Desserts

Sweet Cherry Pie with a Rye Pie Crust

I’m maybe a little, only slightly, sort of obsessed with making pie right now. I can’t stop! And yes, a lot of it has to do with fruit just being so pretty right now. It all smells so fragrant, looks so cute, taste so delicious, ugh! But the main reason why I love making pie is the actual process. It’s therapeutic. (Not that I need therapy, really(?).)

The rolling, transferring, crimping, braiding, sealing, egg washing and so on is so soothing, peaceful and so in the moment. Making pie isn’t really stressful, but it does requires all of your attention. No texting, checking Instagram or thinking about emails that need to be sent or what to make for dinner. The only thing that matters when you’re making pie, is making pie because that stupid saying “easy as pie” is dumb and wrong.

Sweet Cherry Pie with a Rye Pie Crust [click to continue…]

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Marble Loaf with Strawberry and Chocolate

I’ve only recently become a weird morning person. I used to seriously turn off my alarm and then sleep the most anxious-ridden extra 15 minutes ever, knowing very well that I had to get up a few minutes later. Not a pleasant sleep but I’d still do it! WHY? So dumb. But now I set no alarm, and every single morning I miraculously wake up a little bit after 7am. (It also helps that I have a little beast of an animal I live with who whimpers at my face until my eyes finally open. So, I guess I do have an alarm clock, just not a traditional one.)

In college I had late night film classes and super early morning classes, which meant I was an awful person to be around before 10am. The one thing that would get me through the drudge of early morning stuff was the local coffee shop which had terrible coffee BUT an awesome marble loaf. It was seriously the only thing that kept me from sleeping through the first day’s class.

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How to Lattice

I’ve been dreaming about making a cross between a galette and a real, legit pie with a lattice top since January. WHY?! Because why not. I figure it’s like a lazier version of a real pie, but slightly more ambitious than a traditional galette. Less rustic; less perfect. It’s all about meeting in the middle. (Also, my pie tin might’ve been sticky because I maybe used it to roast carrots in pomegranate molasses not expecting it to get all sticky and stuck. Just maybe.)

I wasn’t expecting to act on my January-galette-dream so soon. I thought it was too early to get all pie-like up in here…that was until I went to the farmer’s market this past Saturday and the apricots were being all fragrant and cute by still having their leaves attached. My favorite fruit is the fruit that looks like it was picked in my neighbor’s backyard.

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Buttermilk and Strawberry Panna Cotta Dessert

Homemade pudding has been well documented on this here site quite a bit. It’s a near and dear dessert that’s so close to my heart. Puddin’ is the thing I want to eat after a super heavy meal when I can barely even think to think about dessert, but totally want to. Am I making sense?

And no matter how many new pudding memories I make, pudding will always, ALWAYS remind me of Billy Madison. (Please tell me you clicked on that link and watched him dance down those stairs. You’re welcome.)

Billy loved his Snack Packs! I remember watching that movie over and over and begging my mom to add them to her grocery list. She did. I was a girl obsessed with Billy Madison and chocolate pudding.

Buttermilk and Strawberry Panna Cotta Dessert [click to continue…]

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Purple Roses Cake

This post is all about overcoming adversity, cake decorating adversity. I came thisclose to having a cake worthy of a spot on Cake Wrecks. It all started when Martha’s people were super nice enough to send me an advance copy of their issue of Cakes & Cupcakes. There was a technique in the magazine that caught my eye; it was technique using acetate strips to create a pretty striped pattern. The pictures in the magazine showed glittery pink stripes and bright yellow stripes. I had dreams of creating a cake inspired by my favorite French shirt, the breton. White frosting and navy blue stripes. How spring and easy!

It didn’t go so well, guys. Not at all. So this is a story, not about making a pretty cake, but rather about saving a cake from decoration disaster. It’s a story about how I panicked, looked at the wilting roses on my bedside table and improvised the shiz out of the next move. Ready?

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Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

I’m pretty sure I’m the only woman on the planet who avoids Target. Or as I like to say, “tar-zhay.” So fancy.

It stresses me out, man. Too many screaming kids, too many options, too much of everything. I mean, when I’m there, I love it. Their beauty goods? Their sock selection? Holy moly, perfection. But I usually just avoid that place because I get distracted, become a little overzealous and then end up feeling vulnerable, which usually leads to me spending way too much money. Also, the parking situation is usually a nightmare. Tar-zhay stress!

