This is some serious gingerbread

Dark molasses, black pepper and Chinese five-spice powder make for big-flavored gingerbread with plenty of spicy bite. Recipe below.

I KNOW IT’S MAY, BUT IT’S BECOME COLD HERE AGAIN. Spring had a few tentative successes—the young leaves started emerging, all soft and green, the small brown birds came back and began claiming real estate and singing to each other, pollen floated from the trees and we put away our duvets and down coats and brought out the light blankets and the little thin jackets. Then on Friday, it rained—where we were, it rained a lot and the atmosphere was quite unsettled—and then the temperature dropped very aggressively. Last night, shivering and muttering, I gave up and dragged the duvet out for what I hope will be its last hurrah. On the other hand, I also resumed baking gingerbread. Continue reading “This is some serious gingerbread” →

The taste of summer memories: Italian Prune Plum Cake

Prune plums are briefly in season, right now, time to make this luscious plum cake. Recipe below.

I REMEMBER THE WARM MONTHS OF MY CHILDHOOD as a procession of seasonal fruits—first the small soft fruits, strawberries, and raspberries, both also indelibly linked in my mind to various Detroit backyards where my father always kept an assortment of fruit trees and berry bushes, lovingly tended in even the most urban settings. Every fruit was ripe for such a fleeting time, and we were all keenly aware of that little vanishing moment. When the fruits we loved fell ripe, we all went to work, picking, cleaning, canning, and the children of course holding up their end by happily eating. Continue reading “The taste of summer memories: Italian Prune Plum Cake” →

Chocolate cake: Easy on the flour, easy to make

Quality chocolate and butter are key to this easy-to-make, almost flourless cake. Recipe below.

AS MUCH AS I LOVE TO COOK, WHEN IT COMES TO DESSERT I’m often all too ready to follow the advice given with so many main course recipes in cooking magazines: Cap off the meal with a nice store-bought dessert. With all the premium ice creams out there and lots of little bakeries churning out a dazzling [sometimes almost daunting] assortment of goodies, it’s an easy default. But there’s just something so nice about finishing a great meal with something homemade.

Fortunately for me, Marion is far more ready than I am to ignore the easy charms of store-bought and whip up something sinfully sweet and delicious at home. This decadent, rich, nearly flourless chocolate cake is a perfect example. So I’ll get out of the kitchen and let Marion tell you how to make it. Continue reading “Chocolate cake: Easy on the flour, easy to make” →

Light and Luscious: Lemon Flaxseed Cake

Vegetable oil in place of butter and heart healthy flaxseed meal make luscious Lemon Flaxseed Cake relatively guilt-free. Recipe below.

Is there anything as fresh, clean and bracing as the fragrance of lemons? Slicing or juicing lemons or grating their skin for the zest immediately fills your kitchen with tantalizing promise, on par with smashing garlic cloves: Something wonderful and delicious is about to happen.

This loaf cake is a perfect example. Light and sweet—but not too sweet—it is a perfect holiday treat. To bring to a party, to serve at a party of your own or just to have around the house for the family. It’s a substantial cake, not unlike pound cake in density, but the lemon flavor [and the lack of butter] makes it seem lighter. And because it contains flaxseed meal, it delivers those much sought after omega-3 fatty acids that are good for the heart. So you don’t even have to feel guilty eating it. This recipe is based on one found in Cooking Light magazine. Continue reading “Light and Luscious: Lemon Flaxseed Cake” →