Apple Pudding Cake

Pictures coming! I did also see this recipe on another blog but I got the recipe from a family cook book.
Apple Pudding Cake
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup butter
2 eggs
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
4 cups shredded raw apples (I used my food storage by using the dried apples from the cannery..I just rehydrated them and they worked great!)
Mix all together, adding apples last, and bake at 350 for 45 minutes. Serve with butter sauce.
Butter Sauce
1 cup butter
2 cups sugar
1 cup canned evaporated milk (NOT sweetened condensed)
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
Heat over low heat for 10-12 minutes (do not boil)
My notes:
This was a really yummy treat but it definately needs the butter sauce. Without it the cake was pretty plain.

Pumpkin Cheesecake

Pumpkin Cheesecake

Crust:

1 3/4 cups crushed gingersnaps (I made my favorite molasses cookies and they were great)

6 T butter, melted

3/4 cup pecans

3 Tablespoons brown sugar

Combine all ingredients and mix well. Press into the bottom and 1 inch up the sides of a 9 inch springform pan.

Filling:

3 (8oz) blocks of cream cheese, softened

3/4 cup pumpkin puree

1 cup white chocolate chips, melted

1 cup sugar

3 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon cloves

Topping:

Sweetened whipped cream

Caramelized pecans

Caramel sauce

Preheat your oven to 350. Wrap your sprinform pan with two pieces of foil. Combine crust ingredients and press into pan. In mixer, beat cream cheese until smooth. Slowly add in the sugar. When well combined, add the eggs, pumpkin, vanilla and spices. Melt chocolate in microwave. With the mixer running pour or spoon melted chocolate in a steady stream into cream cheese mixture. Pour on top of crust. Place the springform pan into a larger pan (I used my roasting pan. I also placed my pan into an oven bag with the side pulled up about half way up the springform pan.) Fill the larger pan to middle of your springform pan with hot water. (Am I making any sense? We are doing a water bath here. If you don't know what I am talking about see the pictures and suggestions here) Bake 60-75 minutes. The center should be set: still jiggly, think firm jello. Remove from oven and water bath to cooling rack and let cool completely. Put in fridge for at least 12 hours. When ready to serve, remove outside of pan, top with whipped cream, caramelized pecans and caramel sauce.

Recipe source:

Our Best Bites

My Notes:

This was my first ever baked cheesecake and it turned out great. I lined my pan with foil and the oven bag because I was afraid it would leak and I didn't want a soggy crust. I thought it better to be safe than sorry. A note about mixing the filling: you do NOT want to overmix cheesecake filling. Having too much air in the mixture causes it to rise during baking and fall during cooling, leaving a monster sized crack in the middle. You want to mix it well, just not beat it too much. Also, if you are not a white chocolate lover, that is not the dominant taste in this cheesecake. The white chocolate just adds richness and depth. Try it! It is yummy!!

Pumpkin Brownies

The next few posts are some of my favorite fall recipes. Don't forget about my all-time favorite pumpkin cake though! I think it is still the best.

Pumpkin Brownie Sundaes

1/2 cup butter, room temp

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon cloves

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 egg

1/2 cup pumpkin puree

3/4 cup flour

Ice cream

Butterscotch sauce

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add in spices. Mix in egg and pumpkin and stir well. Add flour and stir just until combined. Line and 8x8 pan with enough foil to hang over the edges and lightly spray with cooking spray. Pour pumpkin mixture into pan and spread into an even layer. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes. They will still look moist but won't be sticky to the touch. Let cool in pan. To serve, remove foil from pan and cut into bars. Top with ice cream and butterscotch sauce.

Pumpkin Roll

Pumpkin Roll

Cake:

3 eggs

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon lemon juice

2/3 cup pumpkin

3/4 cup flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon ginger

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 teaspoon nutmeg

Get jelly roll pan ready by greasing, flouring, and then cover with waxed paper. Beat eggs on high speed for 5 minutes. Gradually add the sugar while still mixing. Add pumpkin and lemon juice. Mix dry ingredients together and fold into pumpkin mixture. Pour into prepared jelly roll pan. Bake at 375 for 15 minutes. Let cool until warm. While cooling, get a clean dish cloth and sprinkle it with powdered sugar. When pan is warm turn cake onto towl and roll up from the short end. Let cool completely. Unroll, fill with cream cheese filling (follows) and re-roll. Chill before serving with ice cream or whipped cream.

