Baking Adventures #5 and #6

This week one planned baking adventure had an unplanned addition as well! There was a tie between Cake and Apple Pie for the Pot Luck dinner for tomorrow night's class, so I went with the Apple Pie. My cousin Angie sent her recipe over and it seemed pretty simple. Why not conquer something that intimidates and scares us but could end up wonderful? What's the worst that could happen? Life is all about taking chances and risks.

Now, before I dive into the "planned" baking adventure, let's discuss the "unplanned". Yes, I did use protection... haha, ok bad joke...

Saturday morning was spent doing laundry at my parents' house (no washer and dryer = borrow mom and dad's). While there, I resumed my usual position in the kitchen watching Food Network (my crack) in between loads. However, I got an inkling to bake and started looking through the cabinets... what did I find??? All of the ingredients to make yellow cupcakes!!!

Ok, so cupcake pan, liners (yes, I have a secret love for Winnie the Pooh), and batter ingredients: CHECK! Frosting?........

Frosting is a necessity if you're making cupcakes; Mom had all of the ingredients but one to make cream cheese frosting and all of the ingredients but one to make regular frosting... so I decided to get creative and combine and make my own...

After combining butter, cream cheese, sugar, one Starbucks VIA Columbia roast, and 1/4 cup Godiva coffee liqueur... I ended up with COFFEE LIQUEUR Frosted yellow cupcakes:

I had my dad taste test and he thoroughly enjoyed the frosting. However, I wasn't so much a fan... too much liqueur flavor for me, so I decided to get creative again and combined butter, cream cheese, sugar, brown sugar, and cinnamon for CINNAMON/BROWN SUGAR Frosted Yellow Cupcakes:

TA DA!!! These went to my guys at the Cigar Club for some taste testing as well as a couple other close friends. I was a bit nervous as to what my taste testers would say since both frostings were an experiment, and unless everyone lied, they really enjoyed the cupcakes. So it was a successful experiment!

Ok, time for the planned baking adventure:

COUSIN ANGIE'S APPLE PIE

First things first: PREP! This recipe was relatively simple as far as ingredients go. The only two things I needed were nutmeg and apples.

Slicing the apples into thin slices wasn't too bad either.

HOWEVER...

Figuring out how to pile all 6 sliced Golden Delicious apples into the pie pan was a FEAT in of itself.

(Let me let you in on a little secret: I didn't make the pie crust from stratch.. GASP!!! I know, bad Pint Size Baker, bad! However, upon reading through many recipe reviews and advice from my Cousin Angie, I opted to buy Pillsbury pie crust as it is supposed to taste just as good if not better than something I could make on my own. This I will be trying to overcome at a later date though.)

Once all of the apples were piled a mile high in the pie (haha, poet and don't know it!), it was time to add the crumb topping. So sorry there is no photo of this part of the process but my hands were covered in sugar, flour, and butter and there is no Pint Size Baker assistant just yet.

Apple Pie assembly? CHECK

Oven Pre-heated to 425? CHECK

TIME TO BAKE!!! (Little hint: Once you notice the top/crust start to brown, cover with aluminum foil to prevent burning. Also, it's a good idea to place the pie pan on a baking sheet in the event that anything drips or falls off while baking and makes it easier to pull the pie in and out of the oven.)

Now, I'm not sure how this tastes yet as it is for Pot Luck Dinner at my RCIA class tomorrow night, but I'll check back in afterwards and let you know how the reactions are from everyone!