Please join us Sunday December 16, 2012 1 – 4(ish) p.m for our holiday open house.  There will be snacks, crafts, drinks, merriment and seasonal cheer.  We hope to see you there.

We’re offering all four issues of Baker’s Notes this year for $40 wrapped up in a Scratch bag and tied with a bakery twine bow.  A wonderful present for those near and far.

Thanksgiving is right around the corner, it means two things lots of lists and lots of pie crusts.

No matter how long we are in business I never fail to get all giddy when we get a new batch of items to sell that have our logo on them! Our latest batch of travel mugs went out today and I could not be happier with how they turned out.

Visit our shop to get your own!

A couple of things for the weekend:

First up we’ll have peppermint patty! brownies, I’ll try not to eat them all.

There will also be a couple of our New Orleans Banana Cakes with Sweet/Spicy Pecans and Cream Cheese Frosting in the 6″ size (we’ll also have the minis).  It’s a lovely combination and I’ve been pleased that folks have been enjoying it.  I’ve found that putting pecans in our baked goods can go either way, they show up in many southern baked goods but up here in Maine they don’t seem to share the same popularity and I’m not sure why.  This cake seems to be a winner though and that makes this southern girl very happy!

This photo really doesn’t do justice to the whirlwind that’s been happening here today.  First we shot the next episode of Behind the Counter for the forthcoming issue of Baker’s Notes, it was pretty exciting and we can’t wait to share it.

Then I got busy mailing out many many copies of Baker’s Notes v. 1 thanks to a lovely mention from Heidi at 101 Cookbooks, I had a pretty large fan girl moment as I have been in love with her website, cookbooks, recipes, photography and general aesthetic for some time now.  Hip Hip Hooray!

So when it was over I sat down at my desk and ate this apple cake.  We have this every year on the treat counter when apple season gets cranked up and we can get some wonderful local apples. But then it seems to get lost in the shuffle of rotating counter quick breads as we move into honey cake ….then pumpkin cake …..then into the deep dark winter with gingerbread.  So I’m going to document it now and share the recipe so that everyone (i.e. me!) can have whenever they might like.

Apple Applesauce Cake:

a greased 9×13 pan

1 cup oil

1 1/2 cups applesauce

3 eggs

3/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup dark brown sugar

squirt of vanilla

mix above together then add:

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour

2 teaspons baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

2 apples finely chopped or grated (they do not need to be peeled)

1/2 cup walnuts toasted and chopped (please don’t leave these these out unless you absolutely have to, they really make the cake!)

fold into the wet ingredients with a spatula until combined.  Pour into your pan and bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes.  The cake will spring back when touched and a tester toothpick will come out with a few crumbs on it.

At the bakery we sprinkle the top with a little cinnamon sugar but you can have it any way you like!

Enjoy.

my cork board in the office is becoming a repository for baker’s notes I’m saving for future issues, favorite pictures, old signs and other assorted information.  I clean it off at the start of each new year, I  imagine it will be pretty crowded up there come next December.