Cookies that could be as good as Christmas Cookies as they are here in the summer-time: Chocolate-dipped Salted Caramel-candied Hazelnut Shortbread Cookies! Yes, that’s a mouthful to say (and to eat, har har). Hazelnut shortbread, dipped in decadent dark chocolate and then partially coated in a salted caramel hazelnut crunch — sort of like a topping that you put on ice cream or an ice cream cone. Not too sweet, just the right size for two bites. Would be a great “after dinner” dessert cookie.
Here is something bright and cheerful to lighten up your Monday morning. Over the weekend, I made these Mini-Meyer Lemon Curd Tartlets for dessert. Very tart, very lemony and surprisingly bright in color (presumably from the very yellow egg yolks — maybe the chickens were eating marigolds!), these are actually very easy to make. In a pinch, you can also substitute store bought curd or other fruit jams to pull something together in a hurry. They were delicious!
Haven’t been baking as much since Easter, and had company so what I was baking was more old-standbys. It’s remarkably hard to do recipe testing, writing and photography with a houseful of guests. That said, I’m back. With so many crab apple and cherry trees in blossom, I got to thinking … well, about crab apples and cherries, so I made these Cherry Almond Oatmeal Crumble Bars. A little tart, a little sweet, a little nutty and overall delicious.
Doing a little more experimenting with “upside down” desserts, this time plain old apples, but the batter also has toasted walnuts for a bit more flavor, and made in a bundt pan. I was actually afraid that this one wouldn’t release as well, and that I might have a disaster on my hands, but it inverted and released quite nicely and it tuned out ok. The cake itself isn’t as moist as I would like though, so might have to serve with some whipped cream. Just a little Sunday afternoon snack at coffee time.
One more year! Today is the 12th birthday (I have a Tween!) of the Cup of Sugar :: Pinch of Salt website. No, not my (the human) birthday but the anniversary of when I started the virtual recipe collection (the website). It was a cold day in January 2011 that someone suggested that I start putting all my recipe ideas and pictures in one place and a few weeks later, the site was born. Twelve years and 2680 recipes, I am still at it. I didn’t think that was possible, or even likely but here we are. What’s to come, I don’t know, but you know where to find me — in my kitchen!