Hospitality baked in a hotel pan: Texas Sheet Cake with Pistachios

Texas sheet cake, a Lone Star State tradition, is big and generous and easy to make. Here, we dress it up with pistachios and Himalayan pink salt. Recipe—and substitutions—below.

SO IT TURNS OUT TEXAS SHEET CAKE IS A THING. Over the weekend, I was rumbling around on the intertubes, looking for something to bake but not anything complicated, like a Napoleon, or annoying, like (grinding teeth) cookies. And this is when I stumbled over a thing millions—literally millions—of Americans already know: Texas sheet cake. Continue reading “Hospitality baked in a hotel pan: Texas Sheet Cake with Pistachios” →

Dessert? Dinner? Five recipes show how dried tart cherries do both

Ricotta Chevre Cake

[su_dropcap style=”flat”]L[/su_dropcap]ast week’s scone recipe left us with a surplus of dried tart cherries—and a reminder of how deliciously versatile they are. Here are five ways you can use dried cherries, some sweet, some savory. Continue reading “Dessert? Dinner? Five recipes show how dried tart cherries do both” →

Autumnal, rustic and offhandedly impressive: Walnut and Boozy Cherry Scones

Dried tart cherries are plumped in bourbon, then baked into easy-to-make, not-too-sweet scones. Recipe below.

Dried Cherry Walnut Scones

[su_dropcap style=”flat”]S[/su_dropcap]cones are the perfect baked dessert for someone who doesn’t bake much and prefers baked goods that aren’t too overly sweet. In other words, me. Continue reading “Autumnal, rustic and offhandedly impressive: Walnut and Boozy Cherry Scones” →

Welcoming the return of baking weather, with Lemon Hazelnut Scones

Lemon juice and zest, and toasted hazelnuts make these flaky scones a delicious, not-too-sweet treat for dessert or with tea or your morning coffee—or anytime. Recipe below.

FOR ME, SCONES HIT THAT SWEET SPOT OF NOT BEING TOO SWEET. In coffee shops, I find myself looking for these substantial, only-slightly-sweet treats instead the usual sugary, fluffy suspects. So as weather started cooling off here in Chicago, I thought about baking some scones. I’m still thinking about it. In the meantime, here are some lemony, nutty, not-too-sweet scones from our archives. We hope you enjoy them.

Too easy to taste this good: Quick Caramel Cake

No reason to tell them why this sweet, buttery caramel cake is so easy to make—just bask in the compliments. Recipe below.

Caramel Cake

[su_dropcap style=”flat”]I[/su_dropcap]’m a Midwestern, urban woman—the daughter of Eastern European immigrants. The desserts of my childhood tasted of cherry, chocolate, sweet cheese, cinnamon. Some things never crossed my path and, when I first ran across them, I thought they were weird. Too sweet and oddly sticky. How could people like them, much less want them and seek them out? One of those flavors was caramel. Seriously, what? Continue reading “Too easy to taste this good: Quick Caramel Cake” →

Easier than pie: Peach Blueberry Galette

Peaches, blueberries and thyme create a summery, not-too-sweet filling for this rustic, less-daunting-than-pie galette. Recipe below.

THE GUY WHO ALMOST NEVER BAKES—and certainly never bakes pies—just baked an almost pie. A rustic fruit galette. I blame my colleagues. Continue reading “Easier than pie: Peach Blueberry Galette” →

Comfort food with a side of memory: Fresh Spinach and Bacon Quiche

Fresh spinach gives this classic quiche a bigger flavor than frozen—and a frozen crust simplifies preparation. Recipe below.

I DON’T REMEMBER THE FIRST TIME I ATE QUICHE, but I do remember the most memorable slice. Marion and I were in Paris several years ago, searching for the modest hotel where my brother and I had stayed many years before. It was walking distance from the Eiffel Tower, and even though the bathrooms and showers were down the hall, the rooms were clean and charming, and we paid $7.50 a night. In the intervening years, the neighborhood I’d remembered as working class—Rue de Passy—had become a fashionable shopping destination. Continue reading “Comfort food with a side of memory: Fresh Spinach and Bacon Quiche” →

Braided bread with a sweet twist: Chocolate-filled Challah

Challah, a traditional Jewish braided bread, can be flavored in many ways, from simple to savory to sweet. Here, semi-sweet chocolate and brown sugar create an almost dessertlike loaf. Recipe below.

MY MOTHER, A BRILLIANT BAKER, used to routinely make elaborate, gorgeous, braided challahs with five, seven and even nine strands, filling them with chocolate, or candied fruits, or finely chopped nuts, or just cinnamon and sugar added with a cheerful generous hand. The scent, the anticipation, the burnished golden crust, all the ways we could use it: challah was a regular and wonderful part of my childhood. Continue reading “Braided bread with a sweet twist: Chocolate-filled Challah” →

The bright, fresh promise of summer: Blueberry Lime Yogurt Cake

Greek yogurt and lime juice lighten up and brighten up a traditional Polish blueberry cake. Recipe below.

We are getting a lot of amusement out of describing this roller coaster weather. On Friday night, it was so clingingly muggy and hot that we turned on the air conditioning. On Saturday night, after a day of plunging temperatures and changing clothes every couple of hours to stay warm and struggling around comically in pretty much maritime gales, we had to turn on the furnace. And when we went out to a surprise party Saturday night, I wore boots and a light down jacket. Continue reading “The bright, fresh promise of summer: Blueberry Lime Yogurt Cake” →

Five recipes, five favorite bloggers

One of the fun things about writing a food blog is getting to know other food bloggers—even if it’s only “knowing” them from their blogs. This week, I thought I would share recipes from five fellow bloggers I read pretty regularly. Dig in. Continue reading “Five recipes, five favorite bloggers” →