Filling:

1 cup powdered sugar

3 oz cream cheese, softened

4 teaspoons butter

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Beat until smooth. Spread over pumpkin cake.

My notes:

This cake is also really good filled with ice cream! Just let the ice cream thaw until soft then spoon over cake. Re-roll, wrap with plastic wrap and freeze until serving.

The Best Pumpkin Muffins

These muffins are sooo good! They do require making a filling and topping in addition to the muffin batter. The filling needs to be frozen for 1-2 hours so plan ahead!

Pumpkin Muffins with Cream Cheese Filling

Filling:

8 oz cream cheese, softened

1 cup powdered sugar

Mix together and spread into a log on plastic wrap. Roll tightly and freeze for 1-2 hours.

For muffins:

3 cups flour

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon nutmeg

1 teaspoon cloves

1 Tablespoon pumpkin pie spice

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

4 eggs

1 1/4 cup oil

2 cups sugar

2 cups pumpkin puree

Topping:

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup flour

4 Tablespoons cold butter

1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

In two different bowls, combine dry ingredients and wet ingredients. Then mix the two bowls, just until moistened. Remove log of filling from freezer and cut into 24 pieces. Fill muffin cups 1/3 full and top with a filling piece. Scoop remaining batter over the top. Sprinkle with topping mix and bake at 350 for 18-20 minutes.

My Notes:

These seem like a lot of work...they are SO worth it! (and it really isn't all that much work) These are best cold so make them the night before and they are perfect for breakfast, although I think they work well for dessert too. Try not to eat the whole batch!

Apple Pie (Two Ways)

It just isn't fall without apple pie. There is great debate around here about which of these pies is better. I love them both and think that these two recipes are the only apple pie recipes you need. Mike loves the carmel apple one best, my good friend like the crumb pie best. We did decide to put a batch of carmel without the nuts on the crumb pie and that was delicious too.

Apple Crumb Pie

For crust:

2 cups flour

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 egg yolk

3/4 cup butter, melted

Mix together until crumbly. Press half the crumb mixture into the bottom and sides of pie dish.

For Filling:

6-7 apples, peeled and thinly sliced

1/3 cup sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Mix together and pour into pie dish. Sprinkle with remaining crumb mixture. (It will be a heaping pie but will bake down some.) Bake at 350 for 45 minutes.

Carmel Apple Pie

6 cups apples (a variety works best)

2 Tablespoons lime juice

3/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

Pastry for double crust pie (Marilyn's No-Fail recipe)

2 Tablespoons butter

Carmel Topping (follows)

Peel and thinly slice apples into a large bowl. Squeeze lime juice over apples and stir. Combine sugar, flour, cinnamon and salt in small bowl. Add to the apples and stir. Place bottom pastry in pie plate (9" is what I use). Fill with apples and dot with butter. Put on top crust, flute edges and cut slits. Bake at 400 for 40-45 minutes. Watch closely and cover with foil if edges start to get dark. Make carmel. When pie is done, pour on top and bake for another 3-4 minutes.

Carmel topping:

1/4 cup butter

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 Tablespoons whipping cream

1/2 cup chopped pecans (optional--I love them)

Melt butter in saucepan, stir in sugar and cream. Stirring constantly, bring to a boil. Remove from heat and add nuts. Pour over pie.

My Notes:

The carmel apple pie tends to end up leaking as it cooks so put some foil underneath or a pan to catch it. Otherwise you get a HUGE mess!

S'more Bars

1 cup crushed graham crakers

1/2 cup flour

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 cup butter, softened

4 cups mini marshmallows

3/4 cup chocolate chips or m&ms

Chocolate sauce

Butterscotch sauce

Combine graham crackers, flour, sugar, soda and butter until crumbly. Press into greased 9X13 pan. Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes or until golden. Sprinkle marshmallows over crust. Bake 1-2 more minutes, until marshmallows begin to puff. (I wanted mine to be golden brown so I cooked them for 2 minutes and then turned the broiler on for another 2 minutes) Remove from oven and sprinkle chocolate chips over the top. Let cool for 5 minutes then top with chocolate sauce and butterscotch sauce. Let cool completely, about an hour. Cut into bars (8X4 rows works well for 32 bars)

Recipe source: adapted from Pillsbury calendar

My notes:

These are very rich! Make them when you plan to get rid of half the pan!! If you want to make your own chocolate sauce take a bag of chocolate chips and 1 1/2 cups cream. Heat until melted.

