Oscars Party: "Django Unchained" Inspired Mini Mississippi Mud Pies with Bourbon Whipped Cream

"Django. The D is Silent."

Leonardo Di Caprio's portrayal of the Mississippi plantation owner Calvin Candie in Quentin Tarantino's Oscars nominated film Django Unchained is repulsive mixed in with a bit of charisma, violent mixed in with southern politeness, and outright brilliant. I know I would be too scared to serve him anything, but being from Mississippi I hope he would appreciate these mini mud pies. They are great for serving at parties, because they are individually portioned. You can just keep them in the fridge, and serve them whenever a guest wants dessert.

Valentine's Day Sweets: Spicy Bacon Brownies with Chocolate Glaze

Few things men are guaranteed to like: chocolate, bacon, and a spicy kick. This brownie has it all! I know what you're thinking...bacon?? But hold on, you don't really taste the bacon in it. It provides a tiny bit of salt and crunch that leaves you wondering why the brownie is so good. Plus you can get cool girl points for putting bacon in everything. Be careful with the spice, you only need a little bit of it, that will get balanced out by the rich chocolate.

Valentine's Day Sweets: Brown Sugar, Pecan & Chocolate Chip Cookies

I'm very spoiled when it comes to food. I eat only the tops of my muffins. The crusts of my bread. And the gooey center of my cookies. I was trying to figure out a way to maximize the amount of gooeyness I get from cookies, and I finally achieved it by baking them in this heart pan with deep cups. I have a sneaky feeling they will work well with mini muffin pans too.

The Cripple Bakes Cookies

A Day in Ina's Shoes- Pecan Bars & PBJ Bars

 

I have a slight obsession with Ina Garten. This woman has impeccable taste. She is the hostess with the mostest. She manages to be both elegant but understated at the same time. Her kitchen has everything a cook could ask for but is not pretentious. Her entertaining style is flawless but not showy. Her food is always classic comfort food that is elevated to the next level.  As a cook, and a woman, it’s hard to watch her show without envying her. After following her show for years, I think I have her day down to a tee now (at least the day I picture her having).

Dessert Party

I invited my girlfriends over recently to catch up and to watch a certain movie where Channing Tatum, along with a few other gentlemen, take their shirts off. Since my girlfriends and I usually are quick to skip to dessert, I figured that this gathering would involve around just sweets (ok maybe one savory dish, but only because I came across a cute mini mac and cheese recipe). There was an abundance of pink bubbly (ok a lot), cute little meringues made by my trusted sous chef, and mini brownies brought by my other fellow baker. I may have gone over the top and baked a whole red velvet cake, along with mini cheesecakes with caramel sauce, and rice krispies with marshmallows. And not to forget popcorn with white chocolate and sprinkles to pop in your mouth during those scenes where everyone was just screaming at the tv. Two of my girlfriends arrived early and while waiting for me to finish up, took it upon themselves to create name cards for all the dishes and arrange all the platters. Sometimes all you need to is some sugar, a DVD, and an abundance of your best girlfriends to have an amazing night.

How Ya Like Dem Apples? I Like Dem Baked.

For the past few years, I have been reminiscing about this apple cake I remember my mom used to make when I was a kid. There is only one problem, my mom doesn’t remember it.

I remember being excited about coming home after school to have this cake. I remember the exact place I would find it in the kitchen. I even remember the glass cake dome it would sit in. But I don’t remember what it exactly looked like. It was a cake, it had apples in it, and it was delicious.

My mother claims it was an apple tart, as my mom is famous among friends for her apple tart. But no, I insist it was a cake. She asks me if the apples were in it, or on top of it…I don’t remember. She asks me, was it a Bundt cake or a loaf? I don’t remember.

So last time she came to visit me, I made her dig in to her recipe book (calling it a “book” is generous, more like a “pile”). Her recipes are covered in pencil scribbles with titles like, "Dessert I got from a friend," and, “Strawberry thing I made at a dinner party once". She found an apple cake recipe, brought it with her, made it, and even though it was delicious, it wasn’t the cake I remembered.

I assumed her apple cake recipe was lost until few weeks ago, when two things happened. First, I stumbled upon Dorie Greenspan’s apple cake recipe. Even though the picture wasn't that clear, it immediately reminded me of my mom’s cake. If the recipe belonged to Dorie Greenspan, I mean, how could it be bad? Second, I got the latest delivery of my farm share. More about this in another post, but here’s the gist: every week I pick-up fresh and organic veggies and fruit locally, all sourced from a nearby farm. And recently I’ve been getting a lot of apples. Too many apples.
 

So with Dorie’s recipe and a surplus of apples, I made this cake, and the second I tasted it, I remembered the feeling I craved. It was the moistness that I had been reminiscing about. Not only were the apples so moist they melted in your mouth, but the cake was, too. So moist that I hardly covered it with plastic wrap, like Dorie suggested, and it was just as moist three days later.

 

After devouring the cake, I realized I still had like five pound of apples left! I have been itching to try out a recipe from the new pie book I bought at my corner cookbook store (along with a cute pie chicken I immediately bought when I saw one at the cover). I walked in to browse cookbooks on different cuisines, and when the person at the cash register said "I guess you don’t have a gluten allergy!" I realized I had bought three cookbooks: one about pies, one about pizzas, and one about bread making.

The apple pie turned out delicious. The sweetness of the apples was balanced out by the cheddar on the crust. And I mean crust, not that soggy bite you get at most apple pies, a real crust that stands up to the apples. And the dough was so easy to make! I have been put out by pie dough before, since I don’t have a big food processor to make one in. But this recipe comes together by just using your fingers. And you are allowed to leave big chunks of butter in the dough, the author actually suggests not to break them up too much to get that flaky crust (phew less work!).

After the pie, I thought I was done baking with apples for good, until I received, what do you know, more apples in my farm share! I didn’t want another pie or anything resembling it. Every recipe I browsed seemed too similar--tarts and strudels, etc.--until I saw a recipe for apple brownies in the October issue of Martha Stewart magazine.

 

They are fudgy like chocolate brownies, the brown sugar caramelizes on the apples. You can warm them up, and it turns into almost like a pudding, and it’s yummy with a scoop of ice cream and sprinkled with extra cinnamon. Or you can eat them cold, running out of the door as breakfast, replacing boring old granola bars.

 

So there you go, just when you thought you were finally done with apples, I leave you with three more recipes to try. Enjoy!

Apple Cake by Dorie Greenspan-Click for Recipe

Apple Pie from "How to Build a Better Pie" by Millicent Souris. Cheddar Cheese Pie Crust Recipe here with step-by-step picture instructions on how to make it, Apple Pie Recipe here

Apple Brownies by Martha Stewart- Click for Recipe