FALLing In Love With New Recipes!

Now that it is fall, we have been baking with apples and pumpkin A LOT!!! We went apple picking and so we had a lot of apples to use up!

The first thing that we made was Apple Gingerbread Cake. I liked that it had a strong molasses flavor, but it was too strong for my sister. My brother thought that it was really good and asked us to make it again. This cake tastes warm and cozy. It would be a great cake for Christmas morning!

I thought that this cake looked very pretty on the cake stand.

You can see the apple chunks once you slice it.

Next we made a Glazed Apple Bundt Cake. If you click on my recipe links, you've probably noticed that we bake from Sally's Baking Addiction a LOT. We love her recipes! But this is the first apple recipe that we ever made from her blog and it is excellent!!! The cake is really good and flavorful, but the glaze is SPECTACULAR! My mom was literally eating drips of it off of the counter!!!!!!!! And my dad said that the the topping was the perfect complement to the cake. The nuts in this recipe are optional, but we used pecans and thought that they added a lot of flavor and nice texture, so I'd definitely recommend using them.

We sifted the confectioners sugar into the glaze, but I guess that I needed to whisk it some more, because you can see some lumps!

We served it warm, which made the slices a little bit messy, but it was worth it!

Usually when we go apple picking, we always buy Apple Cider Donuts. This year my mom wanted us to stay outside because of Covid-19, so we didn't buy any. But we made them instead! These donuts are baked, but they're even better than the fried ones that we used to buy at the orchard.

These taste best warm from the oven!

We also made a Doughnut Bundt Cake. I thought that this was really good, but it was very simple. I think that if I made it again, I would add a layer of cinnamon sugar on the inside. My dad really loved this cake though.

The cinnamon sugar didn't stick to the sides evenly, but the cake still looked pretty overall.

It looked exactly like a cake doughnut on the inside.

We also made a Cinnamon Swirl Quick Bread. This recipe was a huge hit!! My mom started baking it with my sister one morning when she woke up REALLY early. I was sad that I missed the beginning part of making the recipe, but not sad enough to wake up before sunrise!!!! And I did get to do the swirling and the glaze, which are the really fun parts!

We've made lots of versions of coffee cakes lately, but this is the only one that we cooked in a loaf pan.

The cinnamon swirl here is what I'd but into the doughnut bundt cake next time.

We did do lots with apples and cinnamon, but the ingredient that we have definitely used the most in our fall baking so far is...PUMPKIN!!!!!!! My mom had a hard time finding pumpkin puree in the grocery store this year, and ended up ordering an entire case of it online. We were worried that there was going to be a pumpkin shortage, but it turns out that there's just a delay. We read an article about it online and learned that there was a rain delay in planting pumpkins this year, so they're being harvested later than usual. So if you've noticed this too, don't worry! The pumpkin puree is coming!!!!

Our first pumpkin recipe was a Healthy Pumpkin Muffin. We added chopped prunes to these, and everyone in my family loved them. The prunes were a great addition and added sweetness. My mom made extra and froze a bunch and they have been really good warmed in the microwave on mornings when we don't have a lot of time. They still warm up to be soft and tender.

My brother is on a swim team and my mom has been giving these to him before early morning practices.

We also made Pumpkin Streusel Muffins. These were less healthy, but tasted REALLY good! We all liked the streusel topping on these, especially my dad. And my mom thought that this had one of the best muffin toppings that we have ever made. These muffins are very fragile though.

These muffins would be great to give as a gift or serve at a brunch.

We made two pumpkin coffee cakes and we loved both of them. The first one was an Iced Pumpkin Coffee Cake and it was delicious. It had a streusel top and pumpkin glaze and we all loved it.

We added pecans to the topping and really liked the flavor that they added.

The cake was soft and flavorful, but the topping is definitely the best part!

Our next version was a Pumpkin Spice Coffee Cake, and we loved this one too. This recipe already had pecans in it. But what made this recipe different is that we put a layer of streusel in the middle of the batter, and on the top. My dad really liked having some streusel in the cake. The other thing that was different about this recipe is that it had a maple glaze.

I liked how this glaze looked and the maple flavor added a lot.

It's hard to see, but the streusel layer in the middle was great because it meant that you got some streusel with every bite!