This is why I usually head to my neighborhood Rite-Aid/CVS. I live in what people call a “gentrified” area. I sort of hate that word but it makes it so my Rite-Aid adventures are a little on the crazzzie side, in a good and scary sort of way. The biggest perk about going? The Thrifty’s ice cream. That ice cream case, always attendant-less, always calls my name as I pass by.

Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies [click to continue…]

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Sometimes I want to love what everyone else loves…but don’t. Like, harem pants (my thighs don’t need help looking larger – thanks) or frappuchinos (real coffee, please) or sparkly shoe clips  or Mad Men (boring). Peanut butter and chocolate is one of those things that the entire world LOVES.  And I do, too.

It’s the classic of classic combos. And there’s good reason.  Something magical occurs when chocolate and peanut butter come together. The clouds open, the symphony sounds, a Lisa Frank rainbow appears in the sky and smiles appear.

This cookie has chocolate, peanut butter, oatmeal and a good amount of salt all mixed into one.

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Black and Pink Cookie

My brain doesn’t always match the season. I think of the best Halloween costumes in March. (I mean, can you imagine Amelia dressed as a stick of butter? Or dressed as Jasmine from Aladdin?)

I come up with most original and special Christmas gift ideas in July. All of my best Fall recipe ideas come to me when I’m sweating in August. And I thought of this gem of a recipe a few days before Christmas when I was wrapping presents.

I was craving strawberries which lead my brain to thinking about strawberry milkshakes. I wondered why I hadn’t thought to make strawberry milk and put it in my favorite cookies. So here we are…four months later, at the beginning of strawberry season, Spring-ifying and cute-ifying the deli cookie classic, the black and white cookie.

Black and Pink Cookie [click to continue…]

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Grapefruit Yogurt Pound Cake

Some recipes have no real story, no history or emotional meaning. My grandmama didnt make this cake for us while we sat on the porch and listened to her hum. My mom didn’t make this for us when we came home from school. And this cake doesn’t compliment an upcoming holiday.

This cake came into my life because Trader Joe’s always makes me buy more than I want/need. Yes.

I wanted to make this drank BADLY, so I went to the store to buy ruby red grapefruits because I was envisioning a blush colored drink. I drink in colors! So, I walk in and the yellow (less cuter) grapefruits were sold individually, while the ruby red grapefruits were sold in a big bundle. Ugh. I bought the big bag of cuter, pinker grapefruits. After I made the drink, I found myself with three pretty grapefruits that had no home.

So, I baked ‘em.

Grapefruit Yogurt Pound Cake [click to continue…]

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Vegan Avocado Pudding

Last week, two days before the party I threw, I bought twelve (yes, twelve!!) avocados with a grand plan to make myyyyy guacamole. I mean, who doesn’t love guacamole?! Demons, maybe.

So, yesss, I had avocado plans, but…oh, I dunno, the night before the party, I realized that the avocados were still hard as a rock. Like, no softness AT ALL. I googled avocado-ripeneing tricks (and yes they exist) and tried one. I put all of the avocados in a big paper bag with an over-ripened, ugly brown banana. The bananas have a chemical called ethylene, which is a hormone that triggers ripening in mature fruit. Food science, I like you! Well, it sounded like it would’ve worked but I think my avocados weren’t mature; they were immature, so nothing. Still hard.

That meant I was left with a crazy amount of avocados that became ripe days later. My brain froze. All I could go to was avocado pie and guacamole so I took to the world of Facebook and all of you assisted me quite nicely. Many of you commented about avocado mousse. I was intrigued. I did some research. I tested a few times and boom! Here we are.

Ok. So. I think we should talk about the mousse because it really can’t be simpler but you must promise me a few things.

You must promise to me that you’ll use either honey, agave or powdered sugar. Regular sugar will be grainy. And I actually really love the flavor of the agave with the chocolate so I think that works out just lovely.

And secondly, you must promise to me that you’ll include the ground cardamom. It’s just so important. It’s not to be missed.

The cardamom flavor isn’t overwhelming, it’s actually barely detectable, but it works with the chocolate in the nicest ways. And the salt! Oh the salt is important.

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