My dearest friends and family know how much I adore all cookbooks, but those I love the most are the ones that delve deep into the science of cooking and baking. Which is why I was so pleased to receive a copy of Sherry Yard’s The Secrets of Baking: Simple Techniques for Sophisticated Desserts!

Yard is the executive pastry chef at the famous Spago, so she obviously knows what she’s talking about… but what appeals to me the most about this book is how instead of the usual “Cakes, Cookies, etc.” chapters, she’s created her chapters based on 12 “Master Recipes”. For example, one of these is Pate a Choux- once you’ve mastered it (and it’s actually very simple), you’ve opened up a world of possibilities, from eclairs to profiteroles to gougeres.

I’ve already made several of the Master Recipes, including her Ganache (perfect) and Genoise (needed some work- but come on, it’s Genoise after all!) A cookbook I love. Available at Amazon for $23.73 »

There was a big storm yesterday, and hardly anyone came trick-or-treating at our house. Sad, but what might be even sadder is the amount of leftover candy we have! We’re packing up most of it to give away to needy children, but keeping some to make some Halloween leftover candy treats- and for decorating our gingerbread house next month.

Of course, I’m here to share what might possibly be my favorite leftover Halloween candy recipe: Candy Corn Fudge! It’s so good that even if you don’t have leftover candy corn, you might want to go out and buy a bag just for this.

Leftover Candy Corn Fudge

4 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 cups mini marshmallows
1 cup smooth peanut butter
1/2 cup powdered sugar, sifted
20 oz. candy corn (about 2 and a half cups)
2 cups roasted peanuts or pecan pieces

Prepare a brownie pan by rubbing some butter all over it. Set aside.

In a skillet over very low heat, melt together the butter and marshmallows, stirring constantly so the bottom doesn’t burn. You want to melt the marshmallows. Add peanut butter, and mix until combined well. Add powdered sugar, stir ’til smooth. Add candy corn and nuts (peanuts or pecans- or both!), stirring until nicely combined.

Transfer to your buttered pan, evening it out with a rubber spatula. Allow to cool. If it’s hot where you are, refrigerate until firm.

Cut into small (these are sugary little suckers!) squares, and enjoy.

It’s Halloween! Among other, pumpkin-related things, we’re serving up these spooky sugar cookies tonight. They may not be perfectly decorated (I need a lot of practice piping Royal Icing!), but you know what? They taste awesome. I might even dare to say that they taste better than any other sugar cookies I’ve ever had. They’re buttery, crispy-edged, soft inside, a little chewy- and, paired with the icing, possibly the best-tasting thing on my Halloween table tonight. I’m serious. Try these today:

Spooky Sugar Cookies
(from Martha Stewart’s Ideal Sugar Cookies recipe)
Makes two dozen cookies

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
1 large egg, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons milk (or use brandy for a kick)
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Whisk together flour, salt, and baking powder in a medium bowl. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar; add dry ingredients, and mix until incorporated. With mixer running, add egg, brandy (or milk), and vanilla; mix until incorporated. Transfer dough to a work surface. Shape into 2 discs, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

To bake: preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with nonstick baking mats or parchment paper; set aside. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out dough to 1/8-inch thickness. Cut into desired shapes, and transfer to prepared baking sheets, leaving an inch in between. Leftover dough can be rolled and cut once more. Bake until lightly golden, about 10 minutes; do not allow to brown. Transfer to wire racks to cool.

I used Martha’s Royal Icing recipe, tinted black (with Americolor Super Black gel) for the black cat. Left it plain white for the white cat.

Because I’ve always been a baker first, I’m a stick-to-a-recipe kinda gal when it comes to cooking. Thankfully, my husband is the exact opposite: he refuses to even look at a cookbook, and is always concocting the most unbelievably delicious dishes from various ingredient combinations. The Carbonara pictured above (taken with a crappy mobile phone camera) is one of our favorite dishes here at home. It’s based on a recipe I downloaded from the Pioneer Woman, by Pastor Ryan, with a few choice tweaks:

• We use Fettuccine instead of Linguine, because we always have Fettuccine in the house.
• We use two cups of stock, and omit the white wine. We’ve used Chicken Stock and Beef Broth, and both were delicious.
• We add about half a block of an 8 oz. block of Cream Cheese to the egg mixture, mashing it all up.

Did the Cream Cheese throw you? We wanted a creamier Carbonara, and I was all set to add some heavy cream to the recipe, when the husband suggested using Cream Cheese instead. Actually, he recommended Mascarpone- which just goes to show you how much he knows about what’s in our pantry on a daily basis. What we always have is Cream Cheese, so that’s what I used- and it. was. awesome.

“Lemon Butter” is hands-down my favorite sauce for fish dishes- and, surprise surprise, it translates exceedingly well in a cake! From light-as-air loaves, to ones filled with poppyseed, I have a nice collection of lemon pound cake recipes. Here’s a particularly good one:

Lemon Butter Cake Recipe

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temp.
1 cup granulated white sugar, PLUS 1/3 cup
4 large eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice, PLUS 1/3 cup

Preheat your oven to 350F. Grease & flour (or spray and line with parchment paper!) a 6-cup loaf pan.
In a medium-sized bowl, blend flour, baking powder and salt together with a whisk.
In the bowl of your stand (or hand) mixer, cream butter. Add 1 cup sugar, and cream until light and fluffy. Turn mixer down to the lowest speed, and add eggs one at a time. Add vanilla.
Add the dry ingredients (flour, etc.) and 1/4 cup lemon juice to the mixer in alternate batches, starting and ending with the dry mixture. Mix until JUST incorporated.
Pour into pan, and bake for about 30-45 minutes.

While it’s baking, make your glaze: in a small bowl, stir together the 1/3 cup sugar and 1/3 cup lemon juice until the sugar is dissolved.

Once your cake is ready, put on a cooling rack, and begin pouring the glaze over the cake while it’s still hot. You might want to poke holes in the cake with a skewer.

Let cool completely… and enjoy.