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Chocolate Peppermint Cream Pie
My living room is lit with twinkling lights, there are Christmas carols playing through the speakers of my record player, and my freezer is full to the brim with Christmas cookies. All sure signs that Christmas is coming soon. Now all that’s left is to plan my holiday meal, and maybe an extra-special treat for dessert. This Chocolate Peppermint Cream Pie will fit the bill nicely. Chocolate and Peppermint: A Match Made in Winter Somewhere around the beginning of November, or the first snowfall, or whichever arrives first, my tastebuds undergo a drastic change. They shift from craving pumpkin and cinnamon to a flavor combination that I’ve come to associate…
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Mini Apple Crumble Pies
Thanksgiving is just around the corner. It’s my favorite holiday, because the only purpose of it is to gather with loved ones and eat. No presents, no pressure…just good food and good company. When I was growing up, my grandma made the pies (well, she made almost everything really). Every year there was her famous Pumpkin Pie, of course, and usually some kind of apple pie as well. As an adult, I now make my own pies for Thanksgiving. And while I always opt for my grandma’s pumpkin pie for the big day, sometimes I’ll make a second option — either this Maple Pecan Pie or some kind of apple…
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Holiday Gift Guide: My Favorite Pie-Baking Tools
Friends, if you haven’t started your holiday shopping yet, it’s time to get on it! Last November I put together a gift guide of my top 12 cookbooks. You all seemed to enjoy it, so this year I’ve got another one for you — my favorite pie-baking tools! Pie Pans First up, pie pans. There are a lot of opinions out there about which material makes the best pie pan. And do you know what? I think they all work great. Here are the ones I use the most. Glass Pie Dishes I have this glass pie dish from Pyrex (top left) and another one from Anchor Hocking (bottom right).…
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Homemade Cinnamon Marshmallows
It’s spooky season, my friends. Halloween is just days away, which means costumes, trick-or-treating, and, most importantly, CANDY. I have so many memories from childhood running through the streets of my hometown with my friends, gathering treats from the neighbors like an adorable little bandit (back then we trick-or-treated without adults…in the dark…gotta love the ’80s!). But since I’m now too old to go door-to-door collecting peanut butter cups and kit kats (who makes these rules anyway?), these days I make my own candy. (Yes, I know I can just go to the store and buy myself all the kit kats I can eat, but this is more fun.) This…
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Pumpkin Bars With Cream Cheese Frosting
We’re already more than halfway through October, and I haven’t shared anything pumpkiny yet. That seems like some kind of crime, so I thought I’d better get on it. Luckily, I’ve been working on these pumpkin bars with cream cheese frosting for a while, and I think I’ve finally gotten them juuuust right. Pumpkin Desserts For The Win Pumpkin-spice-flavored things are everywhere, thanks to Starbucks. And honestly? The whole pumpkin spice craze is overrated (yep, I said it). But while I’m not a huge PSL fan (they’re fine, just too sweet for me), and I can’t stand the scent of pumpkin spice candles (ew), I do love a good pumpkin…
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Chai Spice Pound Cake Cupcakes
Harvest season is in full swing. Farmer’s market counters overflow with pumpkins and squash, orchards are bursting with apples and pears, and all I want to drink is warmly spiced cider, mulled wine, and chai. (And, yes, the occasional pumpkin spice latte…I’m not immune to its charms.) Two years ago I created my Chai Spice Snickerdoodles, and with it my own chai spice mix. From there, I added that same spice mix to apple pie, and have used the leftover mix in my coffee as well. Spoiler alert: it’s delicious. Then the following spring, a friend asked for chai-flavored pound cake for her birthday, so I added that chai spice…
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Fudgy Dark Chocolate Double Ginger Brownies
Fall has arrived, though officially summer still has more than a week left to dazzle us with its sunshine. This is my favorite time of year — the summer sun still holds enough warmth to add some bronze to your skin, while the chill in the air invites you to grab that sweater on your way out the door, just in case. The leaves are beginning to change, the days are getting shorter, and the cooler nights offer a taste of winter to come. This time of year my taste buds turn from the fresh, light flavors of summer and begin to crave the warmly spiced flavors of fall: cinnamon,…
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Chocolate Zucchini Bundt Cake with Chocolate Glaze
It’s the time of year when zucchini overflows from every garden in Northern Minnesota. In some neighborhoods, you can find boxes full of them set on street corners and labeled “FREE”. The zucchini harvest is so overwhelming that people are desperate to get rid of them. Luckily, we know what to do with such an abundance of zucchini — grate them, add chocolate, and bake this Chocolate Zucchini Bundt Cake. Chocolate Zucchini Cake > Zucchini Bread I know, I know, most people would go for zucchini bread first, but honestly? It’s overrated. Zucchini bread is fine and all (and MUCH better than banana bread, in my opinion), but this cake?…
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Blueberry Hand Pies
I just got back from a few days away in Grand Marais, MN. I spent most of my time next to Lake Superior, walking, reading, writing, eating delicious food, and sipping wine, coffee, and locally-brewed beer. It was glorious. The entire small town hugs the lakeshore, making for the most incredible lake views. It is, hands down, my favorite place in the world. I mean, just look at all of this beauty! Celebrate the Little Things Whenever I’m on vacation, I think a lot about celebration — especially taking time to celebrate the little things in life, like a sunny day, a quiet morning, the sound of birds singing, or…
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Sunken Plum Snack Cake
Friends, it’s officially stone fruit season. Bring on all the peaches, nectarines, apricots, cherries, and — for our purposes today — plums! I love baking with stone fruits. They lend themselves so well to pies, cakes, bars, and jam (which isn’t really baking I guess, but baking-adjacent). Stone fruits have a decent amount of firmness to them, but when you bake them, they sort of melt and go all soft and jammy. Yum. Before I baked with plums for the first time (years ago now…in a pie, I believe), I had enjoyed snacking on them but never thought of putting them into baked treats. But once I tasted them baked…
Recipes and Musings from the Zenith City