One of my favorite things that we have made in quarantine is Spaghetti Pie. This one was one my mom's favorites too. There is a famous Roman pasta dish called cacio e pepe, which means "cheese and pepper." This dish is like a baked version of that, but it does have one non-traditional ingredient in it, which is broccoli rabe. Broccoli rabe is like a bitter version of broccoli, but I like it even more (and I actually really like broccoli!). I do think it's kind of a funny name though, like a guy named Broccoli Rob.

You assemble all of your ingredients in a springform pan. It's important to wrap it in tinfoil so that it doesn't leak!

This is what it looks like baked. My mom and I liked the crispy edges the best, but Rachel liked the softer pasta in the middle.

Then you slice it, just like a real pie! I thought it was cool seeing the spaghetti sliced from the side.

We actually made another savory kind of pie. This one was Beef Pie With Masa Crust. First we used masarepa to make the crust. Masarepa is a precooked corn flour. After we baked the crust, we filled it with beans and a beef filling. I loved the spice to the filling. This was a big hit with everyone.

It was fun squishing the crust into the pan.

Of course we forgot to take a picture of it before we cut it. But this is what it looked like sliced. We topped it with lettuce, tomatoes, olives and sour cream. The vegetables added nice freshness.

We ended up with extra meat filling and we wanted something to do with it. So the next morning, we made a Sausage Egg and Cheese Breakfast Casserole. We just used our extra taco pie meat instead of sausage and this was awesome! I loved the spice of the meat with the eggs.

This is what it looked like before we baked it.

And this is once it was done. The melty cheese was delicious!

Another project that we did was flatbread pizzas! We've always used the same pizza dough recipe. I really like it because it is perfectly chewy. But recently we tried a new flatbread pizza recipe and it was even better. I think it should be our new regular recipe.

I liked kneading the dough!

This is how the crusts looked rolled out.

We made three different kinds of pizza.

Our first one was a classic pizza, just with sauce and cheese.

The second kind we baked with whole milk mozzarella and prosciutto. One minute before it was done, we added on dollops of fig jam. And then once it came out of the oven, we added on arugula drizzled with balsamic vinegar.

I loved the sweetness that the fig jam gave this, and how the saltiness of the prosciutto balanced that out.

Our last version was a Caramelized Apple Gorgonzola Pizza. We did it on the flatbread dough, but we based the toppings on this recipe. My dad said that he was highly skeptical but that this one ended up being his favorite!

What makes this pizza extra special is that you drizzle honey on at the end. My dad said that he thinks that's what put this one over the top!

Another dinner that we made was Garlic and Tomato Fish Stew. I especially liked the chunks of potato. This recipe calls for cod, but we used halibut. I actually wished that we'd used the cod because I don't love halibut. But really you could use any fish that you like in this and it would be good.

I like how we garnished it with parsley to add color.

One night we had Lemon Garlic Shrimp and Grits and I LOVED the grits. I would have added more lemon to the shrimp next time, but the grits were perfect. They were cheesy and flavorful.

I thought that this plate looked like a shrimp flower!

Another shrimp dish that we tried was Grilled Shrimp with Spicy Jollof Rice. Jollof rice is a spicy rice dish that is popular in West African countries. To make the rice, first we pureed onions and bell peppers and spices in the blender. Then that gets cooked down on the stove and then the rice gets baked in it. While we were reducing the tomato mixture, it was spattering everywhere and we didn't have a spatter guard. I came up with a great solution! I told my mom to just use a colander and it worked!

Isn't this a good idea?!

The first night that we had it, the rice was REALLY spicy. And that was with us only using 1/3 of the cayenne pepper that the recipe called for! But the rice kept getting better with time. By a few days later, it was less spicy, and actually more flavorful. My dad didn't like that the shrimp for this dish were just grilled plain though. I think that maybe next time I'd marinate them first to add some flavor.

I thought that the color of the rice made it a great dish for fall!

One of my favorite dinners that we've had was Ginger Miso Striped Bass in Shitake Mushroom Broth. I really liked the miso breadcrumb topping for the fish and the miso broth. My dad said that he liked the contrast between the fish and the broth. But we all thought that if we made this dish again, we'd try to add more umami and salt to the broth.

Our breadcrumbs got a little bit burned, but they still tasted great!

