Experimenting with one of my muffin recipes, I discovered that I am able to make about 3 dozen mini muffins in less than an hour. I adapted a recipe for pumpkin muffins that contained white flour, 1 cup of vegetable oil, and 11/2 cups of sugar to a healthier version.  My Pumpkin Applesauce Mini Muffins are made with white whole wheat flour, pumpkin, unsweetened applesauce, and pineapple and offer a more wholesome alternative to prepackaged, store-bought mini muffins. Having a batch ready will help your kids eat a more balanced diet.

Pumpkin Applesauce Mini Muffins

makes 36 mini muffins

1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon cloves

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup canola oil

1/4 cup applesauce, unsweetened

1/4 cup crushed pineapple

3/4 cup pumpkin, canned

2 eggs

Powdered sugar, for dusting

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Spray a mini muffin pan with non-stick cooking spray. Set aside.

In a large bowl, combine the first eight ingredients.  In a separate bowl, combine the oil, applesauce, pineapple, pumpkin, and eggs. Add the dry ingredients to the pumpkin mixture and stir just to combine. Spoon a rounded tablespoon of the batter into each muffin cup. Bake for 12 - 14 minutes.  Cool muffins in pan for 5 minutes then remove to a baking rack.  Dust with powdered sugar.

I like to keep a package or two of frozen puff pastry in my freezer.  The possibilities are endless for making quick appetizers such as Brie and Apricot Mini Tarts, entrees like Salmon Wellington, and one of my favorite desserts Apple Turnovers with Spiced Cream Cheese.  A quick-to-make treat for the kids after school or an elegant dessert for a dinner party, these turnovers will make you a star. 

Apple Turnovers with Spiced Cream Cheese

makes 8 turnovers - 4 for yourself and 4 to share

4 apples, peeled and sliced thin
1 tablespoon butter
3 tablespoons brown sugar
Dash of cinnamon
4 oz cream cheese, room temp.
1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
Dash of nutmeg
2 sheets of puff pastry - I like the Pepperidge Farm brand
Sugar for sprinkling - best if you have the raw sugar that has big crystals

1 egg mixed with 1 teaspoon water for the egg wash

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In a medium-sized pan, cook the apples in the butter with the 3 tablespoons of brown sugar and dash of cinnamon. The apples should just begin to get tender. Let cool.

In a small bowl, combine the cream cheese, egg yolk, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon and dash of nutmeg. Set aside.  Roll out one sheet of the pastry to about a 12 inch x 12 inch square. Cut into 4 smaller squares. Place a dollop of the cream cheese mixture in the center of each square of the pastry and top with about 1/8 of the apples. Brush the edges of the square with the egg wash and fold the 2 opposite corners to the center to overlap. Brush the outside of the pastry with the egg wash and sprinkle with sugar. Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Repeat with the remaining pastry to make a total of 8 turnovers. Bake for about 20 minutes until golden brown.

I adapted it from a recipe in one of my favorite cookbooks The Foster’s Market Cookbook: Favorite Recipes for Morning, Noon, and Night.  This was one of my go-to sources for recipes when I was cook, dishwasher, menu planner, supplies orderer, waitress, hostess, and busboy at a small gourmet cafe for a couple years.  It was invaluable experience into the restaurant world.

The cake was moist, chocolatey and had slightly more than a hint of raspberry flavor.  It is ….

Double Chocolate Raspberry Truffle Cake

adapted from The Foster’s Market Cookbook: Favorite Recipes for Morning, Noon, and Night

makes one 10-inch bundt cake

3 cups flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 tablespoon instant espresso powder
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 sticks butter, softened
3 cups sugar
4 extra large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 cup milk
1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup raspberry preserves
powdered sugar, for garnish

Preheat oven to 350 °F.

Grease and flour a 10-inch bundt pan.  I used the Pam Baking Spray which is a combination of nonstick spray and flour.  Set aside.

Combine flour, cocoa, espresso powder, baking powder, and salt in a bowl.  Set aside.

Cream butter and sugar in a standing mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy.  Add eggs one at a time and beat after each addition.  Add vanilla and mix in.

Add flour mixture alternately with the milk to the butter mixture.  Mix until smooth; don’t overmix.  Stir in the chocolate chips.

Spread 1/2 of the batter in the bundt pan.  Heat raspberry preserves in microwave for 15 seconds.  Pour on top of the batter in the pan.  Spread remaining batter over the preserves to cover.

Bake for 1 hour to 1 1/4 hours or until a toothpick inserted in the cake comes out clean.

Remove from oven and let cool for about 15 - 20 minutes.  Turn cake out of pan and cool on baking rack.  Dust with powdered sugar.

Caramel Apple Crumb Cake is was my adaptation of New York style crumb cake.  From my research, I discovered the more crumb the better.  About an inch of crumb and a little less of the cake is ideal.

I searched the internet and my cookbook collection to develop my take on the crumb cake.  Added were a layer of apples sauteed in brown sugar, butter, cinnamon and nutmeg.  I was delighted with the piece I had before bed last night and again this morning with my cup of coffee.  No comparison to the store bought cake.  I’ll be making this recipe from now on.

