Daring Bakers' Challenge: Mille-Feuille (Napoleons)

Our October 2012 Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Suz of Serenely Full.  Suz challenged us to not only tackle buttery and flaky pastry, but then to take it a step further and create a sinfully delicious Mille Feuille dessert with it!

Mille-Feuille is french for a "thousand layers" referring to the layers of puff pastry in this delicate dessert.  The three layers of pastry are alternated with creme patissiere or pastry cream.  The Italians (and most Americans) call this pastry a Napoleon. 

Brownies

I've been working on my vegan brownie recipe for years, striving for that perfect balance of a crunchy top with a fudgy center.  I've tried brownies with tofu and brownies with black beans.  I've tried sweetening them with coconut sugar or agave, all without success.  I believe I finally done it, finally perfected the vegan brownie.  I've made this recipe twice now and they were delicious.  They're made with a lot of sugar, raw sugar, but it's still sugar.  I just can't get that crunchy top with out it.

Apple Cinnamon Cake

We harvested all of our apples in September and now there are just a few misshapen and buggy ones left, rolling around in my refrigerator.  It's time to stop ignoring them and put them to good use.  This was the inspiration behind an apple filled cinnamon cake.  That, and the fact that you can smell fall in the air.