We also made some pumpkin desserts. A favorite was a Pumpkin Cream Cheese Bundt Cake. My sister said that she liked the flavor. And my parents loved the combination of cream cheese frosting and pumpkin. I really liked the cream cheese filling too.

I think that cakes always look better on cake stands!

This is what it looked like sliced.

Another recipe was Pumpkin Dream Cake. This had a cinnamon cream cheese frosting and it was really good! My mom brought pieces of this to work and everybody loved it!!

For some reason, the lighting on this picture looks funny. But you can see the flecks of cinnamon in the frosting!

One of my mom's favorite pumpkin recipes was Super Soft Pumpkin Cookies. She said that she thought this was a perfect cookie. These have a maple cream cheese icing. I've noticed that lots of our pumpkin recipes have cream cheese frosting and I think that is interesting. It is probably because lots of people agree that cream cheese goes well with pumpkin.

I think we could have frosted these cookies even more!

A really fun baking project that we did was making Chocolate Chip Cookie Shots. Do you remember when I told you all about cookie shots at Dominique Ansel Bakery in my blog post about going to New York? Well we decided to make our own!

To make cookie shots, you need to have special pans. One of the things that I've noticed during quarantine is that there are lots of different kinds of pans. We've used bundt pans, tube pans, loaf pans, square pans, rectangular pans, spring form pans, canoe pans, doughnut pans, muffin tins, and I'm sure that I'm forgetting some. But for the cookie shots, we had to get a new kind of pan! The cookie shot molds are two pieces. There's a molding pan with deep compartments to make the cookie shots, and then plungers that you push into them to hollow out and shape the cookie

First we made the cookie dough. Then we scooped it into the the cookie shot mold and pushed in the plungers. This cookie dough is unusual because it hardly has any leavener. I think this is because if the dough rises much, then it won't keep the cookie shot shape.

This is me pushing in a plunger to form the cookie shot.

But I guess we pushed too hard because this is what our first round of cookie shots looked like. Oops!

But we tried again and didn't insert the plungers as far, and they turned out perfectly. Then we painted the insides with chocolate.

We got new paint brushes so that they were clean for this project!

This is what the cookie shots looked like when the chocolate dried.

Then we filled them with vanilla milk! Rachel thought that the vanilla milk was the best part!!

This was my sister and me toasting!

The cookie shots were really fun to make and give to people! But we did have all of the ones from our first round that came out with no bottoms. The cookie tasted really good and we didn't want to waste it, so we used it to make Chocolate Chip Cookie Truffles. We actually used a recipe for Cookie Pops, but we didn't have sticks, so we called them truffles!

These were super easy to make. We just combined everything in the food processor and rolled the dough into balls.

Then after the balls chilled, we dipped them in chocolate.

Then we drizzled darker chocolate over them.

This is what they looked like in the middle. These are different from chocolate chip cookies in that we all thought that they tasted better cold.

I like fall because of apple picking and Halloween and all of the yummy fall baking ingredients, but the very BEST part of fall is that my BIRTHDAY is in October!!!! We did another big baking project on my birthday and it was really fun. My mom knew that I would want to bake, but she also wanted to surprise me with something special. So she made the dough for these Cheesecake Stuffed Baked Doughnuts the night before and then surprised me by having me help finish them in the morning.

We rolled out the dough, cut out rounds and baked them in the oven.

Then we dipped the tops into melted butter and cinnamon sugar.

After that, we used a pastry bag to fill them.

Then we finished them with more icing and strawberry jam. We had trouble with the jam getting stuck in the piping tip, and my mom thought that we needed a bigger tip, but I suggested that we just not use a tip at all. We did keep the inner ring in the piping bag though, and that helped shape the jam perfectly!

These doughnuts turned out to be one of the best things we have ever ever EVER made!!!!! My brother has already requested them for his birthday!

I thought that they looked very professional!

They were definitely messy to eat though!!!!!

Now ladies and gentlemen, we are finally at the moment you have all been waiting for. It is time to reveal my NEW favorite pancake! And the winner is.... Carrot Cake Pancakes! These also have a cream cheese topping and it was soooooo good!!!

I loved how the dollops of cream cheese topping looked!

We already have lots more special fall recipes to tell you about and a VERY special cookie competition to report on, so there will be lots more coming soon!