Maple Cream Pie

Maple Cream Pie made from maple syrup

Vermont takes its role as biggest producer of maple syrup in the United States seriously and syrup containers are proudly on display in many stores. So, while there over the holidays and working on the upcoming baking schedule I began thinking about a dessert incorporating maple syrup. On my return home, I went to my…

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The Friday Baking Project
Vanilla Cookie Crumb Crust

PRINT Yield: 1 9†pie crust Ingredients: 1 ¼ cups (5.4 oz / 145 g) finely ground vanilla wafer cookie crumbs13 tbl (1.4 oz / 40 g) sugar5 tbl (2 ½ oz / 71 g) butter, melted Tools and equipment needed: Pre-recipe preparations: Directions: Notes:  1 If using Nabisco Nilla wafers, each box weighs 11…

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Vanilla Cookie Crumb Crust

Vanilla Cookie Crumb Crust served on a tray

This excellent cookie crumb crust recipe, from Pie and Tarts by Kristina Petersen Migoya, works well for cream and custard pies. Nabisco Nilla wafers are the recommended cookie for this crust (see note 1). PRINT Vanilla Cookie Crumb Crust Yield: 1 9†pie crust Ingredients: 1 ¼ cups (5.4 oz / 145 g) finely ground…

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The Friday Baking Project
Cardamom Cake

PRINT Yield: 1 cake # of Servings: 80 to10 Method: Creaming Ingredients: Ganache glaze (optional): Special tools and equipment required: Pre-recipe preparations: Directions: 1. Start creaming the butter and sugar, scraping down the bowl as needed.2. While butter is creaming, stir together dry ingredients in medium mixing bowl, set aside.3. Beat eggs and vanilla in small…

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Cardamom Cake

A bundt cake that is on top of a table.

Cardamom with its unique taste and distinctive scent, is used extensively in Scandinavian baking recipes. Among them are Sweden’s Cardamom Buns (Kardemummabullar), Norway’s Christmas Bread (Julekake), and Finland’s Cardamom Sweet Bread (Pulla). And the most well-known, Denmark’s Danish Pastry (Wienerbr¸d). This simple yet delightful Cardamom Cake relies on that Scandinavian baking spice as the primary…

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Christmas Ivoire

Christmas Ivoire

This Christmas version of Ivoire et Chocolate incorporates the colors of the holiday into a beautiful dessert.  It was inspired by a holiday cake design in the excellent book Cocolat (1990). Christmas Ivoire is a good example of taking a favorite cake and giving it a different look for a holiday. This is a big…

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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…

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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…

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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,…

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