Category: Desserts

pumpkin spice bundt cake with buttermilk icing

Lauren5 Comments

IMG_6703

With Thanksgiving less than one week away, I hope everyone has their Thanksgiving menus planned and their stretchy pants ready! I am not hosting this year, and after hosting last year’s Thanksgiving, I doubt anyone will complain! Last year was Justin and my first attempt at making a turkey. Before the big day arrived, I asked all the cooks in my life how I should cook the bird, and much to my chagrin, everyone had a different strategy, many of which even conflicted!

You should baste the bird.

Oh, don’t baste the bird. It’ll dry the bird out. 

Cook the bird in a bag. It will be so moist. 

Never cook the bird in a bag. The bag will melt. 

Don’t truss the turkey. Just roast it.

Put it in the crockpot. 

Really the only thing that everyone could agree on is that some kind of stock (whether it be beef or chicken) is needed, as well as some kind of vegetable. We ended up using chicken stock and adding onions, carrots, and celery to the middle of our turkey, who we named Bertha incidentally. Justin was in charge of the bird. and well, being rather intimidated of the bird myself (and being not at all helpful in this instance), I was delegated to the side dishes (thankfully). Our cooking session started off so well—after a few hours, the thermometer said that the turkey was done, and all the side dishes weren’t far behind. But when we sliced up the turkey, the middle was bright red. Argh! So we put the turkey back in the oven, and as it has become our custom, we served our guests the holiday meal a couple hours late. Needless to say, we have not mastered the turkey yet. But I can say with great confidence, we have mastered this pumpkin dessert.

This pumpkin spice bundt cake has that delightful cinnamon allspice goodness paired with the sweet slightly crunchy buttermilk icing.  And if you’re not a fan of  Starbuck’s pumpkin spice latte, have no fear; this cake doesn’t taste like that at all. As one of my co-workers put it, the cake tastes “more authentic.” You can make this ahead of time as it keeps for three days. And it will be a great addition to your Thanksgiving feast.

As for the bundt pan, the pan itself was easy to use. My brother bought me this bundt pan for my birthday this year, and this was my first attempt using it, to great success.  With bundt pans, they recommend you wipe them down generously with butter and flour instead of spraying them with oil as it’s hard to evenly coat all the nooks and crannies of a decorative bundt pan.

Regardless how you make your turkey this year or which desserts you choose to serve, I hope you all have a safe and wonderful Thanksgiving! Gobble Gobble!

Continue reading “pumpkin spice bundt cake with buttermilk icing” →

pumpkin cheesecake bars with streusel

Lauren1 Comment

IMG_6191

Justin and I went to our good friends’ wedding this weekend in Lawrence, Kansas. Our friends are Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones fans so they decided to have elements from both series in their wedding much to our delight! For example, when it was time to exchange wedding bands, the groom relinquished The Ring to Rule Them All he was wearing by tossing it into a mini fuming paper mache-looking volcano two groomsmen brought out just for the occasion. And as is the wedding tradition in Game of Thrones, the groom draped his bride in a necklace and a fur cloth bringing her under his protection.  Instead of a unity candle, the couple mixed two different types of wine they had made themselves, and at the end of the ceremony, the couple got on horses and rode off into the sunset, or perhaps in this case, the parking lot. Later on in the evening, they had a wooden catapult robot made to launch the bride’s garter for the garter toss. Needless to say it was a cool wedding. The wedding was also a mini college reunion for me, as many of my college friends and their spouses and members of the fraternity house I used to frequent were there.

It was a little surreal being back in my college town after eleven years. I was astounded to see what had changed since I’d been there. Restaurants that were new when I had lived there had since gone out of business. Old staples of the town had been replaced by new trendy stores and coffee houses. Sometimes I wish I could bottle up places and people in a time capsule so that I could revisit them periodically for nostalgia’s sake. But I recognize that most of the change is for the better. Other places around Lawrence looked completely unchanged like much of the campus itself. And downtown, I saw many familiar faces of people from my past—one girl had lived on my floor in the dorms, and I ran into the man who was the assistant orchestra conductor in the short stent that I was a music major.

IMG_6180

Well, you can’t turn back time, but you can make this delicious multi-layered cheesecake. I took it to work, and within an hour, it was gone. The bottom layer is homemade graham crack crust, the middle layers are made up of the regular and pumpkin cheesecake, and the top is the crunchy cinnamon streusel. It’s an impressive dessert, and if you are inclined to share it with others, it travels well. I feel like you can’t go wrong with cheesecake, ever, but this version is especially good. Before you begin to combine the ingredients, keep in mind the cream cheese needs to be at room temperature and that takes a full hour. And then once out of the oven, the cheesecake needs a couple hours to set. Enjoy!

Continue reading “pumpkin cheesecake bars with streusel” →

pumpkin custards with cardamom crumble

Lauren2 Comments

IMG_6140

My brainstorming ideas for what kinds of recipes to post for Thanksgiving have been all over the darn place. I thought about trying to re-create the first Thanksgiving feast, but then I read the meal predominantly consisted of seafood and vegetables, and that there was no green bean casserole, or any kind of potatoes, or butter (no butter! I can’t even!). I mean, can you imagine Thanksgiving without all the carbs? I don’t think it counts as Thanksgiving if you don’t go into a full-on post-meal sleep-induced food coma.

