Thanksgiving = Yum

I really have a love-hate relationship with Thanksgiving.

On the love side, it's a time to see family. You get to step in from the cold weather for a warm and comforting meal where people take time to reflect on that which makes them feel happy and grateful. It's the calm before the storm, a break from the overly material-obsessed society we have become. A day where you put your wants and needs aside and just reflect on how lucky you are.

On the hate side, boy does this day wreak havoc on my digestive system and my waist. I go home feeling so full that I don't think I could possibly eat another thing for days. But then I have to do it all over again the next day (Eric's family one day, mine the next), and let's not even speak of the piles of leftovers. The ultimate day of gluttony. It begins the unstoppable downward spiral of overdoing it that you can't claw your way out of until it's time to make a resolution.

But I digress.

This year, my contribution to the two Thanksgiving feasts we attended was to bake the pies (big surprise, right?) For Eric's family, I baked the Honey Crunch Pecan Pie I blogged about here. For my family, I baked that same pie, plus a Pumpkin Pie and a (special request) Cherry Pie. I've included links to the recipes at the bottom of this post. All three pies were amazing. The pecan was so pretty and garnered the most compliments. The pumpkin was the most work and ended up with a cracked top. My dad, who loves pumpkin pie so much that he bought one at Safeway so he would be sure he had enough pumpkin pie for just himself, said it was the best pumpkin pie he'd ever had. And the cherry is an old favorite. Probably the pie I've made most often as it's Eric's favorite dessert. I baked this one, in particular, for my grandpa who seemed to be more excited about this pie than anything else that day.

I'd like to give a shout out to both my mom and Eric's mom for a job well done. Each meal was amazing and I get so overwhelmed and impressed with how much work goes into preparing this meal and how easy you both make it look. Everything was delicious!

I hope everyone out there had a wonderful holiday.

Here's my dad preparing to carve the bird:

My mom did a beautiful job decorating the table:

About to dish out the pies:

And here are the recipes...

Honey Crunch Pecan Pie

Pumpkin Pie

Cherry Pie

Pumpkin Swirl Bars

These bars were amazing! I had quite a bit of pumpkin puree left over from these cupcakes so I tried to find a good recipe to use it up for my softball team. I decided on these pumpkin cream cheese swirl bars I came across a few weeks ago.

I'll admit that I can sometimes be somewhat of an over mixer. I get carried away. I definitely overdid it when mixing in the dollops of cream cheese and, by the time I was finished, you couldn't even see the swirls. I baked them up that way. Over mixed. When they had cooled enough for a sample, I was disappointed that the cream cheese had been mixed in so well that I couldn't really taste it. The bars needed a little something extra, a different texture on top, so I decided to keep using up more of the puree (and yes, even after this, I still had more left) I mixed up some pumpkin buttercream for the top.

With this deliciousness spread across the top of the bars, they were completely perfect. I would recommend these for any upcoming holiday party. I promise that they will magically disappear.

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Swirl Bars

From Sunset

6 Tbsp melted unsalted butter

1/4 tsp salt

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1 cup pumpkin puree

1/3 cup water

1 3/4 cups AP flour

1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

Swirl:

8 oz cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/4 tsp vanilla

1 large egg

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 15×10 inch pan* with non-stick foil or just spray with cooking spray.

Pumpkin Batter: Mix together the butter and sugar. With a mixing spoon or whisk, beat in eggs, pumpkin, and water until well blended, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Mix flour, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, and nutmeg together; stir into batter. Spread all but a few tablespoons batter evenly in prepared pan. Reserve the few tablespoons of batter.

Swirl: In a second bowl, beat cream cheese, sugar and vanilla until smooth. Add egg and beat just until it’s mixed in. Drop tablespoons of cream cheese mixture over pumpkin batter, then drag a knife through to make marbles. Drop reserved tablespoons of pumpkin batter over top. The reason for this is, there’s a lot of white batter, so putting a few tablespoons of pumpkin batter on top gives more of a contrast.

Bake on center rack until pumpkin batter springs back when touched, about 30 minutes.

*NOTE: If you do not use the pan size indicated (15×10 or half batch in a 9×9), you will probably need to adjust bake time! For instance, if you use a 13×9 inch pan instead of a 15×10 inch pan, you’ll have thicker bars which will probably need more time in the oven.

Let cool completely in pan, then chill for an hour or more. Frost with pumpkin buttercream:

Pumpkin Buttercream

Adapted from Loves to Eat

1 stick of unsalted butter at room temp

1/2 cup pumpkin puree

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ginger

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp. vanilla extract

~3 cups confectioner’s sugar (more or less)

Cream butter, pumpkin and spices. Slowly add sugar until you reach desired consistency.

