Last week, I stopped by CVS for a quick trip to get some cleaning supplies. I’ve just moved into my new office space, and it was pretty dang dirty, so I needed to rush out right away and get cleaning spray, wipes, paper towels, the works. I was only going to pop in for a second.

But you know, CVS has the best stuff. Makeup and hair stuff and gel pens, oh my. And have I mentioned the bags of candy? Yep, I walked out of there with snack-sized Reese’s, Mega M & Ms and yes, fun-sized Snickers. Rather than eat the entire contents of each bag immediately while I cleaned dried-up Jolly Ranchers off a desk in the office, I chose to save them and bake this candy bar brownie cake instead.

This past week, I went to cake decorating class. I originally signed up for this class before my job promotion when summer was supposed to be uneventful and relaxing, and now I just don’t know if I can do it. I was sitting in class at night trying to form a fondant and gum paste flower, and the table was making waves in front of me. I was about two seconds from face-planting onto my sugar daisy.

Fondant is a tricky beast, for those of you who work with it. It’s like play-doh, except it theoretically tastes a little better. I know it looks really nice, and I like making decorations with it. That said, I’ve never been the biggest fondant fan. For one thing, it doesn’t taste as good as frosting. For another, it really gets handled a lot. I know (or hope) that bakers are working with really clean hands, but the image of someone handling something that much before I put it in my mouth is a turnoff.

Also, the stuff cracks really easily, and once that happens, there’s no fix. I know we’re into this whole smooth cake trend, and it’s totally pretty. But I get frustrated sometimes at all the fondant cakes that look alike. Or maybe that’s just me looking for an excuse to drop cake decorating class so I can get more sleep.

For the first time this week, I’ll be making a tiered cake. I’ll let you know how that goes. Send me tips, okay? I’ve chosen to frost it as a mostly-naked cake to keep the work down to a minimum, but boy, I’m scared.

When I’m trying new things in the cake decorating world, it’s nice to make a dessert that it low-maintenance and no-fuss. This brownie cake is exactly that. The base is a fudgy brownie, covered with easy chocolate ganache and topped with my CVS collection of chocolate bars. Could life get any sweeter?

And now I’m off to try and dowel some cake. Wish me luck! I’ll be stopping by here for therapy if things don’t go well. Have a great start to your week, everyone!

Ideally, the voting process should be nothing but exciting, but it’s harder this year than usual. Looking toward November is a worrisome occupation, at least for me. I want to believe that everything will turn out okay, but I’m in a negative frame of mind these days.

Whenever I feel overwhelmed, I bake. There’s a mindful mindlessness about baking that lets my brain fall away a bit as I make ganache or press tart dough into a pan. The motions are repetitive, soothing, and exactly what I need sometimes. When the result is this mind-blowing linzer tart smothered in ganache and almonds, I can banish all the negativity and just think about the rich flavors exploding in my mouth.

It’s not like me to be incredibly negative, or at least, not in my head. But recently I’ve sustained a series of failures, and so I’ve had to work harder to focus on the good stuff. Whenever I’m in this frame of mind, it’s hard to see all the people who are seemingly more satisfied and successful displaying their good fortune right and left. The rational part of my brain is thrilled for them, but the emotional part is resentful. That’s human nature, after all.

So in times like these, I’m shifting the focus where it should be. On my family, of course, which affords me great joy. On the part of my job that takes place in the classroom, where I work with the best students a teacher could ask for. On the changing season, letting sunshine and fresh air into the house. On having an awareness of purpose. There’s so much to be thankful for.

When I get thankful, I think of pie. Really. It’s some kind of Thanksgiving trigger. But it’s April. What to do?

Well, make a tart. It’s gluten-free for my beloved Kenny and kosher for Passover for the rest of us. We don’t get normal food until Sunday! Yes, that counts liquor. Happy hour is going to have to wait a bit.

This is one of the best desserts I’ve made in the GF category. The crust (adapted from Paula Shoyer’s The New Passover Menu) is mainly almond meal with some walnut meal thrown in for good measure. Once the crust is baked, I spread raspberry jam over the top and filled it with ganache. I made this tart non-dairy by using fake coffee creamer and margarine, but the recipe will list heavy cream and butter because that’s more standard. They both work, though!