Chocolate Angel Food Cupcakes with Cream and Raspberries

Chocolate Angel Food Cupcakes

Makes about 30 cupcakes

Dry ingredients:

3/4 cup all purpose flour

1/4 cup cocoa

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

Egg white mixture:

12 large egg whites, carefully seperated

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/2 teaspoons cream of tartar

3/4 cup sugar

Directions:

In small bowl, wisk the flour, cocoa, sugar, and salt. In mixer, beat egg whites and vanilla until foamy, about 1 minute. Sprinkle cream of tartar over mixture and beat until soft peaks form. Slowly add sugar, beating until stiff peaks form. DO NOT underbeat! Gently fold in flour mixture until just blended.

Preheat oven to 325. Line your cupcake pan. Spoon batter into cups, filling full. (Or if making a cake, pour batter into ungreased tube pan) Bake for 20-25 minutes. (If making cake, bake for 35-45 minutes. Cool over bottle neck and remove from pan.) Remove from pan and cool. Top with sweetened whipped cream, chocolate sauce, and raspberries. Indulge!

Sweetened Whipped Cream

1 cup whipping cream

2 Tablespoons powdered sugar

Beat with mixer until stiff peaks form.

Chocolate Sauce

1 bag semi sweet chocolate chips

1/2 can evaporated milk

Mix together and heat until melted. Refrigerate leftovers.

My notes:

This was my first time successfully making an angel food cake. So good! Just a quick tip for your left over whipped cream: Using a pastry decorator, place little bunches of whipped cream on a piece of parchment paper. Put in freezer for an hour. Then remove from the paper and put into an airtight container. Freeze up to one month. When you need a quick dollop of whipping cream, pull one out of the freezer, let it sit for 5 min. and serve. Works great!

Key Lime Tarts

Key Lime Tarts

5 egg yolks

1 can sweetened condensed milk

1/2 cup fresh lime juice

green food coloring if desired

10 mini graham crusts (or you can make it in a regular graham pie crust)

Sweetened Whipped Cream

Combine the egg yolks, milk, and lime juice well. Add food coloring if you want it to be a nice green color. Place graham crusts on a baking sheet. Fill evenly with lime filling. Bake at 350 for 10 min. Cool to room temp and them put in fridge to chill. Top with sweetened whipped cream.

YUM!

Recipe source: Our Best Bites

My Notes:

To make your own sweetened whipped cream beat 1 cup whipping cream with 2 Tablespoons confectioner's sugar until stiff peaks form.

**If you want to make this as a pie, pour filling into graham pie shell and bake at 350 for 15 min. Cool and top each slice with sweetened cream.

Crunchy Carmel Corn

3 3/4 quarts popped corn

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup butter

1/4 cup corn syrup

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

In saucepan, combine sugar, corn syrup, and salt. Stir occasionally until bubbly. Continue cooking over medium heat for 5 min. Remove from heat and stir in soda until foamy. Pour over popped corn, stirring until well coated. Pour onto foil lined baking sheet and bake at 200 for 1 hour, stirring every 15 min. Break into chunks and let cool. See how long it lasts!

