Posts made in October, 2025

Make bundt cake

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 10-cup Bundt pan.
• If the cranberry sauce or other filling is cold from the fridge, zap slightly in microwave to bring to room temperature and loosen.
• In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
• Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time. Add the vanilla. Alternate mixing in the flour mixture and sour cream.
• Spoon about half the batter into the pan. Use a spoon to create a deep trench in the batter going all the way around the pan. Spoon in the cranberry sauce to fill the trench, taking care that it doesn’t touch the sides of the pan; if it touches, it may stick and make cake removal trickier.
• Pour the remaining batter over the top. Smooth out.
• Bake for 55 minutes to 1 hour 5 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Remove from the oven and cool for 15 minutes inside the pan. Invert the cake onto a wire rack. Cool cake completely.

Make glaze

• In a bowl, whisk together the confectioners’ sugar, milk, and vanilla. Add more sugar or milk as needed to form a thick texture. Drizzle over the cake. Let set 30 minutes before cutting.
• Cake can be stored under a dome at room temperature. It can also be sliced and individually wrapped to freeze.

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• In a big bowl, combine the discard, the two flours, oil, seeds, and kosher salt. It should be cohesive and slightly tacky.
• Dust with flour to shape into a disk, then wrap in plastic wrap. Place in fridge to chill for at least 30 minutes.
• Preheat oven at 350 degrees.
• Divide dough in half. Spread out a piece of parchment paper. Add a light sprinkle of flour. Use a rolling pin to roll out half the dough to about a consistent 1/16-inch thickness.
• Use a pizza cutter or other cutter to cut dough into squares or other small shapes; don’t separate. Use a fork to dock every cracker at least once. Sprinkle with pretzel or flaked salt. Repeat process with other half of dough.
• Bake until crisp and lightly browned, with the center of the dough firm, not spongy soft; this could be anywhere from 20 to 30 minutes.
• Use parchment to lift crackers off pan to cool, then separate crackers. Store in an airtight container up to one week.

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Make the dough

• Stir together the flour and salt. Use a knife to dice up butter. Use a fork and fingers to break the butter down to small pieces, coated in flour.
• Add 1 Tablespoon of the water and stir in. Add tiny increments, mixing between each addition, just until the dough can form clumps when pressed. Form into a cohesive ball.
• Place down two long pieces of plastic wrap. Use the food scale to divide dough in half. Compress each lump into a small disk. Encase each in plastic wrap and chill until firm, for at least 30 minutes or as long as a day or two.

Make filling

• Begin by preparing the apple or apples. Peel, core, and halve. Cut one half into thin slices. Transfer these slices to a bowl and toss with 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice and 1 tablespoon sugar.
• Reduce the other half of the apple(s) to small pieces by either finely dicing or grating on the large holes of a box grater. Place pieces in bowl. Toss with other 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice and 1 Tablespoon sugar. Stir in the flour, pumpkin spice, and salt.
• On a lightly-floured piece of parchment, roll each chilled dough disk into a rounds about 6-inches in diameter. Divide the diced/grated apple mixture between the rounds; this will be about 1/4 cup in each. Spread out apple bits to form even layers in the center, leaving a 1-inch ring of bare dough around the edge.
• Arrange apple slices on top of the grated apple, overlapping in circles.
• Cut 1-inch slits in dough edge, each about 2-inches apart. Fold flaps in toward center, overlapping them. Press lightly to seal.
• Use the parchment to move galettes onto a baking sheet. Chill uncovered for 30 minutes to an hour.
• Start preheating oven at 425.

Add topping

• Crack egg into small bowl. Lightly beat in half & half, milk, or water. Use a pastry brush to coat the folded-over dough crust on each galette. Sprinkle the maple or turbinado sugar over the crust.
• Bake the apple tarts for about 20 to 25 minutes. If desired, drizzle caramel over the apple center of each galette. Place back in oven to bake another 5 minutes. Apple slices in center will be fork-tender when the tarts are done.
• Remove from oven. Let cool for 10 minutes, then serve.

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Make the crust

• Preheat oven at 375 degrees. Use a food processor to process the graham crackers to fine crumbs; there should be about 1 1/3 cups. Pulse in the brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Drizzle in the melted butter and pulse to combine. (Wipe out the food processor–no need for a deep clean yet.)
• Transfer everything to a 9-inch pie plate. Press crumbs evenly up the sides and along the bottom of the pan.
• Bake until the crust is set and the edges have just started to brown, 10 to 12 minutes. Let cool slightly.
• Reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees.

Make the filling

• Transfer the dulce de leche to a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave in 20-second intervals, stirring, until softened just enough to stir easily. This will take about 1 minute. Set aside 3 tablespoons dulce de leche for topping.
• Into the food processor, add the majority of the dulce de leche, pumpkin puree, eggs, brown sugar, cinnamon, vanilla, and salt. Process just until smooth–don’t overdo.
• Pour into the crust. Place the crust on a baking sheet and bake until the filling is just set with a slight wobble in the very center, 35 to 45 minutes.
• As the pie finishes up baking, warm the reserved dulce de leche in the microwave until you can drizzle it. As soon as the pie comes out of the oven, drizzle with the dulce de leche.
• Let cool completely. Serve with Cool Whip or canned cream. Store pie covered in fridge; it keeps for at least 4 days.

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