MangiaMore: GINGERBREAD layer cake

RER 12.25.15

Christmas Eve ended up being a flurry of baking— a follow-up to an earlier Christmas cookie bake-a-thon. Cookies are never enough, even that double batch of sugar cookies and those oh-too-delicious walnut bites. There were tins of cookies, but it didn’t feel like enough. Santa would be pleased, but we were having company. So I made cakes…

RER 12.24.15

RER 12.24.15

RER 12.25.15

Not just one layer cake, but two. To take the pressure off, I made a cake I have made what feels like a million times and has been requested on twice as many occasions.  My chocolate cake is a crowd-pleaser and just chocolate enough to be sexy.

RER 12.24.15

RER 12.24.15

RER 12.24.15

But what is a holiday without trying something new and season-sensitive? Chocolate is good all year round, but gingerbread, gingerbread is a funny festive thing. Gingerbread only feels appropriate from the fall of October to the rise of January. Martha helped me out with the dense gingerbread layers for the tall cake, while Smitten Kitchen inspired the creamy whipped filling.

RER 12.24.15

RER 12.24.15

My gingerbread cake amalgamation stood super tall and bare on the sides—naked cakes are a thing. Each layer was substantial and dense, spicy, but not too intense. A fresh whipped cream, laced with thick mascarpone cheese, cooled the warm brown layers. The cream filling was wet and airy, but not too sweet. The dichotomy left the cake lovely and light, just enough to tickle, but not enough to overwhelm.

Apparently, ‘tis the season for baking.  

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12.25.15

MangiaMore: Silver Palate Sour Cream Apple Pie

RER 11.27.14

So, this Thanksgiving may or may not have been the first time I’ve made an apple pie. In fact, the first time I really made a fruit pie might have been this summer and the first time I have made dough for the crust was just this fall. It’s always fun to make new things and add recipes to the roster.

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We were having guests over for dessert on Thanksgiving, so of course that meant we had to go all out. We knew we were going to make the usual suspects: pecan pie, Aunt Lene’s Pound Cake, and Chocolate Cavity Maker Cake. But we needed more, something else. The four of us brainstormed for a week or more before the holiday, and finally Dad mentioned this delicious apple pie with walnuts and sour cream.

And that was it! We looked to Silver Palate for their Sour Cream Apple Pie, and it was a delicious experiment.

RER 11.25.14

RER 11.26.14

First, we made the dough. A little butter, shortening, apple cider and food processor action, and voila! Pretty dough ready for a night in the fridge.

Then, it was all about the apples. We had a mix of green apples (which we peeled) and sweet Pink Lady apples. The filling is decadent with sour cream and sugar!

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Next, came the topping, which rests, between the sweet and tart filling and the fall infused latticework.  It’s brown and white sugar, a dose of cinnamon and meaty walnuts.

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With help from my expert sister, the homemade pie dough was rolled and beautiful. Filling and sprinkling was a breeze, but creating the lattice was fragile work, resulting in what we like to call a “rustic pie.”

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We had extra filling, so we decided to whip out the frozen store-bought pie dough and put it to use with another apple pie (sans walnuts). This time, we skipped the lattice and went a different route. Using a star-shaped cookie cutter, we cut out stars to top the pie, which made for a merry pattern fit for the holiday.

Finally, we got to taste the pies and they were scrumptious. The filling was not syrupy and saccharine, but stiff and flavorful with distinct textures. It was sweet, but not too sweet— an adult take on the fall favorite. A lovely addition to our Thanksgiving sweets spread!

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11.27.14

RER 11.27.14

MangiaMore: APPLE cinnamon white cake

RER 11.11.14

Somehow apples always seem to get abandoned in my boyfriend’s fridge. He knows I love apples (they say an apple a day keeps the doctor away) so he buys me some and then they sit. He likes to get me my favorite varieties, so that means sometimes there’s a few Honeycrisp waiting for me or a plastic bag with gala apples inside. We like to pretend we use them for whole bunch of things, but in the end, those autumn jewels wait patiently in the refrigerator until their time is almost up.

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RER 11.10.14

RER 11.10.14

This time we had three pretty bright red and yellow green gala apples aging and getting tired. We were supposed to make something with them this weekend, something delicious to celebrate Fall. I gave up baking over the weekend but found the recipe I wanted (I was literally ready to eat it, just not too enthused to make it).  So, on Monday afternoon I got to work and ended up with this Apple Cinnamon White Cake.

RER 11.10.14

RER 11.11.14

The extremely easy recipe involved layering delicious vanilla intensive batter with fresh chopped apple(s) and the spicy sweet mixture of cinnamon and brown sugar. Easy as 1-2-3. The loaf cake is like a coffee cake with brown sugar and cinnamon crunchy and crumbly on its crown and a multitude of soft and tangy sweet apples inside. Despite having no spices in the cake, there is a lovely swirl of cinnamon throughout, making this a great autumn breakfast, especially with the apples. It’s buttery, spicy, fruity, fall-like and above all, super yum.

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RER 11.10.14

RER 11.10.14

What do you do when you have extra apples? 'Tis the season for apples, most def! Would love to hear about your favorite fall apple recipes!

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11.10.14

RER 11.11.14