desserts
Desserts
Pistachio Cookies
Celebrate the start of the holiday season with these festive green pistachio cookies. Rich and nutty, this recipe needs just 25 minutes of prep and yields 6-1/2 dozen buttery cookies.
Desserts
Mudslide Cheesecake
This homemade Baileys cheesecake is the perfect treat. This rich, velvety dessert boasts a harmonious blend of flavors and a light, airy texture, all crowned with a sumptuous chocolate ganache. Dive into this irresistible recipe and elevate your dessert game. Here’s how to create this indulgent masterpiece.
Desserts
Whoopie Pies
These classic whoopie pies are a delicious cake-cookie hybrid, filled with a fluffy vanilla-tinged frosting. They are one of our favorite uniquely American treats.
Desserts
Minty Pineapple Fruit Salad
Fresh mint adds bright flavor to this easy, quick and low-fat pineapple salad. Give it a berry twist by using blueberries and raspberries in place of the grapes, but don't forget the secret dressing ingredient—lemonade!
Desserts
Upside Down Pear Pancake
There’s a pear tree in my yard that inspires me to bake with its fragrant fruit. This upside-down pancake works best with a firm pear, not one that is fully ripe.
Desserts
Caribbean Coconut Rum Cake
My take on those boozy treats that weigh down suitcases returning from Jamaica, this moist cake packs a rum punch. You may wish to card your guests before serving. The longer the rum soaks in, the better—overnight is best.
Desserts
Mamaw Emilys Strawberry Cake
My husband loved his mamaw's strawberry cake recipe. He thought no one could duplicate it. I made it, and it’s just as scrumptious as he remembers.
Desserts
Raspberry Custard Kuchen
Back where I grew up in Wisconsin, people have been baking this German treat for generations. We love it for breakfast or as a special dessert. It's no fuss to fix and impressive to serve.
Desserts
Banana Upside-Down Cake
For a fun and distinctive way to use bananas, try this banana upside down cake. Every time I serve this treat, someone requests the recipe.
Desserts
Citrus Pound Cake
Moist and tender, this gorgeous classic has a refreshing taste of sunshine.
Desserts
Saffron Semifreddo with Cherry-Cardamom Syrup and Salted Honey-Hazelnuts
This recipe was inspired by my final project in culinary school, placing saffron in dessert and letting it shine by sweet deliverance. We made ice cream sandwiches and put saffron in the cookie; I fell in love with the way the threads ran like ribbons through the dessert, making it a beautiful last dance. This semifreddo is the definition of decadence, made with Italian sweet vermouth and accompanied by a lush cherry-cardamom syrup and finished with a salty-sweet crunch. My favorite part about making this is you can make the semifreddo (the diligent part), and simply finish the other two components while the custard freezes. I prefer to serve mine scooped straight from the bowl for a rustic presentation. A bonus to this recipe is you can use the leftover egg whites for macaroons or for making an omelet for lunch.
Desserts
Strawberry-Fennel Ice Cream
I came up with this recipe using raw cream, eggs straight from the farm, agave nectar and fennel pollen that tastes just like spring. The beautiful pink color comes from a puree of strawberries but there are also chunks of whole berry to add texture to the creamy base.
Desserts
Chocolate Stout Pudding
A rich dark chocolate pudding that puts the store-bought version to shame.
Desserts
Coconut Spelt Scones with Blueberries
A fruit-filled vegan scone that holds its own against traditional variations.
Desserts
Rhubarb Curd Shortbread
I'm a curd fanatic. I eat the stuff straight out of the bowl. When I saw this rhubarb curd on a couple blogs, I was instantly smitten and had to try it for myself. It's got the zing and intrigue of passionfruit curd, but it's...pink! I'm in love. The shortbread is an adaptation of (shocker!) Karen DeMasco's recipe, with some spices added to complement the rhubarb.
Desserts
Truly Scrumptious Apple Pie
This pie is inspired by the recipe Delicious Apple Pie from the Blue Ribbon Pies cookbook, published by Consumers Union, edited by Maria Polushkin Robbins - my all-time favorite pie recipe. I read about the apple layering technique in The Flavor Bible, so every bite of this pie has different textures and flavors of apples. My pie dough is adapted from the recipe for Flaky Pie Dough in the cookbook Baking with Julia by Dorie Greenspan. You'll have enough dough for 2 pies. And one of my favorite movies is Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, hence the title.
Desserts
Herb and White Wine Granita
after tasting a beautiful white wine at a local wine merchant this summer, my husband and i enjoyed this subtle and elegant frozen dessert.
Desserts
Chocolate Swirl Cinnamon Marshmallows
I fell in love with making homemade marshmallows a couple years ago. It took only one batch to realize how easy they are to make and that most people are very surprised to learn marshmallows can be made at home (one of many reasons I like giving them as gifts). After finding a no-fail recipe in Gourmet, I've felt much more comfortable tweaking elements to create my own. These are perfect for the winter - a vanilla-infused marshmallow that's been swirled with chocolate and sealed in a cinnamon-cocoa powder coat. For the chocolate, I like to go dark (here, I used a bar with 75% cacao to offset the sweetness of the rest of the square).
Desserts
Caramel Rice Pudding with Brown Butter and Crème Fraîche
For this dessert, I began with the idea of using brown butter and arborio to make a risotto-style rice pudding. But the original version wasn't that exciting. That's when the idea of starting with a brown butter caramel worked its way into the pudding, along with the addition of crème fraîche, which I thought would cut the sweetness nicely. After a few more test runs, I also decided that the rice had a nicer texture when it was simmered with all of the liquid than it did when cooked like risotto, adding the liquid bit by bit. The bonus is that this also means less work for you!