A cake, a bar and a cupcake walked into a bar . . .

Hello my snackable friends. I hope this letter finds you well. I have had a whirlwind of a two weeks since last I lettered with you, as the Salty Cheesy book tour is officially in the fullest of swings. I am in LA as I write this, but depart soon for San Francisco. So far, so good, as I have had the best time promoting the book. And because I have become quite expert at it, I think I will take this moment to inquire as to whether you have by any chance purchased a copy yet? And if you have not, might I suggest doing so? 

For the quickest of deliveries, click here and for a signed copy, click here or here (and also, take a peek at the below photo, where you can actually see me signing away!). Also, Amazon reviews are incredibly important to authors and their books. And even if you did not purchase the book on Amazon, if you would be comfortable leaving a review there, I’d be extremely grateful. Okay, I’ll take off my promoting hat now and put on my baking and sharing recipes hat.

And on the off chance you’re worrying that now that I have published a savory baking book, I have given up on baking with sugar forever, never fear!! I have three excellent sweet treats to share with you. Two of them are absolutely perfect for fall (we’re talking pumpkin snacking cake and apple pie bars) and one is absolutely perfect ALL of the time (black bottomed cupcakes - aka chocolate cupcakes with cream cheese filling). 

First up, is this above cutie. It is a spiced pumpkin snacking cake with chocolate buttercream from Snackable Bakes, and it is exactly what your Thanksgiving dessert spread has been craving. Yes, pumpkin pie is great (I mean, honestly, not to me, as I’m not even a little bit of a fan but you all likely feel differently?) but pumpkin cake is EVEN better. The cake comes together in minutes and bakes up extremely quickly. It is super moist and very pumpkin-forward, with loads of warm fall spices and is topped with an extremely creamy and delicious chocolate buttercream. I adore the combo of pumpkin and chocolate - and if you haven’t experienced it, you are in for a treat - but you can also top this with your go-to cream cheese frosting, if that is more your speed. 

Next, up are the apple pie bars from Snackable Bakes. I mean apple pie is great (and I really do mean that - it is only pumpkin pie with which I have issues, see above) but apple pie bars, are even better. Think of this as like a tiny slab pie - which means the filling to crust ratio is exactly what you want it to be. Moreover, the crumb topping is my everything, just saying. AND the same dough is used for the bottom crust and the topping, which makes me (and probs you, too) very happy. 

Finally, here are my black bottomed cupcakes with cream cheese filling from Snackable Bakes. To say I adore the combo of chocolate and cream cheese would be an understatement - there is something about the tang of the cream cheese and the bitter, yet sweet flavor of the chocolate that cannot be beat. And the fact that these chocolate cups are stuffed with a cream cheese filling is almost, to me, like we have inverted the assembly of a traditional cupcake and placed the frosting inside the cup, rather than placing it on top. Please make these right now. Thank you very much.

On this week’s episode of She’s My Cherry Pie . . . 

I had the pleasure of interviewing Valerie Gordon of Valerie’s Confections, when I was in LA for my book tour. And we talked all about petits fours and she brought some for me to taste and they literally blew my mind. SO delicious. She also hosted a super fun book chat with me where we talked all things Salty Cheesy, and I had the best time. 

Have you watched?

So, like MANY people you may know, I did indeed binge watch Nobody Wants This and I did indeed get swept up in it and did indeed, well, love it. I really appreciated that the show gives you what you want (at least if you are me, and what you want is a happy’ish ending). Highly recommend IF you are a lover of romantic, very sitcom-y fluff . . . 

Have you read?

One of my oldest and dearest childhood friends wrote a novel (yay, Kate!). It is called Inland and it is a story about a climate disaster on the Eastern Seaboard, as seen through a handful of characters - both adults and children – and I found it gripping and terrifying and I could not put it down. 

Have you listened?

I really liked listening to The Shrink Next Door and was 100% pulled into the story of how a NYC psychiatrist manipulated a patient for many, many years in ways that truly seem unbelievable. I listen to podcasts while I drive and this one definitely made the time pass quickly (which is truly my number one requirement when I podcast . . . ).

Alrighty, thanks as always for subscribing and reading, my snackable friends, and see you in two weeks.