Caramel Apple Crumb Cake

 
For caramel apples:

4 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
4 Fugi apples, peeled and sliced thin
For crumb topping:

1/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3 1/3 cups cake flour
2 sticks butter, melted
For cake:

2/3 cup half and half
1 tablespoon vinegar
2 1/2 cups cake flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 sticks butter, cut in chunks
2 extra large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
powdered sugar for dusting

Preheat oven to 350 °F.  Grease a 9 x 13 inch baking dish.

Heat a large saute pan to medium high.  Add the butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg.  Stir to melt.  Add the apples and stir to coat.  Reduce heat to medium and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Apples should be slightly soft. Set aside.

In a large bowl, combine the crumb topping ingredients and stir to combine.  Set aside.

In a small bowl, add vinegar to half and half and set aside.  In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, salt and baking soda.  With mixer on low, add the butter chunks, one at a time.  Mix for about 2 - 3 minutes until mixture resembles a coarse crumble.  Add eggs, vanilla, and half and half mixture.  Beat on medium high speed for about 1 - 2 minutes until smooth. 

Spread cake batter into prepared baking dish.  Top with sauteed apples.  Break up the crumb topping with a spoon.  The pieces should be about the size of marbles.  Sprinkle on top of apples.  Bake for 50 - 60 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.  Dust with powdered sugar. 

EAT! and EAT! some more.

I have been a frequent visitor to the Cooking Light web site lately. Not only does it have recipes from Cooking Light magazine, it also includes recipes from Costal Living, Cottage Living,Health, South Accents, Southern Living, and Sunset magazines as well as MyRecipes.com and MyHomeIdeas.com.

I am a fan of a good, dense, chocolatey brownie and a flavorful, rich shortbread cookie. I hit the jackpot with the recipe I found on the Cooking Light web site for Shortbread Fudge Cake. Being a $1000 Brand Winner in the Nestle Toll House contest, I was almost assured that the treats would be delicious. And they did not disappoint. There is a nice contrast between the buttery, pecan shortbread and the moist, chocolate brownie. A combination made in heaven. The dessert is more of a bar cookie than a cake; the name is a little misleading.

With a total preparation/cooking time of a little over an hour, these treats can be made in no time. Skip the gym today. Make some cookies instead.

Shortbread Fudge Cake

My neighborhood typically hosts a cookie exchange, but somehow no one took the inititive to organize it this holiday season.  Since I was not going to be getting a variety of cookies from my neighbors this year, I was excited to join a cookie exchange through the mail with the Personal Chefs Network of which I am a member.  I was given 4 names of fellow personal chefs to send a dozen homemade cookies to and in return I would receive 4 dozen cookies IN THE MAIL!!!  I finished baking my Triple Chocoholic Peppermint Cookies last night and packaged them for shipment today.

I hope my cookie exchange partners are as anxious as I am to receive the goodie packages.  I am going to check my mailbox to see if I have a package.  The postman is going to be a little busier this year.

Triple Chocoholic Peppermint Cookies

This is a recipe from a Diane Mott Davidson novel.  She is a fiction writer who writes novels that center around a caterer and her adventures.

Makes 3 dozen 3-inch cookies

• 2 cups rolled oats
• 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup butter
• 1 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
• 2 eggs, beaten slightly
• 1 tablespoon milk
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 cup white chocolate chips
• 2 tablespoons semisweet chocolate chips
• 2 - 3 tablespoons whipping cream
• 4 - 5 candy cans, crushed

Preheat oven to 350 °F.

Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.  Do not alter the order in which the ingredients are combined.  In a large bowl, combine oats and 2 cups of semisweet chocolate chips; set aside.  In another large bowl, beat together the butter and sugars until creamy.  Sift flour, baking soda, salt, and cocoa.  Add flour mixture to butter mixture, stirring until thoroughly combined.  The batter will be stiff.

In a small bowl, combine eggs, milk, and vanilla.  Stir the mixture into the batter.  Add the oats and chocolate chips; stir well to combine.

Drop by slightly rounded tablespoonfuls onto prepared sheets.  Bake 10 - 13 minutes.  The cookies will look shiny and the centers will be barely soft.  Let cool a couple minutes on the sheets and then remove to cool completely.

In a heatproof bowl, melt the white chocolate chips and 2 tablespoons of semisweet chocolate chips with 2 tablespoons of the whipping cream.  The consistency of the melted chocolates should be thin enough to drizzle over the cookies.  Add more cream if it is too thick.  Drizzle the top of each cookie with the chocolate and sprinkle with the crushed candy cane.  Let dry completely.

After my Mom passed away about 14 years ago, I tried to make this cake on my own. It always looked great coming out of the oven. But, when I tried to unmold it, it was a catastrophe. I tried tube pans with removable bottoms, ones without removable bottoms, and nothing worked.

My step mom had mastered this recipe and her cakes always came out beautifully. When I told her of my unmolding predicament, she surprised me with my Mom’s old pound cake pan! Now I never have a problem getting the cake out of the pan.

Here is the recipe that I have been using for the past 14 years. I tried making it with butter and it never came out right. It’s Imperial margarine all the way. My kids’ are forever asking me to make a pound cake.  Their friends even ask for extra slices in my kids’ school lunches. Hopefully if you try the recipe, you will be able to get it out of the pan even if you don’t have my magic pan.