Gourmet Caramel Apples

These apples make great gifts and are easy to make in assembly line using a crock pot. I like to package them in plain brown lunch bags with a bit of ribbon and a tag for Christmas. Coffee Filters work great for holding apples inside bags. Each apple feeds about 6 people when you slice it into wedges. Ingredients: 3 packages (14 oz.) caramel candies 2 T water 6-8 large Granny Smith apples 6-8 wooden skewers or sticks Chocolate – Total 24 oz. in the flavors you desire: Dark Chocolate (best to use good quality like Ghirardelli) White Chocolate Milk Chocolate Suggested coatings: Crushed Oreos Nuts Candy Sprinkles Holiday colored plain M&Ms Crushed candybars (Butterfinger, Snickers, Heath Toffee) Peanut butter pretzels Peanut Butter Chips Waxed paper Preparation: Line a cookie sheet with waxed paper, set aside. Wash and completely dry apples. Insert a stick through stems. Put coating ingredients in separate bowls. Heat caramels and water in medium saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until caramels melt. Cool slightly. If making a lot of apples, you can melt the caramel in a crock pot. Dip each apple in caramel mixture coating evenly. Use a spoon to help cover the apple. Allow caramel to set slightly and then dip again, if desired. While caramel is still liquid, roll the apple into the desired coating. This does not have to be neat, and looks great when really textured as with cookie pieces. Melt the chocolate in a double boiler or microwave. The amount of chocolate you melt depends on how much of each kind you use. Figure approx. 3 oz. per apple total. Use a spoon to drizzle melted chocolate onto apple completely encasing the apple in chocolate. I use two kinds of chocolate per apple to give it texture and great flavor. When chocolate is set, package for gift giving! Yields: 6-8 apples

Pecan Pie

Ingredients:

1 stick butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup Karo syrup
3 eggs, beaten
1 cup chopped pecans
1 unbaked 9-inch pie shell

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a saucepan, melt the butter but don't let it brown. Mix in the sugar and corn syrup and cook, stirring, over medium heat until the sugar dissolves. Stir in the eggs. Mix well. Stir in the pecans. Pour into the pie shell and bake for 1 hour or until firm when shaken.

Yields: 8-10 servings

Toffee Crunch Caramel Cheesecake

Credit: Bon Appétit, January 2005 and Zoom, Park City, UT

"Each year we receive hundreds of reader requests for recipes from restaurants around the world. And this past year there was a clear favorite — cheesecake. One of the best we tested is from Zoom in Park City, Utah. Here's their delicious version. — The Editors of Epicurious

At the restaurant, this is served with roasted pears. The cake needs time to set up in the refrigerator overnight, so begin making it at least one day ahead.

Gingersnap crust:
Nonstick vegetable oil spray
1 1/2 cups ground gingersnap cookies (about 7 1/4 ounces)
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2 tablespoons (packed) golden brown sugar

Cheesecake:
4 8-ounce packages cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter, melted
5 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Caramel topping:
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/4 cup water
1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1 cup heavy whipping cream

4 1.4-ounce English toffee candy bars (such as Heath or Skor), chopped

For gingersnap crust:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray bottom of 9-inch springform pan with 2 1/2-inch-high sides with nonstick spray. Stir ground cookies, butter, and sugar in medium bowl until moist clumps form. Press cookie mixture firmly onto bottom of prepared pan. Wrap outside of pan with 3 layers of heavy-duty foil. Bake crust until firm and beginning to darken, about 14 minutes. Cool crust. Maintain oven temperature.

For cheesecake:
Beat cream cheese and sugar in large bowl until smooth. Beat in butter, then eggs, 1 at a time, until just blended. Beat in vanilla. Pour batter over crust in pan. Place springform pan in large roasting pan. Add enough hot water to come halfway up sides of springform pan. Bake cake uncovered until filling is puffed around edges and moves slightly in center when pan is gently shaken, about 1 hour 10 minutes. Remove pan from water; remove foil. Place hot cheesecake uncovered in refrigerator overnight.

For caramel topping:
Stir sugar, water, and lemon juice in large saucepan over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Increase heat; boil without stirring until mixture turns deep amber, occasionally swirling pan and brushing down sides with wet pastry brush, about 9 minutes. Add cream (mixture will bubble). Reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer until reduced to 1 1/4 cups, stirring occasionally, about 8 minutes. Chill until thickened but still pourable, about 15 minutes.

Spoon caramel over top of cake just to edges (do not allow caramel to drip down sides). Garnish top edges with chopped English toffee. Chill at least 2 hours and up to 6 hours.

Run knife around pan sides to loosen cake; release pan sides.

Yields: 10-12 servings

Pear Pie with Gruyere Crust

Ingredients:

1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch double crust pie

1/2 cup white sugar

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon lemon zest

5 cups peeled and sliced pears

1 tablespoon butter

1 tablespoon lemon juice

7 oz. Gruyere cheese, grated

Combine sugar, flour, salt, cinnamon, and lemon rind in mixing bowl.

Arrange pears in layers in a 9 inch pastry lined pan, sprinkling sugar mixture over each layer. Dot with butter. Sprinkle with lemon juice. Roll out remaining dough; fold Gruyere cheese into crust; cut slits for escape of steam. Moisten rim of bottom crust. Place top crust over filling. Fold edge under bottom crust, pressing to seal. Flute edge.

Bake at 450 degrees F (230 degrees C) for 10 minutes. Reduce temperature to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C), and bake for an additional 35 to 40 minutes.

Yields: 8 servings

Magnolia's Vanilla Cupcakes

Recipe from: More From Magnolia by Allysa Torey

Everyone is always asking us which is the most popular cupcake at the bakery. Most people are surprised that it is what we call the vanilla vanilla - the vanilla cupcake with the vanilla icing (and the most popular color for the icing is pink).

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups self-rising flour

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

2 cups sugar

4 large eggs, at room temperature

1 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Line two 12-cup muffin tins with cupcake papers.

In a small bowl, combine the flours. Set aside.

In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, cream the butter until smooth. Add the sugar gradually and beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the dry ingredients in three parts, alternating with the milk and vanilla. With each addition, beat until the ingredients are incorporated but do not overbeat. Using a rubber spatula, scrape down the batter in the bowl to make sure the ingredients are well blended. Carefully spoon the batter into the cupcake liners, filling them about three-quarters full. Bake for 20–25 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the center of the cupcake comes out clean.

Cool the cupcakes in the tins for 15 minutes. Remove from the tins and cool completely on a wire rack before icing. At the bakery we ice the cupcakes with either Vanilla Buttercream or Chocolate Buttercream.

Yields: Makes about 2 dozen cupcakes