Bars - Squares - Filled

Just a touch of spicy Pumpkin cheesecake - available in fridge-ready bars for your Thanksgiving nibbles. Extravagant but not as rich as a big cheesecake in the flavor of the holiday. A recipe from a very special collection in a feature I did for the now-defunct Coffee Magazine.

Meet You in St. Louis? This is heaven, pure and simple - at least, if you are keen on chewy/pastry coffeecakes with a sludge of butter and sugar.  This is one of my own personal favorite recipes because nothing beats buttery pastry, with a sweet chewy filling. It's a yeasty, sweet coffecake/bread base, topped with a caramelized, gooey delight. There is nothing else quite like it in unique taste, texture and appearance and it always brings raves. Apparently every pastry shop, bakery, and supermarket in St. Louis offers this cake but outside St. Louis, I would wager it is pretty unique. In a pinch, use frozen bread dough to make this recipe quick and easier.

A little bit of sugar makes these brownies extra special.
It is a nicer finish than plain brownies and not as sweet as iced ones. Heck - these are just super anyway!

Here is a Canadiana treat, a classic square from Nanaimo, British Columbia respun with peanut butter. If you want a salty sweet version, used salted peanuts and or salted peanut butter. The counterpoint of sweet crust, sweet chocolate and salty peanuts is a perfect taste byte. So, ya got your graham peanut bottom, a sweet and creamy filling, and a topping of pure chocolate, dollied up with a peanut butter fondant drizzle.

These are luxurious, memorable, easy and almost more decadent than cheesecake itself. If you had them on hand, chopped up Turtle bars would tilt these into an illegal substance. I prefer these brownies cut in wedges, in a cheesecake pan for this recipe.


 

This makes a huge cake that is cut in squares and each dipped in fondant. It is reminiscent old-fashioned fondant squares, you may have had as a kid at family owned, old-fashioned bakeries. It is only ‘twinkie-esque” in that it is a rich, great yellow-white cake, with a ton of fluffy, bakery style frosting. This makes a huge batch but it freezes well and lasts for days, as fresh each day, each bite, as it is the first day. But if you want less cake, halve the recipe and make it in a 8 by 11 inch pan (but it will also be a less tall cake square, as a result). If you want to skip the fondant dipping, then serve it as a large sheet cake, sandwiched with icing – That way, it is more like a slab of birthday cake but still absolutely amazing. To make this more “twinkie’, use only shortening and artificial vanilla –sorry, but that is some of the commercial aspect of traditional twinkies. I prefer to use almost all natural ingredients (such as butter in the icing) but the choice is yours.

Flaky pastry wrapped around barely-melted chocolate and toasted almonds, all braced with a sweet lashing of pure vanilla extract.

Check on the online reviews for the sleeper film, Wedding for Bella. It stars Scott Baio (yes - and he is super in it) and also features a beloved landmark of a biscotti bakery in Pittsburg, called Enrico’s Biscotti. This biscotti, like the biscotti in the film, makes huge, sweet, crunchy sticks. You take one, break it half, and share. The size is a real draw but it is the taste calls for ‘bis’. This is a very simple biscotti with a very pure taste – allowing you to taste the elements of butter, sugar, flour and eggs.  Rent the film - it is a must.  This recipe is now in The New Best of BetterBaking.com, Marcy Goldman, Whitecap Books, 2009.

A yin and yang treat of the highest order. Imagine a moist, fudgie brownie that is rivered through with New York style cheesecake filling? Can't envision it? Just bake up a batch!