Chai Butternut Squash Bundt Cake

The Midwestern air is turning sweeter and dryer as the corn fields turn a pale white-gold color. With fall approaching, I thought this Bundt cake might hasten its arrival.  Nah, I didn't really think that, but I am yearning for the end of heat and humidty, and butternut squash sounds like it belongs to cooler days.  You can't taste the squash in the cake, rather it serves as a tendering and moist ingredient just like bananas and zucchini, and well, pumpkins do when included in sweet bread.

(As you can see, we dug in before I got a picture taken!)

This recipe comes courtesy of Bake From Scratch Magazine, published by Hoffman Media.  Here is the link for the Bake From Scratch website.  I don't see anywhere on these two websites saying I can't post a recipe. I will tell you this, it was delicious! (-;  The cake also has a Walnut Sauce that goes on top, but I didn't make it--I felt like the cake was rich and sweet enough.

P.S., the magazine runs $12.99, so it's fairly pricey, but I truly think it's worth it--loads of recipes and information and high-quality photos.

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O.k., I just typed out the entire recipe and then thought to look at the magazine masthead where it states that the recipe IS copyrighted and you can't publish without written permission, so forget it.  Just get the magazine and follow them on Facebook and Instagram at #thebakefeed.

Peach Custard Pie

Here's a little something I made for a student worker's last day in one of our departments.  She loves peaches so I made here a peach pie.  Now here was the problem, it's not really peach season so that left me with a dilemma.  I didn't want to use canned peaches--they are too mushy for my taste.  My only resort was to use frozen peaches.  Now sometimes, those can end up not cooking enough with the pie and they turn out tough.  It's a precarious tightrope we walk when making fruit pies outside of their season.

What I ended up doing was cooking the peaches in a saucepan, just a bit, to break them down from their frozen state, concentrate their sugars with that heat, but still maintaining them as firmer than their canned counterparts.  The pie only cooks at 425 F for 30 minutes and then I put a crumble mixture of butter, flour, and sugar on top and cook for 15 more minutes.  It's really not that long of time, and I find that the peaches turned out perfectly tender, but not mushy.  The custard contained egg yolks, sour cream, sugar, and instead of vanilla, I used amaretto.  I can't wait to make it again in the summer, when fresh, juicy peaches off the tree make their ephemeral appearance.

Buttermilk Pie

Lemon zest, Jacobsen's Lemon Zest Sea Salt, and Buttermilk provide acidity and tang to the sweetness of this Southern Pie.  You know how a slightly-cooled cherry pie cuddles you in his silky warmth?  Well, this isn't one of those pies. ha!  It is the most heavenly when chilled overnight.  So good!

SMEG Standing Mixer

Sweet peeps, I once had a Kitchen Aid mixer which I loved, and which was incredibly well-made.  I sold it (long story) and have been without one for I'd say about 8 years.  Then, I fell in love with the Italian-brand SMEG.  I love their Jetsons-like retro lines.  I first got a toaster in baby blue.  Then a year later an electric teapot in the same color.  Any then just today, I finally, almost a month after my birthday, received this belated gift from my man (hmm--he didn't forget, it just was a special back order).

SOOOOOOOO, here it is.  My new stand mixer--in the same baby blue as its siblings.   I am in love, and immediately put it to good use by making an orange poopyseed cake.

Isn't she a beauty?!

My first creation from it (no way could I not use it immediately!) was orange-poppyseed cake.  Zest of 2 oranges, 2 T. of poppycakes, and almond extract, and almonds toasting on top made our house smell soooo yummy.

 

Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble Pie

I have been craving a rhubarb pie since March, and I finally took the time to make one yesterday.  Surprisingly, there was not a lot of rhubarb to be found at our grocery store...are we already past rhubarb season by mid-April?  Maybe everyone else, like me, had the urge to make some tangy dessert with rhubarb.  Well, in the end, I'm just glad I was able to grab some, mix it up with some strawberries, sugar, the juice of a 1/2 and the zest of a full lemon, some tapioca pearls, and a crumble topping to come up with what you see below.  Happy Spring! (-:

Treacle Tart with Acai Sauce

Happy National Pie Day, peeps!  I made a lovely little tart--a cousin to the pie, but all part of the same family.

Below is a picture of this British treat.  I teemed it up with a bit of Brazil by using some Bazaar Acai Sauce that I got in my "Try the World" box at Christmas.  I didn't have the tradition "golden syrup" but rather used light corn syrup instead.  You can get the former from Amazon or King Arthur Flour.  Cheerio!

And although I didn't use their recipe, here's a link to a treacle tart recipe from Saveur magazine.

Sugar-Topped Molasses Spice Cookies

From Dorie Greenspan's cookbook, "Baking:  From My Home to Yours," here's a delicious example of her Sugar-Topped Molasses Spice Cookies.

A few of my co-workers had colds this past week, and in order to circumvent those germs lodging into my system, I made a huge pot of chicken soup with turmeric, ginger, chicken bone broth, etc. After being on this liquid preventative cure for brunch, lunch, and dinner, I was starving for a carb. Ha!

It was snowing and blowing outside, and I thought, molasses cookies sound perfect about now.  After an in-depth cleaning of my kitchen cabinets last weekend, I knew I had molasses in the house so it was a go.

I have Dorie's cookbook (I even met and talked to her at a book signing!), but rather than write it out here, I wanted to link to her website.  Unfortunately, because the recipe is old, it doesn't appear that it's included on the site.  Instead, here's a link to epicurious.com which does.  Enjoy the warming, winter spices of these delicious cookies!

Sugar-Topped Molasses Spice Cookies

Molten Ginger Curd Brownies

The recipe called for 3 eggs, and I had 2 extra-large ones.  I went to use applesauce for the third, but instead spotted some ginger curd.  I thought that was gelatinous like an egg, and surely 2 x-large eggs made up 2 1/2 large eggs, correct?  Anyway, I added a generous 1 1/2 T. of ginger curd, creating a new recipe.  It had just a slight amount of zing to make them interesting.  I'm glad I was short an egg!

Happy New Year 2016 Chunky Minestrone

Happy New Year, everyone!  Here's a little chunky minestrone to warm you up on this cold January 1st.  I actually made it yesterday afternoon, because as is true of most things with tomatoes, it tastes even better the next day.  I didn't make Hoppin' John as I usually do on the 1/1, but here's a piece of my artwork from last year that will show you how to do it!  Make your own luck for the new year. (-:

Chunky Minestrone with Parmegiano Reggiano

Get Lucky with Hoppin' John