sci-fi pies

This post is a little later in being written than I intended, but here goes.

Last week Wednesday I decided I needed to bake a pie to use up the many cherries I had purchased on sale. So I found a guideline online for cherry pie filling from scratch, and whipped up a pie crust using this recipe from Clearly Delicious. The pie filling was actually based off one of hers, too. Then that morning a friend shared a photo of a pie from some Facebook page that had the top pie crust cut to be the Hydra logo...and I knew that's what I was going to do.

Those cherries though...mmm.

I threw in some fresh basil for added flavour.

Before baking.

Of course, I also had purchased a few pints of blueberries on sale to make a blueberry pie for my husband's birthday the next day, because cherries aren't his thing. (We each had a pie to ourselves, see how nice I am?) So after a discussion with my friend Jaimie (who blogs over at JaimieRamsey.com), I knew that the top crust for the blueberry pie was going to be the Imperial logo.

These blueberries were perfect...

Blueberry pie filling goodness.

I cut this freehand.

It didn't transfer very well.

My husband knew about the Hydra pie, but he didn't know that I was going to make the blueberry one for him...so that was a fun little surprise! Thinking back now, I should have done something Harry Potter related because he shares his birthday with him, but there's always next year. ;)

Hail Hydra!

A bit broken, but (as a friend pointed out) so is the Empire!

apple-almond teacakes with vanilla cream

Other than Monday, this week has been rain. I don't have another word for it. Water, water everywhere. So anyway. All this rain put me in a baking mood, but I didn't get around to actually baking until today. And then of course when I decided I wanted to bake something, I was out of eggs, so had to run to the store, etc.

What to bake, though? Cupcakes were what I was most craving. So I planned to make a recipe out of this book (which is a totally different cover than mine...hmm):

 

When the subtitle says infinite, it's not kidding. This book is so cool and I can't believe this is the first time I've actually baked any cupcakes from it. The issue was usually that I didn't have the right type of sugar, but I fixed that last week while grocery shopping, so....

I knew I wanted apple and almond flavors together, which was convenient because there is a recipe in this book for just that! So I started mixing the batter and went in search of a muffin pan (already had the cupcake liners out). Somehow I don't own a muffin pan. Well, that was frustrating. But I did unearth my heart-shaped doughnut pan. Ah well, better than nothing. So I made baked doughnuts which actually turned into little cakes with a heart-shaped depression in the center because I filled the pan too high. But I didn't care because once topped with oodles of freshly whipped cream with vanilla and sugar, the cakes were delicious. Oh, and they totally didn't look like hearts anymore....

Yeah, I already ate three of them.
And finished the leftover cream.

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Apple-almond cupcakes (adapted from 10,000 Cupcakes by Susanna Tee)

1 apple
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup plus 1/3 cup superfine sugar
1/2 tsp almond extract
2 extra large eggs
1/2 cup plus 2/3 cups self-rising flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a muffin pan with 12 cupcake liners. Peel, core, and finely chop the apple. Combine butter, sugar, and almond extract in a bowl and whisk until light and fluffy. Add the eggs carefully and whisk well. Sift in the flour and baking powder; fold in. Stir in the apple. (Don't use an electric mixer for the apple!!) Spoon into the liners and bake for 20-25 minutes until firm to the touch. Cool on a wire rack.

Vanilla cream

2/3 cup heavy cream
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp superfine sugar

Combine ingredients in a large bowl. Using an electric hand mixer, whisk together until the cream is thick and holds its shape. Use to cover 12 cupcakes, either with a pastry bag and tip or just using a knife.
 

around the internet no. 1

It's snowing so profusely outside that I feel I ought to turn some Christmas music on and bake some cupcakes. I just might yet today, because I'm definitely not going anywhere.

Today's blog post is the start of a new series here on my blog. Every morning I get on Facebook and see all kinds of awesome links from the various pages/blogs I follow. I then proceed to share a few of them on Facebook. But I think maybe it'd be more efficient if I just shared them all in one place that isn't Facebook. So, without further ado, I present to you "around the internet" a posting series of links that I find in my travels and explorations online.

Health and Wellness

8 Things Your Grandparents Did That Could Save Your Life

Homemade Cough Syrup (with coconut oil!!)  


Frugal Homemaking

Top 5 Simple Green Ways to Stay Warm in Winter


Baking and other Sweet Treats

Homemade Powdered Sugar

Raw & Vegan Chocolate Peppermint Brownies (these just sound SO yummy)

Vegan Mango Bundt Cake (I made this the other day!)

Vegan Chocolate Avocado Cupcakes


Frugal and Healthy Beauty

Homemade Bronzer

Homemade Mascara