Just like Super Glue or duct tape can hold anything together in the non food world, I am convinced that chocolate ganache can shore up just about any dessert mishap. Trust me, I have put it through more than its share of test trials, and chocolate ganache can and will most assuredly save the day. Your cake is a bit on the dry side? Chocolate ganache! Is there a crater running through your cake the size of the San Andreas Fault line? Chocolate Ganache! I think you get the picture. You’re smart like that.
Monthly Archives: November 2010
Pumpkin Pie for One Anyone?
No this post is not about a single gal’s lonely Thanksgiving for one…and if I have just insulted you…I am sorry. Instead, this is one of those brilliant accidents. Although, it’s not quite as good as the accidental invention of Ivory soap, but it’s a great idea nonetheless.
Let me back track a few steps. I am not making Thanksgiving dinner, but I am bringing a pumpkin pie, a chocolate pudding pie and the cranberry sauce. I had gotten my crusts out of the way and was up to my elbows in pumpkin puree, when something went awry. I put double the amount of cinnamon into the pumpkin filling. I know, it does not sound like that egregious of an error, but I am always a proud baker, and I don’t believe in serving anything short of taste perfection if I can help it. Continue reading
Pear Fritters Have Sunk My Battleship
I know this must come as a great shock to you, but pear fritters are not the answer to your diet dilemma. They are made with whole milk, deep fried and then rolled in sugar. Does that not scream diet food? In all seriousness though, these fritters are some heavenly cross between funnel cake from the fair (c’mon you know you love it), and a deliciously airy homemade doughnut. These particular fried delights are elevated a touch as they are full of gingered pears and have a touch of lemon zest.
Pumpkin Pancakes—A Great Excuse to Eat Dessert First
Breakfast is the best meal of the day as far as I am concerned. For a sweet toothed baker like myself it is an excuse to rightfully eat dessert as a meal. Pumpkin pancakes are no exception.
These fluffy pancakes are packed with the good for you vitamins that pumpkins are famous for, but taste like soft and tender tiny spice cakes lightly sweetened with brown sugar and perked up with nutmeg and cinnamon. I even teamed it up with a creamy maple cream cheese topping (breakfast talk for FROSTING!). Doesn’t that spell dessert for breakfast to you? Continue reading
Aunt Bette’s Dangerous German Chocolate Cake
Aunt Bette is my husband’s aunt, and as far as my dad is concerned, her German Chocolate cake is the best dowry any dad could ask for. It is actually airy and spongy, with the best ooey, gooey coconut and pecan topping. If that’s not enough, it also has a luxurious chocolate butter cream frosting on the sides just to send it over the top.
After eating a slice of this superstar cake, you do something radical—you are not yourself, you lose all control and you go in for seconds…yes seconds. A little tiny bit more is shaved off the cake and delicately placed on your plate…a smidgen more couldn’t hurt, could it? Continue reading
Traditions Reinvented—A Cranberry Chocolate Devil’s Food Cake
Are you in the Thanksgiving spirit yet? Perhaps dreaming of cranberries and pumpkin pie? Cranberries are so nice and tart that they are the perfect accompaniment to a deep, dark Devil’s Food cake laced with both white and dark chocolate ganache.
Suit Up Hot Dogs, You’re Going to a Party!
Why on earth does anyone in their right mind give you a “recipe” for hot dog crescent roll-ups on their very prestigious, baking blog (Don’t worry, I have no delusions of grandeur…but one can dream can’t they)? Pop and Fresh anything isn’t exactly on the hot list and neither are hot dogs for that matter.
Life’s Better in L.A. with a Plate of Warm Apple Softies and a Dalmatian Mini-Van
I figured I had better get right to the description of those big, soft cinnamon-y apple cookies so you all who came for the cookies, got what you are here for, with no further ado. They are the perfect after school or work snack…especially served along side a healthy sliced apple and a tall, cold glass of milk.
Max Brenner’s Chocolate Pizza
Eating at Max Brenner, NY, with my hubby made all of his chocolate fantasies come true (let’s hope!). Chocolate, marshmallows and pizza, an unlikely combo, all oozing and melting as it makes its way into your mouth was his idea of Nirvana. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed it as well. I am the true chocoholic of our family, but for me decadence is the deepest, darkest chocolate only to be outdone by a scoop of crunchy nuts (preferably almonds or hazelnuts)… and maybe a hint of cointreau. He even photographed the pizza and texted it to numerous friends bragging about his bounty.
Sweet And Crumby 
