Although it didn’t feel like an Autumn day outside, an early trip to the grocery store proved otherwise. I might have been a little too excited to find pure pumpkin puree… finally!

After enjoying the sun and warm weather with one last BBQ, it was time for FALL aka pumpkin and apples! To kick off the season, Jon and I headed to Lewis Orchard!

We picked mostly Fuji, which happen to be some of my favorite.  After searching many blogs and recipes I landed on apple turnovers/mini-pies..figured they’d be easier for the office folks! I used this recipe for some help and then stuffed them into a cupcake pan for simplicity!

Dice the apples, coat in a sugary spice mix and heat~be prepared for your kitchen to smell warm, cozy, and simply DELICIOUS!

And then it was time for Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins… Be warned, the cream cheese filling needs to be chilled for 2 hours.

Place a thin layer of the muffin mix on the bottom. Slice off a layer of the cream cheese and place on-top. Cover with remaining mix and top with a sugar/butter crumble.

The muffins were delicious right out of the oven, warm cakey pumpkin taste greeted with a creamy sugary cheese filling. What other wondrous pumpkin treats are there to bake!? Can’t wait! Enjoy the fall everyone and Happy Early Halloween! Boo!

summer fruit!

Good-bye June and July… It’s been a special treat spending time with you. Why does summer seem to go so fast? Things are just getting good! Please stay a little longer.

With the love of summer comes a lack of baking.. it’s the oven, I swear.  But I found a recipe that tempted me to forget about the heat and get back to baking.

Take a classic cookie, blow it up to GIANT size, add some cool-whip and design with fresh, delicious summer fruit!

YUM!

I’ve already made this recipe twice and both times have left me stunned at how much everyone loved it!

So here’s to you August!

Cookie Cake Recipe from Williams-Sonoma

I spent my Saturday catching up with Mary (in the kitchen, of course).  Our goal… cupcakes from scratch, a first for me!

Let’s start at Williams-Sonoma.. although a cooking store from heaven– how did I fail to realize their website!  I’ve definitely added this recipe treasure chest to my bookmark page.

We used a basic yellow cake recipe for our Easter cupcakes.  And how W.S. knows their cakes!  I was so delighted at how fluffy and light they were.  Cupcakes… check!

I was mostly concerned with the frosting.  In the past my attempts have turned from a thick, spreadable frosting.. to more of a thin, very sugary glaze… luckily we hit the jackpot!  A frosting that used PLENTY of powdered sugar but then whipped in some melted chocolate to help perfect the taste and add to the thickness.  The recipe calls for melted chocolate and we switched that with white chocolate. What more can I say other than perfect!

Happy Easter and Passover to all! Here’s to Spring Baking!

Kitchen Aid got lots of love this weekend!

Happy Easter Sprinkles!

Can I lick the plate?

Sweet+Fluffy+Crunchy+Fresh+Beautiful+Airy+Sophisticated+Summer = Pavlova.

I hope this can begin to express my new found love for this completely perfect dessert.  Sorry cookies, cupcakes and of course brownies.. you’re going to have to play second fiddle.

I owe this discovery to my boyfriend and his half Australian blood.  While on a trip to Arizona to visit his family I was introduced to this  dessert that he had been talking about for quite a while.. I should have known it was something special.  As the story goes the creation of pavlova happened when Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova toured Australia and New Zealand.  It was created as a tribute to her.. yet it is unclear which country gets the credit.

I used this Pavlova Recipe to begin..

Right out of the oven.

To create the base I got to use my KitchenAid to whip the eggs until they formed the stiff meringue. Then by forming them into small ovals (on parchment paper) they were into the oven!  Such a different experience from the dough and batters I’m used to!  I turned off the oven when they seemed just about right and let them stay in there for a little while longer.

As this was a first attempt, I used cool whip to add on top and finished off with some fresh blackberries and strawberries! Delicious!!

All dressed up!

Crunchy outside with a soft marshmallow inside

I’m eager to take these to the next level and create different toppings, so don’t be surprised if more pavlova pop up soon!

My first Pavlova ever!

While the weather is still trying to decide which season it wants to be in, I’ve decided winter has had its time long enough, Welcome Springtime!  And although I’ve never made it myself, what says spring better than carrot cake.  (Well a batch of Easter sugar cookies is just as good – but I’ve already done those and am feeling adventuresome).  And the best part for me and my rekindling with my measuring spoons, mixing bowls, flour and sugar… was the latest issue of Cooking Light.  Right near the end of the issue was a brand new recipe makeover for Carrot Cake.

Carrot Cake Muffins

Maybe it has been my habit of making cookies, particularly my favorite chocolate chip, peanut butter chip and walnuts, but this whole carrot cake recipe was FUN!  Even if I did decide to use baby carrots and therefore individually grate each and everyone.. two cups worth.  I did cheat slightly and use store bought icing.

Overall the reaction from my coworkers seemed very positive!  The recipe worked just as well for the cupcakes rather than a cake (also making it much easier to share at work).  I kept them in for around 20 minutes at 350 degrees.  It feels great to be back in the kitchen experimenting and creating.  I didn’t get a chance to take as many photos as I should…

Next up.. Pavlova!

