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Posts tagged ‘baking’

Sep 23

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Herbed (or not) rum apple cake

What if I said I made three of these cakes in two days?

Apple_rum_cake

There was a reason, see, and a pretty good one at that – a waxed cardboard box full of apples from Minnesota, bequeathed to us by my grandmother on Labor Day and rapidly softening thanks to the hot streak that followed. (Even Midwestern basements can’t store apples well in 95-degree heat.)

So I made 16 cups of apple pectin stock and 3 different types of apple jelly (Jameson, chili, and red wine/bay leaf), each of which was re-branded a glaze after utterly failing to set (whoops). But even that project used up only about half the apple stores, and with only a few days of usability remaining I turned my eye to desserts. So I opened up the usual suspects – a few favorite websites and books – to find inspiration, only to be almost immediately questioned by Brett as to why I would make anything other than this apple cake that I first made a few years back. It’s actually been on this site since back then, but tucked in the archives under the relatively unassuming name “Simple Apple Cake,” and after this binge I figured it deserved an updated page and a new title. Read more

Sep 5

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Birthday banana cream pie with (slightly) salted caramel and ganache

Today is my birthday, so I’m not going to say much. I have firm plans to do not much of anything for the rest of the afternoon, and I don’t want to be late.

Banana_cream_pie

But I do want to share with you, finally, the recipe for the banana cream pie I’ve been fixated on for the last half-dozen years or so. It’s deeply inspired by the one at Tartine in San Francisco – flaky pie crust, layers of caramel and dark chocolate, filled with pastry cream and fresh bananas, and topped with billowy whipped cream and chocolate shavings. But I’ve been adding my own touches here and there over the past years, finding the perfect recipes for each of the various elements, and it’s finally ready for sharing. Read more

Jul 10

6 Comments

Polenta layer cake with fruit and créme fraîche whipped cream

Cake_duo

Oh doesn’t that look like an amazing cake to make for 4th of July?

I’m so helpful.

I did make this cake for 4th of July, but that means I can’t write about it until after 4th of July, which makes it a little late for all of you. But wait! You can actually make this cake any time of the year. Woo hoo! Now you’re set and I’m not late at all.  Read more

Jun 27

Sweet and spicy caramelized pumpkin seeds (for salads, and otherwise)

If you’ve been around here for a while, you’ve probably noticed I like to use pumpkin seeds quite a bit (like with sunchokes, on free-form salads, with roasted vegetables, in muffins, always in my go-to granola, in chewy granola bars, in cookies). They’re the best substitute I can think of for nuts, which I can’t eat, and in their raw and unsalted form they’re easy to add just about anything for a little extra roughage, protein, and nutty flavor.

Caramelized_pumpkin_seeds

But these are no everyday pumpkin seeds. I mean, sure, you could eat them every day, and they’re by no means difficult to make. But these are are pumpkin seeds gone luxury, coated in a sweet and spicy mixture of brown sugar, butter, and spices and baked until toasted and caramelized. They emerge from the oven crunchy, buttery, sweet, and spicy, and completely addictive. I made this batch to put on a salad for a dinner party at a friend’s house, and together with leaf lettuce, roasted carrots, vinegar-soaked red onion, sugar snap peas, and a mish-mash of herbs from my mother-in-law’s garden they were perfect.  Read more

Apr 26

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Spring vegetable ricotta tart with whole wheat olive oil crust

tart_cut

Another spring one, from the same meal as yesterday’s post. We served this one alongside grilled salmon, roasted brussel sprouts, bread, and salad, and ate our first outdoor family dinner of the year. There was a heater, to be certain, and it was too dark outside by the time dessert was served, but it was still lovely to start the evening outside.

crust_veggies crust

filling

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