Spiced Apple Two-Bite Tarts
The nutty pastry is absolutely delicious, like pecan shortbread. You can make the tart shells and filling the day before and assemble just before serving: Place the shells in an airtight container and chill the filling, bringing it to room temperature before placing it in the shells so it’s not ice-cold. The crème fraîche dollop is more than just a pretty garnish; its rich, tangy flavor makes these sublime.

Ingredients

Crust
  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
  • 2 tablespoons canola oil
  • 1 tablespoon 1% low-fat milk
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 4.5 ounces all-purpose flour (about 1 cup)
  • 1/3 cup very finely chopped toasted pecans
  • Baking spray with flour
Filling
  • 2 cups finely diced peeled Granny Smith apple
  • 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
  • 1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
  • 1/2 teaspoon cornstarch
  • 1 tablespoon water
  • 1/4 cup crème fraîche

Preparation

  1. Preheat oven to 350°.
  2. To prepare crust, place first 6 ingredients in a medium bowl.
  3. Beat with a mixer at medium speed 1 minute or until well combined. Weigh or lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife.
  4. Add flour and nuts to butter mixture; beat until just combined.
  5. Divide dough evenly among 24 miniature muffin cups coated with baking spray.
  6. Press dough into bottom and up sides of muffin cups.
  7. Bake at 350° for 15 minutes or until golden brown.
  8. Cool in pan on a wire rack for 5 minutes.
  9. Carefully remove from pan; cool completely on wire rack.
  10. To prepare filling, place apple and juice in a bowl; toss to coat.
  11. Add 2 tablespoons sugar and the next 4 ingredients (through ginger); toss well.
  12. Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat.
  13. Add apple mixture; cover and cook 5 minutes or until apple is tender, stirring occasionally.
  14. Combine cornstarch and 1 tablespoon water in a small bowl.
  15. Stir cornstarch mixture into apple mixture; cook 1 minute or until mixture thickens, stirring constantly.
  16. Place apple mixture in a bowl; cool to room temperature.
  17. Spoon about 2 teaspoons apple mixture into each tart shell.
  18. Top each tart with 1/2 teaspoon crème fraîche.

Apple Stack Cake
Use six disposable 8-inch aluminum cake pans to create the layers of this stunning cake. Prepare the filling up to three days before assembling the cake.

Ingredients

FILLING
  • 3 pounds tart apples (such as Granny Smith), peeled and cut into 1/2-inch wedges
  • 3 pounds crisp apples (such as Braeburn or Honeycrisp), peeled and chopped
  • 1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
  • 1/2 lemon, sliced
CAKE
  • Vegetable cooking spray
  • 6 (8-inch) round disposable aluminum foil cake pans
  • Parchment paper
  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 5 large eggs, separated
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons apple pie spice
  • 3 cups all-purpose flour, divided
  • 1 cup buttermilk
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 cup chopped toasted pecans
  • 1 cup apple butter

Preparation

Prepare Filling
  1. Bring first 4 ingredients to a light boil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat.
  2. Reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer, stirring often, 25 to 30 minutes or until apples are tender and juices thicken.
  3. Discard lemon slices.
  4. Cool completely (about 2 hours).
  5. Cover and chill until ready to use.
Prepare Cake
  1. Lightly grease disposable cake pans with cooking spray; line bottoms of pans with parchment paper, and lightly grease parchment paper.
  2. Preheat oven to 350°. Beat butter at medium speed with a heavy-duty electric stand mixer until creamy. Gradually add sugar, beating until light and fluffy.
  3. Add egg yolks, 1 at a time, beating just until blended after each addition.
  4. Stir together apple pie spice and 2 3/4 cups flour in a medium bowl; stir together buttermilk and baking soda in a small bowl. Add flour mixture to butter mixture alternately with buttermilk mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Beat at low speed just until blended after each addition.
  5. Stir together pecans and remaining 1/4 cup flour. Fold pecan mixture and apple butter into batter.
  6. Beat egg whites at high speed with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form. Stir about one-third of egg whites into batter; fold in remaining egg whites.
  7. Divide cake batter among prepared pans, spreading with an offset spatula.
  8. Bake at 350° for 7 minutes; rotate pans from top rack to bottom rack.
  9. Bake 7 to 9 more minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.
  10. Remove cake layers from oven, and brush each with 2 to 3 Tbsp. warm Apple Cider Glaze. (Reserve remaining glaze.) Cool cake layers in pans on wire racks 10 minutes. Remove from pans to wire racks; discard parchment paper. Cool completely (about 30 minutes).
Assemble Cake
  1. Place 1 layer, glaze-side up, on serving platter.
  2. Top with 1 1/2 cups filling. Repeat with remaining layers and filling.
  3. Top last layer with any remaining filling, and drizzle cake with desired amount of reserved Apple Cider Glaze.

