I probably drive the BF crazy [Ed. note: like no one else, and for some reason I can't help myself], but I start asking him to choose his birthday cake-dessert about a month before his birthday. Usually give a choice of some great found recipe that includes either apples, caramel, butterscotch or lemon. Love hunting for the perfect recipe, with the goal of getting his eyes to bug out.

These apple pie bars are a client favorite, and whenever I make them the BF ends up in the kitchen, plaintively staring and asking if there are "extras." [Ed. note: "Oh those were for the clients?"] Needless to say the dessert has become one of his favorites, so I decided to make it for his birthday in lieu of a traditional cake. This was a very special birthday, by the way. [Ed. note: #LOLOLD]

One of the great things about this dessert is the shortbread dough is used for both the bottom crust and crumble on top. (Meaning there's no pie crust to roll out.) As the brilliant Ina Garten likes to say, "How easy is that?"

To really send it over the top, drizzle the bars with gooey caramel (optional, but recommended). Perfectly okay to eat with your hands, or dish/bowl them up with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

In addition to offering an alternative to your everyday pedestrian cookie, these bars have another perk: they travel well. Simply wrap up the baking pan and cut the bars when you get to your destination. As for optimal portion size, Garten advises, "I cut the bars in fairly large 3 x 3-inch squares if I'm serving them on a plate with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on the side. If I'm serving them on a platter of small petits fours to pick up with your fingers, I'll cut them in smaller bite-size pieces."

NOTES:

• You can cut this recipe in half  by preparing it in an 8 x 8-inch pan.
• After baking, cool completely, wrap tightly and store at room temperature for up to two days.  Great for birthdays, every day, and is a perfect make-ahead dessert for Thanksgiving.​

PS: Speaking of Thanksgiving, a year ago we were thinking ahead with this whipped cranberry butter (www.moveablefeast.me/blog/whipped-cranberry-butter). Also, Adam Sandler sings!

PPS: Another client-approved holiday-time dessert, your friends and family won't know this yummy mini pumpkin cheesecake is sugar-free and low-carb. That is, unless you tell them. So don't. (www.moveablefeast.me/blog/mini-pumpkin-cheesecake-sugar-free-and-low-carb)

Adapted from: Ina Garten, Cooking For Jeffrey
Number of Servings: Makes one 9 x 13-inch pan

Ingredients
Crust

• 1 pound (4 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature [Ed. note: ROOM TEMPERATURE]
• ¾ cup granulated sugar
• ½ cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt
• ½ cup chopped walnuts
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Apple Filling

• 3 pounds Granny Smith apples, peeled, quartered, cored, and sliced ⅛-inch thick (6 large)
• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
• ¼ cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 4 tablespoons (½ stick) unsalted butter

To Serve

• Vanilla ice cream
• Caramel sauce

Directions
Crust

1. Place a rack in the center of oven and preheat to 375 ºF. Line a 9 x 13-inch baking pan with parchment paper so that paper hangs over two edges of the pan by about two inches. This will make the pie bars easier to remove after it’s baked.
2. Place the butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on medium speed for 2 minutes, until light and creamy. Sift the flour and salt together and, with the mixer on low, slowly add to the butter-sugar mixture, beating until combined.
3. Scatter ⅔ of the dough, in clumps, into your baking pan, and press it lightly with floured hands on the bottom and ½ inch up the sides. Refrigerate for 20 minutes.
4. Bake for 18-20 minutes, until crust is golden brown. Set aside to cool.
5. Put mixing bowl with the remaining dough back in the mixer, add walnuts and cinnamon, and mix on low speed to combine. Set aside.
6. Reduce the oven to 350 ºF.

Apple Filling

1. Combine the Granny Smith apples and lemon juice into a very large bowl. Add granulated sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg and mix well.
2. Melt the butter in a large (10-inch-diameter) pot, add the apples, and simmer over medium to medium-low heat, stirring often, for 12-15 minutes, until apples are tender and the liquid has mostly evaporated.
3. Spread the apples evenly over the crust, leaving a ½-inch border.
4. Pinch medium pieces of the remaining dough with your fingers and drop them evenly on top of the apples (they will not be covered). Bake for 25-30 minutes, until the topping is browned. NOTE: I sometimes place the pan under the broiler to get the topping a little more browned.  Watch carefully so it doesn't burn.

To Serve

1. Cool completely and cut into bars.
2. Drizzle with caramel and serve with ice cream, or just pick 'em up with your hands.
   

 Happy Halloween.

