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.…

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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 /…

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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 cafés 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.…

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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…

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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 ¼” by 15 ¼” jelly roll pan Handheld or…

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Chocolate Roulade

Chocolate Roulade cake rolls

This classic Chocolate Roulade was first published by Dione Lucas in her 1947 book The Dione Lucas Book of French Cooking. Dione was a pioneering figure in culinary arts, the first woman to graduate from Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, the first female host of a television cooking show in the United States, and the…

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Pear Tarte Tatin

A white plate with a cake on it

My first exposure to Pear Tarte Tatin, was at Sign of the Dove in the 1990’s. I loved the dessert, but not the procedure, as I remember the pear slices would often be less than well-caramelized and occasionally stuck to the pan when unmolding. Years later while looking through Bistro Cooking by Patricia Wells, I…

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The Friday Baking Project

Holiday Challah

PRINT Holiday Challah Yield: 2 loaves  # of Servings:   20 Method: Straight dough Ingredients: 1 packet (.25 oz / 7 g) active dry yeast 1 ¼ cups warm water, approx. 104 °F 4 cups (1.2 lb / 545 g) bread flour 1 ¼ tsp (0.25 oz / 7 g) kosher salt ¼ cup (1.85…

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Holiday Challah  

Holiday Challah bread with apple slice

Traditional Friday evening Challah is a long loaf, formed from a three, four, or six-strand braid. An example of a basic three strand Challah is found in the initial Friday Baking Project blog on 8/7/2021. For the upcoming Rosh Hashana holiday, the beginning of the Jewish New Year, the shape of the challah changes to…

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