Apple Fritters

These fritters are so good! If you haven't made time for them yet, please do soon! Quick and easy for a special treat. See the rest of the post on the Lovely Lady Baker's blog.

Happy Baking (or Frying)!

September Recipes!

Because we all like choices, you have two very different ideas for September: Fennel & Parmesan Shortbread or go crazy with Apples! 


Shortbread is savory and warm with flavors of fall, and apples are finally back in season. I didn't want to limit when it came to apples because everyone has a favorite. I've added a few different recipes to try but feel free to make the recipe your own and don't forget to try and post before the end of the month. 


Fennel & Parmesan Shortbread
from Sweet Paul


1 1/2 C flour
1/2 C butter cold and cubed
1 C grated parmesan cheese
1/4 C milk
1 T fennel seeds


In a bowl of a food processor, add the flour and butter and pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add cheese and pulse to combine


Transfer the mixture to a large bowl. Stir in milk. Form the dough into a 1" thick log and wrap in parchment paper. Chill at least 1 hour. 


Preheat oven to 350˚F. Line a baking sheet with baking paper (parchment). Cut the log into 1/4 inch rounds and place on a tray. Sprinkle with fennel seeds. Bake until golden, about 10-12 minutes. Cool on a wire rack. 


Makes 20. A perfect companion to any cheese. 




Baked Apples with Brown Sugar, Golden Raisins & Cinnamon
from Sweet Paul


makes 4
Four good baking apples (Rome, Idared, Pink Lady, Ginger Gold) cored and scored around the middle (do not peel)
2 C apple cider 
1/4 C brown sugar
1/2 C golden raisins
4 cinnamon sticks
2 T unsalted butter
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground cloves


Preheat oven to 375˚F. In a small bowl, mix sugar, raisins, cinnamon and cloves. Place apples upright in a baking dish. Fill apples generously with sugar mixture. Add any remaining mixture and raisins to dish. Add apple cider to cover one inch of the bottom of the apples. Dot the tops of apples with butter. Place a cinnamon stick in each cavity. Cover pan with a tent of parchment paper-lined aluminum foil. Bake one hour or until apples are knife tender (check periodically). 




Apple Fritters
Ree Drummond, Pioneer Woman


2 C all purpose flour
1/2 C sugar
3 T sugar
2 1/4 tsp baking powder
1 1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 large eggs
3/4 C milk
2 tsp vanilla
2 T melted butter
2 whole granny smith apples peeled and diced
powdered sugar for dusting


Glaze (optional)
1 1/2 C powdered sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp vanilla
1/4 C milk


In a mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. 


In a separate bowl, beat the eggs with a fork, then add milk, melted butter, and vanilla. Gently fold dry and wet ingredients together until just combined (do not overmix). Fold in apples. Add enough apples to make a very chunky batter. You want the apples to shine through! 


Heat a couple of inches of canola oil over medium to medium-low heat. When it gets hot, drop a little drop of batter into the oil. If it sizzles immediately and rises to the top, the oil is ready; if it burns quickly, turn down the heat. 


Drop teaspoons of the batter into the hot oil, six or eight at a time. SOmetimes they'll flip over by themselves; sometimes you have to flip them. Just watch them and make sure they don't get too brown, but cook them long enough to make sure the batter's cooked through, about 2 to 2 1/2 minutes total. 


Remove and drain on a paper towel. Dust very generously with powdered sugar, or dip fritters in a light doughnut glaze (mix all ingredients together, then dunk warm fritters). 


Serve warm! (may be heated up the next day in a 350˚F oven for 8 minutes. 




Caramel Apples
101 Cookbooks
 6-8 small apples, unwaxed, cold
1 C heavy cream
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 C honey


Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Push lollipop stick or popsicle stick deep into each apple - in through stem. Fill a large bowl 1/2 full with ice water and set aside. 


