Passion fruit & blood orange curd tart

This sweet and tangy tart is similar to a lemon tart, but better and more complex! It's delicious, creamy, and full of a tropical feel for a delicious and refreshing dessert.

It's another edition of #FreakFruitsFriday today with Melissa's Produce and I'm excited to share this delicious and unique tart. For this tart I used two of the freaky fruits I received - passion fruit and blood oranges. These are both tart fruits making them perfect choices for a dessert. I love desserts with lemon, lime, etc. because they really help offset the sweetness and provide complexity to the flavor of the recipe. I was going to make a curd with just one of the fruits, but combining them was a great idea! The blood orange juice gave the curd a darker color and a hint of citrus and the passion fruit provided that distinct tropical smell and flavor.

It's been a while since I've used my tart pan. I used to make tarts more frequently. Tarts are a nice size for a dessert that contains a rich filling like a curd rather than a pie where the filling would be too much. I used a shortbread crust for this recipe because they are simple and delicious.

Have you ever tried passion fruit or blood oranges? I had passion fruit when my now husband was living and working in the Everglades. It's definitely something that lends itself to desserts and other recipes with sugar as it is quite tart on its own. Blood oranges are also pretty tart and super pretty! I like them sliced into salads.

Individual Jack Skellington cheesecakes #HalloweenTreatsWeek

This post and recipe were created for #HalloweenTreatsWeek! I was sent samples by some of the sponsor companies to help in recipe development, but as always all opinions are 100% my own.

Individual Jack Skellington cheesecakes are not only delicious, but they are also a super fun Halloween dessert or party treat! These creamy little cheesecakes with a chocolate graham cracker crust are sure to please.

This is my last recipe for #HalloweenTreatsWeek and it's one I'm very excited to share! This recipe is based off of this one here. I made a few changes for mine and am so happy with how they came out. If you or anyone you know is a fan of The Nightmare Before Christmas, these are the perfect treats to make! They are not complicated. The most difficult part is putting on the face (I did a few practice ones that did not make the photos, but were still delicious, and happily gobbled up by my family and I).

The chocolate base makes a nice contrast in color and flavor and is perfect for Halloween time. For this recipe I used Dixie Crystals granulated sugar, Wilton's pastry bag and round cake decorating tip 3, Adams Extract twice as strong vanilla extract, and these sturdy white cupcake liners from Sweets & Treats. All these items helped to make these little cheesecakes a success! Don't forget to visit the bottom of this post for your chance to win one of the awesome prizes from our sponsors.

Cinnamon & sugar soft pretzel bones #HalloweenTreatsWeek

This post and recipe were created for #HalloweenTreatsWeek! I was sent samples by some of the sponsor companies to help in recipe development, but as always all opinions are 100% my own.

Soft pretzels shaped into little bones and dipped into a cinnamon and sugar mix make a delicious and fun Halloween treat!

Do you like soft pretzels? I do and making them at home really isn't super complicated. These ones are perfect for your next Halloween party or gathering because they are shaped like spooky bones! These pretzels are coated in a mixture of cinnamon and granulated sugar from Dixie Crystals. And if that's not enough, I also served them with some Litehouse Chocolate Dip Singles so we all had our own little container of dip for a few pretzels! They were definitely a big hit and the kids especially thought they were fun.

When making these pretzels, you have to be prepared that every single one may not look exactly like a bone, or exactly alike. It takes some practice and you have to over exaggerate the shape of the ends to make sure they keep shape during the baking process. It takes a little practice, but you get the hang of it as you go along.

I hope you are enjoying #HalloweenTreatsWeek as much as I am! Don't forget to enter the giveaway at the bottom of this post and check out all of today's other Halloween recipes!

Halloween hidden bat loaf cake #HalloweenTreatsWeek

This post and recipe were created for #HalloweenTreatsWeek! I was sent samples by some of the sponsor companies to help in recipe development, but as always all opinions are 100% my own.

A vanilla loaf cake topped with homemade vanilla frosting and fun sprinkles is filled with a hidden surprise -- chocolate cake bats! A super fun treat for Halloween!

I'm so excited to be participating in #HalloweenTreatsWeek for the first time! Halloween is one of my favorite holidays and my favorite time of the year. I was so glad to step out of my comfort zone this week to bring you some fun, festive, spooky, and delicious creations to help you celebrate the Halloween season! Visit the bottom of this post to enter an amazing Halloween themed giveaway!

First up is this Halloween Hidden Bat Loaf Cake. This cake is fun to make albeit a bit time-consuming. There are several steps, but all of them are relatively simple. The hardest part for me was keeping the bats standing up and trying not to break their wings as I put the vanilla cake batter around them. It's a little messy, and probably won't be absolutely perfect, but it's still a fun process and worth it for the fun hidden bats your guests will find inside their slices of cake. This cake is sure to impress your family and friends and to bring a smile to the faces of those who get to eat it!

For this cake I used Dixie Crystals granulated sugar, Adams Extract Vanilla Extract, Wilton's bat cookie cutter (and their cute bat gummies), and Sweets & Treats bat and orange sprinkles.

Thai red curry dragon fruit chicken salad

This post is sponsored by #FreakyFruitsFriday. I received fruit from our generous sponsor, Melissa's Produce, to assist in recipe creation. As always, all opinions are my own.

A twist on chicken salad using Thai red curry paste, coconut cream, fresh dragon fruit, and Thai basil for a delicious and fun light dinner or lunch.

This month I'm participating in #FreakyFruitsFriday with some of my blogger friends. Melissa's Produce sent us some unique and exciting "freaky fruits" to try and to use in recipes this month. One of those fruits were white dragon fruit. Years ago when I was in Thailand during college, I would sometimes find fresh dragon fruit for sale along the streets and would buy a couple. They are sweet and refreshing and they always remind me of my time there. So, I knew I wanted to make something Thai-inspired using the dragon fruit. And, I knew I wanted to make something savory because I enjoy incorporating fruit into meals.

Chicken salad has always been a favorite of mine (the kind with mayo, grapes, and parsley). I swapped coconut cream for the mayo and spiced it up with curry paste. The dragon fruit provided the sweetness and I had Thai basil in my garden for the herb. It came out perfectly! We served this both in the dragon fruit peel (to be eaten with a fork) and lettuce leaves for a wrap. The color and presentation were beautiful! Have you ever tried dragon fruit??