The Birthday Cake

My son's first birthday presented me with an opportunity to tap into my creative side: I decided to make him a dog cake to coordinate with the dog-themed party. Surprisingly, I had a great time doing it and it was much less stressful than anticipated!

In short: I made a yellow butter cake and topped it with a homemade chocolate cream cheese/whipped cream frosting. I used a 14 in cake pan for the head, and a 9 in cake pan for the ears, which was cut like the ying yang symbol. I then used a cupcake for the muzzle - topped with a prune and black licorice for the nose - and a fruit leather for the tongue. The eyes were melting chocolates on top of white icing (leftover from the dog bone cookies I made), and the dog hair is toasted coconut and sifted cocoa powder. I also used some gel icing for the eyelashes and "freckles." What you can't see is a red licorice collar around his neck.

My son squealed with excitement when he saw it. I'm already thinking about next year's cake...

An apple a day... and you know the rest

It's apple season - finally! August was a bit painful when it came to picking fruit - the seasonal summer fruits were waning and seemed better fit for baking than for eating fresh (not that I'm complaining about eating peach-blueberry crisp or strawberry bread). Or maybe I was just excited for the apples to hit supermarket shelves and that's why all the blueberries tasted sour. So now that they're here, I've begun hoarding... Two weeks ago I visited Stribling Orchard in Markham, VA and stocked up on MacIntosh, Granny Smith and Honeycrisp apples. Today I paid a visit to Hollabaugh Orchard in Biglerville, PA and acquired some more Honeycrisps, as well as a few Jonagolds and Galas. And I now over nearly 30 pounds of fresh picked apples in my refrigerator.

Apples are great because they keep so well in the 'fridge - after 40 days in the produce drawer, many apples will still taste fresh, as long as they haven't been stored next to onions which leave a lasting impression on any fruit. But if you think that you'll never make it through 30 pounds of apples in 40 days, they're also a very versatile fruit that can be used in main dishes just as easily as desserts.

So what am I going to do with 30 pounds of apples? Many will be eaten out of hand, especially the Honeycrisps, which are almost too delicious to use in any recipe - a cross between a Macoun and Honeygold, biting into one is like taking a sip of fresh apple cider. But the Macs made a delicious crisp (that was not watery, thank you very much) and the Granny's were perfect in Sunday's apple-oatmeal pancakes. Tomorrow I think I'll try apple-bacon popovers for breakfast and chicken apple curry for dinner.

Now accepting must-have apple recipes - send them my way if you got 'em!

Fruit Crisp: Lost Cause or Ripe for Perfection?

Last night I attempted to make a fresh fruit crisp with peaches and blueberries. Most crisp recipes are generally the same - they involve brown sugar, cinnamon, butter, oats and a little lemon juice - and this was no exception. Because it's summer and I don't want to heat up my whole house, I baked in my little toaster over at 450 until the top was brown and the peaches were soft. Thinking I'd finally made a good crisp, I dug in... only to find a half inch of liquid at the bottom of my dish. Absolute disappointment.

This is not the first time this has happened, and I know I'm not the only one it's happened to but... WHY?? I've set out to find the answer, preferably before I go apple picking this weekend an have a bounty of apples to make crisps. Is this a lost cause - should I switch to a more involved cobbler - or is the art of making a crisp ripe for perfection?

All suggestions on the matter are welcome... So far I have had two suggested possibilities: one being not enough butter, the other being a need for cornstarch. Thoughts?

Link to Serious Eats post