In a medium, thick bottomed saucepan heat the cream and salt until tiny bubbles start forming where the milk touches the pan - just before a simmer. Stir in the honey. Bring the mixture to a boil. Now reduce the heat to an active simmer and cook, stirring constantly witha  wooden spoon, for about 15-20 minutes or until the mixture reaches about 255˚-260˚F. To stop the caramel from cooking, very, very carefully set the bottom of the saucepan in the bowl of cold water you prepared earlier - taking special care not to get any of the water in the caramel mixture. Stir until caramel begins to thicken up - you want the caramel to be thin enough that it will easily coat your apples, but not si think that it will run right off. If the caramel thickens too much simply put the pot back over the burner for 10 seconds or so to heat it up a bit. 


Tilt your saucepan so all the caramel pools on one side and use your other hand to dunk and twirl each apple until it is thoroughly coated with caramel. Place each apple on the parchment lined baking sheets and allow the caramel to cool and set. 

M is for...

Monumental failure. I should done more research on what I was getting myself into. Or rather, what the Lovely Lady Baker was getting me into! Yeah, epic fail, for sure.

I did do a tiny bit of research after the fact. I do believe that I:

1. didn't beat my egg whites long enough,
2. didn't bake the shells long enough, and
3. have an oven that heats unevenly.

Needless to say, because the shells didn't work out, I didn't bother making the cheese cream buttercream filling. So we've been eating a lot of bagels lately...

Anyway, here's photographic evidence of my sad attempt at making macarons. Warning: it isn't pretty.

I might just stick to buying them...

July/August Recipe

For the month of July/August, we will be making French Macarons! I know this might seem scary to some of you, and some may have no idea what a french macaron is. Trust me though, I've never made them, but I've found if you follow a specific technique, the recipe doesn't really matter. I've added an inspirational photo and links to a few good websites for you to do your homework. I also made this a July/August recipe because I know it will take some time to figure out (and it's almost halfway through the month of July). Post questions in the comments section of this post, and as a collective we can share our thoughts and trials with each other. Feel free to post anytime within the month(s), no need to wait until the end.

Happy Macaroon Baking! 

Photo credit: Melanger, Lemon Macarons with Lemon Curd 

Resources:
David Lebovits: Making French Macarons
Serious Eats: Introduction to French Macarons
Tartelette: Recipe Index for amazing Macarons
Not So Humble Pie: Macaron Troubleshooting
Melanger: Making Macaron Tips

Stone Fruit Cobbler

I decided to make an apricot, peach, blueberry cobbler for the June recipe. Mostly apricot and blueberry, but I couldn't resist adding one little peach I needed to use. The sugar dough from Stove is really good and quite versatile. I used it to make the crust of a tart as well. I'll definitely keep this recipe in my favorites pile!

Thanks again Sarah and Eric for picking a fantastic recipe! To see more of my post, please visit the Lovely Lady Baker site.

Happy Baking!

This weekend my husband and I hosted a 45th wedding anniversary party for his parents. For dessert I used the sugar dough recipe as the base for strawberry shortcakes. I appologize for no pictures (We had 11 RSVP and 29 showed up!!! So we were a bit busy!). However, they were a great hit. Agreeing with Dana, how could a dessert recipe calling for a pound of butter not be delicious!

I patted the dough out on a cookie sheet, sprinkled it with coarse raw sugar and baked it all in one piece. While it was still warm, I cut it into squares with a pizza cutter.

To serve the shortcakes I had a variety of fruit ~ strawberries, blueberries, and spiced peaches ~ in separate bowls and whipped cream. Guests could build their own to their liking.

Thank you, Sarah, for a great recipe this month!

Not a berry tart

Strawberries are now out of season in the heartland. "Why? It's still June", you ask. Well tomorrow the heat index will be close to 110 degrees F. in Kansas and we will have over 20 mph winds. All things tender and succulent, like the spring-loving strawberry, tend to hunker down and just try to survive. Peaches love the heat though. And raspberries/blackberries get busy in the summer sun. So I decided to make a fresh peach and blackberry (picked from a friend's community garden) compliment for the shortbread crust posted for June's recipe.

The shortbread was delicious (what wouldn't be with a lb. of butter in it) and so easy to put together. I pressed the dough into my tart pan and it held up sturdily without being overly tough when cut. I served it unchilled with optional fresh whipped cream. My ten guests for the evening left 1 piece out of the two tarts I served. I made 3 crusts from the posted recipe and froze one for later. Thanks for the recipe Sarah and Eric!

