Thanksgiving is coming! Traveling? Baking an apple pie?

Slice of Apple Pie

Last year, I spent Thanksgiving with my husband’s family, and my mother-in-law asked me to bring a pie. I was happy to provide the pie, but I wasn’t sure how to get it to upstate NY in primo condition. I’ve been foiled before by train heaters and bumpy car travel. After much consultation with friends (and my bestie, the internet), I decided to make the dough and filling separately to transport, then assemble and bake upon arrival.

Ingredients

I made the French Apple Pie from The Cotton Country Collection, a cookbook almost everyone in my north Louisiana family owns. This recipe incorporates a custard and apricot preserves into the pie filling.

I baked with Golden Russets from Red Jacket Orchards in Geneva, New York.

This heirloom apple has a firm flesh with an intense sweet-dry flavor. It is a great keeper and very versatile for eating, cooking and juicing.

I also added one Granny Smith to make up the required amount and add some variety, always nice in apple pie.

Prep

I made the dough ahead of time, divided it into 2 and froze each piece in plastic wrap. I cooked and spiced my apples and froze them in a gallon freezer bag.

Frozen Apple Pie FIlling

The night before traveling, I made the custard, which I refrigerated.

On travel day, the frozen items went in a tote to cool during the train ride, and the custard traveled with an ice pack in a cooler bag. (Note that you likely could not do this for plane travel due to liquid constraints. In that case, I would probably freeze a prepared but unbaked pie to carry with me.)

Assembly

I was more grateful than stressed by my mother-in-law’s help with the pie construction. She definitely has more experience with pie-baking than I do. She started hands-off but couldn’t help but get involved! It was fun to do together.

Cut Out Pie Crust
I used a small heart cookie cutter to cut holes in the top crust.

Have a tasty Thanksgiving!

Baked Apple Pie

See also my blog post at Farm2Me about freezing pie filling (for a more basic apple pie recipe) prepared with all your extra autumn apples!

What else was I going to bake for the Game of Thrones season premier?

It also happened to be my husband’s birthday, and he requested chocolate chip. I used this recipe from Southern Living, though I did not do the pecan crumble. I didn’t want to mess up my turrets!

Game of Thrones Cake

The cake came out perfectly—I was so excited it didn’t stick or break—and even tasted great.

castle chocolate chip bundt

Summer officially starts this weekend, and summer means the tastiest strawberries are ready to go into our breakfast, salads, desserts, or just straight into our mouths!

CSA_strawberries

My CSA (Local Roots) gets us these luscious strawberries from Phillips Farm in New Jersey. I was so excited to see a quart of them waiting for me at pickup, especially as my favorite almost-5-year-old had requested strawberry cupcakes for his birthday party.

fresh strawberry cupcakes

In the past, I have found that using preserves works better for baking, but I wanted to go all fresh this time around. One of the complaints I hear is that it’s hard to get a strong strawberry flavor in cake using just fresh berries. With that in mind, I sliced up about half the quart and added a little sugar, refrigerating for 2 days to draw out liquid and concentrate the flavor. I drained (and reserved) the juice and puréed the result.

strawberry batter

Since another complaint is that fresh berries have too much liquid to use in frosting, I used the purée without juice in the frosting. I did use the purée with the reserved juice in the cupcakes, plus some freshly chopped strawberries. I was glad that I decided to use those extra strawberries at the end, as the little chunks of fruit were a great addition to the cake. I think the purée of 2-day-sugared strawberries really helped me nail the flavor, though.

pool party cupcakes

Grab some freshly picked strawberries and welcome summer!

Recipe: Fresh Strawberry Cupcakes

Makes 30 cupcakes

2 sticks butter
2 cups sugar
5 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
8 ounces sour cream
8 ounces strawberry purée (with juice)*
1/2 cup chopped strawberries
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3 cups flour

Preheat oven to 325° F. Line muffin tins with paper liners. (I used red ones!)

