Alaina's Apple Pie

This is my favorite Apple Pie Recipe,

thanks to my roommate Alaina and Betty Crocker.

I really don't like how apple's are always mushy in apple pie. This recipe is great because it seems so much more fresh. Even though it isn't apple pie season really, this is one of my favorite pies. We always  make it with our friends apples from his orchard, but Granny Smith are a great option if you don't have local apples from a farmers market.

This picture is before the apple pie was baked. It will look a little more browned.

Pie Filling Ingredients

6 medium apples sliced

2 Tbs flour

3/4 sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp salt

Mix

Pie Crust Ingredients

2 cups flour

2/3 cup butter

5-7 Tbs cold water

To make the pie crust you mix the ingredients and split it into two balls. Roll them separately: one is for the top crust and one is for the bottom.

Put pie filling in the bottom crust and place 3-4 small gobs of butter. Then cover with top crust and connect the two crusts.

Bake at 400 degrees for 50 minutes

Depending on the oven (if it is a hotter one) it might be useful to cover with aluminum foil for the first 30 minutes and then uncover to brown the crust.

Red Velvet Valentines Cake

Happy Valentines Day!

In honor of Valentines Day I made my boyfriend a Valentines cake. I used a bundt cake recipe that I was trying out for the first time. I decided to do a red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting.

The cake turned out perfect! I'm not the best at frosting a cake so if you are like me you might want to add milk to the frosting to allow you to poor it on.

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups flour

2 cups sugar

1 cup vegetable oil

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons cocoa powder

1 tablespoon white vinegar

1 teaspoon vanilla 

2 eggs

1 cup buttermilk (1 cup milk and 1 T vinegar)

Red Food Coloring (Use more than you think)

Bake at 325 degrees for 40-50 minutes depending on thickness of pan used. Mix wet and dry ingredients separately and then combine together, and poor into bundt pan or whatever pan you choose. Spray pan well with cooking spray.  

I had extra batter leftover so I used it in these cute little heart baking dishes. Since I used a bundt cake recipe I wanted these to turn out fluffier than the main cake so I added a pinch of baking powder and half a cup of hot water. They turned out so delicious! They were moist and fluffy, but still had a density to them some how. I may have like how they turned out better than the real cake! They were so so good!

Use with a Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe, and pinch of red food coloring for the pink color. 

Cream Cheese Frosting

Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients

8 oz. package cream cheese

1/2 cup butter

4 cups confectioners' sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

If you want it to be more runny so that you can poor in smoothly over your cake, add

1/4 cup milk

I usually make 1 1/2 of this recipe so that everything can have a lot of extra frosting on it!

I added a little red food color in honor of Valentines day.

This recipe is great with Red Velvet Cake or Spice Cake

Peach Berry Cobbler

This is perfect for all your leftover fruit that is going bad, as well as perfect for a lighter desert.

INGREDIENTS

1 Tbsp cornstarch

1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup cold water
2 cups sugared sliced fresh peaches
1 cup fresh blueberries
1 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1 cup sifted all-purpose flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup soft butter
Ice cream

INSTRUCTIONS

Mix cornstarch, brown sugar, water, and fruits. Cook and stir in saucepan until it thickens.
Add 1 tablespoon butter and lemon juice. Pour into oven safe dish.

Add dry ingredients, milk and butter into bowl and beat smooth. Pour over fruit. Sprinkle sugar and nutmeg over batter.

Bake 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Serve with ice cream!

Thanks Better Homes and Gardens for this delicious recipe.

The Ultimate Spice Cake

Spice cake is one of my favorite deserts. I love it. I really love carrot cake, but spice cake just seems easier to make because I dont' have to deal with shredding carrots. My love for cream cheese frosting might be the culprit as well.

