Baked Goods

Ice cream cake is, hands-down, my favorite kind of cake. The thing I’m picky about, though, is that it must actually have cake. Ice cream cakes consisting of only ice cream are just a gallon of ice cream in disguise. Now that we’ve established what must go into an ice cream cake, here’s a fail-proof way to make them in the summer: in a trusty muffin tin to make cute, single-serving sweet treats. Making mini ice cream cakes in a muffin tin is all about layering.

Lately cacio e pepe, a humble Roman pasta dish, has been getting quite a lot of praise — and for good reason. The simple pasta dish that’s tossed with nothing more than black pepper, olive oil, and Pecorino Romano cheese is a lesson in just how flavorful basic ingredients can be. So why limit this powerhouse of flavor to just pasta? These inspired croutons just might rival the original.

I firmly believe there are few places where everything bagel spice can’t go — and croutons are certainly no exception. Studded with tiny nooks and crannies, these crispy, toasted cubes are ideal for catching every last bit of flavoring. If you have 10 minutes, you have more than enough time to make these croutons a reality. If everything bagel spice has a regular place in your life, and you already have the pre-made spice blend handy, go ahead and use that.

Whether you’re putting the finishing touches on the ultimate taco salad, or just trying to pretend your leafy green salad is a plate of tacos, these crispy, flavor-packed croutons will help get you there. Any type of bread will work to make these seasoned croutons a reality.

Wings or salad? Wings or salad? I say, why choose when you can have both on the same plate! Because that’s just what you get with these crispy, crunchy Buffalo wing-inspired croutons. Coated with a mixture of olive oil and hot sauce, the bread cubes will soak up their savory, hot flavors while cooking and crisping up on the stovetop.

I’m a purist when it comes to summertimes treats. I like fresh berries folded into whipped cream or a sheet cake with a tumble of fresh fruit — and when the ice cream truck comes around, I always get a creamsicle. So when I came across Sara Moulton’s recipe for creamsicle pudding cake in her new book, Sara Moulton’s Home Cooking 101, I knew I had found my new go-to dessert for summer. First, let’s talk pudding cakes.

This Riesling rhubarb crisp cake has it all: tender white cake, rhubarb-strawberry compote and matching buttercream, a crispy oat crumble, and a fanciful, ruffled finish. It’s the perfect cake to bake when you’re feeling like showing off your cake-baking skills or looking for a weekend project to tackle when you want to spend the day in the kitchen.

When you’re looking for something beyond vanilla, but still aiming to please a crowd, try a classic lemon cake. Something as simple as lemon might get overlooked in a world of salted caramel, velvety raspberry, and matcha-everything, but this lemon supreme cake is anything but ordinary. With three layers of lemon-soaked cake blanketed in satiny vanilla buttercream, this little cake makes for an exceptional dessert for anything from a bridal brunch to afternoon tea to a birthday party.

Craving cake, but don’t necessarily have an occasion to make one for? Well then it’s a pretty good thing that you don’t need to wait until your birthday to make this honey-apple cake. This recipe falls under what I call “casual cakes,” meaning cakes that are perfectly suitable for Sunday brunch, afternoon tea, or any random Wednesday night when you need to fulfill a relentless cake craving without having to make something completely over the top.

Strawberry shortcake is the ambassador of summer, showing off juicy berries like jewels. It’s usually a humble dessert built on a biscuit, but here we turn it into a towering showstopper of cake, whipped cream, and fresh strawberries. Yet it brings drama without fuss; this is layer cake the easy way. This cake stands four-layers tall, each one too gorgeous on its own to be hidden behind a blanket of frosting or smothering of chocolate sauce (although that totally works for other cakes).

With Dijon mustard, thinly sliced ham, and creamy Gruyère, it seems the classic croque-monsieur was made for the casserole dish. If it’s a brunch stunner you’re after, or a dinner option with breakfast undertones, then this all-in-one baked take on the croque-monsieur should shoot to the top of your must-make list. This dish can be assembled the day of, but it’s actually best if everything up until the actual cooking is done the night before.

