As usual, the food blogging community was full of creativity this week and there were lots of fun new recipes out there that caught my eye. Hopefully a few of these Bites from other Blogs will be just as tempting for you!
- Zucchini is a vegetable that everyone seems to have too much of at the end of summer. An abundance of zucchini has led to the creation of zucchini cakes, zucchini breads and even zucchini cookies in an effort to use them up. Crazy for Crust used zucchini in a way that you probably haven’t seen yet, in a batch of Zucchini Cinnamon Buns. The light and fluffy cinnamon buns start with a buttery yeast dough that is rolled up with a filling made with butter, cinnamon, brown sugar and zucchini. It’s definitely a different twist on a classic pastry, but it uses up those zucchini and might help you feel a little less guilty about indulging in one for breakfast.
- Watermelon is one of the most refreshing flavors of summer in any form that it takes, and that includes the Watermelon Sponge Cake that Adventures in Cooking baked. Unlike other fruits, you can’t simply puree watermelon and add it to cake batter because it is mostly water and you wouldn’t get a lot of flavor. The watermelon flavor here comes from a watermelon juice simple syrup that is used to flavor a watermelon curd and watermelon whipped cream that are used as filling for the summery sponge cake.
- I am a big fan of mini cheesecakes, which always seem easier to make than full sized cheesecakes and are a little more fun to eat. The Little Epicurean likes mini cheesecakes, too, and baked up a batch of Mini Cheesecake Brûlées. These single serving cheesecakes are a classic tangy cheesecake, made with both cream cheese and sour cream on top of a graham cracker crust. What sets them apart is the golden brûlée topping that is made by caramelizing sugar on top of each cheesecake to create a sweet, crisp and elegant crust.
- Fans of Biscoff spread will definitely want to try the Cookie Butter and Salted Caramel Cookie Sandwiches from Keep it Sweet Desserts. The sandwich cookies are made with buttery brown sugar and cookie butter cookies. The cookie butter gives them a nice flavor and, like peanut butter, gives the cookies a hint of chewiness. They’re filled with salted caramel buttercream, which presents a salty-sweet contrast for the sweet cookies and holds these sandwiches together. The buttercream stays in place better than salted caramel alone, which might ooze out the sandwiches once the sides were pressed together.
- Hand pies are single serving pies that are small enough you can hold them in one hand. Usually, they’re small versions of larger pies, like apple and cherry, but the Brie and Jam Pretzel Hand Pies from Girl Versus Dough are even more perfect as hand pies than they would be in a full size pie. They’re made with a yeast pretzel dough that is rolled out and shaped into rounds to form the top and bottom of the pies. They’re stuffed with raspberry jam and brie cheese, then they are treated like a regular soft pretzel would be so that the pies develop a chewy, golden exterior. They’re topped with sea salt to put the finishing touch on something that is salty, sweet, creamy and chewy all at once.