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Desserts

Cookies, Desserts, Sweet Snacks

Lemony Lemon Chip Poppy Seed Blondies

It’s always cool when you find a new ingredient. This time, I found Lemon Chips from King Arthur Flour. Sort of like Chocolate Chips, but lemon, of course. And they are very lemony. I only ordered one package as a test run, but I will definitely be ordering more! Very Lemony Lemon Chip Poppy Seed Blondies, pair nicely with a glass of iced tea. Trust me. 🙂
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Desserts, Sweet Snacks

Torta Caprese
(Italian Flourless Spiced Chocolate Almond Cake)

So what do you do if you don’t have 1. flour, 2. yeast or 3. baking powder/baking soda and still want to make a sweet treat for …. say, Mother’s Day? Here is an idea: this Torta Caprese, an Italian Flourless Spiced Chocolate Almond Cake. No flour, no leaveners! Now, you will need a few ingredients that you might not have in the pantry (almond flour/meal, bittersweet chocolate bars, cocoa powder), and some standards (butter, eggs, sugar, salt, and spices). This comes together quickly, but does take some time to cool (and what happens if you don’t let it cool long enough — the top cracks when you cut it, like what happened here.) Nevertheless, delicious, rich and gluten-free, if that is your thing. My recommendation: serve with a bit of Amaretto Whipped Cream!
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Desserts, Sweet Snacks

Apfelstrudel mit Vanillesoße
(Apple Strudel with Vanilla Custard)

Today is May first and I’ve got Germany on the brain and in the heart. As you all know, I typically go to Munich 3 or 4 times per year and usually once in the Spring. Being there over May Day is always a treat. And as you guys also mostly know, a friend of mind always every trip that I am over go on what we affectionately call the “Strudel Run” where we day trip from Munich to Innsbruck, Austria for Strudel at Cafe Kroll … and then often end up some other random place (Italy, Lichtenstein…). So, in light of the fact that I am stuck in rainy greater Boston today, I decided to make Apfelstrudel. I cheated though by using frozen pre-made phyllo sheets, which turned out phenomenally. I was going to make Vanillesoße (Vanilla Custard/Sauce) and included it in the recipe, but checked the egg and milk status before starting and decided that I didn’t want to go to the shops tomorrow (I try to conserve as much as possible) so skipped making it.
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Desserts

Joann Chang’s Olive Oil Cake, with Fresh Grapes
(from Pastry Love)

It’s actually quite rare that I post recipes verbatim from another cookbook or website without making a few modifications, but this recipe was perfect just as is. It’s from Joann Chang’s newest cookbook, Pastry Love, and besides the fact that I made it square not round, it is exactly as written in the cookbook and boy is it delicious. I also love the way the photos turned out. It’s the little things that keep you happy, right?
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