Browsing Tag

desserts

Breads, Breakfast/Brunch, Desserts, Sweet Snacks

Quick and Simple Blueberry Almond Cake

It’s Blueberry Season! I know, many of you might say that it is almost always blueberry season, but for me, “real” blueberries — the sweet, tart, bursting with flavor despite only being a 1/4 of an inch big, one that you rake from the barrens in Maine — are the only blueberries that count. If you make this blueberry cake, seek out the little gems and if you can’t find the real Maine wild blueberries fresh, go for the frozen ones (Wymans are great) but avoid fresh cultivated ones that are about the size of grapes because they sink to the bottom of your loaf cake and make a mess.

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Desserts, Sweet Snacks

Red Velvet and Vanilla Marbled Cupcakes, Double Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting

It’s about once per year that I make something “Red Velvet-y”. OK, maybe twice per year. That usually coincides with my best friend’s birthday, because she is crazy for red velvet anything. This year, I went with Red Velvet and Vanilla Marbled Cupcakes, Double Vanilla Frosting with festive sprinkles. Recipe makes a ton of cupcakes (like 25 or so) so if you need to feed a crowd, here you go!

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Desserts, Sweet Snacks

Mixed Berry Cheesecake Crumble Bars

This is my 4th attempt at making these Mixed Berry Cheesecake Crumble Bars. Well, first they started out as Strawberry Shortcake Cream Cheese Bar (disaster). Then I tried Raspberries. Not much better. Switched to mixed berries and the rest of the recipe (the cream cheese, the eggs, the Greek yogurt) got a complete overhaul. It wasn’t really about the berries, it was always about the ratios of the ingredients and the technique, times and cooling in between. When I finally got it right, these are perfection. And now the berry types won’t matter either. I might try it as a cheese cake pie variation later this week too. Proud of myself for finally figuring it out.

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Appetizers/Starters, Desserts, Dinner, Lunch, Savory Snacks, Sweet Snacks

Sweet/Savory Apricot Chili Rosemary Walnut Crumble Bars

I am the queen of crazy flavor combinations, right? But even this one seemed a little crazy to me. Last weekend, I found some Divina’s Apricot Chili Rosemary Spread. Not exactly a sweet jam. In fact, it has a bit of a kick mixed in with the apricots. But I decided to make some of my ever-famous crumble bars, this time: Sweet/Savory Apricot Chili Rosemary Walnut Crumble Bars. It was an experiment. I totally didn’t think that it would work, but you know what? It works. I am not advocating eating this as dessert, but added to a charcuterie board with cheese, salami and olive and grapes, these crumble bars are a perfect addition. I was shocked. Totally surprised. Totally good.

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Cookies, Desserts, Sweet Snacks

Lingonberry Rhubarb Crumble Bars

As many of you know, food is my “language”. For the good times and the bad, happy and sad, I often use food to remember things. And these crumble bars are no different really. Yes, just crumble bars but they are lingonberry and rhubarb. You see, a couple of weeks ago, another dear friend passed away. She was from Sweden, so that is the lingonberry connection. Rhubarb had been an inside joke of our for many years — she had once had a dream in February, that I had an over-abundance of rhubarb (in February? In New England?) so ever since then, I would make her rhubarb treats and learned to keep some in my freezer. This recipe, anything with cardamom and the Marabou brand of Swedish chocolate will forever remind me of her. She will be missed.

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