Adapted from: I Am Baker (blog)
Number of servings: Makes approximately 20-24 mini apples

Ingredients

• 3 large Granny Smith apples (each yielded 8 mini apples)
• 2 cups butterscotch morsels (Guittard was used here)
• 1 tablespoon shortening (can also use oil)
• Melon baller
• Cleaned twigs, sticks or cake-pop sticks
• lemon juice (optional)

Directions

1. Place parchment paper on a baking or cookie sheet.
   
2. Using melon baller, scoop out sections of the apple. One apple typically yields about 6-8 mini apples. Work quickly as you don't want the apples to brown. If you have lemon juice on hand, sprinkle it over the apples (this helps).
3. Insert the twig/stick into the mini apple, being sure not to go in all the way.
4. Melt butterscotch and shortening in the microwave. Heat for 1 minute, stir, then heat for 10 second intervals until fully melted. Transfer melted butterscotch to a tall glass. Work quickly.
5. Important: dry mini apples off with paper towel.
6. Briefly dip apples into the butterscotch, until covered. Lift up and let excess butterscotch drain off. Set on parchment-lined cookie sheet.
7. Refrigerate or leave on counter.
8. Suggestion: you can also drizzle with chocolate or colorful candy melts. Orange and black would be fun for Halloween, or if you have a San Francisco Giants fan in the house. [Ed. note: Dodgers haven't won since '88, Dodgers haven't won since '88, Dodgers...]

So. We missed a week. Let me explain.

If there is one thing that can throw a serious monkey wrench into a personal-chef business, it's a broken refrigerator. Three weeks of no working fridge in the house, so to the rescue come three friends and their three fridges. (You know who you are and I love you dearly.) The BF and I are driving all over town to these different locations, then out to fulfill all the client orders. Extra time, extra hassle, and then of course problems with new-fridge delivery and oy...

Then, a bonus: jury duty. [Ed. note: #@%$#^&*] I was called to attend, but luckily was dismissed on the second day. A side note: in 1993 I served for four weeks during procedures that were deciding whether or not a serial killer was competent enough to stand trial. We determined that he was.

So, with all apologies, am late in getting into the Rosh Hashanah spirit. Even though it started on Sunday and ends today, Tuesday, it's not too late to make this lovely apple cake. This will work throughout the rest of fall and winter, and really, the last three weeks have had a "better late than never" kind of mantra.

Many years ago I made this for my Momala, and it was an instant favorite (and she is a woman who knows her coffee cakes). The BF enjoyed it for his birthday last year, and of course it was brought out again for this Rosh Hashanah. It doesn't skimp on the apples, the entire house smells like apples, cinnamon, and fall.

The BF and I want to wish all our Jewish family and friends a healthy and happy Shana Tova!​

Adapted from: Smitten Kitchen
Number of servings: 12-16
​
Ingredients
For the apples

• 6 apples, McIntosh apples, or a mix of whatever looks good
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 5 tablespoons (65 grams) granulated sugar

For the cake

• 2 ¾ cups (360 grams) flour, sifted
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon fine sea or table salt
• 1 cup (235 ml) vegetable oil (safflower, sunflower, olive and coconut oil also work, as does melted butter)
• 2 cups (400 grams) granulated sugar
• ¼ cup (60 ml) orange juice
• 2 ½ teaspoons (13 ml) vanilla extract
• 4 large eggs
• 1 cup (130 grams) walnuts, chopped (optional, and to be honest I never use them)

Directions

1. Heat oven to 350 °F (175 °C). Grease a tube pan (use a one-piece tube, not two-piece). Peel, core and chop apples into 1-inch chunks. Toss with cinnamon and 5 tablespoons sugar and set aside.
2. Stir together flour, baking powder and salt in a large mixing bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together oil, orange juice, sugar, vanilla and eggs. Mix wet ingredients into dry ones; scrape down the bowl to ensure all ingredients are incorporated.
3. Pour half of batter into prepared pan. Spread half of apples, and their juices, over it. Pour the remaining batter over the apples and arrange the remaining apples on top. Bake for about 1 ½ hours, or until a tester comes out clean.*
4. Cool completely before running knife between cake and pan, and unmolding onto a platter.

DO AHEAD: This cake is awesome on the first day but absolutely glorious and pudding-like on the days that follow, so feel free to get an early start on it. I keep it at room temperature covered with foil.

