Tag Archives: whipped cream

pumpkin spice apple crisp

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So last week, I made this pumpkin spice apple crisp.

I made it because I had three mushy apples and a jar of Trader Joe’s pumpkin butter to use up.

pumpkin butter

And oh my goodness… I’m so grateful for those mushy apples. Because this dessert is AMAZING!

This pumpkin spice apple crisp would be perfect to bring to a holiday gathering. It is a delightful combination of apples and pumpkin, two flavors that are bursting with holiday joy.

This crisp tastes like apple pie, only it is loads simpler to make! All you need are four ingredients {well, five, if you top your slice with whipped cream, which you certainly should!} And you don’t need to tell anyone, but for a dessert it’s even relatively healthy, thanks to all those apples and a relatively small amount of butter and sugar.

pumpkin spice apple crisp

{adapted slightly from this recipe}

– 3 large apples {I used fuji and jazz because that’s what we had going mushy in our fridge}
– 3/4 cup pumpkin butter
– 8 oz pumpkin quick bread mix {most packages are double this amount, so I used half of the mix for the crisp and then made pumpkin muffins with the remaining half of the mix… another alternative would be doubling this recipe and using the whole package of pumpkin bread mix}
– 3 tbsp butter
– whipped cream for serving {optional}

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Peel, core, and dice your apples and put into a bowl.

apples diced

3. Toss apple pieces with the pumpkin butter until they are coated. Pour into a shallow class dish or pie pan.

pumpkin butter apples

4. Cut the butter into small pieces and mix with your hands into the pumpkin bread mix until well-combined. This should create a crumbly topping. {Note: your fingers will be messy!}

5. Pour the topping over the apple mixture and spread it into an even layer.

topping prebake

6. Bake for 40-45 minutes, until topping is golden brown and your house smells aaaamazing.

pumpkin spice apple crisp

7. Enjoy warm with whipped cream on top… or pumpkin ice cream! Yum, just thought of that, it would be delicious. Now I need to make this again so I can eat it with pumpkin ice cream 🙂

apple crisp slice

My Grandpap, an extreme lover of apple pie, told me that this was one of the best apple desserts he has ever eaten! We certainly gobbled this up in our household. Hope you do, too!

if you liked this recipe, you might also enjoy:
– incredibly easy pumpkin spice cookies
– apple cake with crumb topping and brown sugar glaze
– gluten-free apple pie bites
– chocolate pumpkin spice kiss cookies
– pumpkin spice cupcakes with cream-cheese frosting

raspberry pavlova

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Happy Wednesday, everyone! Hope you’re having a wonderful week so far! I’m spending the morning and early afternoon working on various projects, then teaching two classes for Communication Academy later this afternoon, and then I’m headed into the city to go to a Giants game with Allyn and his business school classmates. It will be my first Giants game and I’m excited!

Before I leap into my writing for the day, I wanted to share this amazing dessert recipe from Easter that our family friend Diana made. It’s a Russian dessert named after the ballet dancer Anna Pavlova. We were all blown away! It is light and fresh — the perfect dessert for spring or summer.

I know it looks complicated, and there are a lot of steps to this recipe, but Diana assured me it is actually quite simple to make. And I can assure you it is quite delicious!

easter dessert

diana’s raspberry pavlova
{adapted from Ina Garten’s recipe}

– 4 large egg whites, at room temperature
– pinch of salt
– 1 cup sugar
– 2 teaspoons cornstarch
– 1 teaspoon white wine vinegar
– 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
– 2 pints fresh raspberries {1/2 pint for the sauce, the rest for topping}

homemade whipped cream:
– 1 cup cold heavy cream
– 1 tablespoon sugar
– 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

homemade raspberry sauce:
– 1/2 pint fresh raspberries
– 1/2 cup sugar
– 1 cup seedless raspberry jam
– 1 tablespoon framboise liqueur

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees F and place a sheet of parchment paper on a baking pan. Draw a circle on the paper, using a 9-inch plate as a guide, then turn the paper over so you can see the circle through the paper but won’t get any ink or pencil on the meringue.

2. In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the egg whites and salt. Beat the egg whites on high speed for about one minute until firm. With the mixer still on high, slowly add the sugar and beat for about two minutes, until it makes firm, shiny peaks. Remove the bowl from the mixer.

3. Sift the cornstarch onto the beaten egg whites and add the vanilla and vinegar. Now fold ingredients lightly with a rubber spatula.

4. Pile the meringue into the middle of the circle on the parchment paper and smooth it within the circle, making a rough disk. Don’t stress out — it doesn’t have to be perfect!

5. Bake for 1 and 1/2 hours. Then turn off the oven, keep the door closed, and allow the meringue to cool completely in the oven {will take about 1 hour.} It should be crisp on the outside and soft on the inside.

6. While you’re waiting for it to cool, make your raspberry sauce: Place the raspberries, sugar and 1/4 cup water in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, lower the heat, and simmer for four minutes. Pour the cooked raspberries, the jam, and framboise into the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade and process until smooth. Chill.

7. Also make your whipped cream by whipping the cream in the bowl of an electric mixer or with a hand mixer. When it starts to thicken, add the sugar and vanilla and continue to beat until firm. {Diana adds a caution not to overbeat!}

8. To assemble: invert the meringue disk onto a plate and spread the top completely with your homemade whipped cream. Combine the fresh raspberries in a bowl with about 1/2 cup of your homemade raspberry sauce, enough to coat the berries lightly. Spoon the berries into the middle of the Pavlova. Slice and serve immediately with extra raspberry sauce if desired.

Enjoy! Diana also added that you can easily adapt this recipe to use other fruit of your choosing, such as strawberries or blueberries.

Hope you’re having a wonderful day, friends! Eat something delicious!

patriotic fruit cobbler

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Happy 4th of July! Hope you’re celebrating with family, friends, sunshine and good food. On this day {well, every day, but especially today!} it’s important to remember and thank all of the men and women who have served and continue to serve our country. Here is a nice way you can let current service members know they are appreciated: A Million Thanks letter-writing campaign.

I have a quick dessert recipe to share with you today — it’s a great way to use up delicious summer fruit, and you can make it patriotic if you throw in some strawberries, raspberries and blueberries. Add some whipped cream and you’ve got a red, white, and blue dessert, perfect for a 4th of July barbeque or potluck!

patriotic fruit cobbler

-1 box pie crust mix {I used Jiffy}
-4 cups diced summer fruit {I used blueberries, strawberries, one pear and one apple)
-1 tbsp flour
-1/4 cup sugar
-1 tsp cinnamon
-1 tbsp lemon juice

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a baking dish.

2. Prepare pie crust as directed and press dough into bottom of baking dish in a thin layer.

3. Core and dice the fruit. Gently mix it together with the flour, sugar, cinnamon and lemon juice.

4. Pour fruit on top of pie crust. Bake for 20 minutes, or until fruit is starting to bubble.


Let cool for five minutes, then serve with whipped cream or iced cream.

YUM!

Happy Independence Day!

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Time: 30 minutes (including bake time)
Cost: $5.00