Hello, dear Toasties. Early and abbreviated Toast Points this week, as we won’t be posting much over the holiday weekend — but there will be an open thread and some classic posts from days of Toast past, so don’t despair.
This week at The Toast, the ladies came back. (They always come back.)
“Your gaze lingers for no appreciable reason” and other Signs You’re About To Be In a A Gay Subplot In A Period Drama
“It is…profoundly disturbing to imply that adopted kids should feel lucky to be alive, which is exactly how it felt every time my grandmother (or religion teacher, or other various and sundry well-intentioned commenters) spouted off some iteration of ‘your birthmother chose life.’”
Songs from a Leonard Cohen Album in Which Nothing is a Metaphor for Depression, Oral Sex or God
Tea is pretty great as far as hot beverages go.
I’m hosting Thanksgiving this year, and it will be neither a large nor grand affair, but other people are already signed up to bring pies and I’d love some suggestions for non-pie fall (or not-fall, idc) desserts you find to be especially 💯. A very happy Thanksgiving to all who’ll be celebrating! I’m so thankful for you, Toast.
Warm bread pudding. That’s how you win Thanksgiving.
Do one of the recipes that uses Nutella for maximum winningness.
oooh this has reminded me that I meant to hunt down a good sticky toffee pudding recipe, too.
Apple cake!
I thought about it, since this family does love its apple cake, but apple pie and apple cake might be a bit much?
Pumpkin cake? The pumpkin gingerbread with cranberries on the NYTimes site caught my eye. I’m making a cranberry Apple streusel pie, mini pumpkin pies, and a Black Forest trifle, at my sister’s request
Laurie Colwin’s Nantucket Cranberry Pie from More Home Cooking never fails, is super EASY, and every one who has had it loves it. I make it without nuts, due to an anti nut faction in the family
Always handy to have a dessert you can eat with your fingers like sugar cookies. You can decorate for fall with colored sugar or use cookie cutters for fall shapes. Or save time and just make chocolate chip cookies. Not fall inspired but beloved by many.
This is probably not a holiday thing for almost anyone else, but my family make enormous batches of these sandwich cookies at Thanksgiving and Christmas. They’re not super seasonal, but the filling can get runny in hot weather so we don’t eat them in the summer, and they are so tasty.
Apple cider donuts!
I’ve never made them and prep may be a beast, but they are so god damn good.
I am purchasing pretzel bombs from The Pretzel Bakery in SE DC as my contribution to the family’s Bavarian-themed Thanksgiving. They are sweet pretzel rolls filled with Nutella. Can’t. Wait.
I recently made Ina Garten’s date nut spice loaf which is also really good and super retro. Google it…it is everywhere.
Chocolate bourbon pecan cake. Your favorite chocolate cake recipe* with
this frosting** and toasted pecans on top. SO GOOD.
* Ideally it’s very dark and not too sweet, to counter the frosting
** I use a bit less powdered sugar than called for – you can add it until the frosting is at your desired texture/sweetness
OMGGGG
Also the brown sugar cookies from Cooks Illustrated. They taste like caramel and happiness.
The red wine chocolate cake from Smitten Kitchen is my go-to fall dessert.
Gingerbread cake with lots of molasses and spices.
This is ace. http://www.lovefromtheoven.com/2014/11/10/gingerb…
We always used to make “green goop” when I was a kid, which is basically this but with mandarin oranges instead of pineapple. It was delicious.
Persimmon cookies!
This looks like my grandma’s recipe: spicy, cakey and just a bit sticky. They don’t store well for long periods, so are great made the day before Thanksgiving.
http://www.eatliverun.com/persimmon-spice-cookies…
Apple crisp! It’s basically delicious cinnamon apples baked with a cinnamon-sugar oat crust. Less work than a pie, less heavy than a cobbler.
Ooh yes! I am far less than skilled at baking and apple crisp is something I do quite well. One year we substituted pears and added cranberries and it was AMAZING.
Ooh, I love this Fine Cooking recipe for Cranberry Walnut Oatmeal cookies: http://www.finecooking.com/recipes/chewy-cranberr…
I’ve made it with different nuts and dried fruit, but the relative tartness of the cranberries is perfect with the cookies. And, they are a nice ‘snacky’ dessert to go along with pies. Plus, it is a very reliable recipe. Whatever you end up making, happy baking and happy Thanksgiving!
you are all HEROES
you are all HEROES
Cranberry Pizza.
It’s the best dessert in the entire world. You have a crust on bottom, fresh cranberry sauce covering it, and then a sugar crumble on top, baked in a round pizza tin. I’ve never heard of anyone else who made it, and a quick google search doesn’t pop anything up, but if you ever come to my house I will make it and you will cry from the deliciousness.
Pecan bars from the latest Cook’s Illustrated. I’ve made them three times since we got the magazine in the mail, and each time I am thoroughly pleased with both the results and myself.
I like Cloudt’s Pecan Squares, except use Lyle’s golden syrup instead of honey.
I make the Gramercy tavern gingerbread a few times every fall/winter. It’s very dark and sticky, spicy and molasses-y and SO GOOD. Rave reviews all around.
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/gram…
I am noticing some spam comments getting through your usually excellent defenses. Did you guys just change something?
It is hot as balls here so that take that under advisement if you're in a cold climate, but you can never go wrong with a pav http://mscritique.com/stephanie-alexanders-easy-p… or this trifle recipe http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/nigella-lawson…
My dad’s favorite cake to bake is a whole boiled citrus cake. It’s flourless, maybe he originally made it for a Passover some year, but now he makes it for Thanksgiving, Channukah, birthdays, a weeknight where I’m coming over for dinner, any given weekend he wakes up early and just feels like it, etc.
He’s even invested in some fancy stencils for sifting powdered sugar on top.
It’s a fairly easy cake, it’s stupidly delicious, and you get to boil whole oranges and mix them with a blender! We only use sweet citrus, but use any sweet citrus you like: 2 navel oranges, or 3 tangerines, or 4-5 clementines, etc… 10 kumquats?? (actually, don’t use kumquats, they’re probably too sour)
it’s better after it’s had some time to sit, so this is a make in the morning cake. it’s great the day after. and it’s moist and citrusy but not overly sweet. you can serve it with sorbet or a fruit sauce or honey, etc, to add a bit more sweet, but it can also make a decent breakfast cake for fancy brunching.
sorry to go on so long, i just love my dad and his love for this cake. gonna go downstairs now and hug him and see if he wants to take an early morning walk (we’re the only ones in the family who ever wake up before 9/10am naturally).
anyway, enjoy and make this cake!