Candied Orange and Raisin Scones

I'm not gonna lie, the only reason I tried this recipe was because of the booze-soaked raisins.  And making my own candied orange peel was kind of fun too and something I hadn't tried before.  I learned this time that boiling the orange peel 3x was not enough, it was still too bitter for my taste. Now the only thing I have to do is figure out what to do with all this Grand Marnier...

Recipe courtesy of Martha Stewart magazine.

Spiced Apple Cheesecake x2

P1020160, a photo by cookinglikespago on Flickr.

Here's an extra picture of the cheesecake, with the sauce poured over it. Flicker changed how they share their pictures and I haven't figured out how to add two pictures in one post yet.

The other slice is Miette's gingerbread cake with cream cheese frosting I also brought to Thanksgiving. Don't judge on me eating two slices please; it is Thanksgiving after all!

Spiced Apple Cheesecake with Brandy Caramel Sauce

P1020159, a photo by cookinglikespago on Flickr.

This is my very late Thanksgiving post. Thanksgiving was certainly new this year, being away from our immediate families. However, we were fortunate enough to meet my husband's uncle's family, whom my husband hadn't seen since he was a 5 year old.

I also made a new cheesecake this year. While I love my standard apple cheesecake recipe, I couldn't pass on this amazing recipe I found on Food 52.

Once again, I used Miette cookies for the crust, this time the gingersnap cookies. The caramel sauce was really different too. Instead of cooking white sugar to the caramel stage, this used brown sugar and butter. It was definitely a runnier caramel sauce than my standard recipe I use from The Secrets of Baking, but it tasted great; especially with the addition of the brandy.

It got rave reviews by all, and I hope we get invited for Christmas so I can bake more new recipes for them.

Banana Cake with Mocha Frosting

P1020157, a photo by cookinglikespago on Flickr.

I don't know about you, but every week I buy bananas and every week I seem to have some that go bad before I get to them. My intention is always to eat them quicker, but I don't get that far.

Anyways, I used some bad bananas to try out this cake I found in David Lebovitz's book "Ready for Dessert." It was fun to make a cake rather than standard banana bread. And I would have never thought to do a mocha frosting; the pairing turned out really well.

I'm glad I moved to San Francisco for a number of reasons. I now have another thing to add to those reasons; I got to have my cookbook signed by David Lebovitz since he came back for a visit.

If you have this book, this is definitely a great recipe. If you don't have the book, you should.

Goat Cheese Cheesecake with Mixed Berry Sauce

P1020139, a photo by cookinglikespago on Flickr.

The first time I had goat cheese cheesecake was at dinner at Foreign Cinema in San Francisco. I ordered it because it was unique and seemed like such a "foodie" experience I had to try. Plus, after my delicious entree I trusted that the cheesecake would be just as good. And it was.

The tangy flavor of the goat cheese came through and it balanced well with the sweet rhubarb sauce and candied walnuts that came with it.

So when I saw a recipe for one in the June 2013 issue of Bon Appetit, I saved it to try out. I mostly followed the recipe, which funny enough is a recipe BA got from another San Francisco restaurant, Waterbar. This recipe is pretty good, but I couldn't imagine making a crustless cheesecake. So I paired it with a graham cracker crust.

And not any old graham cracker crust either. I used graham crackers made by Miette, my new employer in San Francisco. These rich buttery grahams were the highlight of this cheesecake for me. The cheesecake itself was fine and while it's fun to experiment with other cheeses, I think I'll be sticking to cream cheese cheesecakes.

Chocolate Hazelnut Truffle Cookie

Chocolate Hazelnut Truffle Cookie, a photo by cookinglikespago on Flickr.

Sometimes things are so good, you end up repeating them. I made this cookie a few years back, before I started the blog. I found the recipe online, off a link from the World Nutella Day page. I didn't give the recipe much thought for awhile.

Then I saw a chocolate hazelnut spread in a cute neighborhood kitchen store. This store also had Callebaut chocolate at a really cheap price. So I brought home my treasures and went back to the World Nutella page. Then, without thinking I chose this cookie recipe again. It was only after reading the really funny post awhile that I realized I had made it before.

These are so good! The filling is made with chocolate, chocolate hazelnut spread, sour cream, and Frangelico. Oh wow.

Now to go back to the store for more and try another recipe from the amazing stash of Nutella recipes!

Fig Almond Tart

Fig Tart, a photo by cookinglikespago on Flickr.

I'm finally back to baking and blogging! I've been gone for the past month because I sprained my ankle badly, which made baking impossible.

I also had to hunt for an apartment while on crutches because my husband and I moved from the Midwest to San Francisco! As you all know, this is such a great food city. Not only do I have a 3 page list of restaurants I want to try, but the fresh produce here is amazing.

I've saved this recipe for 2 years now because it's hard to find dried figs, let alone fresh figs in Wisconsin. This past Saturday I checked out my first farmers market at the Ferry Building Marketplace. It was so packed with people! And what did the vendors have for me? Black Mission figs!

I jumped on the first ones I saw and then realized more than one vendor had them, and there were other varieties too! I also saw Valencia oranges, lots of peach varieties and beautiful berries. A girl/baker could get used to this!

Unfortunately, I can't find the recipe on Bon Appetit.com, but it's from their July 2011 issue.