Apple Cake "Tatin"

A real tatin is made with puff pastry. This is a "pseudo tatin". If you want the real thing go to Mon Ami Gabi in the Paris Hotel. Best dessert in Las Vegas. Believe it.

6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus extra for greasing the dish
1 1/4 Granny Smith apples, peeled and sliced into 12 pieces
1 3/4 cups granulated sugar, divided
2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
1/3 cup sour cream
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
Confectioners' sugar

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Generously butter a 9-inch glass pie dish and arrange the apples in the dish, cut side down.

Combine 1 cup of the granulated sugar and 1/3 cup water in a small saucepan and cook over high heat until it turns a warm amber color, about 360 degrees F on a candy thermometer. Swirl the pan but don't stir. Pour evenly over the apple slices.

Meanwhile, cream the 6 tablespoons of butter and the remaining 3/4 cup of granulated sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, until light and fluffy. Lower the speed and beat in the eggs 1 at a time. Add the sour cream, zest, and vanilla and mix until combined. Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt and, with the mixer on low speed, add it to the butter mixture. Mix only until combined.

Pour the cake batter evenly over the apple slices and bake for 30 to 40 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool for 15 minutes, then invert the cake onto a flat plate. If an apple slice sticks, ease it out and replace it in the design on top of the cake. Serve warm or at room temperature, dusted with confectioners' sugar.

Pumpkin Pound Cake

I made this cake last weekend . . . with a mere 3/4 cup of pumpkin it tastes more like a spice pound cake rather than a full blown pumpkin dessert. It's delicious, especially if you serve it with a cream cheese frosting or the glaze recipe Land O' Lakes recommends.

Pound Cake Ingredients:

3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups butter, softened
6 eggs
3/4 cup canned pumpkin
3/4 cup milk

Glaze Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
3 tablespoons butter, softened
4-6 teaspoons milk

Heat oven to 350°F. Combine flour, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda and salt in medium bowl. Set aside.

Combine sugar and 1 1/2 cups butter in large bowl. Beat at medium speed, scraping bowl often, until creamy. Continue beating, adding eggs one at a time, until well mixed. Add pumpkin; continue beating until well mixed. Reduce speed to low. Beat, gradually adding flour mixture alternately with 3/4 cup milk, until well mixed.

Spoon batter into greased and floured 12-cup Bundt® pan. Bake for 55 to 60 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pan. Cool completely.

Combine powdered sugar, 3 tablespoons butter and enough milk for desired glazing consistency in small bowl. Glaze cooled cake OR dust with powdered sugar.

Like the bundt pan? It's perfect for a pound cake since the extra edges/ridges produce more pound cake crunch. I've also used this one for years as well as this one.

Apple Crisp

This isn't the apple crisp we all know . . . the one with a nutty oatmeal crust. This is different . . . and delicious. If you can get McIntosh apples, do it. Otherwise a Granny Smith works perfectly.

8 apples
1 cup brown sugar
1 t. cinnamon
3/4 cup flour
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup water

Pare and quarter apples and cut lengthwise into four slices. Put sliced apples in bottom of buttered dish. Add water. Combine sugar, cinnamon and flour and rub in butter to make crumbs. Spread crumbs over apples evenly and bake at 375 for 40 minutes.

If only I could drive to an apple orchard at home to get the apples ...

Molasses Crinkles

This is a recipe that belonged to my grandmother . . . I still have the scrap of paper in her handwriting. They are chewy and delicious and remind me of Autumn.

2 cups flour
1 t. baking soda, cinnamon, ginger
1/2 t. salt
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup molasses

Mix flour, soda and cinnamon, ginger and salt. Set aside. Cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Beat in egg and molasses. Stir in flour mixture just until blended. Drop by teaspoonfuls and put on greased cookie sheets 1/2" apart. Bake at 375 for 12-15 minutes or until lightly browned.

Pumpkin Cheesecake

Reposted from 11/6/08:

I received the premiere issue of The Food Network Magazine yesterday. Let me just say it's a fun magazine. Believe me, the last thing I need is another magazine subscription . . . but this one is a keeper.

They have a feature article entitled "Copy That!". This month they decided to "reverse engineer" The Cheesecake Factory's pumpkin cheesecake since the restaurant chain has its signature recipes "locked up tighter than a CIA brief". I was excited.

The pumpkin obsession is a new one for me . . . I was never a fan. That all changed when I joined Weight Watchers in 2005 - pumpkin happens to be a "free" food. Sure enough I developed a taste for it. Now I can't get enough. If you're a hater like I was, try to live a little. It's a scrumptious walk on the wild side.

12 T unsalted butter, melted
2 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
2 3/4 cups sugar
salt
2 lbs. cream cheese at room temperature
3/4 cup sour cream
1 15 oz. can pure pumpkin
6 large eggs, room temperature, lightly beaten
1 T. vanilla
2 1/2 t. ground cinnamon
1 t. ground ginger
1/4 t. ground cloves
2 cups sweetened whipped cream
1/3 cups toasted pecans, roughly chopped

Preheat oven to 325. Brush 10-inch springform pan with some of the butter. Stir in the remaining butter with the crumbs, 1/4 cup of the sugar and a pinch of the salt. Press the crumb mixture into the bottom and up the sides of the pan, packing it tightly and evenly. Bake until golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes. Cool on a rack, then wrap the outside of the springform pan with foil and place in a roasting pan.

Bring a medium pot of water to a boil. Meanwhile beat the cream cheese with a mixer until smooth. Add the remaining 2 1/4 cups sugar and beat until just light, scraping down the sides of the bowl and beaters as needed. Beat in the sour cream, then add the pumpkin, eggs, vanilla and 1 t. salt and the spices and beat until just combined. Pour into the cooled crust.

Gently place the roasting pan in the oven (don't pull the rack out) and pour the boiling water into the roasting pan until it comes about halfway up the sides of the springform pan. Bake until the outside of the cheesecake sets but the center is still loose, about 1 hour, 45 minutes. Turn off the oven and open the door briefly to let out some heat. Leave the cheesecake in the oven for 1 more hour, then carefully remove from the roasting pan and cool on a rack. Run a knife around the edges, cover and refrigerate at least 8 hours or overnight.

Bring the cheesecake to room temperature 30 minutes before serving. Unlock and remove the springform ring. To finish, place a dollop of the whipped cream on each slice and sprinkle with the toasted pecans.

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

Originally posted 10/19/08

Tis the season. These are fantastic. The more traditional whoopie pies reside here. I like the pumpkin version...

Ingredients

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, 1 stick melted, 1/2 stick softened
1 cup packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature, lightly beaten
1 cup canned pure pumpkin puree
1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon plus 2 pinches salt
1 2/3 cups flour
4 ounces cream cheese, chilled
1 cup confectioners' sugar

1. Preheat the oven to 350°. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the melted butter and brown sugar until smooth. Whisk in the eggs, pumpkin puree, pumpkin pie spice, 1 teaspoon vanilla, the baking powder, the baking soda and 3/4 teaspoon salt. Using a rubber spatula, fold in the flour.
3. Using an ice cream scoop or tablespoon, drop 12 generous mounds of batter, spaced evenly, onto each baking sheet. Bake until springy to the touch, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool completely.
4. Meanwhile, using an electric mixer, cream the softened butter with the cream cheese. Add the confectioners' sugar and the remaining 2 pinches salt and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla; mix on low speed until blended, then beat on medium-high speed until fluffy, about 2 minutes.
5. Spread the flat side of 12 cakes with the cream cheese frosting. Top each with another cake.