Chocolate eclair
When I asked my wife what I should make for a Valentine's day dessert, there was no hesitation. "Eclairs", said she, and far be it from me to disappoint. For some reason I've never made them before, though I like them very much, so I was excited for the challenge.
My habit when looking …
I love baking, and I love our KitchenAid Mixer. I *hate* stopping the mixer every 30 seconds to scrape down the sides of the bowl. And it also annoys me that the attachments can’t go in the dishwasher. Apparently I’m not the only one!
This new BeaterBlade is fantastic. It looks just like the normal paddle …
Bocoloes are little pan-fried cake of masa and mashed black beans, typically served as an (appetizer). I learned about them from Diana Kennedy's magnificient My Mexico and thought that I could replace the pork filling with yams, increase the portion, and make an unusual and delicious vegetarian entree.
The cakes came out great; they …
Cleverly braided challah
The year draws towards a close with lots of family coming and going, and Hannukah to celebrate. There have been latkes and more to come, but I haven’t baked challah in a while. The snowy streets gave us a good reason to make our own instead of buying from one of Seattle’s excellent …
Koulourakis (Greek cookies with cardamom)
For those of you who aren’t familiar with her work (most famously Strangers With Candy), Amy Sedaris is crazy. Bug f’ing nuts. Mad as a hatter.
While most of us who came of age in the late 60′s and early 70′s raced away from the aesthetics and values of that time, Ms. …
Irish Soda Bread
Irish soda bread is great to have in your arsenal. It it is leavened with baking soda and buttermilk instead of yeast, so you can go from conception to hot bread on the table in under an hour, with only a few minutes of active work. It adapts beautifully to being made …
Madeleine cookies – or really, teacakes
My goal for this post is to write about madeleines without mentioning Proust (again).
Mini-me is obsessed with those little packets of three madeleines sold at the Starbucks’ register, so I asked if she’d like to make them at home some day. Of course the answer was yes. Remembering that Heidi …