Then I thought, what about Thanksgiving foods from eras, like the 60s, 70s, or 80s, but that’s when I discovered lots, and I mean lots, of Jello and aspic. Don’t get me wrong, I get Jello deserts, but aspic? Think savory gelatin with chunks of meat, egg, or seafood. I’ve never tasted it, but if my stomach’s reaction to the description is any indication, I am good. Certain foods, especially ones that aren’t sweet, just shouldn’t jiggle. Maybe I should look into joining a non-jiggly food therapy group, but I digress…

IMG_6073

Anyhoo, this year, I thought I’d keep it simple by making a bunch of unique pumpkin-based desserts (much to Justin’s delight!). There’s nothing wrong with classic pumpkin pie, but why not change it up this year like trying these cute little pumpkin custards with cardamom crumble?  While these still taste like pumpkin pie, the custard is denser and creamier than normal pumpkin pie. The cardamom adds an almost gingerbread-like flavor to the crunchy crumble. To say these are good is an understatement. I made eight of these like the recipe calls for thinking I’d take some to work… and Justin and I unapologetically ate them all instead. And after we finished the custards, we licked the ramekins, the spoons, and then the ramekins again just to be sure there was nothing left.

This recipe does require a roasting pan, and trust me when I say a regular baking pan does not work. This is because you have to have boiling water half way up the ramekins to properly bake the custard. I think it’s easier to add the boiling water to the roasting pan once the pan is set on the oven rack, but you must pull it out enough so you can pour the water into the pan. Be very careful when adding the boiling water as it can splatter and being that close to the hot oven is a worry as well. I wore oven mitts and still got splattered, so please heed my oops! Lastly, and just as important, is that this recipe has to set a couple hours so please plan accordingly. Bon Appetit! Continue reading “pumpkin custards with cardamom crumble” →

lemon-thyme shortbread cookies

LaurenLeave a comment

IMG_5438

This was my first attempt at making shortbread cookies, and they turned out great! It was a little unusual working with a chalky dough that is more fragile than the traditional flexible dough, but the end results are well worth the extra effort. I love all shortbread, but the thyme and lemon zest in this recipe really makes it stand out.

This recipe called for some special utensils that I didn’t have, like a pastry blender and a pastry wheel, but I substituted things I had. Instead of a pastry blender, I used a fork to mix in the butter with the dry mixture. I confess it is an arm workout, but it can be done. Using a pastry blender will make your life easier.

IMG_5442

And I didn’t have a pastry wheel so I just used cookie cutters. It was a little difficult trying to remove the cookie cutter without breaking the dough, causing the shapes to be not as well defined as I would have liked, but they still turned out pretty well. And I would recommend cutting the cookies closer together than I did. I left a lot of space between them so I didn’t yield as many cookies as I should have. But all these notes are about presentation. No matter what utensils you use to make these, they will taste delicious!

I took these cookies to work for a mini tea party I threw on Friday afternoon. I love bringing people together, especially over tea and cookies. I even brought some of my great-grandmother’s china to work for the mini party.  Is it just me, or do things just taste better when they’re served on china? Paper plates and utensils just don’t cut it. Happy baking!

IMG_5447

Continue reading “lemon-thyme shortbread cookies” →

homemade brownie bowls and butterscotch for ice cream

Lauren2 Comments

IMG_5304

IMG_5342 (1)

On Saturday, I threw a baby sprinkle for my good friend, Kristine, for her second baby. She chose an ice cream social theme. So cute!

For the occasion, I made brownie bowls. I also bought waffle bowls as a backup in case the brownie bowls didn’t turn out. (It was a new recipe. You never know!) When my guests saw the waffle and brownie bowls, they asked, “Can we have both?” I thought, “Genius! Why hadn’t I thought of that?” This is why we’re friends. They take a good idea and make it great. So we added the brownie bowl inside the waffle bowl, and we had no regrets.

For ice cream, we served vanilla and chocolate flavors. The toppings included mini M&Ms, sprinkles, chopped mixed nuts, maraschino cherries, crumbled Oreos, Reece’s Pieces, strawberries, bananas, Torani’s dark chocolate sauce, whipped cream, and last but not least, the homemade butterscotch. The butterscotch was rich, and you could taste the butter and brown sugar in it. It was SO good!

IMG_5356

I mean, ice cream by itself is good, but then you add the homemade butterscotch, all the toppings, and voila, it’s ambrosia-of-the-Gods good. The butterscotch is really easy to make; it only contains 4 ingredients, and it lasts up to two weeks in the fridge. Also, it’s great to put over bananas for breakfast. Yum!

For the brownie bowls, you can use any brownie recipe (including brownie mixes). Follow the directions to make the brownies, and then, while they are still warm, take a tablespoon, carefully press down the middle, and allow them to cool. That’s basically it, though I do recommend spraying the bottoms of the muffin pan with oil but not the sides because you want the batter to stick to the sides to help create the bowl shape. Happy baking!

IMG_5292

For the punch, I combined Hawaiian punch, Sprite, and a splash of orange juice. Then added lemon slices and rubber duckies on top.

IMG_5299

Continue reading “homemade brownie bowls and butterscotch for ice cream” →

key lime pie

LaurenLeave a comment

IMG_4545

I prefer making things from scratch, but sometimes you just run out of time.  For the key lime pie, I bought a 10-ounce ready-made graham cracker crust instead of making my own. I feel a little guilty because I remember how delicious the homemade version is.  This key lime pie is one of my dad’s all-time favorite desserts. My mom has made this recipe on several occasions, and she agrees the crust is just as good as the filling, so even though I didn’t make my own crust, I included the graham cracker crust recipe. You won’t regret making it!

The key lime filling is super easy, and only takes about ten minutes to assemble. When baked, the filling has the consistency of a custard and has a nice balance of tartness and sweetness. And contrary to popular belief, key lime pie is actually yellow, not green. I should note that you don’t necessarily have to use key limes for this recipe; I used large conventional limes from the grocery store, and it turned out great! Enjoy!

Continue reading “key lime pie” →