Southern Inspiration: Cranberry Curd, Buckeyes, Molasses Cake, Banana Bourbon Cake

I'm back in my kitchen full-force making all kinds of new cookies and other treats for people I know and strangers alike. It feels good to be trying out new stuff again!

Here are some of the goodies that I've been making or thinking of making lately.

Cranberry Curd via Kitchen Confidante. Curd (lemon or otherwise) is really simple to make, and it takes a long time to go bad because there's so much sugar in it. As many people know, I make a blueberry lemon curd pie, but if I make cranberry curd, that opens up so many more possibilities! Apple-cranberry curd pie? Yeah, I'd eat that.

Peanut Butter Buckeyes via Real Simple. The recipe I use is actually from Southern Living, but this'll do. 

Molasses Cake with extra creamy cream cheese frosting via the kitchn. This cake looks crazy-moist, and I love cakes that are crazy-moist. Also this frosting is a must-try! I plan to try this out with my molasses from Muddy Pond, Tennessee.

Banana Bourbon Layer Cake via Martha Stewart. I have to say, I probably won't put the bananas on top because they'd get really weird looking if you didn't eat the whole cake right away, but I would deeeefinitely use this as a base for banana bourbon cupcakes sans the caramelized bananas on top. 

Happy weekend, everyone!

Blogs That Are Stealing All of My Free Time

It is quite possible that I spend too much time on the Internet for my own good. Here are some of the baking blogs I've been reading for the last few weeks, making me not as productive as I could be. Gosh darnit, stop putting out so much amazing, quality food-related content, people!

1. Teeny Pies: This girl is worlds of cool. She's basically my hero right now. It's her goal to travel around to become a pie apprentice at dozens of famous shops around the country. She's calling it her "tour of pie", and I am going along for the ride. Her first stop is High Five in Seattle. Mini pies, big pies, pie pops, all vintage-inspired. Those are my kind of people.

2. Chocolate-Covered Katie: Low-fat vegan desserts like Four-Minute Coconut Macaroons.I will eat these foreverrr.

Photo and recipe on Chocolate-Covered Katie

3. Southern Lady Cooks: I'm pretty sure the name says it all. These recipes remind me of back home and my family and the holiday.

4. Some Kitchen Stories: a photographer and a writer have paired up for beautiful recipes and great stories. Each recipe comes with a tiny intro that sets the tone for what's to come. So original, you have to love it.

Honey-Scented Fig Granola on SKS

Share the love and check out these awesome blogs!

Southern Church Cookbooks and Hummingbird Cake Inspiration

I spent Sunday relaxing and baking with my mom. She brought out her old dusty church cookbooks from the 1970's and we sifted through the stained and torn pages to find the best recipes for some mini pecan pies I was making (three varieties, which I will be posting about very soon). My mom warned me that you had to take the recipes "with a grain of salt" because they're written like the person is talking to a friend. So you have to know when something sounds a little funny, or how hot to preheat the oven since the author assumes you know, or when you should probably cut the sugar in half because you're using that much sorghum molasses. 

I went through a lot of the really gooey recipes, asking my mom, "Have you ever baked a banana cake?", "Have you ever baked sweet potato pie for the holidays?" and so on. She said yes to everything, until I got to, "Have you ever made a Hummingbird Cake?" 

Her response? "No, those are so sweet you can't taste anything but the sugar!" 

So, naturally, my next mission, probably for my mom's birthday, is to make a hummingbird cake that doesn't wipe you out from sugar overdose. So, sorry Paula Deen (1 3/4 cup sugar!), I won't be using your recipe. I'll be modifying one of the ones from my mom's old cookbooks. Maybe we'll even bake it together. Wouldn't that just be so sweet? You wouldn't even need a quarter of the sugar. 

Photo and recipe inspiration by Two Tiny Kitchens

(Extremely Non-Vegan) Inspiration of the Day: Mississippi Mud Pie

I think I need to clean some drool off of my keyboard. 

This baby is from Martha Stewart, as discovered in Matt Lewis' Baked Explorations. 

It looks so complicated, but so so worth the effort. I think if I ever attempt this, I might do a pre-packaged chocolate mousse version. That might balance out the density of the flourless cake better. Not that southern baking is about restraint or even balance. It's about piling on the sugar, flour, eggs, and butter. Still. 

Ugh, me want!

Inspiration for Post-Race Baking

This is the week leading up to my half-marathon, so I will not actually be baking much of anything (unless I find some time between running, doing yoga, working, and volunteering). Instead, I'm looking to the next few weeks, when I will be hosting another pie party, traveling to Los Angeles, spending a week with one of my favorite people on earth, going to Portland, Yosemite, and finally finishing it off with a skydive. I'm thinking August will be pretty epic. Gotta have a cake to celebrate when it's all done!

Biscuits with Chocolate Gravy via Sprinkle Bakes

Frozen Chocolate Peanut Butter Terrine, also via Sprinkle Bakes

Bourbon Peach Hand Pies via smitten kitchen

Bacon Pecan Pralines. Genius. Via Framed Cooks

Authentic Red Velvet Cake via Sweet Endingz

Coconut Cream Tart (a la Tartine) via Bay Area Bites

Pie pops (with a fantastic photo tutorial) via Luxirare

Inspirations for the Weekend

I've been baking all week, and I'm a bit tired of my standard fare. I'm dipping into my Pinterest pool for inspiration for recipe-testing this weekend.

I also just picked up the book Pie, and I'm pretty sure it's changing my life.

Apricot, Pistachio, and Lemon Shortbread Tart via Canelle et Vanille

Cake Batter Pancakes.... YESSSSS via Chez Knox

Bourbon Peach Hand Pies via smitten kitchen

Earl Grey Tea Cake with Rhubarb Cream Cheese Glaze via Raspberri Cupcakes

Well, those are just ridiculous. Now it's 10 AM and I'm in a sugar drought. 

Flour and Sugar,

Carrie Melissa