I only recently heard of paczkis. These treats are Polish in origin (and pronounced like “poon-shkee”) and, to completely over-simplify them, resemble cake-like jelly doughnuts. The idea, as with all Fat Tuesday-centric food, is to use up and indulge in all of the things that aren’t to be consumed during Lent, and as such, these are more exciting than your everyday doughnuts.

Traditionally, these are a bit large and contain a small bit of… click to read more…

1. Honey Pecan Sticky Buns Sticky buns are an odd thing for me. Are they...
2. A very loose interpretation of a Strawberry Swiss Roll This is the last of my marathon of strawberry desserts...
3. Sweet Cherry Pie When I saw Deb’s sweet cherry pie, I was in...

This was delicious and very strawberry-ish. I would be happy just eating the frosting (and shamelessly licked the bowl clean. Very clean). My only disappointment was that the cake was a little denser than I would have liked–I’d consider lessening the amount of strawberry puree (e.g. by half a cup) in the cake so that it might rise more and take on a lighter texture. As is,… click to read more…

1. Very Strawberry Cupcakes! As if cupcakes on their own aren’t spectacular, these cupcakes...
2. My Mom’s entries for Strawberry Seduction: Strawberry Cheesecake and Pancakes w/Strawberry Compote My mother has been a loyal reader of my blog...
3. Dark Chocolate Cupcakes with Honey Pecan Frosting There’s a number of reasons I prefer making cupcakes over...

I’ll be honest: I’d forgotten about these peach preserves. They were buried in the back of my pantry, but when I found them, I needed to finally dig in (peach season is one of the things I’m anxiously awaiting, after all). They were simple to make (many months ago), and I remember from sampling a bit how wonderful they tasted–sweet, peaches at their peak, finished with that je… click to read more…

1. Cardamom Peach Preserves Just like I get the strong urge to braise everything...
2. Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheesecake A while back, I had seen that the Daring Baker’s...
3. My Mom’s entries for Strawberry Seduction: Strawberry Cheesecake and Pancakes w/Strawberry Compote My mother has been a loyal reader of my blog...

In this case, I chose to go with a more Italian inspired flavor profile: creamy and tangy ricotta with the bright flavor of lemon. The cake was delicious, and I topped it off with a simple, sweet, lemony glaze to further the lemon flavor. The final result was delicious with a sweet, crispy crust around the edges and a tender, crumbly, delicious cake inside. My only regret was using too small of a loaf pan (so I also had some free-form pound cakelet blobs to enjoy on the side, lol).

• Cake
  • 1.5 cups flour
  • 2.5 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 3/4 cup/6 oz unsalted butter
  • 1.5 cups fresh whole milk

… click to read more…

1. Upside-down Cardamom Praline Pear Cake This is the time of year where pears are at...
2. Orange Party Cake Like I’ve said before, my wife and I are cake...
3. Chocolate Heart Attack Cake for my blog’s birthday! A milestone has been reached–this blog has officially hit the...

Now there are many approaches to cheesecake, the two major distinctions being baked vs frozen. This cheesecake is of the baking variety, and if you have any aversion to this kind thinking its at all challenging, I promise you, its not. As a matter of fact, its dangerously easy–and I say dangerous because making a cheesecake with such little effort…well, I’m sure you understand.

Behind this cheesecake is my usual,… click to read more…

1. Peanut Butter Torte I love peanut butter. As a child, any treat that...
2. My Mom’s entries for Strawberry Seduction: Strawberry Cheesecake and Pancakes w/Strawberry Compote My mother has been a loyal reader of my blog...
3. Dark Chocolate Cupcakes with Honey Pecan Frosting There’s a number of reasons I prefer making cupcakes over...

For these particular cupcakes, I opted for the flavor that always seems to draw my wife and I to cakes: chocolate. I wanted it to have some intrigue to it though, so its not just chocolate–I wanted something darker. So for the cupcake batter, the foundational flavors are both cocoa and molasses for something a bit more like Devil’s Food. Then, to compliment that: a tangy cream cheese frosting flavored with toasted, honeyed pecans. All together very tasty and a fun change from the everyday chocolate cupcakes out there.

… click to read more…

1. Very Strawberry Cupcakes! As if cupcakes on their own aren’t spectacular, these cupcakes...
2. My Mom’s Deadly Dark Chocolate Kahlua Brownie Chunk Ice Cream Just like during Strawberry Seduction, my mom, a regular reader...
3. Honey Pecan Sticky Buns Sticky buns are an odd thing for me. Are they...

This is more than comfort food. Its too rich and indulgent to be called comfort food. You have the crisp, buttery, crinkly edges that seem to contradict the dense, fudgy, moist interior. And this is a situation where if you have a cache of chocolate, splurge and use the best you’ve got, because this is a… click to read more…

1. Honey-Nut Brownies At the time of my birthday (and since you ask,...
2. Molten Chocolate Cake This is one of those desserts surely everybody has had...
3. The Best Banana Bread Ever Unfortunately, year-round pumpkin bread isn’t a possibility for most of...

Just about everybody out there has had banana bread before–its a favorite for so many people for good reason. One of the problems with such popularity though is that there’s also many a banana bread recipe out there that kind of give banana bread a bad name. You know the kind–those fruit breads where, that, no matter what the fruit is, all taste exactly the same? All you taste is semi-moist bread and a bunch of spice, usually stale nutmeg? Kind of a downer. Apples don’t taste like bananas–why should they in bread?

This banana bread is nothing of the sort. I derived my recipe from this one and fell in love. Aside from the beautiful look and texture of this… click to read more…

1. Cream Cheese Swirled Pumpkin Bread I’m not a big breakfast person, and probably in keeping...
2. Nutella Crêpes w/Strawberry & Banana Crepes were always a rare but special treat for me...
3. Buttermilk Pancakes A great breakfast for a sleepy weekend morning that will...

Now all that being said, there’s something to be said about these brownies. Calling anything a “brownie” commands certain expectations that vary person to person. In all likelihood, these won’t meet them. Does that mean you’ll be disappointed? Absolutely not–these are incredible and you’ll devour the whole batch as quickly as you would any other brownie. They’re just different–more like a cake than the dark fudgey squares I… click to read more…

1. Macadamia Coconut Chocolate Fudge Brownie This recipe was a bit of an experiment gone awry....
2. Chocolate Heart Attack Cake for my blog’s birthday! A milestone has been reached–this blog has officially hit the...
3. Cardamom Honey Baklava Ice Cream in Phyllo Cups This was really delicious. I must confess, when I made...

So before I go into how it tastes, I should let you know what’s actually in the cake. The cake itself is flavored with both lemon and orange, and wedged between all four layers is a sheet of orange marmalade, orange flavored buttercream, and bits of candied citrus (I candied a variety of fruit–more on this later). The cake was then frosted with more buttercream and decorated with more candied citrus.

Flavor-wise, the cake was truly spectacular and texturally, light as air. The flavor was light, citrusy, and fresh in that way you only get from lemon (if that makes any sense). The buttercream was also… click to read more…

1. Upside-down Cardamom Praline Pear Cake This is the time of year where pears are at...
2. Caneton a`l’Orange (Roast Duck with Orange Sauce) Poultry is always a crowd pleaser, but let’s face it,...
3. Molten Chocolate Cake This is one of those desserts surely everybody has had...