It’s been a while since I posted…. Egads! Almost a month. The cookie baking was in full swing in November (we’ll come back to that) and then I was traveling for a couple of weeks. But I am back. Never fear. And it’s getting to be Christmas and as some of you know, in addition to the Cookie Maddens, I try to make some candy or truffles every year. This year, I’ve made these lovely semi-soft and chewy caramel candies — melt in your mouth good! There are two variations: gingerbread (love!) and butter rum. Each batch makes about 50 caramels. Great stocking stuffers!
sweets
Things have been a little quiet on the blogging front these days, but I have been hard at work in the kitchen. Tis the season (at least for me) to work on the masses of Christmas cookies that I make. More on that later. For now, I thought that I would sneak in a quick recipe for something healthy and fall like, and good to kep the munchies at bay while you are doing all your holiday food prep. These granola bars are great — very harvest like. Yummy.
Black and White (and Orange) Cupcakes:
Vanilla Bean Cupcakes with Spiced Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
Sometimes I am just in a cupcake kind of mood. It was a spur of the moment thing that I decided to make these — I realized that a friend has a birthday tomorrow (on Halloween) so it was an impromptu thing. I didn’t have much in the house, but I did jazz up the flavors in these otherwise rather “black and white” cupcakes: vanilla bean paste in the cupcakes themselves and both cinnamon and chili powder in the chocolate frosting.
It’s not often that I have to serve pie to 30 people. I think that happens maybe once ever few years, actually. But tonight is an occasion that I need to present some of my goodies in front of a large group of people. I thought about just making cookies or brownies, but then I thought that a pie would be more impressive. Also, I thought that this might give people occasion to see a recipe that will work for Thanksgiving, if you are serving a whole lot of people. You will need a rimmed half-sheet pan, but I think that most home bakers will have that. Maple extract adds a lot to this recipe; my flat smells absolutely wonderful because of the boost of the maple syrup flavor.





