Cream Puffs

Cream puffs with chocolate ...does that make them mini eclairs?

Apples

This past weekend was perfect for apple picking: chilly - but sunny - weather and the trees ablaze with color...

Fresh apple cider doughnuts!

Cortland apples

What to do with all these apples?

Bella smells... apple pie!

Mini apple pie (baked in muffin tins - recipe adapted from Weevalicious)

Still lots of apples leftover: cook up with some cranberries, sprinkle a quick streusel mix (oatmeal, sugar, flour, cinnamon, butter) on top, bake, and we have:

Cranberry apple crisp!

Happy autumn; keep warm =)

P.S. Is it just my computer, or do the photos look quite desaturated to you? Blogspot just makes everything look ill. Maybe I'll switch over to tumblr instead - no color issues there.

Still Summer

Nectarine, marscapone, and gingersnap tart (recipe from Smitten Kitchen)

Mint Chocolate Cupcakes

An extremely belated post, I know. I made these mint chocolate cupcakes near the end of the summer for Christine's birthday. Her favorite flavors are chocolate and mint, so I thought that this would be a great recipe to try. They turned out well, especially the chocolate part -- so dark! -- and I just wanted to post and share the recipe... if anyone is still checking this blog at all... anyone?

(recipe from The Repressed Pastry Chef)

Cake

Marbled banana bundt cake (recipe from The Hungry Housewife)

Except I'm not baking it in a bundt pan

Cup in a Cup

Peanut butter cup cupcakes in 2 flavors!  Chocolate (recipe from RazzleDazzle) and peanut buttery (recipe from Cream Puffs in Venice)

Pop!

This is a belated post, but I had to post a picture because this time the photos were done by a very talented photographer: Drew : ) Take a good look at the picture because it's the best one ever posted on this blog!

The idea for these "firecrackers in your mouth" cupcakes came from Noble Pig but I left out the crazy color sprinkles and opted for a classic vanilla recipe from Amy Sedaris instead. I was soooo excited with anticipation for making these for the Fourth of July but had to contain myself so as not to spoil the surprise ingredient of the Pop Rocks. Oh, I could just pour that stuff into my mouth all day. I ended up making 38 cupcakes in total over 2 days... and I hope that those who had one/some of these cupcakes enjoyed eating them as much as I enjoyed making them.

Strawberries in Squares

Strawberry oatmeal squares (recipe from Kathleen)

Why am I using the oven when it's 90 degrees outside (and almost 90 indoors)...

Edit: ahhhhh, the silicone pan twisted around itself when I was taking it out of the oven. Now it's more like strawberry oatmeal pile instead of squares. Oh well, it's still quite tasty!

Behold! A specimen of strawberry oatmeal pile.