There are some family recipes whose origins are a delicious mystery. For me, that recipe is a dessert we call “peach kuchen.” If you speak German you’re probably thinking “ooh, cake” – but no, it is actually a type of tart. This tart has sliced peaches pressed into a [...]
Posts under ‘Dessert’
Chocolate Pudding Without A Packet
Chocolate pudding is a wonderful comfort food that few people make for themselves anymore. That’s such a shame because it is really easy, tasty and satisfying to make at home.
I know what you are thinking, why bother making pudding from scratch when I can dump and stir from a packet without any cooking at [...]
Blueberry Buttermilk Tart
Why light a field of blueberry bushes on fire?
What I was told, growing up, is that burning the blueberry bushes after they’ve given up their crop at the end of the season makes them healthier and set for new growth in the spring.
Eating blueberries is one of my memories from lazy summers in Machais, Maine. [...]
Chocolate Cherry Walnut Oatmeal Cookies
What did you give your mother for Mother’s Day? My new-ish tradition is baking cookies (I know, shocking for someone who professes to hate baking cookies, but I make this sacrifice for some). Cookies have won out over other gifts because they’re easy to ship, and who doesn’t like a cookie? Really. Can you think [...]
Double Chocolate Cookies
Somewhere along our enlightened path of whole grains and health-conscious cooking, we took a detour. A very rich, very chocolatey, and very satisfying detour. There’s not much to say about these double chocolate cookies. No lengthy cultural or culinary background (see, e.g. gefilte fish, char siu bao). No romantic-ish anecdote about where the recipe comes [...]
2 + 4 + 6 + 8 = The World’s Easiest Cake
Eaten any drupes lately? If you’ve nibbled on plums, cherries, almonds, mangos, pistachios or slurped down a cup of coffee, you’ve ingested drupes – defined as fleshy fruit with a stone pit.
For the World’s Easiest Cake, I like “drupaceous” plums. It’s not exactly the season yet for plums, so keep this recipe top of mind [...]
Chocolate and Cinnamon – A Warm and Winning Combination
The ancient Maya were on to something when they combined chocolate with spices. They knew that chocolate was delicious on it’s own but when combined with the heat of chiles or cinnamon it really sings.
An easy way to try spiced chocolate is to add a little cinnamon to your next [...]
Meyer Lemon Cornbread Cake
The arrival of Spring means lots more sunshine. I can think of no better way to celebrate this sunny time than with a light lemony cake.
Below is a recipe for a sunny, slightly sweet cornmeal cake. This recipe is adapted from one that was published in the April 2009 issue of Bon Appétit [...]
Crepes with Kefir Cheese and Chai-Scented Pears
Mmmmmmm, bacteria. Of course, without it, we wouldn’t have one of life’s most perfect foods: cheese (as my brother-in-law can attest). One of these days, I’ll learn how to make it (anyone ever been to classes at the Cheese School of San Francisco?).
Kefir cheese is made with a very particular, mysterious bacteria that grows on [...]
Christmas Cookies: Russian Tea
One word: BUH-duh.
What else do you think makes cookies taste so good? These tried-and-true favorites have been a Christmas staple in my family for decades. I don’t cut out cookies, remember? So these chill-and-roll treats are a good choice when the season calls for some emergency baking. (Like, perhaps, at 10:00 p.m. on the Monday [...]