Housekeeping

Between working on the house, working at my job, celebrating with family, hosting overnight guests, and just sheer exhaustion, I’m WAY behind on my posting for TWD. But know, dear bakers, that I’ve been eating right alongside you and loving most of our creations.

I just recently pulled the photos of our Applesauce Spice Bars off of my camera (they were just before my niece’s Christening photos), and they were one of my favorites! I baked them over one of the first really cool fall weekends using Farmer’s Market apples, and they were popular both at home and at work – so popular that I forgot to photograph them before they were all gone:

Applesauce Spice Bars

Mine came out like a thin piece of apple cake with a sticky icing (which I enjoyed – it wasn’t too sweet)  but it made them very difficult to transport to the office in one piece.  We had to scrape the icing off the tin foil covering. Nevertheless, the tart fresh apple bits, plump golden raisins and wonderful fall spice blend made them worth it! I highly recommend these for an at-home treat.

They were F-A-R better then Rachel Ray’s Tiny Grape Upside Down Cakes. Mine tasted like overly dense pancake batter topped with apple jelly, and looked like something you would feel an elementary school classroom’s pet turtle:

Grape Upside Down Cakes

But maybe you’ll have more luck than I did.

Eggnog Panettone Bread Pudding

Of all the Italian treats and traditions I remember from my childhood, panettone is not one of them. It is, however, one of the easiest (and most inexpensive) to find in the stores at Christmastime, and so it is one I have quickly adopted.

Panettone is a dense, sweet, tall cake-like-bread-hybrid that is filled with fruit. It seems fairly difficult to make,which is fine because the one I buy at Trader Joe’s is so good, and filled with cranberries in place of the usual fruit.

Panettone Bread Pudding

What makes it especially good is the eggs and cream I soak it in to make bread pudding each year, which can then be reheated in the microwave and enjoyed with a spritz of whip cream on cold nights after crappy days at work.  I use this recipe from Rachel Ray, which I find quite nice: sweet and dense, creamy when reheated, and it keeps well for a REALLY long time in the refrigerator.

Rachel makes hers in a muffin tray, which works ok, I guess. This year I used some foil cups I had leftover from the pumpkin flan I made for Thanksgiving, and it worked out MUCH better.  I ordered the foil cups from here, and they were worth every penny! (Sorry Prudence Pennywise.)