TWD: Cran-Apple Crisp

So easy, so good, so TART!!

The recipe for this weeks TWD, chosen by Em from The Repressed Pastry Chef, was really easy to throw together. Most of the ingredients I keep around so this could be something to make up at a moment's notice.

I threw in some extra fresh cranberries so I could use the last of the bag. Right now I think I have a total of 5 bags of fresh cranberries in the freezer. I tend to stock up on them at this time and then use them throughout the year...you never know when you might need cranberries!
I also subbed in half whole wheat flour. I threw all the topping ingredients into the food processor and pulsed for the full minute. I thought I blew it at the beginning when the topping started to resemble powdered sugar but I kept it on and it all came together to form large clumps. Does anyone else think their food processor is more trouble than it is worth. Anyone?

I made my crisp as one large one in my beautiful red Martha Stewart baking dish. Very festive. I assembled everything and then brought it over to some friends' house for dessert. I baked the crisp when I got there and it made the whole house smell like the holidays.

We served it with scoops of vanilla ice cream.

Wow...this thing packs a pucker punch! Everyone loved it...not too sweet and just the right amount of crunch in the topping.

This is all that was left the next day.

I ate it for breakfast because it had oatmeal and fruit in it. :)

Don't forget to stop by here to see what the others have made this week.

Thanks for stopping by.

Mixed up TWD: All in One Holiday Bundt Cake

This month TWD is all mixed up....As I have a PTC meeting to attend tonight I chose the beautiful All in One Holiday Bundt cake which Britin at The Nitty Britty selected. If you don't have Dorie Greenspan's Baking: From My Home to Yours yet...go out and pick it up! It's a wonderful baking book and this recipe can be found on pages 186-187.

I love bundt cakes and have been following Mary from The Food Librarian as she makes one bundt a day during the month of November for National Bundt Day on November 15th. Some of hers look absolutely wonderful.....wonder if she'll make this one?

This sure lives up to the All in One Holiday part of it's name...pumpkin, fresh cranberries, apples and pecans not to mention cinnamon, ginger and fresh nutmeg.

Here's what I used:

I was going to roast my sugar pie pumpkins but decided to use those for a pumpkin pie so I can get the full pumpkin flavor.

I used apples from a friend's tree:

I used the one on the left...the smaller ones are perfect kid-size!

Dropped them down the side onto the counter.

Chopped up some frozen cranberries.

For some reason I had been thinking that this recipe used dried cranberries and even stocked up on some this weekend at Trader Joes. Good thing I had some fresh in the freezer...but I bet it would be fine with the dried.

I left the pecans out of the cake...not sure all the parents like nuts.

Mine took 54 minutes to bake.

Naked bundt:

Fancy dress bundt:

I used the maple glaze Dorie mentions and sprinkled some chopped pecans on the top. They can scrape those off if they don't want them. :)

Perfect for a holiday table....or classroom table....either is fine.

Don't forget to stop over here to see what the others came up with.

Thanks for stopping by.

As Michele put it...Autumn Deliciousness!

My friend Michele, she of the persimmon, lemon, fig trees, and I made apple cider donuts at her house last Sunday.

It was an experience.

I found the recipe on the Smitten Kitchen blog. The dough came together very easily. We doubled the recipe to make more donuts, if you can imagine. The reducing of the apple cider is not a step to be missed...both in the donut batter and the glaze for the topping.

Remember to keep you donut dough/batter? not sure which one to use here...cold prior to cutting and frying. Ours got a little soft and we couldn't cut the donut shapes.

Also...frying just 3 at a time in a small deep fryer works best. We couldn't turn the donuts over if there were more than 3 in there at a time.

I like the cinnamon/sugar topping the best and they are heavenly when eaten warm!

Thanks to Michele's mom for finding us the fall plate. :)

Thanks for stopping by.

Some cakes

I have been busy again! I love it and would never complain....I'll show you what I've been working on:

4 dozen chocolate and vanilla cupcakes frosted with vanilla and chocolate frosting. Simple fall colored decorations. These were for a wedding rehearsal dinner. :


A fun cake for a 16th birthday party. Alana's mom gave me a photograph of what she wanted and I went from there:

Bottom tier is a 9" vanilla cake with fresh strawberries and vanilla SMBC. Top tier is the same but filled with lemon curd. All decorations are homemade marshmallow fondant except for the "16" which was made from gum paste. (Wires weren't edible) Please excuse the quality of the photograph, I was in a hurry to deliver!

A Dora cake for a little girl turning 4:

10" chocolate cake with vanilla SMBC and homemade MMF decorations. Store-bought Dora candle.

2 dozen mini chocolate cupcakes with vanilla frosting for a birthday celebration at school:

2 dozen s'mores cupcakes for a Halloween party.

Love the ghostly faces

A Jack Skellington cake for a birthday close to Halloween:

9" vanilla cake with lemon curd filling and lemon SMBC. Fondant face. I do believe my smooth icing is improving!

Isn't that the cutest cake you've ever seen? :)

Thanks for stopping by!

TWD: Sugar Topped Molasses Spice Cookies

This month's Tuesdays with Dorie selections are different. Because of the Thanksgiving holiday this month, we are allowed to post any of the 4 chosen recipes on any Tuesday this month. Since I plan on making the fancy Chocolate Caramel Chestnut Cake for Thanksgiving dessert, I chose to make these lovely cookies first thanks to Pamela over at Cookies with Boys.

These babies do pack a wallop of flavor! Spicy, sweet, peppery...all that goodness. I didn't put the "large" pinch of cracked pepper in the mix...stuck with the "small" as the kids will be eating these. I also rolled the balls in turbinado sugar prior to baking. I like the finished look of the cookies I didn't press down before putting them in the oven. I think you can see the sugar crystals clearly and I think they're prettier :)

These cookies taste like Christmas. I kept half of the dough in the freezer to make later this month as it has been about 85 degrees here for the last week...it sure doesn't feel like fall/winter here!

I'm also excited this week as a friend of mine from high school who moved to Colorado and started a family has joined TWD!!! Shelly, whose blog can be found here, and I have kept in touch throughout the many years we have lived far away from one another and I am happy we get to do this together!!

Stop by here to see what the others baked up.

Thanks for stopping by.