Welcome back!  Today, we have a fun seasonal variation on the Basque Cheesecake , featuring pumpkin! It's similar to the original, with the burnt-looking top and the rugged edges all there, but it has its own differences that make it really unique.  Pumpkin Basque Cheesecake Makes a 7 inch cheesecake Ingredients: 1 box (8 ounces) cream cheese 200 grams pumpkin, peeled, seeded, and steamed (we used kabocha pumpkins) 1/4 cup packed brown sugar 2 eggs 1 tablespoon flour 1/4 cup heavy cream 1/8 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract Spices (you can substitute for 1 teaspoon pumpkin spice): 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon powder 1/8 teaspoon ginger powder 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg 1/8 teaspoon allspice Directions: After peeling, seeding, and steaming, mash the pumpkin with a fork. If you want an even smoother texture, you can pass the pumpkin mash through a sieve to press out the large chunks. Add the cream cheese and pumpkin into the food processor and pulse a few times to mix the two ingredi...

Welcome back!  Today, we have a delicious and novel dish: an upside down cake, featuring apples! The concept of creating a cake that's flipped around really is quite strange, but it allows the caramel and apple topping to fit nice and evenly on the top of the cake once you're done. In the end, you get this wonderful combination of the soft cake, the rich caramel, and the flavorful apples! Apple Upside-Down Cake Makes a 9" cake Ingredients: Batter: 1/2 cup butter, softened 1/2 cup sugar 2 eggs 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1/2 cup milk, room temperature 1 1/2 cup flour 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 1/4 teaspoon salt Apples: 3-4 apples, peeled and sliced into 6-8 slices, depending on the size (preferably crisp and tart, like Granny Smith) Caramel: 3 tablespoons butter 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 3 tablespoons bourbon Directions: Prepare the batter: In a bowl, cream the butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy. Make sure the butter is softened! S...