Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween everyone! Wow, what a drag to have Halloween on a Monday! I was asked by several people if I was going to dress up, but I wasn't going to dress up just to bake at home. That could be a fire hazard! Last year, I made a cupcake costume and I had polyfill in places I never knew existed! Speaking of costumes, I received a call from my sister saying that she was going to wear a name tag with "Margarita" on it and she was going to stand on a rock. Get it? Margarita on the rocks. My sister, ladies and gentlemen!

It was Bakingpalooza at my house this weekend! I was asked by my Mom's friend to create a dessert table for about 40 people for a Birthday/Halloween party she was having the day before Halloween. I went over to her house to check out the table that I would be working with and it was ideal for a Halloween party! It looked like it belonged in a haunted mansion along with a creepy wonky-eyed butler that goes around asking people, "Would you like a drink?". It reminded me of that Saved by the Bell episode where "the gang" wins a weekend trip to the murder mystery house. Point of the story: the table was AWESOME! 

All the items on the menu were (appropriately) given Halloween names. Here's a picture of the menu!

Chocolate Peanut Butterfinger Cupcakes and Cookies 'N' Scream Cupcakes

Ghoulish Pumpkin Swirled Cheesecakes

Red Velvet Cheesecake Eyepops

Of course, my sister and I were cracking jokes for two days over the eyepops. "Quit eyeing the lollipops and take the picture!" "I've got my eye on you!" I too am guilty of sending pictures of these eyepops to people along with the message, "I'm watching you!"

For the cupcakes, I wanted to do things a little differently and I put them in clear cups - a true meaning to the term "cup" cakes. For the eyepops, I bought some gauze and I made some fake blood out of cocoa powder, water and red food coloring and wrapped it around a piece of styrofoam. Hey, I like to save money where I can! All in all, the party was a success and the desserts were a hit!

Onto Halloween Day!

This year, I had the idea of making mini desserts for the parents of the trick-or-treaters, (accompanied by contact cards, of course). Ironically, while I was baking away, the episode of Friends came on when Monica makes candies for her neighbors! I'm not going to lie, this morning, I had a little anxiety as I was nervous about whether or not the desserts would be well received as a lot of parents are extra cautious on Halloween and understandably so.

I made everything bite-sized; a dessert amuse-bouche if you will.

Chocolate-Peanut Butter Cupcakes, Pumpkin Swirled Cheesecakes on a Gingersnap Crust, Chocolate Cookie Sandwiches filled with Homemade Marshmallow Fluff and Chocolate Brownies with Cream Cheese and Milk Chocolate Pieces.

To my pleasant surprise, everyone LOVED the idea! A little boy even told me, "You should do this more often!" I ran out of candy and desserts within an hour! I thought 200 pieces of candy would be enough, but I was wrong. Our neighborhood was the busiest I had ever seen it! All the kids were so cute and polite and let me tell you, GREAT for networking! They kept sending their parents my way!

 

I hope everyone had a fun and safe Halloween! Don't forget to hit up the candy sales tomorrow!

Have a great week everyone!!!

"STRESSED" is "DESSERTS" spelled backwards.

I know, I know. I've neglected my blog but this was a chaotic week. Beyond chaotic! Not to mention, I was crazy sick with a cold. Germs were all over me like a cheap suit! I guess it didn't help that I was eating ice cream with my caramel sauce every night, but I'm back with a fresh post and some great pictures! 

My niece turned 11 and she had a huge Hawaiian themed birthday party this weekend. I was asked by my sister to make the desserts and after much whining and begging (mainly from me), Carina (my client) and I finally agreed on a dessert bar so people could have options to choose from. I also took the liberty of putting together an impromptu menu so people would know what each dessert consisted of! Of course, the menu was somehow thrown to the side but it was a good idea, in theory.

I busted out 60ish red velvet cheesecake lollipops, 3 dozen s'mores and peanut butter cupcakes, 2 batches of brownies topped with caramel (actually, 4... the first 2 batches didn't make the cut - no pun intended) and a banana cake with strawberry frosting, per the birthday girl's request. I was one tired baker! Perhaps I need an assistant. My niece's dog that is willing to "clean up" the floor when anything spills, doesn't count. Once, I dropped half a cooked chicken breast on the floor and she inhaled it before I could bend over to pick it up! She's tiny but she can eat with the best of them!

Everything went off without a hitch (almost) in spite of the million things that were being cooked and baked in the kitchen. I love watching people eat my culinary treasures while they're ooh-ing and ahh-ing and making yummy noises. That's the best! Plus, my niece and sister were beyond happy with everything! If my heart had a mouth, it would be smiling.

And now, for your stomach's viewing pleasure...

Have a great week everyone! I will be posting a new recipe within the coming days!!!

When life hands you apples, make pie!

I have another confession to make...

...I talk to my food. Is anyone really THAT surprised?  

Quite some time ago, I was compared to Anne Burrell, or as I like to call her: the female version of Guy Fieri. If you’ve ever seen her show Secrets of a Restaurant Chef on the Food Network, you will quickly notice that she refers to her mushrooms as "sexy" and quite frequently yells out sayings like, “Oh, yeah! Great things are happening in this pan!” I am guilty of the aforementioned and it’s refreshing to see that she got her own show out of it. It's like watching a recording of me, minus the bleached hair. Does opportunity knock twice or did I just miss my chance?

Being that the weather is cooling down in sunny San Diego, I was in the mood to make a pie. Is it wrong that I had plans to go out last night and I chose to stay home and bake something? To me, there's nothing better than a warm slice of pie (accompanied by a big scoop of ice cream, of course) on a crisp night. Costco makes a delicious caramel apple pie with a streusel topping so I decided to try my hand at it. Instead of a streusel topping, I went with a double crust pie. I'm all about the crust! I also did some research to see what kind of caramel apple pie recipes were out there and I was shocked to see that every recipe called for store bought caramel sauce or caramel candies. Negative. I made my own caramel!

Coming up with the filling was quite challenging as apple pies tend to be made with strong spices. Since I was adding the caramel, I didn't want the spices to overpower the taste of the caramel but I didn't want it to be too sweet so I really had to edit and re-edit my measurements. Remember: you can always add to, but you can't take away!

A few apples and dashes of cinnamon later and I was ready to put my pie in the oven. I felt like Squirt from Finding Nemo and I found myself telling my pie, "OK! We're going to have a great bake today!" There's nothing worse than spending so much time and energy on something for it to fall apart at the very end. Food for thought.

The slits in the pie serve two purposes: for the steam to escape and for you to determine when your pie is done. When making a pie with a fruit filling, it's all about the bubbles. If the filling is boiling quickly and the filling has remained inside, step away from the pie; it's not done. If you see a slow boil and the filling is oozing out like a delicious volcano, grab your oven mitts; it's done!

Now THAT'S a pie!