect. A little tart, a little sweet, a little complex. The more I bake the more I discover that I'm just not one for fancy desserts. I think they have their place. But that place is decidedly not in my kitchen.

TGIP Rating--smitten kitchen's Linzer Torte--KEEPER. It might become a Christmas tradition. Festive and delightful.

Next up: I feel like I didn't do much baking this year, but I'm going to do a 2013 Year-in-Review anyway. Revisit and see what stands out.

P.S. In other news, I filled my first pie order. One cherry and one apple (plus some pie dough cookies) for a dear woman I was fortunate to share the stage with this year.

Sweet Cherry and Hazelnut Galette

This, for me, was a hot mess. Literally. So much juice. So much leakage. The crust, while delicious, was not very elastic and had a tendency to just crack as I tried to wrap it up around the filling.

Which made for the worst leakage I've had with a galette. Or maybe it's just that cherries in galettes don't work. For me. And, honestly, I didn't particularly like the baked sweet cherries. I love cherries. Apparently in just about any form BUT THIS. Here's the recipe if you want to give it a try yourself.


TGIP Rating--Sweet Cherry and Hazelnut Galette--PARTIAL LOSER. The crust is really delicious, but I think I'd like to try it with some other filling. Possibly even use it as a tart dough that can be pressed into a pan and filled with, I don't know, caramel and nutella? Just spitballing over here.

Next up: My friend's sweet Mom is going to teach me how to make frosting roses. I've been wanting to learn FOR YEARS. I used to pore over The Pie Queen's Wilton cake decorating book coveting both the cakes and the skill to decorate cakes like that. I can't wait.

Birthday CakeS

Things I did on July 20:

• Turned 44 (not ashamed to admit my age). 
• Made my own birthday cakeS (it's okay) (no, really, I WANTED to) (in fact, I might do it every year from now on).

I made this one and this one. I frosted the Angel Food with this buttercream recipe (which I LOVE) and added to it a little more than a cup of chopped fresh cherries and about 1/2 tsp cherry extract.

The Campfire Delight I made because I thought the marshmallow filling sounded incredible. Which it is. I was also really surprised and pleased with the cake. It stayed moist, even though it spent a couple of days in my fridge waiting to be finished. And it didn't sink. It didn't puff up either, which I guess is something I aspire to because then I know I could lop off the top and have completely even layers. But let's face it--I will probably never have perfectly even layers. Just not in my wheel-house apparently.

I'm also just now noticing that Sweetpolita only used the marshmallow filling for three of the filling layers, instead of all 5 like I did. That would also explain the amount of chocolate frosting I had leftover. Will fix that NEXT TIME. I will also weigh my fillings so I know I'm using the same amount between each layer because (look above again) that's pretty uneven. Nevertheless, this was unbelievably delicious. Rich, but not too rich. Textured. The toasted marshmallows left some crunchy bits in the filling that I thought were really lovely. Complex. The malted chocolate frosting is SO GOOD. So good. mr. says it's the best cake I've ever made and he's not even much of a marshmallow fan. So, yes, there will be a NEXT TIME.

The Angel Food cake I made because it was always my cake of choice when I was a kid. With cherry frosting. The last time I made Angel Food it didn't turn out as nicely as I'd hoped. So, when a food blogger who lives in my area code posted a recipe I thought maybe she had found the secret to Angel Food At Altitude, and I figured her recipe would be worth trying. It was. See? 

Just right. Light and fluffy. Not spongy in that bouncy way that Angel Food cake sometimes is. And with the cherry frosting it tasted pretty much exactly like the cake from my childhood. As it turns out though, my tastes have changed. The false and oversweet cherry flavor from the extract was...not pleasant. Somehow not the kind of cherry flavor that I wanted to taste. It was still a delicious combination of cake and frosting, but probably not one I'll make again. The cherry buttercream, however, THAT I know I can improve on and use in other ways. I'm going to start by making my own cherry extract. 

This picture contains some of my favorite things in the world. More on that in another post.

TGIP Rating: Campfire Delight Cake--KEEPER. Next time I'll pay attention and do the fillings right.

Angel Food Cake--KEEPER. It's perfect.

Cherry Buttercream--TO BE IMPROVED. I know just how.

Next up: More cherries. This time in a more rustic but still summery application. Sweet Cherry and Hazelnut Galette.

Triple-lemon Raspberry Layer Cake

This beautiful thing is, unfortunately, not my handiwork. I made the lemon curd between the layers, but other than that, it's all the work of my best girl, Min. She used this recipe with raspberries instead of blueberries (inspired), made a couple of adjustments for altitude and...lovely. It was delicious as well as amazing looking. And yes, that's a Golden Snitch on top. THAT MIN MADE with her own two hands, a jawbreaker, some tootsie rolls, and edible gold spray.

Look at the beautiful raspberries! 

Look at the beautiful crumb coat!

Look at the beautiful layers! 

Also, this was her first completely-from-scratch layer cake. And one other thing, she pretty much made it in the middle of the night which...I just couldn't. I'm not very good at staying awake.

TGIP Rating--Triple-lemon Raspberry Layer Cake--KEEPER. Or, I should say TRYER, I need to try it myself because Min's was perfect.

Next up: Change of plans, Mystery Cake will have to wait until sometime in the Fall, I think. My birthday is this weekend and I'm making myself two, yes, 2 cakes (because I couldn't decide on just one). This one. And also this one with cherry buttercream (my perennial birthday cake request up to the age of 14, when I discovered Sarno's rum cake). 

Recipe Roulette--Chocolate Strawberry Cupcakes

Another easy one using pieces of various recipes--Frankencupcakes. I used this chocolate cake recipe (which incidentally, is the easiest and most reliable cake recipe I've EVER encountered--sometimes I wonder why I try any fancy new recipes). I dipped the tops in the ganache from this recipe (which is pretty much like any other ganache recipe you'll find out there). Then I made a batch of this buttercream (which, I've said before, is the best buttercream recipe around--even when problems happen (mine wasn't coming together so I put it in the fridge for 20-30 minutes and when I put it back on the mixer it came together perfectly)) and added a full jar of this (and just enough red food coloring):

I piped it on top of the ganache (you can see below I actually made a variety of combinations to accommodate different tastes in my family--some people don't like chocolate--I KNOW). Then I sprinkled on some black sugar BECAUSE IT'S BEAUTIFUL. Et voila.

The strawberry flavor wasn't quite as strong as I wanted it to be, but I couldn't find the freezer jam I used in the strawberry portion of this recipe. Nevertheless, it was delicious. The ganache adds a decadent touch to something that is otherwise incredibly simple. The buttercream didn't react adversely to so much jam being added, it really held up nicely. And in case you ever need to know, that full recipe frosted about 60 cupcakes.

TGIP Rating--Chocolate Strawberry Cupcakes--KEEPER. I need to find that freezer jam if I'm going to do this again, though. Even though the chocolate flavor isn't SUPER rich, it needs a stronger strawberry flavor to match it.

Next up: Summertime. Hm. I think we need cookies in the house. Cookies that are almost like s'mores. Like these ones.