I’m looking out the window as I write this, where the leaves on the trees have become rich and green. There’s a lot that’s good to focus on. During a time that’s less than easy in some ways, I need to see all the beauty and savor it. And I also need to savor this tart, so get on that train with me!

Neither, apparently, does closed captioning. I’m one of those weird people who likes to read my TV, so I always have the closed captioning turned on. In the movie Chocolat (one of my all-time favorites, by the way), one of the characters tells another to prepare the ganache. Instead of that word, closed captioning came up with “knish,” which is a pastry similar to an empanada. And as I type this, the word “ganache” keeps getting underlined in red, while the “knish” remains untouched by spell check. Go figure.

At least spell check knows what cheesecake is, and boy, is this ever a good one. It’s got an Oreo crust and a thick layer of ganache on top, and it’s perfect for Valentine’s Day. Or just, you know, for a Monday. You decide!

I’ve been thinking a lot about mothers this weekend. A few days ago, my favorite advice column (Ask Caroyln, she rocks!) ran a letter from a woman whose mother died when she was young, and she wanted to know how anyone goes about dealing with the fact that a mother will never be there to answer some of life’s basic questions about, well, anything.

Carolyn basically said that there is no dealing with it: you just have to soldier on and do your best and live with the loss. That answer really made me wonder about what my life would be like if I hadn’t been able to run some serious questions by my own mother, whom I talk to nearly every day. We live near one another, and she knows almost as much about my life as I do. What if I didn’t have that?

A few years ago, I was in my office talking to a colleague who was complaining about her mother. All of a sudden, another teacher walked by and said, “My mother has been dead for 15 years. I would give anything to have one more conversation with her.”

At the time, I was too startled to do much but watch my colleague apologize and awkwardly get up and go about her day. I thought about it a lot afterward, though, and I remember thinking a few things. I didn’t think that embarrassing someone who was doing what most people do was necessary, but I also felt for the woman who would give anything to be able to complain about her own mother with such a cavalier attitude.

I have no conclusions here, but I do stop from time to time and think about how good it is that I can call my mother when I want to to tell her things, and how life would feel without that. While we should all ideally spend every moment of our interactions with loved ones being grateful, it’s not a realistic expectation. Still, as long as we remember how lucky we are, that’s the most important thing.

As long as we’re busy being grateful, can we take a moment for cheesecake? Great. Thanks!

This one is already in my all-time favorites category. It’s that irresistible layer of ganache on top coupled with the Oreo crust. There’s nothing on this cheesecake that I have a hope of resisting.

While people like to think that cheesecake baking is tough, it’s actually pretty simple. Even this one. The ganache comes together very quickly, too, and has the added benefit of covering any potential cracks on the cheesecake’s surface.

Let’s spend time being grateful, when we remember it. Everything is fleeting, from that slice of cheesecake on your plate to the people who surround us with love. Savor everything!

Over the past several weeks, I’ve given you quite a few Thanksgiving pie options. But I couldn’t resist adding just one more!

As a baking blogger, the holidays provide inspiration and ideas. I love having the time of year do the recipe brainstorming for me, especially when a tart like this is the result. Guys, I kept my very favorite for last. Yes, I’ll play favorites today.

This past weekend, Kenny and I got away overnight to a posh hotel in historic Old Town Alexandria, Virginia. We’re lucky to live near all kinds of little getaway spots, and even though it was chilly, it was really lovely to walk on the waterfront and see the boats and pretend it was a lot warmer.

The best part of the hotel was the pool. It was a heated indoor pool, and getting in was like being enveloped in a warm water hug. Maybe I’ve never told you this before, but I love baths. Baths are a daily thing for me, even if I’ve showered too. I love the bubbles, the scalding water, the jets (yep, my tub is tricked out), and the music playing softly in the background as I let all the stress melt out of my tired muscles.

Other  than dessert, I have these other material loves in life: a good book, a great workout, and a hot bath. So as I chugged back and forth in that heated pool, I realized that my life would be pretty luxurious if I could come home from work every day, jump into a heated pool, swim for a while, and then dry off in a lounge chair with a book and some truffles.

I just heard Steven Tyler in my head shrieking “Dream On.”