Chocolate Truffle Cookies

Wow. Really. Wow. These are amazingly rich and decadent. I needed a big glass of milk after eating one. And one was plenty to fill my chocolate craving! If you make these, which you should, make them when you are planning to give a bunch away or you have company. Otherwise they will tempt you until you eat the whole batch! 1 1/4 cups butter, room temperature*
2 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup dutch processed cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/4 cup flour
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
about 1/3 cup cocoa (or rolling)
about 2/3 cup powdered sugar (for rolling)
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
Cream butter and slowly add in powdered sugar until well combined. Sift cocoa and salt together and add to cream mixture. Add in vanilla and sour cream. Slowly add in flour and mix until no streaks are left. Stir in chocolate chips. If dough is soft, chill for 30 min.
Roll dough into 1 inch balls and then roll in cocoa powder. Place on baking sheets. You can put them pretty close together as they won't spread much. Bake for 10 min. They will be just barely set but don't cook too long or they will be dry. Remove from oven and let cool on sheet for 3-5 min. Remove to wire rack to cool for 30-45 min. Then roll in powdered sugar and store in airtight container.
Recipe source: Mels Kitchen Cafe
My notes:
*Melanie from Kitchen Cafe had a great note about butter. She says that butter is perfect for creaming when you can press your finger on the butter and it gives just a little but isn't easy to go all the way through. That is important for this recipe because you don't want the dough to be to sof to handle. Chilling the dough is a good option if your kitchen is warm or your butter got too soft. I used just 1 bag of chips, which isn't quite 2 cups and I also used regular cocoa powder and they were still great!

White Chocolate-Fudge Torte

For the Cake Part:

(This layer really is more like fudge)

16 oz semisweet baking chocolate, chopped

1 cup unsalted butter

6 eggs

White Chocolate Topping:

1 cup white chocolate chunks

1 cup heavy whipping cream

1 package cream cheese, softened

1/3 cup powdered sugar

Raspberry Sauce:

1 (10oz) pakage frozen raspberries, thawed

1 Tablespoon cornstarch

1/3 cup red currant jelly (or raspberry)

To make bottom layer: Heat oven to 400. Grease 9-inch spring form pan. In large saucepan, melt chocolate and butter over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until smooth. Cool completely, about 35 min.

In mixer, beat the eggs until triple in volume, about 5 min. Fold eggs into cooled chocolate mixture until WELL blended. Pour into pan and bake 15-20 min. Cake edges will be set but middle will jiggle when moved. Cool completely on wire rack, about 1 hour 30 min. Then place in refridgerator for 1 1/2 hours.

To make white chocolate topping: Heat white chocolate and 3 Tablespoons of whipping cream over low heat, stirring until chocolate is melted. In mixer, beat cream cheese and powdered sugar until smooth. While beating, slowly add white chocolate mixture, beating until smooth, scraping bowl occasionaly. Beat the remaining whipping cream until stiff peaks for and then add to white chocolate mixture until well blended. Spread over cake and refrigerate at leat 1 hour.

To make raspberry sauce: Drain raspberries, reserving the juice. Add water to juice to make 3/4 cup. Combine juice mixture and cornstarch, stir in jelly. Heat until thickened and clear. Add in raspberries, refrigerate until cold.

Recipe Source: Pillsbury Baking Calendar

My Notes:

This might seem a little intimidating but most of the lenghty process is letting things cool and set in the fridge. The cake really is more like fudge so don't be surprised by the taste and texture. (Mike thought it was weird until I mentioned that it was supposed to be like fudge and then it was less surprising.) If you want, you can add mini chocolate chips to the white chocolate layer. I also thought this was great (it is a toss up which way I liked it better) without the raspberry sauce, which would be great to be able to take out a step.

Ultimate Quadruple Chocolate Brownies

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup unsalted butter

4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped

2 cups sugar

4 eggs

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

3/4 cup milk chocolate chips

3/4 cup white chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350. Grease 9X13 pan. Melt chocolate and butter in microwave safe bowl, stirring every 30 seconds. Stir in eggs, sugar, and vanilla and mix well. Add flour and salt, mix until just combined. Stir in chips and spread into greased pan. Bake 25-30 min. Cool, cut and enjoy!

Recipe source: Wilton Brownie Fun

Gingerbread Pear Trifle

1 Gingerbread cake mix, made according to directions

1 large box vanilla pudding, made according to directions

1 large can pears, juice reseved and pears sliced

1 pint whipping cream, whipped (or cheat and use cool whip)

Sauce:

1/2 cup pear juice

3/4 cup brown sugar

5 teaspoons molasses

1 Tablespoon cornsyrup

Start by making your cake and mixing the pudding. Then bring the pear juice to a boil. Turn heat down and add other sauce ingredients. Simmer until frothy. Break your cake into pieces and put a layer on the bottom of your trifle bowl. Top the cake with pudding, then pears, then sauce, and then whipped cream. Then repeat layers until bowl is full. Refidgerate until ready to serve.

