From the category archives:

Cakes

An Understated Chocolate Cake

by Laura 29 June 2012
Thumbnail image for An Understated Chocolate Cake

This cake has been part of our repertoire for more than a decade; I bet I’ve made it more than 20 times now.  It’s from an era when I still cooked and baked from recipes, and one of the rare ones I still pull off the shelf.  I make other chocolate cakes, of course, but [...]

Read the full article

Baby Barmbracks with Sherry

by Laura 9 May 2012
Thumbnail image for Baby Barmbracks with Sherry

My Honey Girl and I spent the first week of April together in Ireland.  Beneath a cornflower blue sky and tucked into the soft Connemara mountains, celadon in sunlight, black in shadow, we settled into the Cashel House where Mrs. McEvilly and her soft-spoken staff surrounded us with their incomparable care, tucking hot water bottles [...]

Read the full article

Maple Pudding Cakes (Pouding Chomeur) + Sugarbush Spring

by Laura 23 March 2012
Thumbnail image for Maple Pudding Cakes (Pouding Chomeur) + Sugarbush Spring

Spring came in with such a rush this year.  By mid-March—mid-March!—the snow had receded, the grass greened, the buds burst, the crocuses bloomed, and people were out swilling cold beer on patios, the smell of charcoal grills in the air.   A week later now, the ice on Lake Minnetonka has gone out, the first vinca [...]

Read the full article

Italian Cream Cake

by Laura 21 March 2012
Thumbnail image for Italian Cream Cake

Work is so engrossing for me that, when my Sweet Boy is away, I often realize I am sitting in total darkness, the sun has set, the black sky has swallowed up the day, and the moon has appeared out my window.  The television set in my neighbor’s window flickers across the way and lights [...]

Read the full article

English Summer Strawberry Trifle

by Laura 4 July 2011
Thumbnail image for English Summer Strawberry Trifle

When the house is helter-skelter, the list is too long, and my energy is flagging, the best thing I can do for myself is to invite friends for a meal.   The cleaning and the cooking have to be done anyhow, I figure, so why not have the happy reward of their company at the end?  [...]

Read the full article

A Warren of Bunny Cakes

by Laura 22 April 2011
Thumbnail image for A Warren of Bunny Cakes

There are bunnies in these woods… I woke to hoar frost this morning.  (Is there anything lovelier?)   And the first daffodil of the spring, nestled in a bed of snow not yet melted.  Spring and winter are currently colliding in Minnesota in a month-long tug of war.  I know spring will prevail eventually, but right [...]

Read the full article

Brown Butter Almond Cake with Homemade Citrus Jelly

by Laura 11 April 2011
Thumbnail image for Brown Butter Almond Cake with Homemade Citrus Jelly

It is 45 degrees here this morning.  The sky is clear and big and bright blue, and the last of the snow is melting.  Even the spot where the plows had pushed up a good eight feet at the end of the driveway has nearly disappeared.  There is the smell of dirt and life in [...]

Read the full article

Four-minute Chocolate Chocolate Cake for One

by Laura 22 March 2011
Thumbnail image for Four-minute Chocolate Chocolate Cake for One

We took our first two-hour walk of the season today, through the woods and marshes near our house.  Slippery ice, squishy mud, the first glimpses of patches of green since our November snow fell, honking geese, loud woodpeckers at work, and Little Annie as happy as can be.  Welcome Spring! When we returned, muddy pawed [...]

Read the full article

Fennel & Almond Pound Cake with Sambuca Syrup

by Laura 25 February 2011
Thumbnail image for Fennel & Almond Pound Cake with Sambuca Syrup

I used to love that little pinch of fennel seed and rainbow-colored licorice candy as I paid the check at our favorite Indian restaurant.  Rory Gilmore ruined it for me with her, well, I’ve posted it below for those willing to risk never being able to enjoy his or her little pinch again. … From [...]

Read the full article

Vanilla Cheesecake with Fresh Lingonberries and Cardamom Whipped Cream

by Laura 6 December 2010
Thumbnail image for Vanilla Cheesecake with Fresh Lingonberries and Cardamom Whipped Cream

Our Honey Girl’s Mr. Right’s parents (Are you still with me?) visited us this past weekend from Alabama.   It was Mr. Right’s dad’s birthday, and I had it on good authority that a cheesecake would be something that would make the birthday boy happy.  Since they were visiting from the South, I thought it would [...]

Read the full article

Orange Flower Water Pound Cake with Candied Orange Peel & Rum and Orange Liqueur Glaze

by Laura 19 November 2010
Thumbnail image for Orange Flower Water Pound Cake with Candied Orange Peel & Rum and Orange Liqueur Glaze

This is definitely an egg-before-chicken recipe, but sometimes those are the most fun.  I made too much glaze for my Pfeffernusse the other day (recipe here), and it was too good to just throw away, so I decided to dream up another vehicle for its sticky yummy-ness.  I’ve been baking a lot of cookies, so [...]

Read the full article