Blueberry Muffins

07/14/2022

Leisurely summer vacation or weekend breakfasts are a perfect time for muffins. There might be yogurt and fresh berries, overnight oats, or a frittata, but a warm, freshly baked muffin fits in so well to a July or August breakfast where nobody is checking the time and the biggest decision…

Celebration Ivoire

07/07/2022

Celebration Ivoire is a wonderful example of taking a recipe and using its components to create a new dessert with a completely different appearance. Starting with the Ivoire et Chocolat recipe from October 22, 2021, I add fresh raspberries to the inside and top of the cake. The chocolate band…

Fresh Berry Shortcakes

06/30/2022

In my mind, a July 4th party dessert must meet a few requirements; easy to serve outdoors, include patriotic colors, and make guests smile. Strawberry shortcakes expanded to include blueberries meets those requirements. Set up with all the components for guests to assemble their own shortcake dessert is definitely smile…

Chocolate Cupcakes

06/22/2022

The bakery in the small Queens, New York community where I grew up was an important part of my family’s shopping and food life. The Cake Box was the source of rye bread, corn rye, our weekly Challah, black and white cookies, birthday cakes, Danish pastries, and cupcakes. As with…

Coconut Cupcakes

06/21/2022

This wonderful cupcake and frosting combination is adapted from an Emeril Lagasse recipe for coconut cake. The moist yellow cake uses unsweetened coconut milk as the liquid, which makes for a beautifully smooth cake batter. See the recipe note on coconut milk as all brands are not the same. I…

Cheesecake

06/16/2022

When I opened my Martha’s Vineyard baking business in 1982, the first restaurant client requested, among other desserts, a cheesecake. I tested a few recipes to no great enthusiasm, until I came upon one in Maida Heatter’s Book of Great Desserts, which itself was adapted from a Craig Claiborne recipe…

Pavlova

06/09/2022

We have used several types of meringue in Friday Baking Project desserts â€“ nut meringue in Dacquoise, Italian Meringue in Baked Alaska and Swiss Meringue in buttercream. This week we delve into Pavlova, the queen of baked meringue desserts and a perfect ending to a spring or summer meal. It…

Chocolate Truffle Cake

06/03/2022

This intensely chocolate cake originated from an all-day baking session in my home kitchen with an old friend. We were working to recreate the rectangular Chocolate Tile Cake from a long-gone Greenwich Village restaurant, La Tulipe. The process presented many challenges, including maintaining even, straight lines during the assembly of…