Nothing Says Thanksgiving Like Masterbaking - Amaretto Pumpkin Pie

I wish I could find a pumpkin pie I liked. I thought for sure, this would be a great pie, I mean what's not to like? Pumpkin with amaretto, good. Amaretto cookie crust, good. Pralines on top, good. It should have hit the spot, satisfied that desire to find the perfect tasting pumpkin pie. Sadly, it wasn't. It was maybe the least popular pie of Thanksgiving. It was ok, the filling was good, but not great, the crust was not crispy enough. I probably needed to blind bake it longer, but it looked cooked when I took it out. Couldn't get the pralines right. All in all a miss, a recipe that can be forgotten. But it does look pretty, doesn't it?

Can I Really Keep Masterbaking? - Pear Cranberry Crumble Pie

The problem is when you make 7 pies for Thanksgiving and you only have 8 guests, there are leftovers. You also have too many good options, so ranking them is hard. Had I made this pie as one of 2 pies, it would have been the belle of the ball. It is the age old problem of a small fish in a big pond - too many good fish.

That said, great pie. I enjoy a fruit pie, especially when it is not too juicy. As you can see, no goop in the bottom of the pie plate. It really held together well. And the crust? It called for a tablespoon of vinegar, and when I put it in, it smelled terrible. But fully baked, it was fantastic. Flaky and tasty. The pie filling was great, the pears were nice and sweet, the cranberries, tart contrast. And the crumble topping, best way to end a pie.

Another Triumph in Masterbaking - Chocolate Toffee Pecan Tart

I wish I could have taken a picture that would have done this tart justice. It was a great addition to our Thanksgiving table. Not too sweet, the toffee was perfect consistency wise. I love tart crusts - short cut pastry is a tiny pleasure in life. I don't think there is a single thing I would change about this tart, the recipe as I followed it was fine by itself. (Note: 2nd place to the Toffee Apple Upside Down Pie - I think people like toffee!)

Masterbaking with Alcohol - Caribbean Sweet Potato Pie

Alcohol makes everything better, well, almost always. This pie was not my favorite, it wasn't bad, but the rum I put in was overwhelming in terms of the overall flavor of the pie. The crust was yummy - gingerbread cookies, smashed up and mixed with butter. I would make the crust any time. The pie was good consistency wise, but next time, I will either do it with less rum, or potentially no rum at all. Maybe it needed Malibu, something more tropical to play off of the coconut milk that was added to it. I'll give it another go, maybe merge the crust with another sweet potato pie recipe I have that I love.

More Thanksgiving Masterbaking - Toffee Apple Upside Down Pie

Yep, this is as amazing as it sounds. It was by far the house favorite, it got the most votes as the best pie of the evening. And there is nothing I would do to change it. Instead of using the recipe that came with the recipe, I substituted with an all-butter pie crust that I found in some magazine. OMG, so wonderful. So to make this pie, you put parchment paper in the bottom of a pie place, then you put the toffee (made from butter, brown sugar, and pecans) on top of that. Then you lay out the bottom pie crust. Apple filling comes next, then the other pie crust. Bake, and when it comes out of the oven, you flip it over so the toffee is on top. AMAZING! The filling is great, and the topping is awesome. And this crust really stood up to the pie filling. Two thumbs up!

Masterbaking for Two Days - Butterscotch Pie (Thanksgiving 2010)

Ahhhh, Thanksgiving, time with friends and family, football, turkey, and of course, baking. For me, that meant baking 7 pies of the holiday. As it turns out, that would mean almost an entire pie for each of the guests we had at the table. I love pie, who doesn't LOVE pie? I like to experiment with new recipes, and this year was no exception - 5 of the 7 were new.

Butterscotch pie sounds weird, but it was very tasty. You either love or hate butterscotch in the first place, and this pie is packed with butterscotchy flavor. It was really creamy, and the crust was the tops. My friend Fitz didn't think it needed the meringue, I think it was ok, but might go with a whipped cream topping the next time I try this pie (yes, it will stay in the rotation).

OK, Enough Masterbaking Talk For Today - Chocolate, Coconut, and Almond Cookies (with Almond Joy pieces too!)

I enjoy a fun cookie, and this was it. I had recently purchased the Coconut M&Ms and the Almond Joy pieces, thinking I would find a creative way to use them in my baking. The Coconut M&Ms, not so much, they had a very artificial taste to them. But the Almond Joy pieces, wonderful. Then all I had to do was find the right cookie . . . almond coconut cookies with chocolate chips? Perfect. I liked this cookie a whole lot. Not the most creative, not the most out of this world cookie, but a solid cookie, a cookie you can stand behind. I really like almonds and coconut and chocolate, so it was a great way to bring all of the flavors together.