After a lovely sunny but chilly afternoon in DC with my aunt, I returned back to my place to make some birthday cupcakes for a friend at work.  It might be cheating to use the mix from the box, but I wanted to get creative with the decorating at lease and use some M&Ms!

I think they look cute and fun, plus I couldn’t help myself but sample one, and yes out of the box tastes really good!  So nothing too creative this time, but I just got the latest issue of Cooking Light.. and there are plenty of great recipes I can’t wait to try!

Happy Fall everyone!

We decided to try Alton Brown’s Sugar Cookies because well Alton knows cooking.. so why not trust him with baking?  Plus it would be wrong of me not to say that I’m already getting a little too excited for Christmas.  The thought of making holiday cookies gets makes me really happy.. so we’re going to stop there before things get out of control.  With fun cookie-cutter shapes including some circus animals, a starfish, and of course a leaf-we were off!

Not only did I get to check out the new apartment but I got a chance to use the amazing-change-cooking-forever-love-it-wow kitchen aid stand mixer.  It was my first time experiencing the power, beauty and ease that a kitchen aid brings to the counter.  Can you tell I LOVED IT!?

After only 10 minutes cooking, the little critters came out of the oven with a nice golden edge.  I didn’t get a chance to take a picture of the orange-or attempt at an Autumn color-frosting because my hands were a little messy.  But we finished the treats with a frosting glaze.  It was a simple recipe that didn’t require many ingredients…it gave us time to catch up, enjoy each other and bake.  What more do you need?  Thanks to my bestie for a great afternoon.

Leaves, hearts, giraffes, starfish, elephants...

But really I can’t wait for Christmas cookies!

Delicious, creamy, exotic and yes green. Avocados are amazing so why wouldn’t they be just as tasty mixed with some chocolate and served as dessert?

Chocolate Avocado Cupcakes It’s a vegetarian recipe that uses the creamy avocado as the main source of moisture, forget eggs. No crazy ingredients necessary.

Don’t pay attention to the bottle of wine. Although a glass while cooking turned out to be a great idea…just saying.

The process wasn’t as easy as out of the box…but it called for me to use my brand new food processor (thanks to our new craigslist friend).

Plus I had been ranting about this crazy green recipe I found online to all my fellow interns and was therefore in for the long hall.

The only little bump in the road came when I dipped my finger into the batter to taste the chocolate mix and WHOA… not the sweet, sugary taste from right-out-of-the box cupcakes (don’t know why I just connected that phrase). The BF and I decided it was time to take control of this vegan recipe and started dumping generous amounts of confectionery sugar in the bowl.

Eh.. it sorta helped.

Trusting the recipe however I filled up the tray and pushed them in the oven.

Overall the batter wasn’t sweet but the frosting made up for it.. what these cupcakes brought to the table: moisture! Not sure how often I’m going to make them, but they were interesting!

They reminded me of a green goblin…so I’d say more suitable for Halloween!

This batch is dedicated to S.G because she is such an amazing baker and trusted me enough to try one of these green monsters.

Yes! The night has finally come when my oven works and I can bake my first batch of cookies in over a month and a half. It has been too long– not even the walk to the grocery store could stop me from buying all the necessary supplies.

Despite planning ahead of time the first thing I wanted to make, I had a last minute change and figured I should hold off on the chocolate avocado cupcakes (Don’t worry, I’ll still make them!) I decided to go with an influenced decision and Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip cookies. (The fact that I’m very much obsessed with peanut butter may have been a deciding factor)..

I found the recipe online and got right to work.. well after a run so I was free to nibble on some cookie dough.

The Ingredients for deliciousnessssss!

The recipe was actually really easy, it only called for one stick of butter and one egg which is unusual for most cookies. I got all the way home from the store and realized I had forgotten to buy baking powder! But my super room-mate came through and pulled out a container from the cabinet.

I added a tad bit more flour to my dough because I have a great fear of the nasty gooey runny cookies. Luckily when I pulled them out of the oven they were nice and puffy!

Ahh how beautiful they look, and quite tasty if I do say so!

As the first official baking post, I find myself completely satisfied! The process was quick and easy and the cookies were amazing. They have the strong taste of peanut butter and the surprise of biting into chocolate makes it delightful!

Because cooking for yourself is no fun.. my first batch is dedicated to JB, my favorite cookie monster.

It seems like it has been forever since I’ve been able to bake.  The oven at my old place decided it would be funny to leak gas every time it was turned on.  I know it made my mother nervous to think her daughter was sleeping in a house that could potentially blow, but I was just frustrated.  Ok maybe when the kitchen was filled with a thick, suffocating smell of gas I did get a little fearful. Point is, no baking has happened for a very long time and I can’t wait much longer!

So with excitement and eagerness to have appliances that function, I waited for the person to come and turn on the gas..and waited, and waited, and waited.  Huh?  Despite saying they were going to be there anytime between 7-noon, no one showed up.  What was going on?  How long would I have to wait?

Enough complaining, the gas guy will be coming Monday now due to an error in communication.  For the future make note, when a gas company says they are going to be there at some point between 7 and noon, they really mean noon and 5. Check in Monday to see if we get gas after round 2.