I’m not usually much of a dessert person, but for some reason, I’ll never turn down a slice of pumpkin pie. It’s probably because I love buttery crust and custard, and lucky for me, pumpkin pie has both. I decided to up the ante this year and throw an oatmeal streusel topping on top of the pie. You only have Thanksgiving dinner once a year, so why not?

Every fall, the squash calls begin again. They’re part of the season, like apple cider donuts and the colds that come from tromping around without a warm-enough coat. They start off just coming here and there, maybe one a day. But as November overtakes us, the pace quickens and the calls become more panicked. “Help. Need squash recipes.” Who can resist those winter squash?

When I invite friends over for dinner, I always swear to myself I’ll have dinner all ready and the kitchen cleaned up when they arrive, but more often than not, we drink our first glass of wine together while I’m still working at the stove and shoving dishes in the sink. Unless, that is, I remember to pull out this recipe. Then I’ve got dinner in the oven and I’ve had time to clean up before they even walk in the door.

Phew, it is finally Friday. After a whirlwind busy week of school, after-school activities, work, and writing, Friday night is my night to chill and relax with my family, along with some pizza and wine. And what better way to fuse East and West, than this tandoori chicken pizza? I usually prep for my pizza the night before, after my daughter is in bed. I get the chicken in its marinade and make the pizza dough, which always benefits from a slow rise in the fridge.

Mushrooms are a mainstay of many a vegetarian’s diet, as they are substantial, have great texture, 
and provide that elusive and desirable umami flavor we all crave — especially when meat isn’t part of the program. Maybe you haven’t cooked with mushrooms much, or thought about them as a main course, but you should — mushrooms are a great food to love, and a pretty important one if you are looking for hearty, meatless meals.

Sometimes there are so many reasons why we should DIY instead of buying pre-made goods at the store. From being more cost-efficient to making things healthier, building your own homemade pantry might seem to be more hands-on, but it sure has its perks. Even something as commercialized as marshmallow cream can be made better and tastier at home. This marshmallow fluff recipe proves just that. This fluff is light and creamy, and it has a smooth, real vanilla taste.

This is a cake that should come with a warning: Only proceed if you love molasses. If you do love molasses and its dark, bitter sweetness, then proceed immediately, and with haste. This cake is dark, fudgy, damp and rich. It’s like a chocolate cake for people who don’t like chocolate. I am one of those people who loves molasses even more than chocolate — I love how it balances sugar sweetness with bitterness and a cascade of funky sour notes.

This right here — this cheese-stuffed loaf — this is how you guarantee that any party you throw will be a smashing success. Cheese and bread are already a first-rate combination, of course, but this particular delivery method is just brilliant. I dare anyone standing in the vicinity to resist pulling off cheesy bite after cheesy bite. Dinner can burn and the power can go out, and everyone will still be perfectly content. Want to know how this party insurance can be yours?

When Cambria threw her pizza party on the porch, she knew she needed at least one great vegetarian pizza. So we cooked up this white pizza, with a garlicky ricotta sauce (no cooking required!), topped with handfuls of fresh spinach and luxurious slices of avocado and mozzarella. It’s a pretty great way to welcome a vegetarian to the pizza party — but be sure to make extra, because everyone else will probably want a slice too.

If you find yourself a guest at my house, the chances are good that you will be served homemade pizza for dinner. If I don’t know you well, pizza is almost guaranteed to please. If I do know you well, I’ve probably already added your favorite toppings to my shopping list. This particular cheesy specimen, topped with roasted red peppers, sausage, and plenty of Monterey Jack cheese, is one of my stand-by pizzas. My “house” pizza, if you will.

Making Ursula’s birthday cake is always an exercise in balance. I learned my lesson big time last year when she asked for a rainbow cake and I decided to take the opportunity of her turning six, combined with the fact that the rainbow has six colors, to make her a six-layer chocolate cake frosted with a different color of the rainbow from the bottom up; red. . . orange . . . yellow. . . you get the idea.