My First Award!

I received my first-ever award. This Kreativ Blogger award was bestowed upon me by Heather of Sherry Trifle and Cats. Thanks so much, Heather. I feel so special! Everyone should definitely check out Heather's blog. She has some wonderful dessert recipes I can't wait to try out!

There are rules to follow when accepting this award. They help me get the word out about some of my favorite blogs so I'm happy to oblige:

1) Thank the person who has given you the award.

2) Copy the logo and place it on your blog.

3) Link to the person who has nominated you for the award.

4) Name 7 things about myself that people might find interesting.

5) Nominate 7 Kreativ Bloggers.

Here are my 7 Kreativ Bloggers, check um out:

1) chubbycraft - crafty ladies doing what they do best - talkin' about and postin' photos of super-cute and creative crafts to decorate one's home and one's self.

2) Madam Sucre - move over Martha! this ladie's fixin' to steal your job with all her tablescape and food styling inspiration

3) Lunch Box Lane - this mommy blogger bakes up treats that kids will go crazy for like Sesame Street cupcakes and Yo Gabba Gabba cookies, perfectly decorated and brightly colored to attract the kid in all of us (PS - she's tying the knot this weekend!!!)

4) From Donuts to Delirium: My Life as a Housewife - this UK-dwelling Lady of the House writes about her sweet treats as well as those she discovers on her travels, adding some much needed sophistication to any reader's day

5) Chocolate and Whine - with such beautiful photography and yummy recipes, it's no wonder I feel a deep connection to this blogger. Or maybe it's the fact that she complains about all the pet peeves I share. Or maybe I can relate to an obsession with all things Twilight. Irregardless, her posts are laugh-out-loud funny!

6) Me and My Pink Mixer - I'm very new to following this one. I was first drawn in by the title, it's just so awesome, but she's kept me around with her lovely photography and recipes I'd like to show off at my next dinner party.

7) Cheat Day Cafe - I can relate! Dieting & Baking are not very good friends, but with one "Cheat Day" per week you might be able to get those two to coexist.

7 fun facts about me:

1) I love to snowboard, so much that I moved up to Tahoe for a year so I could do it every day.

2) I jumped out of a plane while flying over Australia.

3) I used to pour drinks for a living.

4) I love to travel and ALWAYS have my next big trip planned out. My goal is to leave the country at least once/year.

5) I play on an adult softball team with my whole family - dad, mom, sister, brother, and fiance. The rest of the team is made up of our friends who we've played with throughout the years on other teams. We just had an undefeated season but lost in the championship game. I love this team more than any other team I've even played on.

6) I love to cook and bake but I hate doing dishes more than any other chore. Seriously, I'd rather clean the bathroom than a plate.

7) My favorite food is dim sum!!

Scrumptious Pecan Pie

I get together with a group of friends every Thursday to watch The Office. We are fanatics. Seriously. We are so obsessed with this show that it has become unhealthy. Like, long email chains throughout the work-day with obscure episode quotes and references unhealthy. We each take turns hosting and the host is responsible for serving dinner to the rest of the crowd. Last week was our turn to host and the menu had a bit of a fall theme to it: cranberry-apple chicken, homemade corn muffins, and salad. To keep the dessert within the theme, I baked my first-ever pecan pie.

When I was a kid, I never cared for pecan pie. I was picky and didn't like nuts in my desserts and wasn't really a fan of pies altogether. Over the years, pecan pie has started to peak my interest but it still isn't my first choice at Thanksgiving when we have several different pies to choose from. All this changed about a week ago when Eric and I went out for a nice dinner and he ordered a slice of pecan pie off the dessert menu. I had one bite and became addicted and, much to his annoyance, ended up eating most of his pie myself. So sweet, so crunchy, so amazing. I couldn't wait to bake one myself.

I've been a reader of "Mommy? I'm Hungry!" for a while now. She's always posting yummy treats and doing fun giveaways. She recently entered this recipe for Honey Crunch Pecan Pie in the Bon Appétit Blog Envy Bake-Off, a competition for food bloggers all over. Of course she got my vote and I hope you all get a chance to vote for her too (you have to create an account, but if you are a foodie, you really should have a Bon Appétit account anyway!)

This pie is delicious. I received so many compliments. The filling is sweet and smooth while the topping adds a nice candy crunch. Be sure to put down a pan on the oven rack below the pie to catch the drips that overflow while baking - I was sure glad I did that. I'm hoping I get a chance to bake this again soon, maybe for Thanksgiving!

