Fall apples: I picture the shiny apples of fairy tales, a long wind ruffling through the tree branches, crunchy leaves that break under my feet, and crisp clear night skies touched with notes of frosty bites that sting the skin. That’s my version of Fall as it weaves in and out of my memory.  I devote my hours housed in my baking kitchen atop a generous heap of various types of apples. I buy every color I can find at Walmart.  The tempting fruit spheres come in hues of the season: yellow, green, and red. Take your pick, my fine pretty, as they are super affordable.   What I make depends on my mood.  Once upon a time it could be a lovely apple tea, or happily ever after applesauce. If the witch’s broom touches down on the ground she might be in search for a candied apple. Perhaps if I bake an apple crisp I will attract every mouse, bear and rabbit to wait at my back door till I serve them each a scoop. I could make mountainous apple fritters that will serve as hiding places for the tiny sprites that live among the pines. Or maybe I should feed the little girl inside of me that is always chanting “apple coffee cake, apple coffee cake, apple coffee cake….” How could I ignore those precious wishes? I take whole grain flour and mix it with apples and other sweets for the most amazing tasty wholesome cake that just might wake me from my dream, because surely this is the cake of my dreams. Now just to figure out how to get the cake out of that darn tube pan.

Ingredients for whole grain apple coffee cake:

• For the topping: 3/4 – cups brown sugar (packed)
• 1/2 – cup chopped pecans
• 1/4 – cup old fashioned oats
• 1/2 – cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 – teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 – teaspoon sea salt
• 6 – tablespoons cold butter (cut into 1/2 inch pieces)
• For the center: 1/4 – cup brown sugar
• 1 – cup chopped pecans
• 1/4 – teaspoon ground cinnamon
• For the cake: 2 – cups sugar
• 3 – eggs
• 1 – tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 – cups vegetable oil
• 1/4 – cup orange juice
• 3 – cups whole wheat flour
• 1 – teaspoon baking soda
• 2 – teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/4 – teaspoon salt
• 1/2 – teaspoon powdered ginger
• 3 – cups chopped apples (peeled and cored)(about 3 to 4 apples)
• 1 – cup shredded sweetened coconut
• For the icing: 1 – cup powdered sugar
• 4 – tablespoons Cacique’s crema Mexicana

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Spray a tube pan with a non-stick baking spray. Set to the side.
3. For the topping: In a bowl combine brown sugar, pecans, oats, whole wheat flour, cinnamon, and salt. Mix with a fork to combine. Then using your fingers mash cold butter into dry mixture until it forms into little crumbs the size of peas. Place in the fridge until ready to use.
4. For the center: In a bowl mix brown sugar, pecan and cinnamon together. Set to the side until ready to use.
5. For the cake: In a mixer add in sugar, eggs, vanilla extract, vegetable oil, and orange juice. Mix to combine completely.
6. In a bowl sift whole wheat flour, baking soda, cinnamon, salt and ground ginger together. Slowly add dry mixture to wet ingredients until combined.
7. Add in apples and coconut. Mix until completely combined.
8. Pour half of cake batter into greased tube pan.
9. Sprinkle center mixture into top of batter. 
10. Top center mixture with remaining batter.
11. Smooth the top of batter with a spatula, then top cake batter with topping reserved from the fridge.
12. Bake cake for an hour and a forty minutes.
13. Remove from oven and let cool on cooling rack until completely cooled. I like to let it cool over night. 
14. Remove cake from tube pan (see video below on how to remove cake from tube pan) and place on a cake stand. 
15. For the icing: Whisk powdered sugar and crema Mexicana together. Drizzle over the top of the cake and let stand for 10 minutes before slicing. 
16. Enjoy! 

Watch this quick video on how to remove cake from tube pan!

My son is at school for a good portion of the day, and my main concern is – Is he eating? I know he might take a bite here and there, but I can’t be sure he’s gonna eat his lunch everyday. He just turned five, and sometimes eatting isn’t at the top of his list when he knows he can be playing with his friends. I take matters into my own hands, and always make sure to fuel him up in the a.m. before he heads to school. A few months back I was in Bentonville at the Walmart headquarters where we (the Walmart Moms) learned all these great ways to get our kids eating. The nice people from Dannon and Kelloggs made a few yogurt/breakfast treats that were kid and adult friendly. I jotted down mental notes, and called them from my memory bank now that my boy is in school. Last week while I was in the refrigerator section of Walmart, I came across the yogurt selection. I remembered these incredible dippers they had  made out of yogurt, where you dipped a piece of fruit in the yogurt then dipped in a crisp cereal. Light bulb went on, and I grabbed a tub of vanilla yogurt. I came home, made a few dippers to snack on and then made a few cups of parfait filled with fruit, granola, pistachios, and a few sprinkles of poppy seeds for the following morning. I just felt the parfait was something the whole family could eat together at the table in the morning before we each step out to meet our busy days. I was so pleased when everyone dug in and asked why we don’t eat this tasty breakfast more often. Now I know how to get breakfast on the table at a lightning speed and still have time for a little bonding.