* NOTE: The apples love to hide uncooked pockets of batter, especially near the top. Make sure your testing skewer or toothpick goes not just all the way down to the bottom, but does a shallow dip below the top layer of apples, and make sure it comes out batter-free. Should your cake be browning too fast, before the center is baked through, cover it with foil for all but the last few minutes, while in the oven.

Birthday cakes. Everyone from 1-100 (and up!) should get a homemade one on their special day, and my BF is no exception. I always try to top the previous year's dessert, and for him it usually involves apples and/or caramel of some kind.

This year is no different, and oy this is a delicious cake. Adapted from my favorite baker boys of Baked Explorations, this is pure fall: moist, dense, lightly spiced, covered in caramel buttercream, and then drizzled with more caramel.

​Oh, did I mention that the BF is a Batman fan? [Ed. note: You ever dance with the devil in the pale moonlight?]

The recipe below is for an 8-inch 3-layer cake, but for my small family I  make the smallest amount possible (in that case a 6-inch 3-layer cake, which is exactly one half of the recipe). I use Williams Sonoma salted caramel that was on hand, and made my own applesauce from my own recipe (I prefer the addition of boiled apple cider for an intense cider flavor), but feel free to save time and use store bought applesauce and/or caramel. No shame in that.
​
The list of ingredients may seem daunting, and yes there are many steps, but fear not, it is actually not as daunting as it seems. It's a cake you'll want in your fall rotation, perfect for a loved one whose birthday falls in the October-November time frame.

Adapted from: Baked Explorations by Matt Lewis & Renato Poliafito
Number of servings: makes one 8-inch, 3-layer cake

Ingredients
Apple Cake

• ​4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 ½ cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch cubes, at room temperature
• 2 ½ cups granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 4 cups applesauce (see below for recipe or use store bought unsweetened applesauce)

Caramel Buttercream

• 1 ½ cups sugar
• ⅓ cup all-purpose flour
• 1 ½ cups whole milk
• ⅓  cup heavy cream
• 1 ½ cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, soft but cool, cut into small pieces
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• ⅓ cup plus 2-4 tablespoons caramel sauce, at room temperature (Williams Sonoma Salted Caramel was used here)

Applesauce

• 6 fuji apples, peeled, cored and quartered
• ½ cup apple cider
• ¼ cup Boiled Apple cider www.kingarthurflour.com/shop/items/boiled-cider-1-pint
• 2 tablespoons Calvados (optional)
• Ground cinnamon, to taste

Directions
Applesauce

1. Place all ingredients in medium saucepan. Cover and cook for about 30 minutes. Uncover and mash as you would potatoes.
2. Chill sauce to room temperature before adding to cake batter.

Apple Cake

1. Preheat oven to 325 °F. Butter three 8-inch round cake pans, line the bottoms with parchment paper, and butter the parchment. Dust the parchment with flour and knock out excess flour.
2. Sift flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, allspice and cloves together into a large bowl. Set aside.
3. In bowl of a standing mixer fitted with paddle attachment, beat butter until creamy, about 4 minutes. Add sugar and beat until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs, and beat until combined.
4. Add flour mixture to mixer bowl in three parts, alternating with the applesauce, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Scrape down the bowl, then mix on low speed for a few more seconds.
5. Divide batter among prepared pans and smooth tops. Bake for 40-45 minutes, rotating pans halfway through baking time, until a toothpick inserted in the center of cake comes out clean. Transfer pans to wire rack and let cool for 20 minutes. Turn cakes out onto rack, remove parchment and let cool completely.

Caramel Buttercream

1. In a medium, heavy bottomed saucepan, whisk sugar and flour together. Add milk and cream and cook over medium heat, whisking occasionally, until mixture comes to a boil and has thickened, about 10-15 minutes.
2. Transfer mixture to bowl of standing mixer fitted with paddle attachment. Beat on high speed until cool. Reduce speed to low and add butter and vanilla, mix until thoroughly incorporated. Increase speed to medium high and beat until frosting is light and fluffy.
3. Add ⅓ cup of caramel and continue mixing until combined. If frosting is too soft, put bowl in refrigerator to chill slightly, then beat again until proper consistency is achieved. If frosting is too firm, set bowl over a pot of simmering water and beat with a wooden spoon until it is the proper consistency.

