Tuesdays with Dorie - Cran-Apple Crisps

This week's recipe is actually the All in One Holiday Bundt cake, chosen by Britin of The Nitty Britty. I made this recipe last week and it was fabulous! So rich and hearty and full of wonderful fall ingredients.

This week I baked the Cran-Apple Crisps, which was the recipe for the week of November 10. It was chosen by Em of The Repressed Pastry Chef.  Be sure to check out both of their blogs to see what they thought of their choices, and to get the recipes to try for yourself.

So, back to the crisps. So easy and so delicious. Not much more to say. I didn't have any dried cranberries so I added raisins to mine. I love apples and raisins anyway so it was a good switch. I also used two different kinds of apples...Granny Smith and Gala. Figured the Gala would offset the tartness of the Granny Smiths and the tartness of the cranberries.

I made the topping just as Dorie wrote the recipe. I like coconut and wanted to see what it added to the topping. I honestly can't say I even noticed it. Something added a nice crunch to the final product and I guess it could have been the coconut, but I really didn't taste coconut. And, I was almost disappointed by that. Almost.

The finished dish was amazing. Tart and sweet. Soft and crunchy. I didn't add anything else to mine, though I did put a dollop of whipped cream on the hubby's. (He eats whipped cream on just about everything!) As with any dish with cranberries, he commented on the tartness. But, he finished the bowl. (He left all the wonderful raisins in the dish though...can't get him to eat those!)  I did have one complaint and that was that the apples cooked down, so that heaping ramekins I put in the oven came out slightly over half full. :(  Next time (Oh yes, I will make this again!) I will pack the fruit in the bowl, rather than just spoon it in as I did.

So, thumbs up to Em for picking this one. It was a big winner with me. Please stop by TWD to see what everyone else baked this week.

Tuesdays with Dorie - All in one Holiday Bundt Cake

This weeks recipe is actually supposed to be Sugar-topped Molasses Spice cookies, which Pamela of Cookies with Boys picked. Pamela did bake that recipe this week and has posted it. Be sure to check it out on her blog. (I baked the cookies last week and they are delicious!) But, since Laurie said we could bake November's recipes in any order we liked, I made the All in one Holiday Bundt cake, which is next weeks recipe and was chosen by Britin of The Nitty Britty. Be sure to drop by Britin's blog next week to catch the recipe.

I loved this cake! And, in my case, what's not to love...pumpkin, apples, cranberries, pecans...so many of my favorite, yummy goodies all rolled up in one delicious cake. I considered making changes, using walnuts in place of pecans. I also considered omitting the cranberries as my hubby is not a big fan of them (too tart for his tastes), but in the end I stayed true to the recipe. And, I am glad I did.

This was another easy recipe to pull together. I love that about Dorie's recipes. None have been really difficult to make, or at least as long as I have been with the group that holds true. In no time at all I had this cake mixed up and in the oven.

The aroma as it baked was divine. Holiday aromas to be sure. Smelling it as it baked made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Well, not really, but it did smell great. I could hardly wait for it to finish baking and become cool enough to cut.

I made the maple syrup glaze for the top of it. I also saved a few chopped pecans to sprinkle on top after pouring the glaze over the cake. It was almost too pretty to cut...almost! :)

Delicious!! While my hubby commented on the cranberries ("Boy, these are tart!"), the only other things out of his mouth were mmmmm noises. I didn't waste anytime talking. I just ate.

Please drop by TWD to see what all of the other bakers baked this week.

Sweet Melissa Sunday - Pear Cranberry Muffins with Gingersnap Crumble

I almost forgot to post this! Been a busy weekend and a busy day and now, at 9:30 Sunday night I just realized I hadn't posted for SMS yet. Nothing like getting in under the wire! :D

This week's recipe, chosen by Jennifer of Maple N' Cornbread was Pear Cranberry Muffins with Gingersnap Crumble. I love muffins and was excited to try these. I baked a lot of different things this weekend and one of the things I baked was Molasses spice cookies and I decided to use them for the gingersnap crumble.

These were quick and easy to pull together. I didn't make any changes in the recipe. I just read the posts on the P&Q and saw that a lot of people made changes to keep the muffins from being too dense, but I missed that, and, after trying these, didn't think they were too dense for my tastes.

The gingersnap crumble was also easy to pull together. I only wished I had known how much the muffins would spread as they baked. I put on what seemed like a "ton" of crumble only to have it separate and spread out over the top of the muffins so it seemed like there wasn't much at all. I am sure the muffins would be even better with the crumble covering the muffin tops rather than just here and there.

These tasted delicious. I could detect the orange from the zest , not overpowering, just a nice undernote. The tart cranberries were a nice compliment to the pears' sweetness. And, the occasional crunch from the gingersnap crumble contrasted nicely with the moist crumb of the muffin. My hubby and I ate two of them, each, for breakfast this morning.

I loved this batter and am already thinking of the different ingredients I could add to it. Of course, apples and raisins were the first ones I thought of, but the variations are endless. This is a good recipe to keep handy. I am planning on making these again tomorrow morning, to take to my son and daughter-in-law's house for breakfast.

So, thanks again Jennifer. Great choice! And, if you would like to see what the other bakers thought, click here!