If the pool fantasy can’t come true, I’ll take this tart instead. It’s all my favorite things. Maybe not everyone’s on the marzipan bandwagon, but I really don’t care. This is the best.

The crust is buttery and light, with some almond meal thrown in for kicks. Piled into the crust is raspberry jam, a baked marzipan layer, and thick chocolate ganache with toasted almond flair. If you want an elegant but totally doable dessert to present tomorrow, this is your girl.

Okay, kids. I’ve got more baking to do tonight, so I’ll catch you later. I’m pretty excited to get all those pies lined up on the table, and I hope you are, too. Have a safe, joyful, warm and cozy Thanksgiving with family and friends. From JAB and me to you, happy holiday season!

This post is not just about this dessert, which I made in honor of love that lasts. It’s about, well, the love that lasts.

For instance, I’ve loved brownies forever, and I always will. Same for chocolate. Same for Kenny. Are we sensing a pattern yet here?

I’ve talked about Kenny and our relationship from time to time on this blog, but I never talked about the first time I ever saw him. It was my first weekend at college, and as a transplant from Indiana to Maryland, I didn’t know a soul. Looking back, I must have been terrified and nervous, but I don’t remember that part.

Fresh off my first weekend as a college student, I headed to a Sunday evening barbecue. I was relieved when I saw a girl I’d met at orientation, and we waved and walked over to each other. After we got our burgers and settled down on chairs, she pointed across the large square at a boy and said, “That’s the boy I want to date. His name is Kenny, and my sister knows him from camp. Isn’t he cute?”

Kenny was, indeed, very cute. He was tall, athletic, blonde, and just the kind of guy I knew would never look at me. And sure enough, while we became vaguely friendly, he remained completely elusive. He dated a friend of mine briefly, and I dated other people, and that was really the end of it. Or so I thought.

Fast-forward seven years, and I was a seasoned D.C. resident with a lot more moxie. Kenny and I were still friendly, even though I barely saw him. But over drinks with my best friend one night (shout out to her for this), she told me to take a chance and ask him out.

Over more drinks, I agreed. And I did. And boy, was I shocked when I realized that this boy I’d known for all these years was actually serious dating potential. It was even more of a shock when we fell in love and, in fairly quick order, got married.

I’ve known Kenny for half my life now, and we’ve been together for eleven years. As of today, we’ve been married for ten of those years. In that time, we’ve had three children, gone through numerous challenges together, and we’ve faced it all with our usual tendency to try and not take things so seriously. I couldn’t ask for a better partner to keep me sane and grounded.

It’s because of my constant gratitude to a man that I basically became myself with that I want to really celebrate the heck outta this anniversary. And of course, that means we’ve got to do it up on the dessert front.

My recipe for gluten-free brownies is solid, so I used that as a base for these mini-tortes. The brownies are baked and then topped with a layer of raspberry jam. Over that, I poured a rich chocolate ganache and added some chocolate-covered raspberries. And if you’re up for some flair, powdered sugar doesn’t hurt.

The dessert is elegant and celebratory, but not difficult at all. If you can’t find a disposable paper baking cup for them (I got lucky at Target in the clearance bin), a ramekin would work just as well.

To Kenny: happy tenth, babes. Let’s hope the next ten are just as sweet.

As Thanksgiving looms ever closer, I can’t stop baking pie. All of them are contenders for the big day, but it’s going to be hard to pick the best ones. I’ve always had such a hard time with the concept of “favorite” dessert.

I mean, come on. How are we supposed to pick an ultimate winner when so many desserts are so wonderful? And pie is the happiest of all holiday treats. Still, if I had to start expressing preferences, this pie would be up there. It’s a traditional pumpkin pie with a thick layer of chocolate ganache on top. Needless to say, it’s a winner.

Picking favorites is super easy with some things, but not with others. My favorite boots? Easy. I hate to be what my students call “basic” (i.e. predictable and unexciting), but I love Uggs. They’re warm and toasty, not to mention comfortable. The first time I saw them, I thought they were crazy ugly. But now, not at all. Or maybe I’ve just stopped caring, because they encase my feet and legs like a cloud of joy.