Assembly

1. Place one cake layer on a serving platter. Trim the top to create a flat surface and evenly spread about 1 ¼ cups of frosting on top. Add next layer, trim and frost, then add third layer.
2. Spread a very thin layer of frosting over the sides and top of cake and put in refrigerator for about 15 minutes to firm up. (This is known as crumb coating and will help to keep loose cake crumbs under control when you frost the ouside of the cake.)
3. Frost sides and top with remaining frosting. Drizzle on a few swirls of caramel (I needed to warm it slightly) and refrigerate the finished cake for 15 minutes to firm it up before serving.
4. This cake will keep beautifully in a cake saver at room temperature for up to 3 days, as long as the weather is cool and humidity free. Otherwise, place cake in a cake saver and refrigerate for up to 3 days. Let chilled cake sit at room temperature for a least 2 hours before serving.

November, 1995. It was my BF's birthday (he was not the BF at that time), and I remember making this first-ever attempt at baking a cheesecake. [Ed. note: To quote Private Hudson from Aliens, "Game over, man. Game over."]

Yes. This is the one. Try not to stick your fork through the screen–I dare you.

This delicious caramel bomb made repeat appearances that Thanksgiving, Chanukah and Christmas, and at different times every year after that. My mamala begged me to make it every year for the holidays, and this year I'm making it for a client's Halloween party.

The body of the cheesecake is incredibly creamy (not dense), with a touch of orange juice and a good amount of sour cream. There is a perfect crust-to-filling ratio, and the caramel apple topping is to die for (the caramel stays soft and does not stick to your teeth and harden).

Keep in mind, this makes a large cheesecake (10 inches diameter). Perfect for any get together, my favorite is to offer this at Thanksgiving.

Funny story/cautionary tale: two years ago I made this for my BF again and cut the ingredients in half to make a smaller 8-inch cake (was also going to give half to a neighbor). Just as I was presenting the entire cake to him on a platter, I dropped it. The platter broke, little shards of glass flaked all over and into the cheesecake–unsalvageable.

We stared at the floor for the longest time. Curse words seethed through clenched teeth. Tears were shed. I will not lie, this is not a 30-minute dessert. There is  preparation and time involved. (Really, you have to start making this the day before you plan on serving it.) However, the process is very straightforward and the end result is so worth the effort.

Just be careful with those glass platters!

Adapted from: Bon Appetit (September 1995)
Number of servings: 16
​
Ingredients
Crust

• 3 cups graham cracker crumbs (about 18 whole graham crackers)
• ¼ cup sugar
• 10 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Filling

• 2 pounds cream cheese at room temperature
• 1 ½ cups sugar
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1 16-ounce container sour cream
• ½ cup orange or tangerine juice
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4 large eggs

Topping

• ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
• 1 ½ pounds Fuji apples (about 4 medium), peeled, cored, cut into ¼-inch-thick wedges
• 1 cup sugar
• ⅓ cup whipping cream

Directions
Crust

1. Preheat oven to 350 °F. Wrap outside of 10-inch diameter spring-form pan with 2 ¾-inch high sides with foil. Combine graham cracker crumbs and sugar in medium bowl. Add melted butter and stir to blend. Press mixture onto bottom and up sides of prepared pan. Bake crust 10 minutes. Transfer pan to rack and cool completely. Maintain oven temperature.

Filling

1. Using electric mixer, beat cream cheese, sugar and cornstarch in large bowl until smooth. Add sour cream, orange/tangerine juice and vanilla and beat until blended. Add eggs one at a time, beating just until blended after each.
2. Pour filling into crust. Bake cheesecake until center moves only slightly when pan is shaken, about 1 hour 30 minutes. Transfer to rack and cool. Cover and refrigerate overnight. NOTE: do not overbake or bake at too high heat. If your oven runs hot and you don't adjust for that the cheesecake will not be as creamy, and it might crack. 

Topping

1. Melt butter in large skillet over high heat. Add apples, stir until apples are coated with butter, about 2 minutes. Add sugar, stir until sugar dissolves and liquid comes to boil, about 3 minutes. Strain apples, reserving liquid. Return reserved liquid to same skillet. Boil until liquid turns deep amber, stirring occasionally, about 6 minutes. Remove from heat. Carefully add cream (mixture will bubble vigorously); whisk to blend. Return to heat and bring to boil, whisking constantly. Remove from heat. Cool until caramel sauce is lukewarm but can still be poured.
2. Arrange apple wedges in overlapping concentric circles atop cheesecake. Pour caramel sauce over apples, covering top of cheesecake completely. (Can be prepared one day ahead. Cover loosely with foil and refrigerate. Let stand at room temperature 45 minutes before serving.)
3. Remove foil from pan. Remove pan sides. Cut cheesecake into wedges.