TWD: cran-apple crisps

Since the days are now shorter my natural light picture taking time has decreased. Now when I procrastinate on Sunday afternoons I find myself racing against the setting sun. The sun totally beat me on these crisps. I got them out of the oven around 5:00 and it was just too dark to get a decent photo. I had to take the picture of the finished crisp this morning before work.

I made a version with just apples and fresh cranberries and it was super delicious. I loved the tartness of the cranberries with the yummy crisp topping.

I also made an apple, walnut and caramel version after drooling over Chocolatechic's adaptations last week. It was also delicious.

This is the perfect dessert. Simple to make and tasty.

Thanks to Em of The Repressed Pastry Chef for picking out this yummy recipe. Check out her blog for the recipe. It is definitely worth it. Also head on over to Tuesday's with Dorie to see what all the other bakers whipped up this week.

If you were wondering about Charlie's (the cat) Halloween costume check out the post from Monday.

msc: (tardy) sweet potato cupcakes

I made them. They are late but I did make them. Here they are. Pete says they are yummy. I have not tried one yet but I'm sure they are.

Thanks to Karen of Karen's Cookies, Cakes & More for picking this month's cupcakes. Make sure you check out her blog and all the bakers at MS: Cupcakes Club.

To get you all in the mood for Thanksgiving...

Because nothing says Thanksgiving like sweet potato cupcakes and a cat dressed as a turkey/chicken.

TWD: sugar-topped molasses spice cookies (aka heaven)

I adore ginger cookies. I'm always on the hunt for the perfect ginger snap. Trader Joe's used to sell little ginger snap cookies in a small tin that were fantastic. I would eat them until I was sick. I also adore the Mother's Cookies little ginger bread men that are only sold during the holidays. Whenever I would see them I would buy four or five bags just in case they were gone the next time I went to the store. Last year was a sad year since Mother's Cookies went belly up. But I've heard they were bought and I am awaiting my little ginger bread men. Now I may not need those little men to make me happy, because these cookies are so much better. They taste like heaven.

I made the dough for these cookies last Sunday and due to laziness I didn't actually bake them until Friday night. The cookie is made up of everything that is delicious - ginger, brown sugar, and molasses. While they were cooling I decided I better try one to make sure it was okay. It was. Just to be sure though I tried 3 more. I don't want Pete to have to eat anything that isn't perfect. I make a lot of sacrifices for him.

These cookies are going to be my go to for ginger deliciousness. They also make the perfect ice cream sandwich. I made the ice cream sandwich for pictures and took two or three bites. I put it in the freezer to save for later but Pete beat me to it. He did say it was very yummy.

Thanks to Pamela of Cookies with Boys for picking this winning cookie. Check out her darling blog for the recipe (it will probably be posted on November 17th). Also head over to Tuesdays with Dorie to see what all the other bakers whipped up this week. It could be cake, cookies or a crisp. All sound and look yummy.

TWD: all in one holiday bundt cake

I'm going to keep it short and sweet this week. For the month of November we can make the recipes out of order so my first pick was this bundt cake. It truly is all in one with the usual assortment of yummy holiday spices, pumpkin, cranberries, and pecans. It made the house smell heavenly and tasted delicious. I'll be making this again and again. Pete has been gobbling it down.

The only thing sweeter and more delicious than this bundt cake is this...

Willa was a lady bug for Halloween. I'll post a picture of Charlie (the cat) in his Halloween costume as soon as I can figure out how to hold him down and take a picture at the same time.

Thanks to Britin of The Nitty Britty for picking this delicious cake. I'm not sure when the recipe will be up on her blog but check back because this cake is worth it. Also head over to Tuesdays with Dorie to see what the other bakers baked this week.

TWD: cherry-fudge brownie torte

When I looked at this recipe I thought ugh. It was one of those weeks when all I really wanted was a cookie. No fancy schmancy torte with cherries. I was also clean out of kirsch. I can't keep that stuff stocked in my house. Willa has a real problem when it comes to kirsch. Despite all my problems with this recipe the guilt (gut wrenching and torturous) I would feel for not making it beat out my ugh.

There was one upshot to making this recipe. When I told Pete how many servings a full recipe would make he decided a half recipe was necessary which prompted a trip to Williams-Sonoma for some cute baby springform pans.

Because Willa drank all the kirsch I substituted it with some red wine. Someone mentioned using it in the comment section and I thought that was perfect. I also am clean out of any sort of alcohol that would go good in baked goods. Who drank all the rum? Willa was that you? I'm thinking vodka and gin don't mix with baked goods.

This brownie had black pepper in it. Interesting. I could taste it but Pete couldn't. My half recipe filled two mini springform pans almost to the top. I made the mascarpone mousse with no changes. I adored the mousse. I could eat that mousse every day all day. I licked the spoon, the bowl, and my fingers. So good. I thought the brownie was okay. I don't like cherries so I tried to avoid the cherry bites. Pete liked it. He said it wasn't his favorite but it has slowly been disappearing.