Ingredients for breakfast yogurt parfaits:

• black grapes
• Dannon vanilla yogurt
• granola
• strawberries (sliced)
• poppy seeds
• yellow raisins
• pistachios

Directions:

1. In a tall glass or jar drop a few black grapes on the bottom of cup.
2. Top with 2 tablespoons of yogurt.
3. Top with 2 tablespoons granola
4. Top with 2 tablespoons of yogurt.
5. Top with sliced strawberries.
6. Top with 2 tablespoons of yogurt.
7. Sprinkle in a pinch of poppy seeds, raisins and pistachios.
8. Top with a black grape. 
9. Enjoy!

When I was a little girl my grandfather would come home Friday afternoon from a long week of working hard with a brown bag filled with pan dulce. He would place the sweet bread in a dish on the table in preparation for his weekend routine. I always knew on Saturday morning as I heard the clink of his spoon stirring his ceramic cup that he was enjoying a cup of coffee with a little bit of abuelita chocolate grated in and an entire piece of pan dulce. He would set out a small jar of dulce de leche for me to have as a spread on my pan dulce in the event that I may have wanted to be extra sweet that morning.

Once Sunday morning would roll around the pan dulce would be hard and perfect for a french toast breakfast. I would rise early and watch my grandfather as he dipped the two day old stale bread into a creamy bath of eggs, milk and cinnamon. He would then butter a pan and cook the wedges into Mexican French Toast perfection. He would then place it on a communal platter and drizzle the top with dulce de leche and berries.  I would take a plate and so would he, and as I became older I would join him in washing it all down with a warm cup of coffee.

This was our ritual, our bonding time, our time to catch up while the rest of the house still found peace in their dreams. He would share stories of his childhood living in between Juarez, Mexico and El Paso, Texas and how rough it was for him, his single mom, and all his siblings living through the depression. Some of the stories were so unreal and sad that all I could do was be thankful that he made his way via a freight train to Los Angeles to build a life here, and make the best of his situation. His stories play out like a beautiful mariachi ballad drenched in tears and boisterous laughter. He is my hero.

Recently I was at a tasting and the Mexican chef made french toast out of pan dulce. It immediately took me back to the days of living under the same roof as my grandfather and enjoying Sunday breakfast with him drenched in our latin history. I decided to recreate the dish with my own spin to it. As I was shopping for the ingredients I went to grab some coffee-mate for the cafesito, and noticed they now made Dulce De Leche flavor and Abuelita chocolate flavor, yes you read right. Can you believe that deliciousness? I grabbed two of each, one for him and one for me. This past Sunday I invited him over for a pan dulce french toast breakfast and stories of our Hispanic heritage and waited to hear the clink of the spoon against the ceramic mug.

Ingredients for pan dulce french toast in a dulce de leche sabor:

• day old pan dulce
• 3 – eggs
• 1/2 – cup milk
• 1/2 – teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 – teaspoon vanilla extract
• butter to grease the pan
• 3 – tablespoons coffee-mate dulce de leche flavor
• 1 – cup powdered sugar
• fresh berries
• a cup of coffee
• 1 – tablespoon coffee-mate abuelita flavor

Directions:

1. On a large cutting board slice pan dulce into wedges. Set to the side.
2. In a bowl whisk eggs, milk, cinnamon, and vanilla extract together.
3. Lightly dip pan dulce wedge into egg batter. 
4. In a pan over a medium flame add a small amount of butter to grease pan. Once melted, add in soaked pan dulce wedge. 
5. Fry pan dulce in butter on all side until fully cooked about two to three minutes per side.
6. Place on a large plate.
7. In a small bowl whisk coffee-mate dulce de leche and powdered sugar, until there are no clumps. 
8. Place dulce de leche mixture in a small plastic bag and cut a small snip in the end. Drizzle over the french toast. 
9. Top with berries. 
10. Serve with a cup of coffee and Coffee-Mate abuelita flavor.  

WAIT…. There’s more! I am giving away a Coffee-Mate kit! The giveaway consists of 1 hand designed coffee mug (by my buddy Crafty Chica), two coupon vouchers, a set of coffee coasters, and a coffee sleeve (pictured below). Enter for a chance to win!