Recipe Source: Mike's co-worker Molly

Lush

For the Crust mix:

1 cube butter

1 1/4 cups flour

Press into 9X13 pan and bake at 350 for 15 min. You can also use cookie dough and cook according to directions or until cooked but still soft. Cool.

For the Filling:

1 pakage cream cheese, softened

1 cup powdered sugar

4 oz cool whip

Beat the cream cheese and sugar. Add in the cool whip. Pour onto cooled crust. Top with pudding.

For the Pudding:

2 small packages pudding, any flavor...chocolate is great!

3 cups milk

Wisk together and pour over filling. Refriderate until ready to serve.

Recipe Source: Mandi Weigman

Fruit Cream Pie

1 graham cracker, butter crunch or pastery pie crust

1/4 cup cornstarch

2/3 cup sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 cups scalded milk

3 egg yolks, slightly beaten

2 Tablespoons butter

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Fruit-any kind but berries taste best

Mix cornstarch, sugar, and salt in saucepan. Gradually add milk, stirring well. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until thick and boiling. Boil 2 minutes and remove from heat. Stirring quickly, gradually add about 1/2 cup hot milk mixture into the beaten egg yolks. You want to be careful not to let it sit or the eggs will cook and you will have a chunky pudding...yuck! So stir quickly! When it is well mixed, add the egg mixture back into the hot milk and cook for 1 min. still stiring constanly. Remove from heat and add butter and vanilla. Cool slightly and add fruit. Pour into crust. If crust isn't completely full, top with freshly beaten whipped cream or a meringue.

Recipe Source: Wendy Bowers

Helen's Strawberry Pie

1 baked pie shell

(make your own using your favorite pie crust recipe or use Marilyn's No-fail recipe)

1 1/2-2 pints fresh strawberries, cleaned and sliced

1 small box strawberry jello

Set strawberries with a little bit of sugar in refridgerator overnight. Drain the liquid into a 2-cup measuring cup and add enough water to make 2 cups. Bring liquid to a boil and add 2 Tablespoons cornstarch. Remove from heat and add the box of jello and 1/2 cup sugar. Stir until dissolved. Cool. Add fresh berries. Pour into pie shell and chill. Serve with whipped cream or ice cream.

**Can substitute raspberries and raspberry jello

Recipe Source: Grandma Helen Walker

Raspberry Cheesecake

1 cup flour

1 cube butter

1 cup chopped pecans

Combine in 9X13 dish. Bake at 350 for about 10 min. Press into bottom and cool.

2 (8oz) packages cream cheese, softened

3 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1 large tub cool whip

Beat cream cheese and suage together. Stir in cool whip. Pour onto crust.

1 box Raspberry Danish Dessert

1 3/4 cup water

1 package fresh or frozen raspberries, thawed

In saucepan combine the danish dessert and water. Bring to a boil. Cook 2 min and add raspberries. Pour on top of cheesecake while hot.

Recipe Source: Sheila Delonas

Fluffy Cheesecake

1 package cream cheese, completely softened

1/3 cup sugar

1 (8oz) container cool whip

1 graham cracker crust

Beat cream cheese and sugar until well mixed. Stir in cool whip and pour into crust. Refridgerate and top with favorite cheesecake topping.

Recipe source: Kraft Foods

Pistachio Cheesecake

Pistachio Cheesecake

2 packages cream cheese, softened

4 packages pistachio pudding

5 cups milk, room temperature

1/2 cup margarine

1 cup flour

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup chopped nuts

Combine margarine, flour, brown sugar, and nuts in 9X13 dish. Bake at 400 for 15 min, stirring every 3-5 minutes. Remove from oven and press onto bottom of pan. Cool completely. Make sure the cream cheese is completely soft and beat in mixer 2 min. Mix the pudding and 2 1/2 cups milk together. Add to the cream cheese and beat well. Add the rest of the milk. Pour into crust and refridgerate.

Recipe source: Grandma Smith, crust; Pam Smith