Willa was too drunk to really enjoy this dessert. This is what happens when you drink all the kirsch in the house. Look at those glassy eyes. She could barely sit up straight in her chair.

Thanks to April of Short + Rose for picking this week's recipe. Check out her blog for her take on this dessert and the recipe. Also head over to Tuesdays with Dorie to see what the other bakers thought this week.

TWD: sweet potato biscuits

I love sweet potatoes and I love biscuits so it was a given that I would love sweet potato biscuits. Too bad my biscuits resembled hardtack instead of puffy soft biscuits. At least there are a lot of uses for rock hard biscuits. You can use them to hammer in nail, as a hockey puck, a paper weight, a frisbee or dog chew toy. Really the list of uses is endless. You can also eat them. You just have to be careful you don't lose a tooth.

This was only my second time making biscuits. The first time was much worse which is saying something. With those ones I could cut glass. At this rate I may eventually make the perfect biscuit.

I used fresh sweet potatoes. I baked them in the oven until they were nice and soft and then skinned and mashed them. I used 1 cup of sweet potatoes per Dorie's directions. I have an unexplained aversion to canned potatoes. They give me the willies. I also added a pinch of cinnamon because who can say no cinnamon. Not me.

After I rolled/patted out my dough and cut my biscuits I realized that Dorie recommended a smaller sized biscuit. Oops. I don't know if these were cut smaller if they would have puffed up. I'm thinking probably not. Maybe if I stacked two biscuits together they would have been puffy. I put my biscuits in the oven and checked on them with mounting dread. These babies looked exactly the same when I put them in the oven as when I took them out. They just got a bit brown. Another biscuit failure.

These biscuits had one thing going for them...they taste wonderful. Even when you totally screw these up they are still yummy. Maybe a little crunchy and dry but still tasty. I'll have to give these another try. I will not let biscuits defeat me. Someday I'll be able to whip a nice light fluffy puffy biscuit.

Thanks to Erin of Prudence Pennywise for picking this recipe. Check out her cute blog for the recipe or get a copy of Dorie's book. I'm sure all the other Tuesdays with Dorie bakers had some good and tasty looking biscuits. You should head on over and check them all out.

P.S. Pete says thanks for all the nice comments from his post last week. You all were so nice he even offered to write a post for me whenever I want. Awesome.

msc: pumpkin patch cupcakes (aka MY PICK!)

Yeah! My pick. This is the first time (in my short food blogging adventures) of getting to pick a recipe. So if you hated these you can blame me and the little pumpkin decorations. It was the pumpkins that drew me in. I won't feel bad if you leave me sad faces in the comments. I also picked these because I wanted something that was season appropriate. Nothing screams fall like pumpkin, cinnamon, ginger and cloves.

So after I totally rocked it in the kitchen and made the best pumpkin patch cupcakes ever I realized that I totally forgot to take any action shots. Now you probably don't believe me that these were the best pumpkin patch cupcakes ever. You'll just have to trust me.

I only made half of the recipe since a full recipe makes 32. That's a lot of cupcakes. I also made a half recipe of the cream cheese frosting. Martha's cream cheese frosting recipe makes a ridiculous amount of frosting. But it tastes so good.

Since these were my pick I figured I had to at least try and attempt the marzipan pumpkin decoration. I did not however attempt to make my own marzipan. I picked up a tube of marzipan at Whole Foods. I colored about 2/3 of the marzipan with red and yellow gel food coloring to make orange for the pumpkins. I tinted the remaining marzipan with green food coloring. To make the cute little pumpkins you roll the orange marzipan into approximately 3/4 inch balls. You then make a little hole in the top and press a toothpick along the sides from top to bottom to make the pumpkin ridges. I tried to find a leaf cutter at Michael's and then Williams Sonoma with no luck. All the leaf cutters I found were huge. I thought about cutting out my own leaves but went the lazy route and decided to just make stems. These are pumpkin patch cupcakes that have been cut from the vine and are now sitting on straw bales waiting to be picked by some cute little tot.

Does anyone like the taste of marzipan? I can't stand it. Pete didn't like it either. The pumpkins ended up in the trash but at least they looked cute first.

I've had some issues with just slathering frosting on cupcakes. Last time I did that with this cream cheese frosting my cupcakes looked like they were wearing helmets. Not an attractive look. This time I decided I would pipe it on and then place the little pumpkins in the center. Pete was impressed with my mad decorating skills. The pumpkins were really easy to make and would be a great activity for kids to help with. Anyone have a kid I can borrow to make more of these pumpkins?

So you are probably wondering how these tasted. They were good. I didn't love them but I found them tasty. Pete did most of the work in the eating department. He loved them. These are a nice fall treat and I think most people would enjoy them. You can find the recipe on page 236 of Martha Stewart's Cupcake book. We are not supposed to post the recipe but I think with some google searches you could find it or you could buy the book.

Thanks everyone for baking along with me this week. I hope you liked these and if not my apologies. Blame the cute little pumpkins. I couldn't resist. Make sure you check out what all the other bakers did with this recipe at MS: Cupcakes Club.