Chocolate Swiss-Meringue Buttercream

Let's talk frosting. On the generic frosting continuum, I sadly fall on the side of the dislikers. If it came from a white plastic can with a giggling dough man or is an uneasy shade of neon blue and piled high on a store bought cupcake I want nothing to do with it.

This is how I discovered meringue style buttercreams.
 

Unlike your typical American buttercream that is made from a combination of butter, shortening, and sugar, meringue-style buttercreams incorporate eggs and lots of air in addition your fats and sugars. The end product is a frosting that is light, creamy, velvety, and most importantly melts in your mouth.

Your Classic Chocolate Cake

It’s National Chocolate Day. Time to celebrate with some classic chocolate cake.

Now for those of you that don’t know, I am on a lifelong quest to find THE BEST of all of your classic recipes from chocolate chip cookies, to blueberry muffins, to banana bread. There are so many variations of each of these recipes out there, but I know there must be some divine combination of ingredients that culminate in ultimate perfection for each recipe.

At this point in time I think I may have found THE chocolate cake. This recipe was discovered through epicurious.com and chosen as reigning king by my willing band of taste testers several years ago. It is my go-to for birthday parties, anniversaries, and even weddings.

I would describe this recipe as a devil’s food cake style cake. It is moist, deep in chocolatey flavors, and airy in its texture. However this cake is no lightweight. Despite its airy texture, this cake is solid and can hold up to carving or any other shape you choose to bake it as. For today though, let’s keep it basic.

Cinnamon Sugar Pumpkin Poppers

Whoa baby, she popped! This lovely little camera has been busy capturing moments that don't involve eggs or baking (err, well... sort of). A family friend of ours has given birth to a beautiful and healthy baby boy! So in honor of his arrival it only seemed appropriate to bake up some delicious, seasonal pumpkin poppers.

This was also the perfect excuse to use up the rest of that pumpkin puree that had been hanging out in the fridge. After this, no more pumpkin. I promise. At least not until next month.

Orange Mascarpone Marbled Pumpkin Bread

Oh autumn. Crisp air, wool scarves, steaming lattes, falling leaves. Or at least that is how it is supposed to be. As it goes on the Central Coast, we are still experiencing what we call an Indian summer. This means that as much as we will it to be fall around here with pick-your-own pumpkin patches and pop-up Halloween stores, it's still stinking hot. I'm talking 85-95 degrees.

Although with the grape vines turning bright orange and a new season of Walking Dead looming, I know it must fall. According to Trader Joe's, this means pumpkin flavored everything. While they may have gone a little overboard, nothing helps it feel more like fall than a kitchen that smells like cinnamon and nutmeg. I think pumpkin bread with a little twist will do the trick. This recipe was inspired by the Krafted Koch and Cooks Illustrated.

Now this recipe involves an extra super secret step, but trust me, it is worth it! It will take that average ho-hum pumpkin bread to the next level.

Start by tossing those spices in to that bland ol' can of pumpkin puree you have been hording in your pantry until socially acceptable to use. Then you will reduce the pumpkin spice mixture. Yes reduce it. It warms up the spices and concentrates the flavors taking that generic can of orange puree to a Whole. New. Level.