Honey Crunch Pecan Pie

"Mommy? I'm Hungry!" found and adapted this recipe

Filling

One 9-inch pie crust, unbaked, kept cold until ready to use (I cheated and used a store-bought dough I had left over from something else)

4 eggs, lightly beaten

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 cup white sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup light corn syrup

2 Tbsp butter, melted

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup coarsely chopped pecans

Topping

1/3 cup packed brown sugar

3 Tbsp butter

3 Tbsp honey

1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

To Make Filling: In a large bowl, combine eggs, 1/4 cup brown sugar, white sugar, 1/2 teaspoon salt, corn syrup, melted butter, vanilla extract, and chopped pecans. Mix well. Spoon mixture into unbaked pie shell.

Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes. Remove and cover edges of pie crust with aluminum foil. Return to oven for 20 minutes.

To Make Topping: Combine 1/3 cup brown sugar, butter, and honey in a medium saucepan. Cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, until sugar dissolves - about 2 minutes. Add pecans. Stir just until coated. Spoon topping evenly over pie.

Keep foil on edges of pastry and return pie to oven for an additional 10 to 20 minutes, until topping is bubbly and golden brown. Cool to room temperature before serving.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes for Halloween

So remember these guys? Our friends, Katie and Mike hosted a fun Halloween party last weekend and baked some Halloween cupcakes to share. I also wore a costume I think all my readers will love, but I'm still trying to track down a photo of it. My mom gave me the super-cute paper liners and I decorated them similarly to the Dulce De Leche Pumpkin Cupcakes from The Sweetest Kitchen that I blogged about earlier this week. For the spiders, I used those cheapo plastic rings that you often find in Halloween goody bags.

I was really excited about this recipe for Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes I found on the blog, Beantown Baker. I am a peanut butter fanatic (see this post) and used the Confetti Cakes' Chocolate Cake recipe that I've seen out there over and over. Several people have told me that this is the BEST Chocolate Cake recipe so I couldn't wait to test it out.

It's disappointing to admit, but the cake wasn't that great. It was a bit dry. Maybe I should have undercooked the cupcakes, but then the filling wouldn't work. I was relying on the filling to moisten up the cupcakes but it was too thick to seep into the cake. I guess I would recommend that you use a bit more cream in the granache filling and make sure not to over-cook the cupcakes. The peanut butter frosting was AMAZING though, definitely a keeper and a re-user. As for finding that perfect chocolate cake recipe, I think I'll keep looking...

Chocolate Cupcakes

from The Confetti Cakes Cookbook by Elisa Strauss and Christie Matheson

Makes 25-30 cupcakes

2 2/3 cups AP flour

1 cup + 2 Tbsp Unsweetened cocoa powder

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 cup (8 oz) sour cream

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp almond extract

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter

2 eggs

1 cup strong coffee

Preheat the oven to 350'F. Line cupcake pan with paper liners.

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, coco powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

In a separate bowl, combine the sour cream, vanilla, and almond extract. Set aside.

In the bowl of a standing mixer fitter with a paddle attachment, combine the butter and sugar and beat on medium speed until smooth.

Set the mixer to low speed and add the eggs, one at a time, scraping thoroughly between each addition.

Alternately add the flour and sour cream mixtures to the butter mixture in two batches, starting and ending with the flour mixture. Scrape down the bowl after each addition.

Gradually pour in the coffee. Scrape down the bowl and beat until thoroughly combined.

Divide the batter evenly between the cake pans or muffin tins, bake 15 to 20 minutes, or until they spring back after being touched.

Allow to cool for 20 minutes.

Kathleen's Peanut Butter Icing

from Ina Garten

1 cup powdered sugar

1 cup creamy peanut butter

5 Tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature

3/4 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 tsp salt

1/3 cup heavy cream

Place the confectioners' sugar, peanut butter, butter, vanilla, and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix on medium-low speed until creamy, scraping down the bowl with a rubber spatula as you work. Add the cream and beat on high speed until the mixture is light and smooth.

Chocolate Ganache

(you're gonna have TONS leftover!)

from Beantown Baker

3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate

3/4 cup bittersweet chocolate

1/3 cup heavy whipping cream

In saucepan bring whipping cream to boil over high heat. Place chocolate (both kinds) into a heat-proof bowl.

Pour hot whipping cream over chocolate and stir until chocolate is melted.

You can add more cream if your ganache is too thick to spread.

