I Baked a Pie!

I volunteered to bring a pie to my church Halloween party. Yes, I was aware that it was pie month at Marie Callender's and that all pies were $6.99. But I've been nesting (I wonder why) and really wanted to make my own pie. Since it's autumn, I wanted to do something with apples, but not a traditional apple pie. After searching a few websites, I settled on an Apple Cheesecake Pie recipe from Tasty Kitchen Blog. After purchasing all the ingredients, I again realized that buying a pie would have been way cheaper. But this was way more fun.

Of course I don't have a handy-dandy apple corer/peeler/slicer. That would have been too easy. I did everything by hand.

Glazing the apples with cinnamon and sugar was my favorite part. I might have saved a stash to eat myself. After glazing the apples, I made the cheesecake part of the pie. It would eventually get poured on top of the apples pieces inside the pie crust.

The bummer part about baking a pie is that you can't taste the final result without showing that you took a bite. My solution was baking a mini pie in a ramekin. It didn't have crust to complete it, but I think it was my best idea ever. (I might have eaten it for breakfast the next day!)

I don't want to pat myself on the pat, but I definitely deserved it. This pie was delicious! I could have eaten all of it myself.

The dessert of the night at the Halloween party was pies. I had to choose from 100 pies. Let me tell you, that's a hard decision. Of course I ate a piece of mine, and I also went for a lemon cheesecake. I will admit that it was better than mine.

I paid the consequences for eating so much sugar. My baby boy was turning summersalts in my belly all night long. I guess he likes pie too.

Back to School Cupcakes

I love having creative friends. I can just steal their ideas and it looks like I'm creative myself! My friend Kelly posted these "Apple of my eye" cupcakes yesterday. They look difficult to make, but actually sound so easy to make. But then again, she always makes difficult things sound easy. "One boxed cake mix, red cupcake liners, red sprinkles, red food coloring infused frosting, a few tootsie rolls." Perfect for back to school.

Just a few days left to vote for the You've Just Been Spotted 2010 OC Blog Awards. I've been nominated in TWO categories! Vote for me in the "Food & Restaurant Blogs" category AND the "Cooking & Baking Blogs" category. Thank you!

Time for Apples!

I am a HUGE apple lover. I seriously eat an apple every day at lunch. My favorite kind are Pink Ladies.

Apples are synonymous with the month of September. So it seems appropriate that the flavor of the month at SusieCakes is apple. Their offerings include:

Apple Spice Cupcake with cream cheese frosting
Double Crust Apple Pie
Sourcream Apple Cheesecake

September also means the start of the school year. SusieCakes is offering a School "Snack Pack": two mini chocolate chip cookies bagged & ready for the lunchbox.

Kids K-8 can get a free cookie or cupcake by bringing in an assignment with an "A." Available for the whole month of September.

Pink Lady Cupcakes

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I truly believe the phrase "an apple a day keeps the doctor away." I eat an apple every day and almost never get sick (knock on wood). My all-time favorite apples are Pink Ladies. It's almost like eating candy, they are that sweet. So when I saw this blog post title for Pink Lady Cupcakes on A Cozy Kitchen, I excitedly assumed this was a recipe for cupcakes using Pink Lady apples. Wrong.

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Although that's not the case, I'm still just as excited for these Strawberry Coconut Cream Cheese Cupcakes, aka: Pink Lady Cupcakes. They look so beautiful, fluffy, and girly.

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A Cozy Kitchen used the recipes from Smitten Kitchen for Pink Lady Cake and cream cheese frosting, but adds the touch of coconut herself. These Pink Lady Cupcakes look divine!

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Apple Pie Cupcakes

I've been raving about pumpkin cupcakes and desserts for over a month. Pumpkin is just the perfect ingredient for autumn desserts. But I don't want to leave out an equally important autumn ingredient: apple. Because what is Thanksgiving without pumpkin and apple pie?

Photo: kellycakes

These mini apple pie cupcakes from flickr user kellycakes are so adorable! Once you break it down, I bet these aren't too hard to make. The caption says: "Golden butter cupcakes with apple pie filling mixed in the batter, topped with Dutch apple jam and cinnamon vanilla buttercream." Yum! You could even add a dollop of whipped cream on top.

If you prefer pumpkin, check out these mini pumpkin pie cupcakes from Cupcakes a Go-Go that I posted about earlier this month.

September = School = Apples

September is apple month at SusieCakes! I can't even explain how excited I am for this. I love apples! I eat one every day for lunch. So of course I am thrilled to see Apple Spice Cupcakes at SusieCakes for the month of September! They are also offering other apple desserts such as double-crust apple pie and sour cream apple cheesecake. Yummy!

September also means back to school. To make the transition from doing nothing to studying for tests, SusieCakes is offering a free apple spice cupcake to every K-8 student who brings in an "A" assignment. The student can also sign up to win cupcakes for their entire class.

Remember that an apple a day keep the doctor away. Who knew that a cupcake could be healthy for you?!

Apple Cupcakes--not what you think

I found this cute idea for apple "cupcakes" on a blog called Chasing Cheerios. The author made these cupcake-alternatives for a niece's birthday party.

Instead of using cake, you slice apples in half horizontally. Next, you spread a topping such as sugared cream cheese or peanut butter on top. Last, you can decorate with sprinkles, chocolate chips, or whatever. I love apples! Great idea!