I have never met a challah I did not like. There is simply something magical about the puffed, egg-enriched loaves that sit at the center of many Jewish holiday meals and that make an extravagant base for French toast. And yet as a kid, I would count down the days to Rosh Hashanah when my mom would bring home challah baked specially for the holiday.

I’m a big fan of repairing reputations. I believe most things start off with the best intentions, but sometimes take a wrong turn, start running with a bad crowd, and need a loving hand to get back on track.  This, I’m afraid, is what happened to poke cake.

Lately I’ve been spending weekends in a house upstate that I’m sharing with my friends Hilary and Al. Deciding to share the house with them was a no-brainer: lovely people, great style, a kind and gentle son for Ursula to hang out with, fabulous British accents, and a killer house. What I didn’t know until arriving for our first weekend was that Al makes bread every Friday night for toast on Saturday morning. I totally scored.

Dessert is one of my favorite meals. Let’s face it: I have a pretty fierce sweet tooth. But many of us are trying to watch our sugar intake or, at least, cut down on the pure white stuff. Here are seven desserts that satisfy a sweet tooth without using any white sugar at all.   So what are they? They’re a list of a few inspired and varied desserts that don’t rely on processed white sugar (or chemical/artificial sweeteners) to craft delicious, satisfying desserts.

A few years ago my friend Haley requested an “icebox cake” as his birthday dessert of choice. He (yes, he) described a towering black and white confection of stacks upon stacks of chocolate layers nestled between blankets of snowy-white whipped cream. I was excited at the very thought of mastering this mysteriously named “icebox cake.” And then I Googled it… “Seriously, dude?

Eggplants were on sale at the market this week, so I picked one up and challenged myself to do something other than fry it. Since fried eggplant is so delicious in dishes like Eggplant Parmesan, I think it tends to be my easy go-to answer. I had something else in mind this time: an afternoon snack with a quick, delicious tahini dip that would carry us through until dinner.

I’ve been doing a lot of cooking this week, and it’s been really nice. When my marriage ended a year ago, I was suddenly thrown back into cooking by myself again, and at first I was lost at sea. I had forgotten everything I’d known — the touch and the feel of cooking — that I’d had ten years earlier when I was single.

I came up with this recipe after one of my trips to Italy during which I discovered the appeal of cooked grapes. In this cake, the grapes stay whole, but soften into juicy, ruby orbs. And with the cake: A simple sauce. But don’t let the simplicity fool you. This is seriously good sauce. People will think you have pulled out a double boiler (and all the stops) to make custard. Not true: The sauce consists only of mascarpone and lemon curd, whipped together.

Creamed spinach is a classic, decadent side dish, but it also makes a fine nest for baked eggs. Despite its name, cream weighs down the spinach, so half-and-half or whole milk is a better choice. On the other hand, skim milk is puny, meager, and inadequate. Starting with fresh spinach requires an extra prep step, but the flavor and texture are so superior to frozen spinach that it’s worth it. (You can make the creamed spinach the night before!

These bars were baked with a very specific person in mind: My father-in-law, Jim. He and my mother-in-law keep to a gloriously healthy diet. They have a bountiful garden behind their small urban home, and they eat two modest home-cooked meals a day, one after a vigorous early morning swim. However, on special occasions, restraint vanishes and I find a lot of pleasure in offering Jim his two favorite foods in the whole world: Butter and maple syrup.

Peaches? In October? Yes, I nabbed a handful of extra-soft, very late season peaches at the market last week, and after I ate a couple I decided to sink the rest into an easy cake for a dinner party. And this turned out to be just the right decision. This is a yogurt cake — just about the easiest cake of them all. It’s a one-bowl cake, with yogurt, oil, and eggs whipped up into a batter and the flour and leavening dropped right on top of the liquid ingredients.

Today Beatrix Potter’s very rare personal recipe book will go on sale in London. The children’s author is most famously known for creating the Peter Rabbit stories (although there are no recipes for rabbit in the book!). The 161-year-old book recipe book is full of what were most likely family recipes, probably handed down over generations, with recipes for sponge cake, roast turkey, curry, and gingerbread.

