Desserts, Sweet Snacks

Spring Has Sprung Garden Party Cake

All of a sudden, it seems to be spring. After this winter here in Boston, I never thought that we’d be saying “Gosh, it’s hot!” again, but here we are on May 7 … and it’s downright hot. So, in celebration thereof, I made this here cake. I actually have a bit of a philosophy that I have broken with this cake — which is that I think that a cake should look like a cake, not like something else — but eh, rules are meant to be broken sometimes and I ended up with this cutsie little cake. It’s just a chocolate cake with raspberry filling, chocolate butter cream frosting and lots of mini-M&Ms.
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7. May 2015
Breads, Breakfast/Brunch

Extra-Swirly Cinnamon Cardamom Loaf

I woke up this morning with a craving for cinnamon toast. Actually, I should say that I woke up at 3 AM with a craving for cinnamon toast, but managed to convince myself that I should probably not wake up the other tenants in the building by running the KitchenAid at 3 AM. I’m considerate like that [grin].

Cinnamon Swirl Bread has a long story in my life. My best-friend-forever’s mother has always made great Cinnamon Bread. Back in high school, I think that I begged her for the recipe at least once per week. Twenty five years later, I still have never gotten that recipe, but my own baking skills have gotten much better so that I grokked my own. This time I added cardamom as well. Cardamom always reminds me of a Swedish friend of the family, who makes this amazing cardamom cake. So between the two things (cinnamon and cardamom), this bread is one of those walks down memory lane.
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3. May 2015
General Reference/Tutorial

Sweet and Salty Ramp Butter, with Honey and Sea Salt

Things to do with Ramps, Part 3: Make butter. And not just any butter … butter that you will be looking for any and every excuse to use. It’s sort of like garlic herb butter, but lots and lots better, very mild and incredibly good. I just made four rolls of this and have stashed them in the freezer to use all summer long (if I have enough will power to make it last that long). Try it, you soooo won’t be disappointed!
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2. May 2015
Cookies, Sweet Snacks

Hazelnut Saffron Linzer Cookies,
with Passion Fruit Gelee

And now for something completely different in the cookie department … a complete departure from my usual chocolate or caramel or what-have-you (but not a departure from Linzer Cookie style cookies, which I seem to make fairly often), this week we something involving saffron and passion fruit, which go together quite nicely, I found out. Also, the smell of saffron when baking, because it is intensified, is just lovely.

And now, these aren’t Christmas Cookies … the cut out parts are meant to be flowers, even though they turned out more like stars. Although, I would make Christmas Cookies in May.
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1. May 2015
Desserts, Sweet Snacks

Browned Butter Bourbon Pecan Chocolate Chip Pie
aka Kentucky Derby Pie

In a couple of days, the Kentucky Derby will be run for 2015. I’ve been seeing a lot of photos out there for Mint Juleps and such, but thought I would go in another direction with my homage to the the Running of the Roses: Pie. No surprise there, eh? I’ve been this type of pie been called Chocolate Chip Pie, but with my addition of Pecans and Bourbon, it almost seemed more appropriate to rename it as Kentucky Derby Pie. Southern, and all that. It is ooey and gooey on the inside, perfect for pairing with vanilla iced cream.
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30. April 2015