Enough posting for today, when you masterbake on the weekends, and then fly 8 hours on Mondays, you end up tired. Nighty night!

Masterbake Me Up Some Goodness - Mud Pie Mojo Brownies

A totally different brownie adventure than the Strawberry Balsamic Vinegar Jam Brownies I made for the Bake Off, but pretty impressive nonetheless. What's not to like . . . brownies stuffed with chopped Oreos and peanut butter chips. Then a chocolaty frosting with some espresso powder mixed in. All of the different flavors really came together to make a great cake like brownie. I enjoyed the bits and pieces inside the brownie, it doesn't sound like they would go well together, but was a nice treat. It was sweet, and big chocolate flavor to boot! Eat up!

Maybe The Best Masterbaking To Date - Fudgy Brownies with Homemade Strawberry Balsamic Vinegar Jam

A picture is usually worth a thousand words, but this picture doesn't even come close to doing justice to these bad boys. I think of all of the items I master baked for the Bake Off, this was the best. The brownie was amazing by itself. Thin, moist, not too chocolaty, not too sweet, certainly not overpowering. And add to that this great homemade strawberry balsamic vinegar jam, and magic. A good brownie turned into an amazing brownie with a richness and depth and complexity of flavors. The balsamic vinegar added a subtle flavor, it brought out the strawberries and combined well with the brownies. A hit with everyone, stole the show of all of the things that I made.

Mmmmmmm (asterbaking) - Spice Cake with Caramelized Pears and Buttercream Frosting

Check out those luscious layers of cake and frosting goodness! I love layer cakes, even if I am unable to make them pretty, even if I am unable to frost them perfectly. Even if the layers are not perfectly level, it is all good, it is about how it tastes. So the cake itself was amazing, just the right amount of spices, I might do a bit more nutmeg the next time around, but other than that, great. The pears could have been more caramelized. I will for sure do that better the next time around. I think there was an issue with not enough heat to get a good caramelized pear. The worst part was the buttercream frosting. I didn't like the recipe at all, which included a soft ball of maple syrup (which was fun to make but not tasty), and this weird meringue fluff in addition to the buttercream. I might go for a whipped cream frosting the next time and just do it in between the layers and then on the top. Leave the sides open and go natural. Let the cake shine!

I Was Masterbaking All Day To Get Ready For The Party - Mango Cupcakes

Mango cupcakes . . . so the batter is orange. Mango colored, if you will, but mostly orange looking. Do you know how you get get mango into cupcakes? You buy mango pulp. Wanna know where you get mango pulp? In the Indian grocery store. I had a little adventure and went and found a grocery store in San Francisco where they actually sell 3 different kinds of mango pulp. I, of course, got the best, the best according to the shop owner. I mean how would I know what the best mango pulp is?

Anyway, a super simple, wonderful cupcake. Moist, not too sweet, and not an overwhelming mango flavor. I like mango, but a strong flavor would have killed me. It almost felt healthy (but only almost). It had a great whipped cream frosting, and then dipped in raw flaked coconut, and then topped with fresh mango and toasted coconut. Pretty amazing, popular with the crowd, especially the little girl at the party, which means it is good for kids too! For sure a keeper, I will make this again.

It's A Bake Off, It's A Bake Off!

So, my friend Mike decided to host a Bakeoff, or a Bakedown, or whatever you want to call it. Bottom line, the headliner was the Master Baker vs. the Fornicaker. Or the Master Baker vs. the Sauce. Whatever you call it, the end result was delicious. Delicious and totally insane. You are never meant to eat that amount of sugar in a single sitting.

You see those trophies on the table? Yep, those are the prizes for the baking. Pretty awesome. I went a bit over the top, and decided to contribute 5 different items, you got it, 5 baked goods. Overall, amazing goodies all around. I was a huge fan of the French Almond Apple Tart, and the Key Lime pie. The most creative and prettiest was by far the Chocolate Cake Volcano, which I am totally going to work on recreating. It was a great way to combine cake and ice cream. I'm a fan.

OK, details of what I made forthcoming.

Can't Stop Till I Get Enough - Rum Bundt Cake with Chocolate Sauce

2 of 2 in the series . . . Mugdha is a huge fan of alcohol, and a huge fan of dessert, so the time came to combine them for her birthday. I liked the rum bundt a whole lot more than the Tres Leches, and it was by far the most consumed at the festivities. It was the right amount of alcohol, and the chocolate sauce was pretty amazing. The cake was light and airy, not overpowering, and the rum combined well with the different spices. Drink up!