Apple Cider Glaze

Ingredients

  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup apple cider
  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 1 tablespoon light corn syrup
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preparation

  1. Bring sugar, apple cider, butter, and corn syrup to a boil in a small heavy saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring constantly.
  2. Reduce heat to medium, and cook, stirring constantly, 4 minutes.
  3. Remove from heat, and stir in vanilla.

Note:

If necessary, microwave glaze in a microwave-safe bowl at HIGH 10 to 20 seconds before drizzling over cake.


Salted Caramel Strawberries
A quick dip in luscious caramel and a salty roll in finely chopped nuts turns fresh strawberries into a gourmet treat. Top picks: A ripe berry will have a shiny, deep red color from the tip of the berry to beneath the green cap. Check the carton from top to bottom for any damaged or moldy fruit—they’ll cause the others to deteriorate quickly.

Ingredients

  • 20 large fresh strawberries
  • 40 caramels
  • 3 tablespoons whipping cream
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1/4 cups coarsely chopped pecans
  • Wax paper

Preparation

  1. Pat strawberries completely dry with paper towels.
  2. Microwave caramels, 3 Tbsp. whipping cream, and 1/4 tsp. salt in a 1-qt. microwave-safe bowl at MEDIUM (50% power) 3 1/2 minutes or until smooth, stirring at 1-minute intervals.
  3. Dip each strawberry halfway into caramel mixture. Roll in nuts, and place on lightly greased wax paper. Let stand 15 minutes.
  4. Serve immediately, or cover and chill up to 8 hours.

Note

For testing purposes only, we used Kraft Caramels


Caramel-Pecan Cheesecake Pie
In fall or any time of year, this nutty, rich and delicious pie is one I am proud to serve. While it seems very special, it’s a snap to make.

Ingredients

  • 1 sheet refrigerated pie pastry
  • 1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 4 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1-1/4 cups chopped pecans
  • 1 jar (12-1/4 ounces) fat-free caramel ice cream topping
  • Additional fat-free caramel ice cream topping, optional

Preparation

  1. Preheat oven to 375°.
  2. Line a 9-in. deep-dish pie plate with pastry. Trim and flute edges.
  3. In a small bowl, beat cream cheese, sugar, 1 egg and vanilla until smooth. Spread into pastry shell; sprinkle with pecans.
  4. In a small bowl, whisk remaining eggs; gradually whisk in caramel
    topping until blended. Pour slowly over pecans.
  5. Bake 35-40 minutes or until lightly browned (loosely cover edges with
    foil after 20 minutes if pie browns too quickly).
  6. Cool on a wire rack 1 hour.
  7. Refrigerate 4 hours or overnight before slicing. If desired, garnish with additional caramel ice cream topping.

Yield:
6-8 servings.


Carrot-Cake-Cheesecake
Two of our favorite cakes come together to make the ultimate spring dessert, this decadent carrot cake cheesecake. If you like carrot cake or cheesecake, you have to try this one! It’s an elegant dessert that is certain to impress. It would be perfect to make for Easter or an upcoming birthday. Really, who wouldn’t love this?

The ingredients and directions do look rather lengthy, but this is easier to make than the recipe makes it appear. Besides, even if it took hours to make, it’s worth it, this is carrot cake cheesecake! The hard part of this is the wait. Yes, cheesecake requires that long cooling and refrigeration period but the patience pays off once you get to sink your fork into a piece of this utterly divine cheesecake, through each of those irresistible layers, and you get to slowly savor each and every bite… Enjoy!

