August 11, 2012
I’ve been keeping busy this summer, working on all kinds of awesome projects. Per usual, there’s been a lot of baking, some great writing gigs, the occasional wedding cake (I played the dual role of bridesmaid and baker in the photo above – and my fantastic and patient husband supported as sous chef), and lots of studying for the Certified Exam with the Court of Master Sommeliers. I’ve enjoyed the consistency of my Pie of the Week column over at Serious Eats. After all, pie is the official dessert of summer. Check ‘em out!
Blueberry Crumble Pie
Mallomar Pie
Mini Sweet Cherry Pies
Chocolate Mud Pie
Strawberry Lattice Pie
Fresh Summer Berry Pie
Butterscotch Pudding Pie
Peanut Butter Pretzel Ice Cream Pie
Peach and Ginger Crumble Pie
Oreo Ice Cream Pie (made for Oreo’s 100th birthday celebration)
S’mores Pie
December 24, 2011
All photos by Lauren Weisenthal
Leading up to Christmas, I’ve been doing some new techniques posts over at Serious Eats. There are some slideshows to help folks through the process of making a classic French yule log cake, the Bouche de Noel.
My favorite part of this cake is, of course, the mushroom meringues. I love Maida Heatter’s recipe in her Book of Great Desserts.
Speaking of Christmas candy, I also had a lot of fun messing around with recipes for torrone, the Italian nougat candy. Watch for that recipe over on Serious Eats on Monday. Merry, Happy!
November 20, 2009
When I first saw this cake, the term that immediately came to my mind was “food porn”. It’s a giant, solidly delicious brownie smothered with salty peanuts and seductive caramel that just oozes over the edge. The kind of guilty pleasure meant to be devoured, with raw, unadulterated, dessert-loving hunger, but I’d feel a little funny bringing it home to meet my mother.
This here, is the James Dean of cakes.
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November 6, 2009
I spend a lot of time mulling over the following question: If [insert friend's name here] were a cake, what kind of cake would [he/she] be?
Those of us who enjoy baking celebration cakes understand the weighty significance of this question, with its myriad of factors to be weighed. Taste is an obvious one, our goal being to avoid flavors that exercise the recipient’s gag reflex and focus squarely on those that cause he or she to roll around and salivate like a dog.
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August 21, 2009
With all of my attention, love, and affection (for food, at least) directed at bread baking these days, it might seem that I’ve strayed from my first love, pastry.
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July 13, 2009
Bread school is making me feel a little challenged in the social arena these days. Setting aside my newly acquired habit of hauling many loaves of artisan bread around town, still warm from the oven from which I shoveled them just moments before and handing them out to friends, neighbors, former colleagues, and even complete strangers, I’m finding that school has permeated other parts of how I relate to those around me in a big way.
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June 29, 2009
Have you ever been so inclined as to pour 1 part Jameson, 1 part Bailey’s Irish Cream into a shot glass, drop it into a freshly drawn pint of Guinness, and then chug the concoction as it fizzes over the side of the glass, swallowing like mad to choke it down the hatch before you notice that the whole thing has curdled?
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May 29, 2009
For a little while now I’ve been hiding a big secret. It’s incredible, life changing news, and I’m completely surprised that I managed to keep on writing about avocado-mango salsa, strawberry cream tart, and the stand-alone amazingness of artichokes as if nothing else was happening all of this time.
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May 6, 2009
Between the chaos of work trips, half-packed suitcases and endless hours of convention center banter, there was cake. Delicious, unapologetically rich, lavishly frosted cake.
Um, two cakes, actually.
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April 23, 2009
When the weather gets warmer, there’s nothing like a nice, light dessert to round out a grilled meal.
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