Back on the Masterbaking Wagon - Boozy Tres Leches Cake

So my roommate and our close mutual friends had birthdays in August, and I missed the big celebration due to stupid work travel. Anyway, when I finally made it home, it was cake baking time. Deepa is a huge fan of Tres Leches, so I made one . . . but with alcohol. I did it with cachaça. The cake in and of itself was great, and the whipped cream topping awesome too. But, probably too much cachaça. According to the roommate, it was much better the next day (less alcohol taste), so maybe I didn't let it rest long enough. I am going to try again, but less booze, and more wait time. Wish me luck!

Not That I Stopped Masterbaking - Coconut Chocolate Cream Tart

Yes, yes, yes, a pause from the blog. I didn't stop baking mind you, but between a trip to Spain to walk the Camino de Santiago, a trip to Kenya to go to the Turkana Cultural Festival, and then a whole lot of running around in the US, I have not had the time to post. I have made some great goodies during my hiatus, the best probably being some Butterfinger Peanut Butter Cookies. Genius.

This weekend my roommate had her family over for dinner, and I made the dessert. Her cousins picked out what I was going to make - Coconut Chocolate Cream Tart. It was pretty spectacular, the crust I got from another recipe, and it turned out pretty well, I need to roll out the dough more next time, it was a little thicker than I would have liked. But overall a success. I might make more of the coconut cream since I like coconut just that much. It was a hit with everyone, it had so many great things going on . . . whipped cream, short crust pastry, chocolate cream, coconut cream. YAY for masterbaking!

Oh Yeah, Right There - Cinnamon Banana Swirl Bread

I never would have come up with this flavor combination on my own. I get the bananas with chocolate, or butterscotch, but cinnamon . . . it just didn't sound right to me. But boy oh boy did it taste right. Not much that I would change, although I might do two layers of cinnamon, and have less of it on the top. I did like the way the top formed a nice crispy crust with the cinnamon and the sugar as it baked. The bread wasn't too moist, which can sometimes be an issue. And not too sweet, like other breads can get. Perfect for tea or for a snack.

No Matter How I Try, Sometimes My Master Baking Doesn't End Happily - Chocolate Oatmeal Date Cookies

This cookie should have been great. I love dates, they are such a wonderful sweet and chewy addition to anything, it should have made this cookie spectacular. Chocolate chips, cocoa, oats, dates . . . recipe for a winner. Sadly, this one fell flat. It just wasn't remarkable on any level. Not a strong chocolate flavor, not a strong date flavor (I wasn't even sure I could taste the dates, I knew they were in there). And the consistency was off. It was really dense, and not for any redeeming reason. Oh well, it was a good try, but in the end, just ok.

On A Coconut Thing . . . Crispy Salted Butterscotch Oatmeal Cookies

Not pretty to look at, but boy were they yummy to eat. I really liked this cookie, crisp on the outside, but chewy on the inside. All of the flavors worked well together, the butterscotch with the oatmeal and coconut, and the salty taste on the top of the cookie, it brought the whole cookie to life. I was trying to think of what I would change . . . I might add more coconut (but that is just me, I love the taste of coconut). Really solid meaty cookie.

- Lemon Coconut Squares

Wow, what a horrible photo! I didn't look at it after I took it, but this is pretty bad. Oh well, the end product was pretty darn good. So I this particular week was a bar cookie week, and the lemon coconut bars were good. I think I took them out of the oven too soon, I would have liked to have seen the coconut get a bit crispier. And they were a little loose, sort of damp. I need to cook the cookie base for a longer amount of time, and then I need to cook the entire thing for longer as well. The taste was great, the folks that sampled said it was one of the best lemon bar cookies that they had consumed ever! Tweak, tweak, tweak.

So Much Master Baking, So Little Time - Nutella Caramel Hazelnut Brownies

Well, I seem to be taking my sweet time in getting these posts out there for mass consumption. Anyway, did a lot of baking the last couple of weeks, some good, some bad, and some very very messy. These Nutella Caramel Hazelnut brownies were good, not great, but good. I think the topping turned out well, but there was not enough caramel in the middle to be able to tell that there was a layer of it. And the brownie itself . . . well, I have made better brownies. So next time, I will use my favorite brownie recipe, and add more caramel, and leave the topping the same. And then, we will have SUCCESS!