The Repressed Pastry Chef

Sugar Cookie Bars – St. Patrick’s Style!

Em — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 00:01:27 PDT

What’s this? Two posts? In the same WEEK? Wow – it’s been quite a long time since I’ve done that :) But all the friendly WELCOME BACK messages really warmed my heart, so, well, here I am again :)

If you’ve followed my site for any length of time or read back thru the archives, you’ll know this is not the first time I’ve posted sugar cookie bars. What can I say… they’re pretty darn easy, super tasty and rather different. I mean, yeah, you can buy slice-n-bake sugar cookies, you can go to the market and buy pre-made sugar cookies but cookie BARS are a nifty lil update on an old classic. And oh, did I mention they’re super tasty, too!!!

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Brown Sugar Apple Crumb Pie

Em — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 18:08:31 PDT

It’s Pi-day (March 14 = 3/14 = 3.14 = Pi) so I couldn’t possibly let this day go by without posting a, yeah, you guessed it, Pie! It’s been quite a while since I baked and posted anything but I wanted to honor one of my favorite days of the year. I’ve made a lot of pies in my day but to be honest, making a good pie crust has always been difficult for me. At least it was difficult until I came across Mike’s recipe for pie crust. This baby has not failed me once and I continue to make it again and again… and again. It’s absolutely my go-to recipe when I need a pie crust. And the filling? How can you go wrong with brown sugar, apples and a delectable crumb topping!

Yes indeed – have a happy Pi day… March 14… and be sure to help yourself to some pie :)

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Orange Cardamom Bundt Cake

Em — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 18:42:40 PST

Happy National Bundt Cake Day!!! What? You didn’t know about it? Well obviously you have not been following The Food Librarian as she’s made her way thru 30 days of bundt cakes leading up to this momentous day! I had a lot of fun following her journey… and I give her mad props for baking 30 different bundt cakes in the past month. You go girl :) Her perseverance inspired me to plan on baking a bundt cake ON National Bundt Cake Day (Nov 15) in tribute to her efforts! She made quite a variety of different bundt’s and each of them sounded absolutely delicious. This made it terribly hard to decide on which one I would make. Maybe it should be chocolate (DH and the kids love chocolate). Maybe it should be fruity (you know I love lemon!!). Maybe it should be seasonal (it IS November so perhaps pumpkin). I pondered her list trying to decide when over and over it seemed one intrigued me more than the others… the Cardamom Vanilla bundt. Being a Daring Baker I fell in love with the spice cardamom way back when we made a danish braid… and especially when it is paired with the flavor orange. Not sure why but it’s a combination that just does it for me! So for today… in honor of National Bundt Cake day… I present the Orange Cardamom Bundt!

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Cran-Apple Crisps

Em — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 23:01:45 PST

This week was my turn to host Tuesdays with Dorie! While I haven’t been baking a lot lately, I surely was not going to miss my turn in the rotation :) When I initially joined TwD it seemed like my turn was so far far faaaaaar away but now it’s here and I chose Dorie’s recipe for Cran-Apple Crisps. It seemed like a no-brainer to me as I love both of these fruits and using cranberries and apples seemed so perfect for the autumn weather most of the United States is experiencing :)

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Cinnamon Roll Cake

Em — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 20:30:16 PDT

Quite a few months back I started seeing this cake pop up all over the various blogs I frequent. It looked so absolutely appealing that I found it completely irresistible. After all, it’s cake, cinnamon and drizzly-glazy-icing… a winning combination in my book! If you’re one of the few people left who hasn’t made this cake, you really should. It’s about as easy as can be… and it spends far more time in the oven that you’ll spend getting it there or to the plate!
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Fresh Apple Cake

Em — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 09:13:22 PDT

According to the calendar, Autumn has arrived… and in many parts of the country the temperatures are starting to cool off. That hasn’t completely been the case here in my part of Southern California but yesterday we finally had high’s in the 90’s instead off 100+ so I was definitely ready to bake something fall-like with apples! Of course I’m been saving lots of recipes during the seemingly endless hot hot summer so I had quite a few to choose from. One, in particular caught my eye rather recently and I decided to run with it. I’ve seen many Apple Cake recipes but this one from the King Arthur Flour company is a sure fired winner. As my husband said, “if you like apples, and you like cake, then this is the cake for you!” :)

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Vanilla Cupcakes with Brown Sugar Buttercream Frosting

Em — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 17:24:30 PDT

I know it’s been a while but I’m finally back :) I upgraded to the latest version of WordPress and it unfortunately didn’t like my blog template. That needed to be fixed… and it took a lot longer than I ever expected. In the interim, I was afraid to try and publish any new content so I (im)patiently waited it out :) But yes, I’m back and happy to bring you these super tasty vanilla cupcakes! Recently I was contacted by Singing Dog Vanilla asking me to try their vanilla extract. My first response was a resounding “sure thing!” and was even more pleased when they agreed to sponsor a giveaway for one of my blog readers! A giveaway in which the winner will have a choice between two different Singing Dog Vanilla products! A giveaway that will tap your creativity! A giveaway that is not limited to “US Residents Only”… this time it’s open to those of you in Canada as well so this giveaway really is a good thing!

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Chewy Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies… and a winner!

Em — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 21:19:58 PDT

Sadly, it’s the last 3-day weekend of summer in the US. Vacations are winding down, kids are returning to school and in some parts of the country cooler temps are right around the corner. I had been wanting to make these cookies for a while now but for some reason, tons of other recipes leapfrogged them on the “must make” list. Luckily, with the extra day this weekend I found some time to actually bake… and I finally made them. Oh sure, oatmeal cookies might not scream “yay – summertime” but if you ask me they’re a good cookie any time of year. And when they’re chewy… and have chocolate chips… they’re even better!

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Blueberry Lemon Coffeecake

Em — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 13:58:14 PDT

My little blog is just about 18 months old and in that time I’ve made lots and lots and lots of recipes. Most of them get posted here since I like to share… and most of them get taken to work since, well, I like to share :) What can I say – feeding people and knowing I personally made what they’re enjoying just makes me feel good. There are certain books and a short-list of websites I tend to gravitate toward when I’m looking to make something in particular. But there’s one specific website that stands head and shoulders above the rest when it comes to generating rave reviews of what I’ve made. In fact, the feedback I got when making this Blueberry Lemon Coffee cake was better than I ever imagined… nearly every comment fell along the lines of “this is simply perfect”.

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Roasted Roma Tomatoes

Em — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 12:30:11 PDT

As any foodie knows, you come across far more appealing recipes than you can realistically make. Sure everyone has their own personal “To Do” list but on top of that, cooks/bakers have their “Must Make” list. Put the two together and it can feel like a double-whammy comin’ atcha sometimes! LOL! I found this recipe while perusing my usual round-up of must-read blogs (thank heavens for feed-readers!) and it quickly moved up to the top of the “Must Make” list. I’m glad it did because this is one delicious light-snack / appetizer that’s fun to share… uhm… if you can ;)

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