13 Saturday Apr 2019
Posted in Cake, Chocolate, Vegetarian, Wine
Tags
all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, brown sugar, eggs, Greek yogurt, hot coffee, unsweetened cocoa, vanilla extract, vegetable oil, white sugar
In days past, before measurements were standardized, this is how things were put together. Every woman had her “special” tea cup, she used just for baking, or not. This is the way my grandmother made chocolate cake. And what a cake it is. Continue reading
01 Tuesday Jan 2019
Posted in Cake, New Year's Eve
Tags
“I don’t think any day is worth living without thinking about what you’re going to eat next at all times.”—Nora Ephron
The late Nora Ephron was known both as a great cook, and for not eating dessert. But, later in her life, she would have lunch with friends and they, at her insistence, ordered multiple desserts, having small, reasonable bites of all of them. Isn’t that a lovely concept? Sharing…and eating!
Mmmmmm…cake! And chocolate cake at that. Isn’t it a delightful way to ring in 2019? Seriously, this is one of the best chocolate cakes I’ve eaten in a long, long time. This lovely cake was baked and decorated by a talented friend and she made it from scratch, too. Oh yes…did I mention she is “almost twelve-years-old”? Isn’t that wonderful? This young woman is a serious baker and should be an inspiration to us all. She reminds us to attempt the things we enjoy, but we perhaps find a bit daunting. To have courage to attempt those daunting things. To challenge ourselves. To look for the good in others. To find joy in simple things.
I think that’s what the New Year is all about. The potential of what may be. Or maybe, what will we make of the opportunities that come our way. And at this time of year, when many of us are thinking about diets, remember to enjoy the good things in life, too. Like cake. Happy New Year!
18 Thursday Oct 2018
Posted in Coconut, Desserts, Gluten Free Option, Pudding, Vegetarian
Tags
brown sugar, butter, coconut milk, cornstarch, egg yolks, flour, heavy cream, sugar, sweetened coconut, vanilla, vanilla extract, white chocolate, whole milk
The Spicy Honey has an office BBQ and thought it would be a good idea for The Goddess to “whip up” dessert. He’s thoughtful that way. But, The Goddess doesn’t mind, because dessert is good, and this is particularly good. It’s rich, creamy and just delicious, so isn’t that just the perfect thing to have at a BBQ? Continue reading
03 Wednesday Oct 2018
Posted in Chocolate, Desserts, Gluten Free Option, Vegetarian
Tags
all-purpose flour, bourbon, brown sugar, cocoa powder, eggs, espresso, unsalted butter, unsweetened chocolate, vanilla extract, white sugar
I’m a chewy, fudgy brownie-type of woman. Cake brownies are well, just cake, really. Brownies should be dense and moist and rich. These brownies are all that, but they have the added bonus of coffee and bourbon. We’ll say these are “adult” brownies…I think they’re better the next day, but they’re damn fine, just out of the oven and cooled for maybe 15 minutes, too…damn fine! Continue reading
18 Saturday Aug 2018
Tags
apricots, arrowroot, lemon zest, nectarines, Peaches, pie pastry, Plums, Spices, sugar
It’s stone fruit season…you know the fruits that have a single pit (seed) in the center of the fruit? All the various, and there are quite a number, of varieties of apricots, peaches, plums, and nectarines, are stone fruits. And this time of year, there’s nothing better than biting into a perfectly ripe peach or nectarine, except maybe biting into a nice piece of pie! Continue reading
30 Saturday Jun 2018
Posted in Desserts, Gluten Free, Make Ahead, Strawberries, Vegetarian
Tags
balsamic vinegar, frozen orange juice concentrate, pink peppercorns, Strawberries, strawberry gelatin
It’s always good to have a nice dessert sauce in your repertoire. This is absolutely spectacular made with local berries, when they’re in season, like right now. And you must slice the berries, sprinkle them with a bit of sugar and that’s all you need. But, some years, the berries aren’t quite as sweet. Continue reading
13 Wednesday Jun 2018
Posted in Cake, Cherries, Chocolate, Vegetarian
Tags
cherry pie filling, chocolate cake mix, cocoa powder, eggs, espresso coffee powder, port, vanilla extract
Chocolate and cherry are a natural flavor combination. This is a lovely little recipe to have in your recipe repertoire. It goes together in a flash, it can be a loaf, a cake, bars…whatever you want and oh yes…and it’s delicious. Continue reading
28 Saturday Apr 2018
Posted in Cake, Gluten Free
Tags
almond flour, baking powder, butter, eggs, gluten-free flour, lemon zest, milk, orange zest, sugar, vanilla extract, vegetable oil, xanthan gum
This is a gluten-free cake and if I didn’t tell you that, I doubt if you would realize it. It is delicious, moist and just slightly dense, but in a good way. This is from the King Arthur Flour™ website, with just a couple of minor additions…citrus zest!!! Continue reading
26 Friday Jan 2018
Posted in Dairy, Desserts, Eggs, Gluten Free, Latin Food, Lemon, Lime, Make Ahead, Orange
Flan is one of those desserts that almost everyone loves. From a hostess’s standpoint, flan is a terrific dessert, as it really needs to be done in advance. It’s also a terrific dessert, because it’s simply delicious and deliciously simple. Continue reading
23 Saturday Dec 2017
Posted in Candy, Desserts, Make Ahead, Nuts
These are rich, buttery, crunchy, caramel-y and addictive. No one, and I mean no one, can eat just one of these. Bitcoin Bits are candy, but they are cookie-like, too. It doesn’t matter, because they are addictive, but in a very, very good way. Continue reading