Where there’s pink frosting, there’s gotta be donuts. I recently celebrated by son’s birthday in a big way with over 135 guests. There were lots of treats and it was a very boy driven day. I don’t think there was anything pink in sight for miles. As I stood there observing the kids at the party I realized we had a lot of little girls running around too. I watched them running with long hair and cute braids, some even had glitter in their hair. It made me miss celebrating my own girly side, and I made a small mental note when the chaos of life dies down a little I would take some time to be ultra girly again.

Yesterday I was organizing my pantry and came across some decorative colored candy sprinkles, you know the type you see on either Mexican or Italian cookies. I purchased  them a while back and still hadn’t done anything with them. That instant was the perfect time to be girly. I fancied myself eating a pink donut topped with candy sprinkles. Now to get from point A to B was going to be a bit challenging. I started thinking of everything pink. I looked in the fridge and found some fresh cherries (strawberries or blueberries would have worked fine as well), then found a box of pink cake mix flour in my pantry too. It was all coming together. I wanted my pink donuts to be a little more dense than cakey, so I thought “Hmmmm, I bet if I add Maseca to this pink party, that will definitely do the trick!” And it did. Thanks to my wonderful versatile Maseca corn flour, I had pink donuts all day long, and it felt grand to be a girl.

Ingredients for Maseca’s berry good baked donut:

• 3 – eggs
• 1 1/4 – cups water
• 1/3 – cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 – cup Maseca Corn Flour
• 1 – box pink cake mix flour
• 1 – cup fresh cherries (stems removed, pitted, and cut into pieces)
• 1 – cup powder sugar
• 1/8 – half and half
• pink food coloring
• candy sprinkles

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit.
2. Spray a donut pan with a non-stick spray. Set to the side.
3. In a mixer add eggs, water, vegetable oil, Maseca, and pink cake mix flour. Mix until smooth.
4. Add in fresh cherries (or berry of your choice), and mix to combine.
5. Use a heaping 1/8 cup of batter and fill each space in donut pan. 
6. Bake for 15 minutes.
7. Remove from pan and allow to cool completely on cooling rack.
8. In a bowl whisk powdered sugar and half and half together until smooth.
9. Color with pink food coloring. Mix until the color desired is reached.
10. Dip one side of each donut into the pink frosting then place back on cooling rack to dry.
11. Sprinkle the top with candy sprinkles and allow frosting to set for about 2 hours before eating.
12. Enjoy! 

Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Maseca. However, the recipe and opinions are my own.

Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Latina Bloggers Connect and California Sweetpotatoes. All opinions and recipe are my own.

It’s a vivid memory that drives me to write this post. I had to be about 25 years old at the time of this story and I was sitting in a diner in NYC. The windows were fogged up due to the humidity and heat outside while the cool air blow around the restaurant making it a cool haven. A cat slipped by me under the table and made a bed on my feet. I don’t remember the name of the place other than it was the name of the lady who owned the joint. What I do remember clear as day is eating sweetpotatoes for the first time mashed into a thick puree sitting next to a perfectly grilled piece of chicken. The introduction of this fine sweet papa was all I needed, to know that it would be a flourishing relationship, and I would make it my business to go down every avenue the sweetpotato traveled. I have picked up many fun facts along the way. For instance, “sweetpotato” is one word, and has more than a day’s worth of vitamin A. Or did you know sweetpotatoes are grown in the sand and not in the dirt and are naturally sun cured on the vine before harvest?

Fast forward to present day, and I open my front down to the chirping of a bell that the UPS man on the other end is pushing. To my delight he is carrying a big box of sweetpotatoes. As I sign my name across his screened pad, my mind has drifted to a far away place of sweetpotato possibilities, and they are endless. Endless I say. Oh the joy…. What shall I make? What shall I make? I could make sweetpotato pancakes. No, too simple. I could make sweetpotato flan. I think I got something like that on my blog already. I could make sweetpotato en tacha sauce for dia de los muertos…. Too soon for that. I could make sweetpotato churros. I can’t find my churro tool to press them out into the long logs, bummer. I could make sweetpotato churro waffles with cajeta and candied pecans on top. Bingo! The winning idea took flight. Here is my waffle recipe… hope you like it.