Musings of a former botanist...did you know that "berries" are actually things like tomatoes and grapes? Strawberries are clusters of "drupes"--a single seed surrounded by a bony covering. And the peach is just a large drupe! So this is a drupe (pleural) tart, which really doesn't sound as appetizing as a berry tart so I will dispense with botanical musings. Happy summer.

June Recipe!

Our Dynamic Baking duo chose the recipe this month, and here is what they (well, one more than the other) had to say:


"I was thinking something with berries and a sugar dough, because:
1.  It's strawberry season in Virginia, which means all the you-pick fields are open for business and the June berries are at their best.
2.  I've been having friends over to watch Glee every week so am on the hunt for delicious, quick recipes.  I made a strawberry shortcake the other week that was delicious and oh so easy.
3.  We ate at our favorite restaurant the other night (Stove), and had what my mom called "the best cobbler I've ever had."  That's high praise from a Townsend.  It was delicious.

So I'm submitting the sugar dough recipe from our favorite restaurant, Stove.  It is really simple, but makes a delicious base for just about anything.  Folks could make cobbler, shortcakes, pies, whatever with it. The cobbler we had was constructed like tiny pots and filled with peaches and berries, lemon slurry, and had a whipped whiskey cream and caramel sauce on top."

Stove’s Sugar Dough

Restaurant - Portsmouth VA

This is not a dough for rolling, you have to pat this dough out into the pan your using for dessert. It’s rich and wonderful and can also be made into a short bread as well. I have even used it for bottoms of pans mixed with pecans and then a cake batter over that for a crunch factor. Just don’t over mix it or you will have some good rubber dough

1 cup white sugar, baker’s sugar if you can find it
1# unsalted double A butter
6 cups of all purpose flour,
(unbleached and without chemicals if possible, King Arthur is good stuff and easy to find)

In the bowl of a 4 to 6qt. mixer cream the sugar and butter until light and somewhat fluffy

Stop the machine, scrape down sides and add all at once 6 cups of flour, raise the bowl and on the lowest speed blend the dough until it pulls
together. if it’s winter and your environment isn’t warm you may need to spray from a mister water a little at a time till the dough starts to combine.

pinch a bit of dough to see if it will hold together, if so it’s ready for use.

this dough stores in the refrigerator for a week or so

To help inspire you, here are a few resources for recipes to try:
Betty Crocker's Classic Strawberry Shortcake
Smitten Kitchen's Strawberry Summer Cake


or if you want something with a little more wow factor:
I am Mommy's Red Velvet Strawberry Shortcake
and the link to her amazing frosting tutorial




Thanks Sarah & Eric for this month's recipe. As always, try and post before the end of the month! I hope you are as excited as I am... with summer berries in full swing you can't go wrong this month. 


Happy Baking
The Lovely Lady Baker

Lemon Cheesecake!

I made cheesecake this month too! It seems to be a big hit as you can see from Dana and Matt's previous posts. The cheesecake turned out well. Philadelphia knows cheesecake! Thanks again Dana for sharing one of this months recipes! Feel free to stop by the Lovely Lady Baker blog to see the rest of my post, and don't forget to check out everyone's entries this month.

It was a glorious day in the heartland. Cool breeze, sunny and the smell of the garden soil and fresh mowed grass. But, the kitchen beckoned, since I needed to throw together a chocolate marble cheesecake for next weeks festivities. I am convinced that cheesecakes really are an easy accomplishment as long as you don't overcook them. This one turned out to be not very marbled though because I took too long setting up for the photographs. The chocolate dollops cooled too much to be pulled into ribbons when I cut the knife through the batter. But, the chocolate sour cream frosting covered all imperfections. Another bonus in making cheesecakes for special occasions is that you can just pop them back into the springform pan, cover with foil and refrigerate...they will hold perfectly for at least a week. I will be making two more later this week since we are expecting ~ 100 people. Will serve with a tart cherry sauce on the side.

Sun-Sational Cheesecake

I decided that since it has been ages since I have had a chance to bake, and not much was planned for the weekend, I just had to bake a cheesecake. I decided on the more traditional Sun-Sational Cheesecake. The recipe was easy to follow, though I had to find an Australian substitute for Graham Crackers: I used Arnotts Marie Biscuits - they are a plain sweet biscuit, often used for tart/cake bases.


