Pear Charlotte Royale

Pear Charlotte Royale

For years, the New York Times Sunday magazine section included a Food column from Craig Claiborne and Pierre Franey. This was the first thing I looked at when starting the paper, and many recipes were cut out and put in a “try this in the future†file. One, entitled “Improving on Charlotte Russe†(April 1980) caught…

Read More

Coconut Thumbprints

Coconut Thumbprints are a delicious holiday recipe

These delicious Coconut Thumbprints are one of my favorite holiday cookies for several reasons. The toasted flaked coconut surrounding the subtly flavored dough, filled with raspberry jam or apricot preserves is a wonderful combination of tastes and textures. They are quite simple to make and may be refrigerated or frozen and baked off in small…

Read More

Cranberry Streusel Muffins

Cranberry Streusel Muffins have brilliant color and tartness

Cranberries are a unique and wonderful fruit that for their brilliant color and tartness, merit use in many ways other than Thanksgiving’s cranberry sauce. In Cranberry Streusel Muffins, we use the Blueberry Muffins recipe from July 21st, substitute cranberries for the blueberries, and add a streusel topping. These are delicious for a simple weekend breakfast,…

Read More

Steamed Pumpkin-Ginger Pudding

Steamed Pumpkin Ginger Pudding

For several years Williams-Sonoma produced excellent booklets with complete Thanksgiving menus and recipes.  One featured a delicious Steamed Pumpkin-Ginger Pudding recipe that has been part of my holiday dinner table ever since.  The diced crystallized ginger and baking spices marry well with the pumpkin to produce a flavorful and unique ending to the holiday meal.…

Read More

Cranberry Streusel Muffins

Cranberry muffins on a wooden cutting board.

PRINT Cranberry Streusel Muffins Yield: 12 muffins # of Servings: 12    Method: Muffin Ingredients: 2 ¾ cup (12.5 oz / 354 g) pastry or all-purpose flour 1 tbl + 1 tsp (.6 oz / 17 g) baking powder1 ¾ cup + 4 tsp (6 oz / 170 g) sugar ½ tsp (.1 oz /…

Read More

Apple Strudel

Apple Strudel is a flaky, sweet enough strudel

I first tasted apple strudel on a post college graduation trip to Vienna, where it was among the memorable foods I tasted in the wonderful caf©s and restaurants. It is with the memory of that delightfully flaky, just sweet enough strudel, served on delicate china, in mind that I began working on this week’s recipe.…

Read More

Mozart Torte

A chocolate cake with white frosting and musical notes.

Mozart Torte is one of my favorite and proudest creations, developed during the second season at Seven Layers. It consists of a nut and chocolate flaked butter sponge cake which is split and sandwiched with apricot jam, then enrobed in a bittersweet chocolate glaze. The flavor profile is rooted in the Viennese cake and pastry…

Read More

The Friday Baking Project

Chocolate Roulade


PRINT Chocolate Roulade Yield: 1 roulade # of Servings: 6 Ingredients: Chocolate Souffl© Sheet Cocoa powder, as needed 1 ½ cup heavy cream 1 tsp vanilla extract ¼ cup (1 oz / 28 g) confectioners’ sugar, sifted Confectioners’ sugar, as needed Tools and equipment needed: 10 ¼â€ by 15 ¼â€ jelly roll pan Handheld or…

Read More

Chocolate Roulade

Chocolate Roulade cake rolls

I’ve always been a fan of roulades, or cake rolls. Their unique shape offers a refreshing change from traditional round cakes, and they typically boast straightforward flavor profiles. Plus, they require minimal decoration, often just a dusting of confectioners’ sugar or cocoa. In creating my chocolate roulade, I extensively researched and tested various recipes, including…

Read More