This is one of the most time consuming desserts that I have done because of all the elements to it. But they are so worth it! So if you have an evening off and feel like trying something new in the kitchen, this is perfect! They would also make quite an impression at a picnic or family gathering. :) 

This is a 4 part dessert: cake, crumble, filling, and icing. The cake is a mild spice cake with a cinnamon crumble on top. Then it has an apple cobbler filling and just a little vanilla cream cheese icing. :) 

Cake
2 cups flour
1 1/4 cup sugar
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 shortening (room temp)(like Crisco) 
3/4 cup milk
1 Tbl. vanilla flavor
1/2 tsp almond flavor
2 eggs
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp nutmeg
(you can increase the amount of spice you put in your cake if you like, this is a mild spice cake)

Preheat oven to 350. 
Prepare a cupcake pan with liners and set aside. 
Using a mixer, blend together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and shortening.Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well. Fill cupcake liners 2/3 full with batter. Set aside. 

Crumble
6 Tbl. unsalted butter (room temp)
1 cup flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon

In a mixing bowl combine all ingredients and use fork or hands to blend until crumbly. Sprinkle this on top of you cupcakes before you bake them. 

Bake the cupcakes for 18-20 minutes (or until toothpick comes out clean), rotating halfway through the baking process to get even baking. Let cupcakes cool. 

FIlling

2 Tbl. butter
5-6 cups of diced apples
1 Tbl. corn starch
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
dash of salt
1 tsp vanilla
2 Tbl. lemon juice
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground cloves 
1/2 cup water

Heat up a large skillet to medium and melt butter. Add diced apples and let them cook for about 5 minutes to soften, stirring occasionally. Add brown sugar, salt, vanilla, and lemon juice. Stir in. Sprinkle corn starch over top of apple mixture, and mix in. Let this cook for about 5 more minutes, still stirring occasionally. Add water to reduce the thickness and let cook for 1 more minute. Remove from heat. 
* This can be made ahead of time and stored in the fridge in an airtight container. And if you have extra left over, I think it would be sooooo good on pancakes! 

Icing
1 8oz pkg cream cheese (room temp)
1 stick unsalted butter (room temp) 
2 tsp vanilla flavor
4 cups powdered sugar

Blend first 3 ingredients until smooth. add powdered sugar and blend until smooth and creamy. 

FINALLY!! ASSEMBLY!!
1. Core your cupcakes
2. Pour some of your delicious apple filling in
3. Top with some cream cheese icing

Sadly.. the assembly of this cupcake was the easiest part. lol. But wasn't it worth it!? 

So who's up for a challenge with this delicious Apple Cobbler Cupcakes? Please let me know if you tried it! I would love to see how it turned out for you. 

If there is one thing that I get asked make over and over again... this is it. Homemade banana bread. (Does anyone else have to sing that dumb song in your head to make sure you spell 'banana' right? lol) 
Anyways, this is the best banana bread recipe ever. (no really.. it is.) Its easy to make different ways too! For instance: banana bread loaf, banana muffins, mini banana muffins, mini loafs... depending on what you are wanting it for. :) Also can be made with or without nuts. For this post, I am doing mini muffins. And here is why:
     I live with 3 roommates (one that does not like nuts). We all work full time time jobs, and some of us work 2 or 3 jobs. So eating in a hurry is sorta a necessary around here. I make this little muffins, and if they last past the night I bake them (usually they don't), you can put 4 or 5 in a plastic sandwich baggie and either keep them in the fridge, or freeze them. So when everyone is rushing to get off to work and need a breakfast-to-go, they can take out a baggie, open the seal and microwave for 20-30 seconds, and off they go. Its that easy. 

A Note About Bananas
For banana bread, you will get the best flavor out of a brown- spotted banana. The brown spots are actually the natural sugars from the banana and will greatly enhance the flavor of your bread, and make it naturally sweeter. :) 

My recipe:
3-4 brown-spotted bananas
1 cup sugar (for not as sweet bread, you can reduce to 3/4 cup)
1/3 cup melted margarine or butter
1 egg, slightly beaten
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking soda
pinch of salt
1 1/2 cups flour
chopped pecans or walnuts (optional) 

Preheat oven to 350. 
Use a baking spray (or liners if you prefer) and coat your baking pan. 
In a mixing bowl, mash up your bananas. I found that a potato masher works best for me. Get out all those lumps. Add sugar, margarine, egg, and vanilla to bananas. Use a spoon to stir. Sprinkle baking soda and salt over mixture and stir in. Then mix in your flour. Your batter will be a little lumpy from the flour.. and that is a-ok. :) 

Use a little scoop to fill mini muffin pans 2/3 with batter, a regular ice-cream scoop to fill regular muffin pans 2/3 with batter, or common sense to fill a loaf pan. (just pour it in :) )
I sprinkled chopped pecans on top of (most of) my mini muffins. Leaving a few without nuts for my weird roommate. :P

For mini muffins: bake for 10-12 minutes, rotate them halfway through baking
For regular muffins: bake 15-20 minutes, rotate them halfway through baking
For Loaf: 45-50 minutes, also rotate a couple times during baking.