Ingredients

Cheesecake Mixture
  • 2 (8 oz) pkg cream cheese, softened well (but not melted)
  • 2/3 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup sour cream
Carrot Cake
  • 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoons salt
  • 1 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 1/8 teaspoons ground nutmeg
  • 1/2 cup canola oil
  • 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
  • 2/3 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/3 cup packed light-brown sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1 1/3 cups finely grated carrots
Topping
  • 2 ounces cream cheese, softened
  • 1 Tablespoons butter, softened
  • 1 1/4 cups powdered sugar
  • 1/4 cup + 2 Tablespoons sour cream
  • 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup chopped pecans (optional)

Directions

For the cheesecake mixture:
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-inch springform pan and set aside.
  2. In a mixing bowl, whisk together sugar and 1 1/2 teaspoons flour until well combined. Add cream cheese and using an electric hand mixer set on low speed, blend together cream cheese and granulated sugar mixture until smooth.
  3. Mix in eggs one at a time, mixing just until combined after each addition and adding in vanilla with second egg.
  4. Blend in sour cream. Forcefully tap bowl against countertop about 30 times to release air bubbles.
  5. Set mixture aside.
  6. Rinse beaters clean. In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg for 30 seconds.
  7. To a separate large mixing bowl, add canola oil, applesauce, granulated sugar, brown sugar, eggs and vanilla extract and blend mixture using electric hand mixer set on low speed for 1 minute.
  8. With mixer running on low speed, slowly add in dry ingredients and mix until well blended.
  9. Add carrots and mix until evenly distributed. Tap bowl forcefully against counter, about 3 times, just to release large air pockets.
To assemble cheesecake:
  1. Pour 1 1/2 cups carrot cake mixture into buttered springform pan and spread into an even layer. Dollop about 1/3 of the cream cheese mixture by the spoonfuls over carrot cake layer (don’t spread or swirl).
  2. Spoon remaining carrot cake mixture over cream cheese layer, then finish by drizzling by the remaining cheesecake mixture over carrot cake layer, working to cover all of the carrot cake mixture (I found this easiest to do this was by slowly drizzling over with the spoon).
  3. Bake in preheated oven 60 – 65 minutes, until center portion only jiggles slightly and tenting with aluminum foil at 40 minutes to prevent excessive browning (tent in a way that the foil doesn’t touch cheesecake or it will stick).
  4. Remove from oven and allow to cool on a wire rack 1 hour, then cover with foil and chill in refrigerator 6 hours or overnight.
For the topping:
  1. In a mixing bowl, using an electric hand mixer, whip together cream cheese and butter until smooth.
  2. Add remaining topping ingredients and mix until pale and fluffy, about 4 – 5 minutes.
  3. Spread evenly over cheesecake then chill cheesecake in freezer for 20 – 30 minutes. Sprinkle edges with chopped pecans.
  4. Cut into slices.
  5. Store in refrigerator in an airtight container.

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Looking for a party-perfect treat that’s a cut above the classic fruit-filled cobbler? Consider it found. Toffee-glazed pecan pieces add a streusel-like crunch to the tops of these Blackberry-Peach Cobbler Bars.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • 1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
  • 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar, divided
  • 4 large eggs
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 3/4 teaspoon table salt
  • 3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, divided
  • 3 (6-oz.) packages fresh blackberries (about 4 cups)
  • 4 cups peeled and sliced fresh firm, ripe peaches
  • 3 tablespoons bourbon
  • 1 cup Glazed Pecans

Preparation

  1. Preheat oven to 350°.
  2. Beat first 2 ingredients and 1 cup granulated sugar at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy.
  3. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating just until blended after each addition. Stir in vanilla.
  4. Stir together baking powder, salt, and 3 cups flour; gradually add to butter mixture, beating just until blended.
  5. Spread three-fourths of batter in a greased and floured 13- x 9-inch pan; sprinkle with blackberries.
  6. Stir together remaining 1/2 cup granulated sugar and 1/4 cup flour in a medium bowl; add peaches and bourbon, stirring to coat.
  7. Spoon mixture over blackberries.
  8. Stir pecans into remaining batter; dollop over peach mixture.
  9. Bake at 350° for 1 hour or until golden and bubbly.
  10. Cool completely on a wire rack (about 1 hour).
  11. Cut into bars.

Glazed Pecans

Ingredients

  • 2 cups pecan halves
  • ½ cup firmly packed light brown sugar
  • 6 Tablespoons dark corn syrup

Preparation

  1. Stir together pecan halves, brown sugar, and dark corn syrup in a small bowl.
  2. Spread mixture in a lightly greased aluminum foil-lined jelly-roll pan.
  3. Bake at 350° for 12 to 15 minutes or until glaze thickens, stirring every 4 minutes.
  4. Spread in a single layer on wax paper; cool completely, separating pecans as they cool. (For the prettiest garnish, leave some in clusters.)
  5. Store in an airtight container at room temperature.

Yield: Makes about 2 cups.