When it comes to listing favorite foods, though, I’m totally lost. I really hate it when people come and say, “Hey, you’re a baker. What’s your favorite thing to bake?” Aaaaah. Truth? No clue. My big thing about blogging is doing something new and creative every single time. If I wanted to make the same thing over and over, I’d work at Starbucks.

Besides, how are you supposed to pick a favorite? We’ve got chocolate of all kinds. Cookies. Brownies. Cake. Pie. I just cannot make decisions. And any bar cookie is my friend. It’s not a fair question. When it comes to non-dessert food, I’ll take a medium-rare steak and sushi any day, but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t other friends I love just as much.

My kids are much simpler. Their favorites are clearly delineated for my own information. Chicken nuggets. Hot dogs. French fries. How predictable is that?

I guess I shouldn’t fault my kids for wanting standard favorites. After all, what is pumpkin pie if not a traditional holiday standard? I just played with this one a little bit, and it paid off!

What we have here is a totally traditional pumpkin pie with a very easy topping. I made the ganache in the microwave in about a minute. It’s so incredibly simple. I also decided to use a frozen pie crust because, after all, I love frozen pie crust. I’ll be making plenty of pie crust over the next two weeks. For this, a little cheating doesn’t hurt.

Once this pie is ready to eat, it hits all the right spots. It’s creamy, it’s chocolatey, and most of all, it’s a perfect twist on a traditional Thanksgiving dessert. I won’t ask if it’s going to be one of your favorites because when it comes to food, that’s kind of a dumb question. But I hope you love it as much as I did!

After Halloween, there’s a ton of spilled candy corn everywhere. In pantries, cabinets, behind the fridge…yep. I wind up finding candy corn wedged into small spaces way after it’s out of season. How to deal with this?

Use it, fast! And the best way to transition from one holiday to the next is to use candy corn in these adorable chocolate ganache cupcakes. With an Oreo turkey on top, nobody can resist! Look at their little faces.

I’m trying to mentally prepare myself for pie-baking craziness and my mind is going a million miles an hour because I have endless ideas about what to bake this year. There are so many different options for pie out there, but our Thanksgiving table can only accommodate about five pies before things start to look really excessive.

In general, Thanksgiving is an easy holiday. It’s basically a menu with some preset factors (turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie) and room for lots of additions and creativity. I love to cook while watching the Macy’s parade on TV. If you get up at a decent hour and cook through the morning, that’s pretty much all the time you need for the main dishes and sides.

If you think I’m in the wrong here, that’s okay. I’m just saying that effort-wise, I find Thanksgiving to be on the lower maintenance end, though not quite so much as July 4th. And you can make dessert ahead of time, which is even more of a bonus. I have two pies already in the freezer and November just started. We’re making good time here!

Plus, once the meal starts, it’s nice just to sit back and have a glass of wine and enjoy. Or if you’re me, to take that glass of wine to the kitchen and pick at the turkey carcass. Sorry. I’m a scavenger, and it’s one of my favorite things to do on Thanksgiving.

In honor of what is definitely one of my favorite holidays, I also get crafty with the food. These cupcakes are a cute and easy addition to any Thanksgiving dessert spread. When my own kids saw these, their eyes lit up and they all wanted one right now. My daughter always tends to want things (insert demanding tone here) right now.

These are a fairly simple chocolate cupcake (but you can use a mix if you like to save time) with a quick ganache topping. The most time-consuming part of this is making the little turkeys. Those candy corn feathers really want to fall out of the top. I found myself working hard to make sure each one wound up with four feathers. If I were less anal-retentive, I would have let my kids make these with me. Mine are a little young, but older kids can definitely help out here.

Once these are atop your cupcakes, it’s open season on Thanksgiving celebrations. The best part of the holiday is coming together over food that people prepare with lots of love. Why not start the celebration a little early this year?

No, I’m not confused. I realize that I’m four days late. It happens, okay?

Here’s the thing. It’s always so much more fun to celebrate a holiday once it’s over. Example: your birthday comes and goes, but there’s that one friend who forgot or was out of town, so they take you out a week later and celebrate. It’s so nice to keep the party going!

Or think about the holiday season. Last year, I got overloaded with holiday goodies. I write a ton of college recommendations, so the treats really flow in right before winter break begins. I remember staring at a peanut butter brownie layer cake, a batch of brownies, five bags of Lindt truffles, two boxes of Godiva truffles, and a chocolate cheesecake, wondering what on earth I was going to do with it all.

