Cocoa-Zucchini Cake w Brown Sugar Glaze

I am late night baking. My house smells amazing, and only partly due to a brand new candle I picked out at Pier 1 today. I also picked up a new cake stand (see above). We have been go - go - go for weeks and tonight is the first non-work day where I've found myself at home with an open evening. I've been planning on baking this cake for a few days now. We were gifted a beautiful garden zucchini and I knew immediately what I wanted to do with it. I grew up with my mom baking chocolate zucchini bread and I have always LOVED it. Although this isn't the same recipe my mom bakes from it still reminds me of home.

Speaking of home, I have some exciting news. Scott and I made an offer on a house. Right now we are at the wait-and-see part of the process but I am hopeful and spending a lot of time thinking about creating a home with my favorite guy. This is a big step and one that we've been talking about for most of the summer. If all goes well we'll find ourselves in a new space before winter sets in. Buying a house locks us into a location for a few years but it grants us so much freedom with how we live our lives. I won't have to worry anymore about using a jewelry hammer past 10pm! And I'll be able to dance around with my loved ones without worrying about pounding on someone else's ceiling. And I'll have my very own garden in my very own yard! These are dreams, people. Dreams made real.

Brown Sugar Apple Bundt Cake

I spent yesterday playing outside, baking and chatting with a good friend. Eowyn is a modern day awesome lady. She works outside of her home but still manages to garden, make delicious meals, bake bread, homemake anything that can be homemade, run an etsy shop and be a great mom and wife. You can meet Eowyn here and see her etsy shop here. When I made my way to Eo's after a lazy morning at home I found her just finishing up making sunscreen and about to hang laundry outside in the bright sun. We took a walk around the backyard - checking out the new chickens and the garden beds. Then we had a picnic. I'm not joking when I say this woman does everything. Lunch included homemade yogurt with honey and fruit. It was awesome.

Bourbon Pumpkin Cheesecake: Let's Be Friends.

photo by scott haydon

This recipe was adapted from this really good recipe.

I substituted the pecans with hazelnuts. I used 2 packages of neufendel (1/3 less fat) and 1 package full fat cream cheese. I only used 1 cup of sour cream for the topping. I also tripled the bourbon used inside the pumpkin filling. I didn't have nutmeg so I substituted the cinnamon/nutmeg/ginger with a pumpkin pie spice blend. I garnished my cheesecake with hazelnut pieces that I roasted briefly, then cooled before placing on top.

This is a beautiful and tasty treat of a cheesecake. Not too sweet. Full of yummy flavors. Highly recommended!