INGREDIENTS

Spice Cake

2 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup butter softened
1/2 cup canola oil
5 large eggs, seperated
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp ground allspice
pinch salt
1 cup buttermilk

Caramel Cream Cheese Frosting

1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup butter
2/3 cup heavy whipping cream
16 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 tsp vanilla
pinch salt
3 1/2 cups powdered sugar


INSTRUCTIONS

Cake

Cook at 350 degrees
Use 2 nine-inch round pans.

Mix sugar and butter, then add oil and egg yolks.
Next, mix dry ingredients together and then slowly add in the wet mixture.
Separately beat egg whites until fluffy and fold into the main mixture.

Split batter in pans.
Bake about 25 minutes or until center springs back.

Once the cakes have cooled, slice in half, making four round cakes. Then frost each layer, place each layer on top of one another, then frost the entire outside.

Frosting

Melt brown sugar and 1/2 cup butter in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Leave it until it begins boiling and then remove from heat. Whisk the cream in. Cool

Mix 12 Tbsp butter and cream cheese, then add vanilla and salt. Pour in cooled brown sugar mix until smooth. Lastly add powdered sugar. Chill before adding to cake.

This cake was amazing. The frosting turned out a little runny, so the next time I make it I want to try a thicker frosting or thicken this particular frosting. Otherwise, this cake was absolutely amazing!


Thanks Food Network for this recipe

Peanut Butter Blondies

These are perfect when you are looking to make something different but don't want to run to the store to buy random ingredients. They are delicious, easy to make, and you should have everything already at your house.

Ingredients

2 sticks (1/2 pound) unsalted butter, softened

1 3/4 cups sugar

1 1/4 tsp of sea salt 

1 cup creamy peanut butter

2 eggs plus 1 yolk

2 tsp. of pure vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips

Heat oven to 350

Add in ingredients in order, mixing together butter and sugar first

Then mix in everything else

Cook 35-45 minutes depending on oven, or until golden brown

Add frosting after blondies are cooled

Frosting Ingredients

1 stick (1/2 cup) butter softened

1/4 cup milk

2 tsp vanilla

3 Tbls cocoa

2 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Smooth and then spread on top of blondies once cooled

Red Velvet Roll

It's been a long time since I have added anything on here, but I'm back to adding my delicious goods for you all to try.

...and this is DELICIOUS.

You have to make this, and soon. If you are craving chocolate, it is the best.

Cake Ingredients

1 cup all-purpose flour

2 Tbl cocoa powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/8 tsp salt

1/2 milk (or buttermilk)

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp apple cider vinegar or white vinegar

8 Tbl butter softened

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1 large egg

1 Tbl liquid red food coloring

White Chocolate - Cream Cheese Filling

8 ounce package cream cheese

5 ounce white chocolate, melted

4 Tbl butter 

1/3 powdered sugar

To Make Cake

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Mix: flour, cocoa, baking soda, salt

Mix separately mixing occasionally: milk, vanilla, vinager, sugar, egg

Combine the two mixtures. Cook in large 10' 1/2'' * 15' 1/2'' pan that has small 1/2'' rim around the edge. Make sure to spray the pan.

To Make Filling

Melt the chocolate chips in microwave stirring occasionally so they don't burn. Slowly mix in the rest of the ingredients starting with cream cheese, and ending with sugar.

Cook for about 10 minutes or until cake springs back at you.

Rolling the Cake

If you haven't made a cake roll your best bet is to watch a you tube video. I do it a way that doesn't seem to work that well.

Just in case. I poor the cooked cake on to a floured hand towel. Roll the cake up with the hand towel. Once it is cooled I unroll it and spread the cream cheese frosting. Then just roll it back up with the frosting instead of the towel and let it sit in the fridge for a bit. Usually once it is refrigerated and I cut it turns out looking better than I thought. I do think there is better ways of doing it. This isn't the most reliable way.

The only thing I changed is added extra frosting because my boyfriend loves sugar. If you love sugar, then you might want to think of adding more to the cream cheese frosting.

Make this cake! It is worth it.