I confess that I added more lemon rind than suggested - I find with citrus recipes that more of the rind/juice makes it taste even better!

I was a bit concerned when I was making the topping, as it seemed flavourless and glutinous as I was preparing it. I was also worried that I had overcooked the cake as the edges were a bit brown when I removed the springform, but then the centre was still quite a bit softer than the edges, so may be not!









Instead of the thin slices of lemon on top as in the recipe, I just put some lemon zest on top: it looked good!


Anyway, the cheesecake was delicious! And my partner loved it too!

Chocolate Cookies: a variation on a theme

Last month, I chose to make the homemade oreo cookies, because, well, as stated earlier in this month's recipe post, I love making cookies! In fact, I've had an "oreo" cookie recipe bookmarked in my phone for several months, but I just hadn't had the time to bake them. Ironically, making these cookies aren't nearly as time consuming as I thought they'd be.

Long story short, the cookies were a success, but I overflattened and overbaked the first batch, resulting in big, thin, crispy cookies. The second batch turned out much better; I didn't really flatten the balls of dough and then baked them for only 8 minutes. Perfect.

Next time, I might try minting the cream filling...

Speaking of mint... (nice segue, eh?)

This month, I submitted the Mint Chocolate Cookie recipe. I did so because I had all of the necessary ingredients on hand. At least, I did until my husband decided to make the oreo cookies again last night for a bake sale at work today. So, I was left with a paltry 1/4 c of cocoa. So I went ahead and made a 1/4 recipe. And I'm glad that I did. These were pretty yummy. Here are my 1/4 recipe measurements with alterations:

4T butter

7/8 c sugar

1/2 egg

1 t peppermint extract

1/2 c flour

1/4 c cocoa powder

1/4 t b soda

1/4 t b powder

1/8 t salt

1/4 c dark chocolate chips, chopped

I used my AWESOME (new) cookie scoop that makes 1 1/4 t balls of dough--love this gadget-- and didn't flatten said balls (mostly because I forgot to do so). And I baked them on a silpatted cookie sheet for 10 minutes, cooled them on the sheet for 2 minutes before transferring them to the cooling rack. They were bitty cookies that could be eaten in two quick bites. And that's all you need. The flavor is pretty big and sticks with you. They really do taste like the cookie form of an Andes Candy. I think next time I would do one or some of the following:

• increase the amount of chocolate chips (a 1/4 cup was all I had on hand)
• dip them in chocolate
• sub brown sugar for the white sugar to make a chewier cookie

April Recipes!

For your baking enjoyment this month, Dana picked Cheesecakes (two of her favorites) and Emily picked Mint Chocolate Cookies. Check out their recipes and descriptions below. As always, try to post by the end of the month and share a picture if you can! 
Happy Baking!
The Lovely Lady Baker

Cheesecakes from Dana: Here is what she had to say, "For some reason cheesecake evokes oooos and ahhhs  that seem out of proportion to the time spent making them. They also seem to confer “advanced cook” status to the baker without mastery of some technique other than mixing, and baking without peeking.  They do require a “springform pan”.  They do require that you don’t overbake them as they are a custard mixture.

They are gorgeous and when placed on a pedestaled cake server, are elegant and worthy fare for any special event.  Two of my favorites follow.  If you offered these two and a classic cheesecake with fresh berries you would have variety for any taste.  I plan to bake these for an upcoming pre-wedding celebration for a special couple."


Sun-Sational Cheesecake 
(from the Philadelphia Brand Cream Cheese Cookbook)  
Translucent, lemon-sauced  
1 ½ C graham cracker crumbs
4 T sugar
4 ½ T melted butter

Combine; press onto bottom of 9” springform pan. Bake 325˚F for 10 min.


(3) 8-oz. packages Philadelphia cream cheese, room temperature
1 C sugar
3 T flour
2 T fresh lemon juice
1 T grated lemon rind
½ tsp vanilla
4 eggs (1 separated; make sure there is no white in the yolk)

Combined softened cream cheese, sugar, flour, lemon juice, rind and vanilla until well blended.  Blend in 3 eggs and 1 egg white; reserve yolk. Pour over crust.  Bake 450˚F, 10 min. Reduce to 250˚F, continue baking 30min. Loosen cake from rim on pan. Cool; remove rim.

