When I was in college, I used to open my door during final exams and find a box of cookies underfoot. This meant that Jessica had been hard at work, somehow baking off hundreds of cookies in between studying for and taking exams. For […]
Here’s another cake that’s delicious when unadorned with any accoutrements. This is a cake made with almond paste, which I’ve found makes a cake with a moist but firm crumb. This cake bakes for a long time (as did the other almond paste cake […]
This will be shocking to you, but I don’t always seek out the most complicated recipes I can get my hands on! Sometimes I like to get something in the oven as fast as I can, and this recipe is one that fits the bill. It comes together in about 10 minutes and then pops in the oven. It’s not the most gorgeous cake I’ve ever seen, with a tender, slightly loose crumb that doesn’t release from the pan completely evenly – this isn’t a cake that will slice particularly gracefully. It is, however, delicious, with plenty of apple flavor and just the right balance of spices.
This is a cake you could even eat for breakfast, because it involves relatively little in the way of fats (oil and eggs). It’s moist, but not overly so – something that can plague oil-based cakes. You could make this with just a regular whisk, but I think using a hand mixer helps emulsify the batter better. If you have the time and wish to spend more than 10 minutes making this cake, I recommend making the applesauce yourself – you will have that much more control over what goes into it, and how concentrated it is. I simmered my applesauce for about 5 hours, and it had a silky, slightly unctuous mouthfeel that you don’t get from storebought applesauce, somewhere between applesauce and apple butter. It also had a more concentrated apple flavor than regular applesauce. No need to pass it through a food mill unless you left the peels in – it gets smoother the longer it cooks. (more…)
Smitten Kitchen’s apple cider caramels are one of the recipes that went into this year’s cookie boxes, and seem to have been a hit, so I wanted to share the recipe for anyone who wants to make them! I love unadulterated, classic caramels, so I […]
I have an ice cream machine; summer is the peak season for ice cream – these are two known facts. I bought the machine in the summer of 2011, fully knowing that it would spend the summer in storage, while I camped out in a […]
ok, nothing fancy here – just wanted to share a few recipes with you. the first is a chocolate cake, like the one i use for everything (the stout cake), but for when you don’t have beer on hand. it’s much the same in consistency, and a little bit healthier! (note: a little bit. still…) it’s a wonderful chocolate cake, keeps well, not too sweet. and, of course, moist despite not having any oil in it.
the second is one for snickerdoodle blondies. they turn out wonderfully chewy and are rife with cinnamon, like a dense, concentrated snickerdoodle – but i couldn’t help thinking about all the butter in them as i ate one. so, i provide the recipe i used originally, but i bet you could use 1 1/2 sticks of butter and nobody would be the wiser (except your heart). the key here is to use good quality cinnamon – i tried vietnamese cinnamon for the first time and boy, was it good. more depth of flavor than the usual cinnamon, and intangibly sweeter without actually being sweeter. make these – i took a bowl of these babies to a friend’s house as a pre-dinner snack (yes, of cookies) and the bowl was empty in no time.
ok, ok, i know it’s been a long time. i’ve been taking care of things that needed to be taken care of, and i’m finally getting some good cooking and baking time in, these days. i’m in the process of looking for a really good […]
for the past several months, i’ve been taking friday evenings off – it’s the end of the week, and i’m really feeling the sleep deprivation for that particular week. plus, i work the weekends, so essentially friday nights are my weekend. usually i find myself […]
this gingerbread is nothing like a gingerbread cookie: it’s moist, dense, slightly sticky, and intensely gingery – everything you wish when you eat gingerbread, and more. this is the sort of thing that would be fabulous on a cold night, topped with whipped cream. it’s much better the next day, and keeps well in the freezer.
stop looking for gingerbread recipes: this is The One. (more…)
one could not possibly call this trifle a “fall trifle;” it requires the british-accent, hunting-dogs-and-trumpets air that “autumn” lends to the phrase. specifically, this is an autumn trifle with roasted apples and pears, and a pumpkin-caramel sauce. carrien sent me the recipe a while back […]