Up until recently, I just assumed “the art of sandwich making” was better left to the professionals. I don’t mean the basics — like ham and cheese on white or a PB&J — but the more ornate ones, like French dips, Cubans, and spicy Italians. I guess I figured that perhaps a deli had access to top-secret restaurant ingredients, or at the very least better-quality meats and toppings.

I had my first experience of the Nickel Diner in downtown Los Angeles a few weeks ago, and you can bet I zeroed right in on the “Eggs Baked on Polenta with Spinach.” My decision did not go unrewarded. In fact, I couldn’t stop thinking about this dish and its divine trifecta of savory breakfast treats, even after I’d boarded my plane and flew home. The creamy polenta was the first piece of the puzzle.

My friend Aura is a very good cook. She lives in Florida with her husband, Leo, and two adorable (I do not use that word glibly) children. When I think of Aura’s cooking, I think of fruit salads, smoothies, and the freshest dishes from her native Guatemala — light, healthy, and driven by Florida’s tropical fruits and vegetables. So I was surprised, one winter evening a few years ago, to sit down at her table and find a big, bubbling casserole of chicken wrapped in bacon.

A family recipe is important, even if we don’t remember all the parts, because each attempt at its re-creation keeps us connected to the people who helped shape us. It happens each time we do that intimate, life-sustaining cooking and eating thing, especially when we do it from a place of memory.

What if you could turn banana pudding into ice cream? Or pie? Even better, what if you could turn banana pudding into ice cream pie? Well guess what, it’s your lucky day! I’ve had a lot of bananas around lately for various recipes I’ve been testing, and there’s only so many loaves of banana bread this girl can make. Banana pudding is an all-time favorite in my house, but I’ve already locked down my favorite recipe for that. It was time to think outside the box.

The days when you allow the farmers market to dictate what you make for dinner are kind of awesome days. To be quite honest, they’ve become rarer and rarer around our house as we’ve become busier during the weekends. But there’s something quite sweet about ambling around the market and chatting about what you could make with certain ingredients. This weekend, we had time to visit our local farmers market and found some beautiful looking sorrel, leeks, and farm eggs.

By now it’s probably safe to assume that you’ve heard of the famous Zuni Roast Chicken. Considering the viral nature of the food blogging world, who hasn’t?! I’ve tried it and it’s fabulous, but I’m not going to lie: I just don’t always have the time to put that much effort into dinner. (Please tell me I’m not the only one.) And while their chicken truly is a show-stopper, it’s the bread salad that really leaves me hankering for more.

How many Irish ingredients can you mix into a recipe in the spirit of Saint Patrick’s day without seeming totally absurd? I may have crossed the line with this recipe for Cheddar and Chive Guinness Bread, but the good news is, it’s not green and you don’t need anything particularly Irish to make it work. Beer bread is one of the simplest quick breads to make. If you wanted to be really rogue you could dump every single ingredient into the loaf pan itself, mix, bake and eat.

Fair warning: You should only make these bread sticks when surrounded by plenty of people to help you eat them. Otherwise, there is a very serious danger of proceeding directly from the last bite of one bread stick to the first bite of the next. Especially if there’s a little bowl of tomato sauce for dipping and no one to stop you. I embarked on this mission of stuffing cheese inside bread thinking this would be easy-peasy. Wrap cheese in dough, bake, devour. Repeat.

The boyfriend adores waffles. They come second only to pancakes in his favorite food department. So when I bought a waffle iron a couple of years ago, it was a sure sign that I was in the relationship to win it. But purchasing the device was the easy part. It was finding the perfect recipe to accompany it that was so hard.So the search began. I pored over cookbooks, food blogs, and magazines, all in search of a great waffle. And you know what? I found it.

There are hundreds of different pies in the Southern arsenal (and almost as many cookbooks on the subject), so choosing a pie to make for National Pi Day proved to be quite difficult. When I finally narrowed it down to chocolate, my decision didn’t exactly become easier. There’s chocolate fudge pie, chocolate cream pie, chocolate pudding pie, chocolate chip pecan pie… Well, you get the drift.