The New Yorker recently had an article “The Irresistible Allure of Snacking Cakes” which raved about the cookbook Snacking Cakes: Simple Treats for Anytime Cravings written by Yossy Arefi. The idea behind the book was to develop recipes which could be simply mixed together with a single bowl and spoon and then baked. The article Read More …
This is the cake of Carol’s childhood, which we most recently made for a memorial service for her brother Peter. Mayonnaise may sound like a strange ingredient for a cake until you realize that the two main ingredients of mayonnaise, oil and eggs, are standard cake ingredients. This cake tastes better the day after it Read More …
This variation on pecan pie comes from Dorie Greenspan. The dough for the crust came from a half recipe of Flaky Pie Crust . It is less sweet than Cane Sugar Pecan Pie . 9 inch pie crust ¾ cup maple syrup ½ cup packed brown sugar 3 large eggs at room temperature 1.5 tsp. Read More …
This variation of flan uses fresh or frozen coconut and is adapted from Mariana Valasquez’s book Colombiana. It needs to be prepared well in advance since it needs to chill in the refrigerator for a minimum of 6 hours. It makes 8 servings and is not very sweet. I found frozen shredded coconut at the Read More …
This is a very attractive traditional dessert weather. It can be either made as one big trifle or as individual trifles. This is how I made 6 individual trifles based on a recipe in Cuisine, Texas. I was using up some leftover sponge cake although a pound cake would also be good. This version does Read More …
Canelés are a traditional dessert from Bordeaux. They are small cakes which are deeply caramelized on the outside and custardy on the inside. The recipe is straightforward, but they do use specialized copper molds and one unusual ingredient, bee’s wax, which keeps most people from trying to make them. I bought a cooking lesson from Read More …
This recipe makes a half-sheet (13 x 18 inches) cake which is about 1 inch thick, like a brownie. It will serve a large crowd. We served it the first night at the beach to 5 adults and 2 children, and even serving very large pieces, we still had about half of the cake left. Read More …
I spotted a recipe on epicurious.com which was celebrated because a special technique (sprinkling the top with sugar and then with hot water) created a crackly crust. I cut the recipe down for 2 people and made it using some of the peaches now in season. It did turn out very well. A 6-inch diameter Read More …
Last weekend, Carol went strawberry picking and suggested I turn most of the strawberries into preserves. I am still pretty inexperienced in making preserves, and this turned into more of a learning experience than I had expected. In any event, the final product was good, and I will incorporate in this post what I learned. Read More …
This Armenian cake is a bit like a large Linzer cookie, since it has a base layer, a jam layer, and a lattice top. This version is adapted from thekitchn.com. The next time I make it, I will need to work some more flour into the lattice layer, since the pastry strands were fragile and Read More …