Baking
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Besides Ina, there is no one I turn to more than Deb Perlman over at Smitten Kitchen for excellent recipes. I followed her Peach and Pecan sandy crumble to a t, except for the fact that I added in some oatmeal to the crumble mixture. You can follow Deb's recipe for any stone fruit - nectarine, apricot, plum, you name it. Once it's cooled, serve with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.
I didn't grow up eating Pineapple Upside-Down Cake. Like most foods that I now love, my Mom likely tried to introduce me to it back in the day. No frosting? That wasn't cake! My husband on the other hand, did grow up eating it thanks to my Grandmother-in-law. He recently started reminiscing about how delicious it is so I decided to buck up and make it.
This Almond Cake recipe, passed on by my Grandma Marion, tastes like the middle of an almond croissant. I'm fairly sure that's why my husband and I can consume multiple slices in a sitting. It's one of those treats that I take just a small sliver of to start, then end up returning back to the cake platter for 5 more. It all adds up to....1 piece...?
Ever since Joy the Baker posted her "Best Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie" recipe, I've considered her a baking goddess. Since CCCs are a staple for me, I'm always on the lookout for new and improved recipes. While I was perfectly happy with Jacques Torres's "Secret Chocolate Chip Cookie", I wasn't a huge fan of waiting the recommended 24-36 whole hours to bake.
There are few things more satisfying to bake than a really airy and delish cake. That's because on more than one occasion I've ended up with one that is dry and dense. When my husband's birthday came around I decided that I was feeling up cake from scratch challenge. What did he want? A classic yellow cake with chocolate frosting.
Despite the fact that there was a pastry or chocolate shop around every corner in Paris, I felt like my apartment's kitchen would have gone to complete waste if I didn't bake at least once. After finding a tart pan in the kitchen cabinet, I came up with grand plans to assemble a strawberry tart with fruit I purchased from the market.
As a resident of California (and San Francisco specifically), I've been lucky enough to always have delicious Mexican food at my fingertips. Save for tacos de lengua (no gracias Señor), I love all Mexican comida, especially their desserts. When a friend decided host a little Cinco de Mayo bash, I wanted to contribute a treat but was short on time. Enter Mexican Wedding Cookies.
Jam Thumbprints are one of my top three favorite cookies - this is only meaningful because the number of cookies I have consumed in my lifetime is great. This is a classic shortbread style cookie - just butter, sugar, vanilla, flour, salt. I will look for any excuse to make these cookies. So when I decided to have a few friends over for dinner, it seemed like the perfect post-dinner treat.
Chocolate babka, the crown jewel of jewish baked goods. Is it cake? Is it bread? I honestly don't care so long as its edible and in front of me. My love affair with it began about four years ago when I took a stab at Smitten Kitchen's riff on chocolate babka. It's a decadent sugary and chocolatey butter bomb.