It’s November and that means two things to me: Thanksgiving and cranberries. This is one of my favorite months because I can finally head to my local grocery store and stock up on those delicious berries that seem to be available for only a few short weeks. I stock up because this is when I put cranberries in just about everything from muffins to cakes to pies, not to mention the tons of different sauces needed for Turkey Day.

Since I’ll be making a ton of cakes, cookies and muffins during the upcoming weeks, there’s one other ingredient I’ll need tons of: butter. When I bake there’s only one butter I use and that’s Kerrygold.  I like Kerrygold because not only do their cows roam freely eating healthy doses of grass, they refuse to use any hormones. That means the butter is pure, rich deliciousness, the perfect base for any cookie, cake or frosting. So you can imagine my excited delight when Kerrygold contacted me to try their new spreadable butters. I couldn’t believe it. I was no longer limited to using their butter in baking, now I could easily grab a knifeful and spread it on my morning bagel.

But since I’m a baker, I wasn’t simply going to use their butter on my toast. I mean, don’t get me wrong, it’s awesome on bread since it has the same rich butter flavor I’ve come to know and love over the years. But the company wanted me to participate in a contest to come up with other ways to use the spread, like whisking it up with some maple syrup for a delicious maple butter to put on pancakes or waffles. And while maple butter is delicious, I wanted to try something that would fit with this holiday season. So, I used their Naturally Softer Pure Irish Butter to make a cinnamon butter to sauté apples in for a cake. Then I used their Reduced Fat Butter to make a cranberry glaze to go over it.

Now if you’re thinking, like I was, that reduced fat butter means margarine, it doesn’t. Kerrygold has made sure the only difference between their Reduced Fat Butter and their regular butter is less fat and less sodium. They do not add any extra oils or additives to make it lower in fat. They just cut out 50% of the salt and 25% of the fat. The one thing they didn’t cut out was taste which is why it made the perfect glaze. I mean, why use the fattening regular butter when I could easily use the reduced fat stuff and have the same delicious taste that would spread across my cake like silk?

You’re probably wondering why I’d sauté the apples in a cinnamon butter rather than just adding cinnamon to the batter. Simple, this way, I’d get an extra dose of melted butter in the batter and since the apples were sautéed in the cinnamon, the fruit as well as the batter would have that spicy cinnamon flavor all through it, making it a classic spice cake, perfect for an autumn morning, afternoon or evening.

Yummy!

Apple Spice Cake with Cranberry Glaze

For Cake

• 2 oz Kerrygold Naturally Soft Butter
• 1-1/2 Tbsp cinnamon
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 cups Greek yogurt
• 1 cup pastry flour
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3 apples, peeled, cored and chopped (I like Pink Lady or Gala)

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease and flour a 9-inch springform pan and set aside.
2. In a small bowl whisk together the cinnamon and Kerrygold soft butter until well combined; chill.
3. In a large bowl mix together the butter, sugar and brown sugar until light and creamy, about 2 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Mix in the vanilla and yogurt until combined, about 1 minute.
4. Sift together the flours, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl. Gradually add flour mixture to creamed mixture until just combined.
5. In batches, melt the cinnamon-butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the apples and sauté until tender but not mushy, about 4 minutes. Fold the sautéed apples into the batter. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 1 hour and 5 minutes, or until golden brown and a toothpick, when inserted, comes out clean.
6. Let cool completely on a wire rack. Once cake is cool serve plain or frosted with cranberry glaze.

For Cranberry Glaze

• 10 oz fresh or frozen cranberries, washed and dried
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup water
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 tsp allspice
• 4 oz Kerrygold Reduced Fat Butter

1. In a medium saucepan combine the cranberries, sugar and water. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce to a simmer and add cinnamon stick and allspice. Stir to blend and let cook for 10 minutes or until cranberries have burst and sauce has thickened slightly.
2. Remove from heat. Remove cinnamon stick. Using an immersion hand blender, blend the cranberries until the sauce is smooth. Let cool.
3. In a mixing bowl, beat together the butter and 2-1/2 cups of cranberry sauce until well blended.
4. Using a spatula, frost the apple spice cake with the cranberry glaze.

Halloween is one of my favorite times of year. Yes, I’m (technically) too old to go trick or treating and get free candy, but thankfully I have A, who’s now two and a half and can do it for me. Then as his mom, I have the pleasure of going through his candy and weeding out my favorites the bad stuff. But of course that means there’s always a ton left over. Too much for even me my little boy to gobble up. So what can you do with it?

There are several options. You could take it to work and pawn it off on your co-workers, cause god knows they’re not getting enough candy. Of if you’re lucky enough to have a business near you who’s sending the sweets to the soldiers over seas you could drop off your extras there. But the best option of all, especially if you’re a foodie like me, is to turn that candy into a luscious dessert.

Yum!

Take those M&M’s and make a batch of candy-coated cookies instead of the standard chocolate chip. Chop up those Hersey’s chocolate bars and sprinkle them on top of ice cream or cake. But my favorite idea came from All You Magazine. They suggested making a decadent chocolate pudding out of Milky Way bars.

I love pudding. While chocolate is by far my favorite, I’ll happily take vanilla or even tapioca if served. So when I saw this recipe for a chocolate pudding with a kick of dark chocolate and caramel, I knew I had to give it a go. It was delicious, super easy (it only took 20 minutes not including chill time), and a perfect way to use up some of that extra candy. I now not only want to do this every year, I want to try it with 3 Musketeers bars, regular Milky Ways, and maybe even those Hershey’s Special Darks. I bet they’ll all be amazing.  Even better, the kids will have a blast turning that same old Halloween candy into something really special.

Midnight Milky Way Pudding

• 1/3 cup sugar
• 3 Tbsp cornstarch
• 1 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa
• dash of salt
• 2 cups low-fat milk
• 3 egg yolks
• 2 Tbsp unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 2 cups (about 10 ounces) Milky Way Midnight bars, chopped

1. Combine the sugar, cornstarch, cocoa and salt in a large saucepan. Slowly whisk in the milk. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, whisking. Boil for 1 minute.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk the yolks to blend. Whisking constantly, slowly pour half the hot milk mixture into the yolks. Whisk vigorously and pour the yolk mixture back into the pan. Bring back to a boil and cook, whisking constantly, until thickened, about 1 minute.
3. Remove the pan from heat and stir in the butter and vanilla. Stir 1-1/2 cups of Milky Way bars into pudding until completely melted. Pour into four ramekins.
4. Cover with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator until set, at least 2 hours or overnight. Just before serving, sprinkle with remaining chopped Milky Ways.