¾ C sugar
2 T cornstarch
½ C water
¼ C lemon juice


Combine sugar and cornstarch in a saucepan.  Gradually add water and lemon juice.  Cook, stirring constantly, until clear and thickened. Stir a small amount of hot mixture into reserved egg yolk; return to hot mixture.  Cook 1 min. stirring constantly.  Spoon over cheesecake; chill. Garnish with thin lemon slices.

Chocolate Marble Cheesecake
(from an old friend; one I have made often)
Rich, chocolate taste but not overwhelming


1 ½ C graham cracker crumbs
2 T sugar
1 T cocoa
¼ C melted butter
Combine; press onto bottom of 9-in springform pan.
(3) 8-oz. pkgs Philadelphia cream cheese, room temperature
1 C sugar
1 ½ t vanilla
5 eggs
2 squares semisweet chocolate

Combined softened cream cheese, sugar and vanilla.  Beat until smooth.  Add eggs one at a time beating well after each addition.  Set aside 1 C of the mixture.  Pour remaining over unbaked crust.  Folded melted chocolate into the 1 C mixture.  Spoon in dollops on top of regular mixture in pan.  Cut through batter in a spiral motion and then again after turning the pan ¼.  Bake 1 hr. at 300 or until just set.  Cool. Refridgerate.  Frost.


Chocolate Sour Cream Frosting6 oz. semi-sweet chocolate pieces
½ C sour cream
Dash of salt.
Melt chocolate pieces.  Add sour cream and salt.  Beat with a wooden spoon until creamy and of spreading consistency.  Frost top only of cheesecake.

Mint Chocolate Cookies from Emily: Here is what she had to say, "Common knowledge to anyone who knows me: I have a love affair with cookies. More specifically, I love making them; eating them is a secondary pleasure. Cookies are like little rounds of love. A secret little dream of mine is to bake and sell cookies for a living. To that end, I have amassed a pretty good collection of cookie recipes; there are definitely some favorites that I've developed over the years. So for the blog, cookies were a no-brainer. After all, we hadn't really had a lot of them in the last year.

So what kind of cookie? Sitting at home on a Thursday evening, baby asleep for the night, I took stock of what was in my kitchen. Butter, check; eggs, check; sugars, flour, and baking soda, check, check, and check. The basics were covered. So what else did I have to make a cookie with personality? I have a soft spot for chocolate... and I had cocoa in my pantry. I had mint extract. Bingo: Mint Chocolate Cookies."




Mint Chocolate Cookies 

from Epicurious
Ingredients

• 16 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 3/4 cups sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 3/4 teaspoon peppermint extract
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Using electric mixer, beat butter and sugar in large bowl until well blended. Beat in eggs and peppermint extract. Add flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt and beat until well blended. Form dough into 1-inch balls. Place 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets. Flatten balls slightly to 1 1/2-inch rounds.
Bake cookies until edges begin to firm but center still appears soft, about 13 minutes. Cool on baking sheets 5 minutes. Transfer cookies to racks and cool completely. (Cookies can be prepared up to 5 days ahead. Store in airtight container at room temperature.)



I read the reviews, and it was suggested:

• to cut the flour back to 1 1/2 c.
• to up the mint extract to 2 t.
• to add semi-sweet chocolate chips.
• to reduce baking time to as little as 8 minutes.

I think everyone should make alterations that they feel are necessary. I mean, what else are we going to talk about? Right?

Copy-cat crackers

Since I've already made Smitten Kitchen's grahams and mallows a million times, I opted for the imitation whole wheat goldfish recipe. Check out my musical cracker adventure over at Life of Nickle.

Better Than Goldfish Wheat Crackers

I chose to make the Whole Wheat Cheddar Crackers! They were fantastic (yes even for whole wheat). I definitely recommend trying them if you didn't choose them this month. You can read my entire post here.

Happy Baking!