To assemble the cupcakes:

Using the cone method, remove some of the cooled cupcake and set aside. Drop a few pieces of cut up mini Reece's peanut butter cups to the hole in the cupcake. Spoon some ganache in the hole.

Replace the top of the cupcake. Frost with peanut butter frosting.

Oh, and check out this Papyrus Greeting Card my parents gave me for Halloween. Isn't it the cutest card you have ever seen??? Thanks Mom and Dad!!

Pumpkin Cupcakes and Some Exciting News

Last week, I had my 1st PAID cupcake order!! My mom was co-hosting a dinner party with 12 friends and she called to ask if she could hire me to do the dessert. I had my hesitations ("Mom, you don't have to PAY me to bake!!") but I soon got over that as she insisted she pay me and suggested that I get some business cards together to place next to my treats. I started to get excited that, maybe, this could lead into some sort of fun side-job. Also, this particular group of my mom's friends tend to throw and attend numerous dinner parties. With the holidays fast approaching, I could be up to my elbows in cupcake orders in no time.

For the cupcakes, I chose a recipe that has recently been featured all over the blogging world. It was the winner** of October's Cupcake Hero competition for which the secret ingredient was Pumpkin. Out of the 35 entries, The Sweetest Kitchen's Dulce De Leche Pumpkin Cupcakes was the winner and I just couldn't get the photos of these cupcakes out of my mind. The recipe was a perfect choice as I wanted to do some sort of Fall-themed cupcake but didn't want them to necessarily be Halloween-themed. (Post on my Halloween Cupcakes coming in the next couple days). Also, Dulce De Leche Ice Cream is one of my FAVORITES and I was intrigued about making my own for the filling. The cupcakes were wonderful! The cake was moist with the perfect combination of fall spices. The filling was not overwhelming, it added just a hint of smoothness to the cake. And the frosting was also so tasty. I definitely recommend these cupcakes to anyone wanting to impress this holiday season.

So if any of you out there would like some custom treats baked by yours truly, please don't hesitate to email me. Also, I don't only do cupcakes! I can bake pretty much anything you desire. Just ask!

**UPDATE 11/3: It has been brought to my attention that these cupcakes haven't won the Cupcake Hero challenge... YET. It's down to them and one other recipe. If I was the judge, there would be no question because these were some of the best cupcakes I have ever made. Seriously!! Great job, Jamieanne.

Dulce De Leche Pumpkin Cupcakes

I got everything below from The Sweetest Kitchen. I've included her references in the recipe steps below. This makes 12 cupcakes.

Step 1) Make the Dulce De Leche

Adapted from Recipe Girl

1 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk

boiling water

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Open up the can and pour the sweetened-condensed milk into a pie pan. Cover tightly with foil and place into a larger pan (a 9" x 13" baking dish or a roasting pan) Pour boiling water in larger pan & around pie plate (level of water should be about halfway up the pie plate). Don’t let any water seep up and into the pie plate.

Place in oven and bake for 1 hour. At the one hour point, peel off foil and check for progress. If the mixture has thickened and turned a caramelly color, it’s done. If it doesn't quite look thick enough or dark enough, cover it up and bake it a little longer (mine took 75 minutes).

While the mixture is baking, make the batter for the cupcakes (see below)

When the mixture appears to have turned into a nice, thick caramel, remove from the oven. Let sit for a few minutes, and then beat with an electric mixer until smooth.

Cool the oven to 350 degrees for the cupcakes.

Step 2) Bake the Pumpkin Cupcakes

Adapted from Martha Stewart

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp coarse salt

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/8 tsp ground nutmeg

1/8 tsp allspice

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

7.5 ounces pureed pumpkin

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake pans with paper liners; set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and allspice; set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together, brown sugar, granulated sugar, butter, and eggs. Add dry ingredients, and whisk until smooth. Whisk in pumpkin puree.

Divide batter evenly among liners, filling each about halfway. Bake until tops spring back when touched, and a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes, rotating pans once if needed. Transfer to a wire rack; let cool completely.

Step 3) Mix the Dulce De Leche Buttercream

Adapted from Joy The Baker

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

1 1/2 tablespoons heavy cream

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups powdered sugar

pinch of salt

1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons prepared dulce de leche

Cream together softened butter and powdered sugar on low using an electric mixer. Add cream and vanilla and beat on medium speed until smooth and no lumps appear. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the prepared dulce de leche and beat to incorporate.

Step 4) Fill and Frost Cupcakes

Once cupcakes are completely cooled, use the cone method to fill each cupcake with a dollop of dulce de leche. Frost with dulce de leche buttercream.