And there it is. I feel as if I just shared a huge secret to the people that know me. This is super easy, and delicious, and possibly one of my all time favorite things to make. I hope you guys try this recipe! Please, let me know how it goes for you!! :) 

-Jenni

I have been thinking about what I want to put on this site all week. This morning, as I worked at the Pinch Of Sugar bakery (I love my job! :D) I thought about it and I just couldn't settle on any certain idea. Now, I'm pretty sure I have an addiction to this fresh produce stand in town. As I drove by today on my way home I saw the most delicious looking watermelons EVER. So I turned around. As I walk up to the stand I see the biggest, juiciest container of blackberries. So... needless to say I passed on the watermelon... for now. :) 
The obvious choice for blackberries was cobbler. But I don't feel like doing the obvious. So here's what I came up with: Mini lemon bundt cakes with a blackberry filling and fresh whipped topping. YES. It sounds soooooooo good! 
So here's how things went down in the kitchen tonight:

Preheat oven to 325, coat mini bundt pan with baking spray.
Cake
1 cup butter (unsalted), at room temp
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
zest of 2 whole lemons 
juice of 1 large lemon
3 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups sour cream

Directions: Cream butter and sugar, add eggs and vanilla. Mix well. add zest and lemon juice. Mix, yet again. Mix dry ingredients in a sepereate bowl. Alternately add dry ingredients and sour cream to creamed mixture. Batter is very thick. Fill mini bundts 2/3 way with batter. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until done. I rotate mine every 7 or 8 minutes so it cooks evenly. For a little extra lemon flavor you can use a toothpick to poke holes in the cake and brush on some more lemon juice. Let cakes cool. 

Sauce/Filling
1 1/2 -2 cups of fresh blackberries
1/4 cup apple juice
2 Tbl granulated sugar
1 Tbl honey
2 tsp lemon juice
dash of salt.

Put all ingredients except lemon juice and salt into a sauce pan on medium heat. Let simmer for 10 minutes or so to reduce, stirring occasionally. use spoon to slightly smash some of the blackberries. Add lemon juice and a dash of salt. 

Put sauce on lemon cake, top with a nice delicious dollop of fresh whipped cream. Enjoy... over and over again. :) 
So.. what do you guys think? Let me know!! :D 
-Jenni 

I absolutely love this time of year. And here is why... FRESH PRODUCE. Locally grown berries, squash, green beans, melons.. soooo good. So when I found a stand in town sellling fresh picked BLUEBERRIES, I had to make blueberry muffins. 
Here's how I made them:

INGREDIENTS
1 to 1 1/2 cups of fresh blueberries (you can also use frozen if they are out of season!) tossed with  2 tablespoons of flour


Dry Ingredients
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp nutmeg (I fresh grated my own using whole nutmeg, but you can use ground if it is handy for you)
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup granulated sugar, plus a little for sprinkling

Wet Ingredients
 2 eggs
6 tbl vegetable oil (i actually use canola oil because its more heart-healthy :)) 
1 cup sour cream

Directions: 
1.Preheat oven to 400
2. Prepare your muffin pan with liners, or use a baking spray with flour in it to coat the pan
3. In a mixing bowl, combine all dry ingredients.
4. In a separate bowl, combine wet ingredients.
5. Add wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. Mix it all up.
6. Gently fold in blueberries with a spatula or spoon. 
7. Fill muffin cups to the top. (I put the remaining few blueberries on top before I baked them) and sprinkle the top of each with a little bit of sugar.
8. Bake for 20-35 minutes until golden brown, and a toothpick comes out clean. 
9. Let them cool in the pan for 10 minutes before removing them. 
10. Enjoy. :) 

NOTE: I super filled the cups and I ended up with 12 delicious, amazing muffins. :)

This is a really easy recipe for beginners and its absolutely delicious. I hope if you try to make these that they turn out wonderfully and everyone loves them! That is if you decide to share. lol If anyone tries this out, let me know how it goes for you! :) 

-Jenni


references: The Perfect Recipe Baking Book by Murray Jaffe

Hello to all! This is my first post on my new personal blog (as I'm sure you can clearly tell). I'm still messing with all the settings and little details of the site.. but I promise I will get it in full swing ASAP! :) I strongly encourage anyone and everyone to leave comments and contact me! (assuming I get people to actually follow this? lol) Here goes nothin! Wish me luck! 
-Jenni