Apple Pie

It's been a while. There have been some things going on. Another story for another time. All that really matters is that I made an apple pie this weekend.

I've never made an apple pie by myself before. Or any pie for that matter. The weekend before my parents came down and we met up with my sister and we went apple picking for old times sake. It was my sisters birthday and that is why they came in the first place and both of us had separately mentioned that we thought it would be nice to go pick apples. So we did. And we got a ton. My parents took none so me and her each ended up with a whole bag. Which is a lott of apples. So they have been sitting around for about a week until I finally had a chance to make something with them. 

My mom said that they had made pie recently and she had loved the crust they ended up with. Turns out it was just 1 1/2 sticks of butter, 2 cups (I think) of flour, a pinch of salt and some ice water, a few tablespoons until it sticks together. I also added a little cinnamon because I wanted it to have some flavor to it. It turned out really good, nice and flakey and light, although I wished it had made a little but more. Although I think I may have just not rolled it as thin as it could have been. I didn't end up getting the second piece to entirely cover the top and instead made three pieces and attached them on the sides and the middle. Ha. By that time I just didn't have the patience to deal with making something that looked cool like a woven top or anything..

I only ended up using I think 3 large apples. Turns out I could have used at least one or two more because by the time it was done baking it had totally shrunk which I'm sure anyone else would have figured it would do but not me! Also my pan is super deep for a pie pan. I skinned the apples because I don't like to have the stiff skin interrupt the softness of the cooked apples when I eat apple pie. My dad likes to leave the skins on. Add lemon juice, cinnamon and some other spices like allspice or nutmeg if you have them and a little maple syrup and you're good to go. 

When it's almost done baking brush with egg white on the top to make the crust brown nicely. 

YUM.

Cinnamon Buns

I just found this picture from a few weeks ago when I made cinnamon buns one weekend. I don't think I have ever made them before, but it was actually pretty simple. Aside from the actual rolling part. Very difficult. I thought the whole thing would be ruined when I started rolling it up and it didn't really role. But then I got it. Lots of flour on the counter and your hands so it won't be too sticky. and You can shape it more once it's all together, kind of squeeze it into a tighter log before you slice it into circles. And once it's cooked you can't even tell it wasn't the best roll. Plus, as you can see I kinda glopped the icing right on the whole thing :)

I saw them on another blog which I don't remember right now since it was a few weeks ago, but the actual recipe was from here. Definitely worth making again. They were gone very fast.

Yummy Coconut Cupcakes

Cupcakes are my absolute favorite. I don't know if I have ever posted them on here before, but if not that is abnormal, because they are my favorite thing to make and I make them a lot. They are just so beautiful and delicious. I love them. So the other day I made coconut cupcakes from the Martha Stewart Living cupcake issue a few months ago. I have also made the ones with brownie hearts on top and one other kind from that issue I think but I can't remember which haha. I'll look for those pics and try to put them up. Anyways, so far they have all been great. Instead of the frosting for these ones I just used whipped cream because I had a little whipping cream leftover from something and wanted to use it up. Turned out really yummy and looked good too. Everyone absolutely loved them and I will definitely make them again because it was a simple regular cupcakes recipe with just some coconut juice and shredded coconut added, and I still have some of both left!

Chocolate Turtle Cake

Ok, so there is a story to this cake. It began with a bare facebook event for my Jumpstart end of year 'party' that I was having at my apartment. It looked like it needed photos so the event page wasn't so boring. I searched for 'party' in google images and came up with a party hat and some balloons. Then I realized no party is a party without a cake. So I searched 'chocolate cake.' And this is what I found...

I put the picture up on the event page and soon someone had commented on it, 'i expect this to be there.' I had been wanting to make something for the party anyways, so I figured, why not? After a little more searching I found the recipe at myrecipes.com and the rest is history. Everyone loved it, and it looked pretty beautiful if I do say so myself. 

after..