Ingredients for sweetpotato churro waffles:

• 1 – sweetpotato  (small sweetpotato peeled and cut into 2 inch rounds) (you will need 1/2 cup sweetpotato puree)
• 2 – egg yolks
• 1 1/2 – buttermilk
• 3/4 – cup butter (melted)
• 1 1/2 – teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/4 – teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 – cups flour
• 1 – cup sugar
• 3 1/2 – teaspoons baking powder
• 3 – egg whites
• cajeta
• candied pecans

Directions:

1. In a small pot filled with water over a medium flame, bring water to a boil.
2. Add in sweetpotato rounds and boil for 25 to 30 minutes or until fork tender.
3. Drain water from sweetpotatoes and mash into a puree.
4. Preheat waffle iron by turning it on.
5. In a large bowl whisk egg yolks, buttermilk, butter, vanilla, and 1/2 cup sweetpotato puree together. whisk until batter is smooth. Set to the side.
6. In a large bowl sift 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon, flour, 1/2 cup sugar, and baking powder together.
7. Mix wet ingredients (buttermilk/sweetpotato) with dry ingredients (flour/sugar), and mix until completely combined. Set to the side.
8. In a mixer, whip egg whites until peaks form.
9. Then gently fold the egg whites into the waffle batter. 
10. Pour 1/4 cups of batter onto the waffle iron. 
11. Cook for about 4 to 5 minutes. 
12. Then repeat with more batter until all done.
13. In a large bowl mix 1/2 cup sugar and 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon together.
14. Dust waffles off with sugar cinnamon mixture.   
15. Stack up waffles and top with cajeta and candied pecans!
16. Or if you prefer your sweetpotato churro waffles plain…. here is an option without the cajeta. 
17. Enjoy!

My belief is no matter what religion you believe in or not: To believe in the spirit of humanity. To be kind. To treat the people you love with tenderness, patience, and respect.  To extend a hand when you can. To love with everything you got. To let people live their lives as they see fit without judging them. I believe in unconditional love.

Two weeks ago I was out having dinner with my family and on the ceiling of the restaurant was a painting of Jesus. My 4 year old son asked me who was that man and what was he looking at? I found myself at a crossroads of how to explain faith to him. I myself am still coming to terms with what I believe and what I don’t believe, plus I wanted to be mindful to not force my beliefs onto what my son should believe. Instead I would love to open him up to all sorts of different religions and theories and let him decide on his own as he grows and matures.

I decided to start a gradual introduction of religion, so he would have the tools needed when he gets older to make that decision on what he chooses to believe. I announced we would have a family movie night, and I was going to make a heavenly dessert of coconut donut cakes to go with our movie viewing. I wanted to make the evening fun, and show the lighter side of faith first. I had heard that “Heaven Is For Real” was a great family friendly movie and could be our initial stepping stone into the world of faith. The movie didn’t depict the type of church I grew up with, but the message was the same. I’m not sure if my son understood what heaven was from this film because I asked him to draw a picture of heaven and he drew a picture of my coconut donuts instead, but he did understand the core of human emotions and reached his arms around me as the film left me teary eyed, saying “You’ll be okay Mom.” That’s all I could hope for from him at this age.

I absolutely loved that Heaven is for Real was based on a true story and was the story of a small-town couple who must find the courage and conviction to share their 4 year old son’s life changing experience with their town and the world. The film stars Greg Kinnear and Kelly Reilly as Todd and Sonja Burpo, the real life couple whose son Colton claims to have visited heaven while having a near death experience. I got my DVD at Walmart, which includes an exclusive bonus disc. That bonus disc filled my enquiring mind…. because of course I didn’t want the story to end… I wondered what happened to them, and where are they now? Here are a few of the bonus tracks you could look forward to if you buy your disc at Walmart.

1.  The Burpos: 11 Heavenly Years Later – An intimate sit down with the Burpos and a look at their home town to get a sense of their life now and how Colton’s miraculous story changed them.
2.  Heart of the Movie – Todd Burpo reflects on the events from his story and how they are reflected in the film
3.  Answers – Todd Burpo reflecting on the events in the movie.
4.  Religious Leader Vignettes – Religious leaders reflect on the themes of the film and how they translate to real life lessons for everyone.

What is your faith? Do you have one or many or none? When was the last time you had a family movie night? What would you like to eat these coconut donut cakes with?

