Smitten Apple Cake

This lovely cake comes from Smitten Kitchen, a very famous food blog with beautiful photos and recipes that sometimes work.  I approached this recipe with a fair dose of skepticism (not to mention, blog envy) and about 2 lbs. of apples.  And I’m so glad I did.  After a few recent baking failures (including this week’s [...]

Read Full Post »

Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

I had a chocolate craving the other night, but since there was only hot chocolate mix in the house (pursuant to the theory: if you don’t buy it, you can’t eat it), I made cookies instead.  Oatmeal raisin cookies, in fact.  I’m more of a chocolate chip girl, but that wasn’t possible, given the current Schoko-drought.
I [...]

Read Full Post »

Foolproof Plum Cake

For most of August and September, Germany was awash in adorable Italian prune plums, known to Brits as “damsons” and to Germans as Zwetschke (or Zwetschge, depending).  Don’t you just want to pinch their chubby cheeks?

Roughly half to two-thirds the size of regular red plums, these purple beaut’s were selling for 1.99/kilo (2.2 lbs.) at the [...]

Read Full Post »

To Try: Banana Bars with Cream Cheese Icing

Today I found a great food blog while surfing the internets and using the google.  This easy recipe for banana bars especially caught my eye—probably because living abroad makes me homesick for good, simple American cooking.  Don’t these sound devilish?
I haven’t tried this recipe yet, but I’ll have to break it out when I have [...]

Read Full Post »

To (Maybe Not) Try: Heinz Ketchup Cake

Credit: Canadian Family
This is just the weirdest thing ever.  I found this recipe for ketchup cake via a friend of a friend’s twitter (how web 2.0 am I?).  The whole concept borderline grosses me out,  but it’s also intriguing.  Red velvet cake with a Great Northern makeover.  Maybe ketchup is to spice cake what mayonnaise [...]

Read Full Post »

Lemon Cornmeal Cake (w/ Gluten-Free Variation)

Oh, hello there.  Yes: You.  Would you like a slice?

Well, yes, I supposed it is a bit decadent; two sticks of butter will do that.  But it also contains fruit!  Lemons!  Strive for five!
Still not sold?  How about a closer look:

What if I told you this was the moistest, heartiest lemon cake you’ve had in [...]

Read Full Post »

Stephanie’s (Grandma’s) Famous Chocolate Pudding & Pie Filling

 
I love recipes that are handed down in families.  My friend, Stephanie, whips up a batch of this decadent chocolate pudding anytime she wants to pamper someone special.  The recipe came from her grandmother, who (as you’ll see by the end of the recipe, transcribed from her recipe card) is quite the funny lady. 
This is a [...]

Read Full Post »

Rachel Ray’s Cherry Coffee Cake

I just wrote “cheery coffee cake” by mistake, but isn’t that fitting?

Because sometimes life’s a bowlful of cherries…nestled in buttery batter and (if you’re lucky) topped with crumbly streusel.  Especially when good friends come to visit from out of town.
This recipe started with one Rachel Ray calls ”Cherry Breakfast Cake.”  I decided to halve it (because really, 3 sticks [...]

Read Full Post »

Poll: Store-Bought Cookies

Who makes the best?
My favorites, in no particular order (subject to change, naturally):
Bahlsen Dark Choco Leibniz Cookies—

Credit: germandeli.com
Famous Amos Chocolate Chip & Pecan Cookies—

Credit: famous-amos.com
Archway Molasses Cookies (which were briefly in bankruptcy!)—

Credit: gourmeton.com
Anna’s Almond Cinnamon (or Ginger) Thins—

Credit: annasthins.ca
Pepperidge Farm Double Chocolate Milanos—

credit: pepperidgefarm.com
Bring on the milk!

Read Full Post »

To Try: Vanilla Custard with Sautéed Pears

I don’t know about you, but I rarely make recipes from magazines.  I’ll sometimes read them for ideas, but that’s usually as far as it gets.  The last one I made was months ago (sweet potato ravioli from Cooking Light), and even then, I “doctored” the hell out of it.  Magazine recipes always seem 1) overly simplified, with too many shortcuts and [...]

Read Full Post »

I Scream for…

…gelato!
I wasn’t much of a store-bought ice cream person until I tried, on a whim, a “gelato” carried by my local Giant grocery store.  It was…life-altering.  OK, maybe just waistline-altering.  This stuff is like crack:

Credit: Peapod
I’ve never had store-bought ice cream like this.  Think light, fluffy, rich (if that’s not a contradiction) dairy goodness, in amazingly [...]

Read Full Post »

Gluten-Free Sour Cream Coffee Cake

Snapshot by Brooke Bready
To be honest, when I made this gluten-free cake for my friend’s birthday, I didn’t expect much (especially given my track record with baking).  Luckily, I was wrong.  This coffee cake rocks! It tastes 100% normal—tender, moist, and most importantly, scarffable.  I haven’t tried this recipe with wheat flour yet, but if you have a celiac [...]

Read Full Post »

Sweet Potato Pecan Bread

  
Credit: Chow/Amy Wisniewski 
This recipe, a variation on one I originally found on Chow, is a nice change from the traditional pumpkin bread.  The sweet potato gives it a subtle earthy flavor.  And pecans?  Well, what don’t they improve?  This would be awesome with a maple syrup glaze or cream cheese icing.
-1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
-2 [...]

Read Full Post »

Panna Cotta

A simple, deliciously creamy dessert. You can lighten it up by using fat-free half and half, with decent results.  I suspect it would also handle sugar substitute fairly well.
Or, live a little!
-2 c. half and half, divided
-1 envelope gelatin (.25 oz)
-1/4 c. sugar
-1 tsp. vanilla
1. Measure 1 cup of the half and half into a [...]

Read Full Post »

Pumpkin Bread Pudding

Full disclosure: I’m not a big bread pudding fan.  It’s usually so…heavy…bready…and bland (sorry, BP-lovers!).  Give me a chocolate mousse or a strawberry tart any day.  But this recipe, a riff on the recipe from Smitten Kitchen, is the exception to the rule.  It satisfies the part of me that loves pumpkin pie custard and rich, [...]

Read Full Post »