But sure enough, two weeks later, I had no treats around and I was really wishing that some of my students could have given me their holiday gifts late. Why not?

That’s a dangerous question, by the way. Never ask “why not?” unless you’re prepared for a brutally truthful response. Usually, there’s a reason why not. Just trust me on that one.

So, on this belated Pi Day, I chose to use up my remaining box of Girl Scout cookies. Oh, the things I do for you. But don’t worry, because I ate plenty of this Tagalong Pie. It’s full of peanut butter chocolate ganache and Tagalongs. How could I resist?

And even better, I made this pie a full day after actual Pi Day, which means that it made me very happy. I felt as though Pi Day (the perfect no strings attached holiday, mind you) were still going on. It was perfect.

This pie is also made with my tricked-out graham cracker crust, so be sure and check out how that’s done in the recipe below. I guarantee your life will change. And what better way to celebrate Pi Day? Later is better. Don’t forget that!

First of all, they often just change seasonally, if at all. And when they do change, there are a couple of standbys that never shift. At any given time of year, you can be pretty sure that there will be crème brulee and molten chocolate cake on the menu, along with a fruit-based dessert (tart or crisp, usually) and an assortment of ice creams and sorbets.

Don’t get me wrong. I love all those things. But why can’t pastry chefs be allowed to really get creative? To have more fun? And, dare I suggest it, change the menu at least (gasp!) monthly? Would that be so terrible? It’s more expensive for restaurant owners, of course. But let the pastry chefs do what they do best!

You see, I’ve pretty much accepted the fact that dessert at restaurants is no longer worth it, both in that it’s overpriced and mundane. I order it on special occasions, or at special restaurants, and then leave the rest of my indulgences to my own baking. At home, I take risks. I try new things. That guarantee doesn’t exist in fine dining anymore.

Take this strawberry ganache tart. I can make this whole tart for a fraction of what one slice would cost at a restaurant, and it tastes amazing. It’s pretty, too, and a great option for an at-home date this Valentine’s Day.

Listen, I’m not trying to pretend that running a restaurant is easy, nor do I think that I could do an amazing job in that setting. But here at home, this tart is making me plenty happy. In fact, after I added the last touch of drizzle and stepped back to examine the finished product, my heart sang a little. Nothing is prettier than a finished tart!

It was hard to destroy the prettiness and cut it up into slices, but the good news is, I gave half away and froze the other half for this coming weekend. Saturday night after the kids are in bed and the angels are singing, Kenny and I will have some tart and wine. It’s the perfect date.

And maybe I’ll stop being so, well, emphatic about dessert menus at restaurants. This is the season of love, after all. But if you are a creative soul, you might want to think about making your desserts mainly at home and saving the restaurant splurges for the occasional creative departure from the norm on the dessert menu. That makes it all the more special.

There are two desserts in this world that I can never say no to. The first is a chocolate chip cookie. I know very few people who can ever resist one. I even love the Costco ones. They’re processed. They’re huge. They’re delicious.

And then, taunting me always, is a perfectly fudgy brownie. You’d think that there aren’t a lot of good ones out there, but man, is that wrong. There are incredible brownies everywhere. It’s kind of encouraging, really. What kind of world would we live in if good brownies weren’t available on every street corner along with Coke Slurpees and Starbucks?

You know, I’m sounding very first world right now. But let’s be real. A baking blogger really cares about stuff like this. My mother would think that’s pathetic. But then again, she’s one of those people who reads the newspaper front to back and takes everything very seriously. I take very little seriously.

Except brownies. These have peanut butter cups in them, and they’re covered with a chocolate peanut butter ganache. Ganache is serious stuff, but it’s very easy to make. And once it’s made, I dare you to stop eating it.

If you’ve never had a ganache-frosted brownie, you are totally missing out. It’s rich, it’s fudgy, it’s life-changing. And when you throw Reese’s into the mix, you’re really asking for a happy afternoon snack moment!

As long as these are in my fridge (I like my fudgy goodies chilled), I won’t have to go even two days without a brownie. And you won’t either! These are wonderfully easy to make and a fantastic addition to your potential Super Bowl party. Give it a shot!