Guess what guys? A Giveaway!

It's December guys. Do you know what that means? Christmas shopping! And what better place to pick up everything than online? CSN Stores is the perfect place for everything you need. With over 200 stores, you can find tons of great products for even better prices! You could get a perfect present for everybody on your Christmas list, or even for yourself! Do you need some new bags? Or even better, what about buying sling backpacks for everyone on your list? You can never have too many bags! (haha, I sound like those super duper long commercials advertising a cleaning solution!) Alexandra, from CSN, has generously offered to give one of you a $35 gift card in the form of a promotional code that can be used on any product on their site. And all you have to do to enter is comment on this post telling me what your favorite holiday dish is! It's easy as that!


Entries accepted until Dec 10th, midnight. I'll randomly pick a winner, so make sure to leave your email address or some way for me to contact you!

Upside Down Pineapple Cake

Whenever I get a new cookbook I make a list of every single thing I want to make. Along with Flour's famous sticky buns, this upside down pineapple cake was at the top of the list. Caramelized pineapple and a buttery cake batter. Who could resist? Plus, there was a picture of the cake, and the minute I saw it my mouth started to water and I knew I had to make it!

The cake was very moist, and paired perfectly with the sweet pineapple slices. At first I was a little scared because there are several components, but after tasting this cake, I knew it was totally worth it! Btw, does anyone know how to cut these things? Cause when I sliced it, I couldn't cut through the pineapple slices and ended up slicing between the pineapple...which then led to kinda funny shaped pieces of cake!

Don't forget to enter my giveaway!

Upside Down Pineapple Cake
Adapted from Flour Bakery
Ingredients:
1 pineapple, sliced in to 3/4 inch thick slices
1 3/4 cups sugar
1/2 cup water
1 1/2 sticks butter
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 eggs plus 1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:
1. In a saucepan mix 3/4 cups sugar and water. Heat until boiling. Allow to boil for 3-4 minutes, or until it begins to caramelize. When it turns light brown, gently swirl the pan.
2. Turn down the heat, and whisk in 6 tablespoons of butter. Add in pineapple, coating with the sugar mixture. Allow the mixture to simmer for 10 minutes.
3. Using a fork, place the pineapple on a plate. Heat the remaining sugar mixture until thick and syrupy
4. Preheat the oven to 350˚F and butter a 9inch round pan
5. Arrange the pineapple in the pan, cutting the slices in to smaller pieces to fill any cracks. Pour the thickened syrup over the pineapple.
6. In a bowl beat remaining butter until creamy. Add in sugar and eggs.
7. In a separate bowl combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix in to butter mixture.
8. Pour the batter over the pineapple. Gently tap the pan on the counter to remove any air bubbles.
9. Bake for 50-60 minutes or until top is golden brown
10. Once the cake is cooled, invert onto a plate

Crostata for Daring Bakers

This is my second daring bakers challenge! The challenge was hosted by Simona over at Briciole. She picked crostata for this month's challenge. Crostata, which means tart, is an Italian dessert, and can be filled with a variety of fillings. Since it was Thanksgiving, I chose to make a pecan pie filling for a pecan tart.

The tart dough was a little too hard for me, but maybe I just didn't roll out the dough thin enough... oops. But anyways, the crust paired pretty well with the nuts. I guess the crunchyness of the crust complimented the sweet, semi softness of the nuts. Or at least I think. I brought it to the Thanksgiving dinner (along with several other types of desserts) and everyone said it was tasty, so I'm assuming they liked it.

I know I'm a little late, posting a pecan tart recipe and all, but I didn't start baking like crazy until this year, and anyways, I had way too much hw to begin Thanksgiving dessert testing. So sorry about posting this recipe after Thanksgiving, but you know, this tart can be enjoyed anytime of the year. Plus, it was really easy to make. I mean as long as you have all the ingredients, an oven, and a little time!

Crostata (Tart dough) Recipe can be found over at Simona's Blog Briciole

Pecan Tart Filling
Adapted from Tastespotting
Ingredients:
2 eggs
1/4 cup of granulated sugar
1/4 cup of brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon of kosher salt
1/3 cup of corn syrup
1/3 cup of whipping cream
1 tbs hazelnut extract
1 tbs maple syrup
2 tbs cup of butter, melted
1 cup of pecan halves

Directions:
1. In a bowl mix eggs, sugars, salt, and corn syrup until combined
2. Mix in the cream, extract, maple syrup, and butter
3. Add in the pecans and coat
4. Pour in to prepared tart and bake for 50 minutes at 350˚F
5. Enjoy!

Apple Breakfast Cake

Wow. Thanksgiving is Thursday. This Thursday. It's so soon! This year I get to make the desserts for our Thanksgiving dinner. Well, actually we're going to a friend's house...but I still get to make the desserts! We got a new cookbook, which you can see below, and I decided to make a couple recipes from this amazing book. Have you guys ever visited Flour Bakery in Boston? No? Well, you should. It's A-mazing! They make the best sticky buns, ever. Joanne, the lady who owns the bakery even won the sticky bun challenge against Bobby Flay. That's the main reason my family went there. Or maybe I just went there because it was a bakery and I didn't like walking around seeing old historical buildings. Hm, maybe that's the reason. But anyways, it was a good decision.

Do you guys have tons and tons of bushels of apples? No, well go out and buy some because this cake is totally worth it. Usually I just eat my apples fresh, and occasionally I'll eat a slice of apple pie, but this cake...wow..this cake would be amazing anytime. Tart granny smith apples are coated by a sweet cake like batter. At first the batter looks like there are too many apples in it, but when it comes out of the oven all golden and ready, it is perfect! It made a delicious breakfast, and the house smell so yummy!

Apple Breakfast Cake
Adapted from Flour
Ingredients:
1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1 1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 eggs
6 cups peeled and chopped Granny Smith apples
1/2 cup pecans, chopped and toasted

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and butter a 10 inch round cake pan
2. In a bowl sift together flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and ginger
3. Cream the butter and sugar. Add in the eggs. Once combined, mix in the flour
4. Fold in the apples and pecans
5. Pour in to pan, and bake for 1 hour and 20 minutes or until the cake is dark golden brown and springs back when pressed in the middle.

Pumpkin Granola

It's finally getting cold here! You know how I can tell?! I can leave the widows open at night without my room getting too hot. Yea, I know, maybe not the best indicator, but it's already November, so I'm just gonna say it's officially fall here. And what better to eat during fall than pumpkin granola? I first saw a recipe for pumpkin granola on Two Peas and Their Pod, and I was instantly craving some! It just looked delicious....large chunks of crunchy granola... yum :) 

When I eat granola, I crave one of two types. There's the granola with a lot of add ins, like cranberries, almonds, hazelnuts, raisins, lots of stuff, and there's the other type of granola that's just plain 'ol oats, toasted with a little sweetener, such as agave syrup, maple syrup, or honey!

Pumpkin Granola
Ingredients:
3 cups rolled oats
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup pumpkin puree
1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon all spice

1. Preheat oven to 325˚F
2. In a bowl combine maple syrup, puree, yok, cinnamon, nutmeg, and all spice.
3. Mix in rolled oats
4. Evenly spread mixture on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper
5. Bake for 35-45 minutes or until golden, stirring every 5 minutes