The 2009 October Daring Bakers’ challenge was brought to us by Ami S. She chose macarons from Claudia Fleming’s The Last Course: The Desserts of Gramercy Tavern as the challenge recipe.

Daunted, excited, and intimidated, I responded in my typical fashion of completely ignoring the call to arms until the absolute last minute. Yes, it was a foolish act, but with so many side projects and deadlines to meet, it was easy to prioritize everything else above it, and effectively forget about the challenge until last night. Luckily, this wasn’t the first time I had contemplated the construction of that oh-so trendy sandwich cookie. Having previously done some serious legwork on recipe formulation, I had the framework all set, and all was left were a few tweaks, and more than a few prayers to the baking gods to be made.

Midnight came, and my stand mixer roared to life, while the oven coils slowly grew warmer. I whipped. I folded. I piped. I waited.

I slid the sheets into the oven.

I held my breath.

…And did a little dance when those smooth cocoa shells emerged from the oven. They had FEET! Deliriously happy, I didn’t stop smiling for a solid hour afterward. I still can’t believe that it worked, and worked so perfectly!

Sandwiching a generous dollop of matcha “buttercream” between two delicate, crisp cookies, they were everything I could have dreamed of. My only regret was that I hadn’t made a double batch.

Now, before the deluge of emails comes, I’m not ready to share the recipe yet. I will say that it’s related to my meringue method, but I’m hoping to release it in a future book or ebook. Besides, I want to play around with more flavors and colors before signing off on this beauty!

Despite the prevalence of arachnophobia, and my own squeamishness about insects in general, I have absolutely no qualms with serving spiders for dessert.  Yes, you heard me right, spiders!

…Of the purely chocolate-variety, perched on top of a chocolate web embedded in a vegan cheesecake, that is.

Striking that delicate balance between creepy and cute, this Halloween delight is sure to impress even your most finicky and easily frightened guests. Plus, it couldn’t be easier to make; If you can assemble a cheesecake, this version takes only a little bit of extra effort.

Starting with my Mini Ice Box Cheesecake (sans fruit topping, of course) from My Sweet Vegan, I merely scooped some chocolate ganache into a piping bag with a tiny round tip, and piped it in a spiral over the top. Then, a toothpick is used to drag out the points of the web, starting at the center, and radiating out in equal spacing to the outer edges. For really clean lines, make sure you wipe off the tooth pick between each stroke!

While the cake is setting up in the freezer, take some plain melted chocolate, and pipe it out with that same tiny tip onto a silpat, drawing out simple spider shapes. As you can see, I’m no artist here, but all you need is to start with a medium blob, and then draw out eight lines along the sides for legs. Make many more than you think you’ll need, as the legs can be a bit delicate and prone to breakage.

Let the chocolate rest until set, and then place them on the frozen cheesecake as desired. Hide any mistakes or imperfections with a plethora of little creepy crawlies, and make sure that each slice gets at least one spider when served.

Still don’t have a copy of my book?  Well, you’re in luck, because you have another chance to win it over at Dinner at Christina’s.  Hurry, the drawing ends soon!

Leave it to me to get thoroughly sick right before World Bread Day, and no matter how long I planned my post, become unable to gather the strength to complete it! Luckily, it was just a bug, and the worst seems to have passed. Let’s just pretend that this is dated for the 16th of October and simply proceed, shall we?

Summer quickly fading from mind, it seems like ages since our little trip to Paris. In fact, it’s hard to believe we were even there at all, barely having begun to sink out teeth into the culture when we had to relinquish that grip and return home again. Regardless, those dreamy memories are still fresh, vibrant, and wholly inspiring.

So what is it that I think of first, and miss the most from that trip? Perhaps unsurprisingly, I can tell you in no uncertain terms, it’s the bread. Sure, we have our local bakeries in town that do wonderful things with flour and yeast, but it’s just not the same. No matter how many baguette I try, none compare to those that I had for breakfast while in Paris, sampling a new loaf from a new boulangerie every day. Oh, and the supermarket “french bread”? That stuff is just a sick joke, better suited as a doorstop than edible foodstuffs.

Short of having one of those lovely breads shipped halfway around the world, I was determined to find a suitable substitute. Starting from scratch, it was the baguette aux céréales, multigrain baguette, my absolute favorite pick from that vacation, that I craved the most, complete with its signature crispy crust and open crumb, plus the bonus of nutty, toothsome grains and seeds galore.

Now, I don’t profess to be a master baguette maker; far from it. I’m certain both my methods and results would be laughed right out of any self-respecting bakery, but I was proud of my skinny, nubbly loaves as the came out of the oven, hot and toasted to a golden brown. Although the bulk of my exterior seeds became casualties of rough handling, just enough hung on to get the point across- This isn’t your standard, plain old baguette. Imbued with spelt, oats, quinoa, sunflower, sesame, poppy, and chia seeds, it’s composed of a melange of ingredients that traditionalists would probably be horrified to find in their beloved daily bread. For me, however, the combination perfectly hit the spot.

Although it’s too much work to have these crusty beauties on hand for breakfast everyday, it’s comforting just to know that this treasure isn’t doomed to exist only in my memories now. Plus, in the comfort of my own home, I have the tools and time to make it into so much more than a stand-alone treat. I have a feeling that any true Parisian wouldn’t be caught dead snacking on a vegan cream cheese, tomato, and sprout sandwich on a multigrain baguette… But they’re the ones missing out this time.