Ingredients for coconut donut cakes:

• 2 – sticks butter (room temp)
• 3/4 – cup dark brown sugar
• 1 1/4 – cup unbleached flour
• 1/2 – teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 – teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 – teaspoon salt
• 1/8 – teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 – large egg
• 2 – egg yolks
• 1 – teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 – cup butter milk
• 2 – cups powdered sugar
• 3 – tablespoons whipping cream
• 1 – cup shredded sweetened coconut

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Spray a donut baking pan with a non stick baking spray. I used a mini donut tray and a normal sized one. Set to the side.
3. In a mixer beat butter and sugar until fluffy. For about 3 minutes.
4. In a separate bowl whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon together. Set to the side.
5. Slowly add eggs to butter/sugar mixture and continue to mix until fully mixed in.
6. Alternate between adding in the flour mixture and the buttermilk. Mix until fully combined.
7. Fill the donut cavity one third of the way up. Use your finger to smooth the top of the batter. For the mini donuts I used 1 teaspoon of batter, and for the normal sized donuts I used 5 teaspoons of batter.
8. Bake for 7 minutes for mini donuts, and 12 minutes for normal sized donuts.
9. Remove from oven and  allow to cool in pan for 10 minutes. Then invert them onto a cooling rack to cool completely. 
10. In a bowl whisk powdered sugar and whipping cream together to make an icing.
11. Dip each donut into the icing. 
12. Top with coconut. 
13. Let set on a cooling rack for 30 minutes.
14. Enjoy!

Disclosure: This post is sponsored by the wonderful Tabasco family. It is my pleasure to be a Tabasco Tastemaker. The recipe and opinions are my own.

Are you ever surprised by a secret ingredient? A few months ago I spent some time on Avery Island, the home of Tabasco. Like most food trips I was able to taste some of the best foods I’ve ever experienced. At the time of the trip I was very ill with a bad cold and cough, but I was still able to appreciate what I was eating. Even though it was only at a fraction of it’s full capacity, it was still marvelous. I can only imagine had my palate been 100% those days… it would have knocked me off my feet.  Never the less the experience was not wasted on me. I learned from some of the best chefs in Louisiana how to combine tabasco into foods I would never expect to find it in. For instance we had a delicious sweet potato hand pie served with bourbon ice cream and candied pecans that was glazed in a sweet tabasco sauce. I could taste the undertones of the tabasco, but was so surprised at how well it worked against the other flavors. This odd but successful pairing made me want to experiment with the hot sauce in a dessert of my own.

Last week I pulled up along side a road at the sight of a cherry stand. I got off the car and sampled a few sweet cherries before buying a few bags to take home. When I arrived in my kitchen, I wondered what I was going to make with the divine fruit? Then I thought the time to combine a spicy element to a sweet one was now upon me. I started off by pitting a few cherries then boiling them in a sugar water base, smashing them with a masher, and adding tabasco and jam. The mixture was sweet with a bit of a kick to it. Once I had my kicking cherry base, I wanted to spread it in a peanut butter sandwich, but thought it to be too simple. Before long I was making a batter for a batch of peanut butter blondies, and added the kicking cherry base right on top. I baked them and was thankful my tastebuds were not plagued with a cold, because I was able to savor every nuance of my blondies and they were quite amazing.

Ingredients for kickin cherry peanut butter blondies:

• 1/2 – cup cherries (pitted and stems removed)
• 1/4 – cup sugar
• 2 – tablespoons water
• 1 – teaspoon Tabasco Original Red Sauce
• 1/4 – cup cherry jam
• 1 – stick butter (8 tablespoons) (melted)
• 1/2 – cup peanut butter
• 1 – cup dark brown sugar
• 1 – egg
• 1/2 – tablespoon vanilla
• 1 1/4 – cups unbleached flour
• 1/4 – teaspoon salt

Directions:

1. In a small sauce pan over a medium flame add cherries, sugar, and water. Mix to combine allowing sugar to dissolve, then smash with a potato masher. 
2. Pour tabasco into cherry mixture, and allow t cook for another 3 minutes. 
3. Then mix jam into mixture. Remove from flame and set to the side to cool.
4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
5. Line an 8×8 baking pan with aluminum foil (allow a 1 inch overlay to hang out of the pan for easy removal of the blondies) and spray with a non-stick baking spray. Set to the side.
6. Place butter and 1/4 cup of peanut butter (reserve the other 1/4 of peanut butter for a later use) in a bowl and microwave for 30 seconds to melt. Then stir the two together. The liquid should be smooth.
7. In a mixer, add brown sugar and peanut butter/butter mixture together and mix until fully combined about 2 minutes.
8. Add in egg and vanilla. Mix to combine.
9. Slowly pour in flour, and mix until batter comes together. Do not over mix.
10. Scoop batter into the 8×8 prepared pan, and with the back of a spoon smooth it out evenly to each corner of the pan. 
11. Drop by heaping teaspoons 1/4 cup peanut butter onto the top of the batter.
12. Then use 1/4 cup of cherry mixture, and drop by teaspoon by the peanut butter.  
13. Using a knife swirl the two together. 
14. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes. Or until the edges pull away from the sides of the pan.
15. Allow blondies to cool for 2 hours.
16. Remove from pan and cut into squares. 
17. Enjoy!