Homemade Oreos

I really enjoyed this idea of creating typical snacks from scratch at home. On the page listing the oreo recipe, there is also a link to a gluten free version. That is the recipe I chose to make. The cookie part of the recipe tasted really good, but didn't replicate an oreo very well. Adding a little more GF flour and cocoa powder might help that. I will, however, definitely make them again. Frequently using GF flours, especially rice flour, leaves baked products with a slightly gritty feeling in your mouth. There is very little of that in this recipe; perhaps the icing the middle helps cover that texture. Rachel loved them, as did the rest of us. We definitely recommend giving them a try.

Vegetarian Pasties

I found this recipe to be really yummy! It's definitely one to make again and experiment with different fillings. The crust was really buttery and flaky. I used a potato instead of a rutabaga, which worked well. And, I discovered I really like lentils. I'm not too much of a gravy person, but found this one to be a really tasty part of the recipe. Congratulations and thank you to Eric!

March Recipes

Nicole picked our recipes this month. She was inspired to "recreate a store-bought favorite" this month and turned to the Smitten Kitchen blog, her constant inspiration. To find out more about Deb behind Smitten Kitchen, click here. Nicole suggests trying one of the following Homemade recipes:


Whole Wheat Gold fish Crackers
Graham Crackers
Homemade Pop Tarts
Homemade Oreos

Making your favorite snacks from scratch may be a bit more time consuming than placing a box in your basket at the supermarket, but you have so much more control over what goes into each dish. Less sodium, less sugar, you might even find you like the homemade version better! Be sure to share your recipe with us the last week of the month. 

We Have a Winner! February Savory Recipe Contest

As most of you may already know, the winning recipe is Vegetarian Pasties with Gravy! What you don't know yet is who submitted it... Congratulations to Eric from the Dynamic Baking Duo. Thanks Eric for submitting your recipe! You will receive a copy of Savory Baking by Mary Cech shortly.

Thanks everyone for participating in our first Recipe Contest! I hope to have a couple more throughout the year. For the month of February, I encourage you to try Eric's recipe and post about it anytime later this month. If you want another challenge more on the sweet side, I have posted another recipe for the month of February. Check it out below, and Happy Baking to all of you!

Vegetarian Pasties with Gravy

For the Pasties

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 cup shortening

1 cup cold water

½ c. green peas

½ c. cooked lentils

1 onion, chopped

½ c. rutabaga, cubed

1 carrot, diced

salt and pepper to taste

6 tablespoons margarine

1. In a large bowl, combine flour and salt. Cut in shortening until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in water until mixture forms a ball. Shape into a ball. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate.

2. Preheat oven to 350˚F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

3. In a large bowl, combine vegetables. Season with salt and pepper. Divide dough into six pieces, and shape into balls. On a lightly floured surface, roll each ball into a 6 inch round. Place approximately 1 cup filling on one half of each. Dot each with 1 tablespoon margarine. Draw the other half of the pastry over the filling. Crimp edges to seal in filling. Prick with a fork and place on prepared baking sheet.

4. Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour.

For the Gravy

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/3 cup chopped onion

5 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

2 cups vegetable broth

1/2 teaspoon dried sage

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

Heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Saute onion and garlic until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes. Stir in flour, nutritional yeast, and soy sauce to form a smooth paste. Gradually whisk in the broth. Season with sage, salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer, stirring constantly, for 8 to 10 minutes, or until thickened. Serve the pasties hot with gravy over the top

Sweets For those of you who want to make something sweet for your sweet on Valentines... or want to prepare for the new craze before it explodes (which a friend of mine and I schemed up way before the New York Times ever did...) you can make a Mini Pie! That's right, Mini Pies are going to make it big. They are currently being referred to as the "new cupcake" and our dear friend Martha and her army of bakers is not far behind.


The best thing about a mini pie (besides it being so cute) is that you can give them as individual gifts, or packaged as wedding favors, or just eat one at a time yourself. They are fun to make too. I made some long long ago when I started a pretend bakery at an art gallery for the weekend. Make them in tiny pie tins, large muffin tins, or flat in a puff pastry shell. Whatever you end up making, be sure to enjoy it and share a new recipe with us!

 Lemon Meringue - Martha Stewart

Mini Berry Pie - Martha Stewart