Combine butter and sugar, mixing until sugar and butter form a cream. Add eggs one by one, then the vanilla. Mix on medium speed until light and fluffy.

Sift together baking powder, salt and flour. Add half of the flour mixture, followed by sour cream and strawberry purée, and then add the rest of the flour mixture. Mix until combined, but do not over mix. Scoop cupcakes into lined tins and bake for 20-22 minutes at 325° F, turning the pans after 10 minutes.

*For purée: 1/2 quart fresh strawberries, sliced, covered with sugar and refrigerated 2 days, drained, then puréed (remove 1/2 cup for frosting, then mix juice back in)

Frosting Recipe

peanut butter chocolate cupcakes

My husband is a fan of peanut butter cups, so I baked him a cupcake version for his birthday. It was one of those “big” ones, and we had a great party to celebrate.

peanut butter chocolate cupcakes

Peanuts, Inside & Out

I started with my regular chocolate cupcake batter, then dropped a peanut butter ball into each. I made the balls by combining crunchy peanut butter with a little flour until I could roll it into spheres. Baked in, they made a peanuty center that was similar to the inside of a peanut butter cup.

I used smooth peanut butter for the frosting. (Recipe below.)

Party Décor

My husband is into music (playing and listening), and cassettes were the thing for most of our younger years. Thus the “Mix Tape” theme was formulated. I had an oversized cassette tape printed for the wall and made smaller tapes to hang around it. There was one with the top song (according to Billboard) of each year since he was born. I also printed two 2″ x 3″ mini-tapes for each year to create cupcake toppers.

tapes

tape

The Venue

There are many great bars, restaurants, and other event spaces to have a party in Brooklyn. The place that fit just right was Two Moon Art House & Café in Gowanus/Park Slope. It has a wine and coffee bar and in-house catering for refreshments, sound system for music and speeches, and a projector to play sweet messages from faraway friends (or embarrassing slideshows…your call!). Two Moon also has a garden patio, a nice place for guests to relax. The owners and staff are lovely and easy to work with. Thanks, Two Moon!

peanut butter chocolate cupcake

Recipe: Peanut Butter Frosting

Makes frosting for about 3 dozen cupcakes (depends on icing method)

2 cups creamy peanut butter
2 1/4 sticks unsalted butter
2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2-2/3 cup cream

Beat together the butter and peanut butter, then slowly add powdered sugar and salt, followed by the vanilla extract. Mix in 1/2 cup cream and beat on high for a few minutes. If needed, add more cream or powdered sugar to reach desired consistency.

hot chocolate cupcakeThere’s nothing like a mug of hot chocolate with marshmallows on a cold winter evening. And, boy, have we had some cold ones lately! Though it is currently in the 40s in NYC, I wouldn’t be surprised if we get back to single digits this winter. It is the age of wacky weather. 50° or 15°, though, a cup of cocoa is often just the thing.

hot chocolate cupcakes

My husband and I were triple booked on a recent cold Saturday night, so I made a big batch of “Hot Chocolate” to give cupcakes at each event. These were baked from my usual chocolate cupcake recipe that uses cocoa powder (go for the good stuff), which seemed appropriate. Any such chocolate recipe should do. I finished them off with marshmallow frosting (recipe below) and some bittersweet chocolate shavings.

Attention, Vegetarians!

Marshmallow Fluff®, unlike most actual marshmallows, does not contain gelatin. It does contain egg whites, so it is not vegan, but it is totally cool for lacto-ovo-vegetarians. If you are buying a different brand, make sure to check the ingredients.

Recipe: Marshmallow Frosting

Makes enough for 3 dozen cupcakes (depends on icing method)

4 sticks butter (unsalted) at room temperature
2 jars Marshmallow Fluff® (7.5 oz. each)
2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Beat the butter and the fluff at medium speed. Shift to low and slowly add the powdered sugar. Add the vanilla and beat at high until fluffy.