Category Archives: Recipes (Sweet)

The Balm of Pistachio-Cardamom Cake

Posted on by 4 comments
A cake for cardamom lovers.
A cake for cardamom lovers.

“Ready for Dessert” has got to be the most rhetorical of questions.

Because when it comes to desserts, I don’t know about you, but I am ready and willing 24-7.

If you’re the same, then you’re sure to appreciate this aptly named cookbook (Ten Speed Press, 2025), of which I received a review copy.

It’s actually a newly revised edition of David Lebovitz’s best-seller that first published in 2010. A professional cook and baker, who worked at Berkeley’s Chez Panisse for 13 years, he’s now grown into a prolific cookbook author and baking authority who makes his home in Paris.

You’ll find nearly 175 recipes sure to tempt your sweet tooth, from “Cherry Gateau Basque,” “Banana Cake with Mocha Frosting and Salted Candied Peanuts,” and “Chocolate Ganache Custard Tart” to “Butterscotch-Pecan Ice Cream,” and “Brown Sugar-Pecan Shortbread.”

With its haunting and unmistakable sweet, minty, citrus-y, and pine-y fragrance, I can never resist anything with cardamom.

And Lebovitz’s “Pistachio-Cardamom Cake” delivers big-time in aroma, taste, and texture.

Read more

Fragrant & Fabulous Candy Cap Granola

Posted on by Leave a comment
I like topping my yogurt with granola made with mushrooms. How about you?
I like topping my yogurt with granola made with mushrooms. How about you?

Ever thought about making granola with mushrooms?

It’s not as wacky as it sounds.

Because when it comes to dried candy cap mushrooms, their beguiling maple syrup-curry flavor is a natural for your favorite mix of oats, nuts, seeds, and dried fruit.

So, when I spotted a recipe for “Candy Cap Granola,” I was all over it.

This fun recipe is from “The Mushroom Hunter’s Kitchen” (The Experiment, 2025).

It was written by the Bay Area’s Chad Hyatt, a chef and expert forager. It is filled with information on varieties of both cultivated and wild mushrooms, with tips on best ways to cook and preserve each one.

Read more

A Beautiful Jolt of Green

Posted on by Leave a comment
A bit of green for the holiday -- or any day.
A bit of green for the holiday — or any day.

Some people like to wear green on St. Patrick’s Day.

Me? I like to eat it.

As in matcha.

And you thought I was going to say “kale,” right?

On a holiday all about revelry, I choose to let loose with slices of tender “Matcha Latte Loaf.”

The recipe is from “Dorie’s Anytime Cakes” (Harvest, 2025), of which I received a review copy. It’s by the incomparable Dorie Greenspan, of course, the five-time James Beard Award-winning cookbook writer and baking authority.

As the title implies, it’s a collection of recipes for cakes of all shapes and sizes that really satisfy — without being too complicated or cumbersome to make.

Read more

These Cookies Get A Little Bling

Posted on by Leave a comment
Cookie stamps give these cookies a showy appearance. But you can also flatten the dough balls with the bottom of a drinking glass.
Cookie stamps give these cookies a showy appearance. But you can also flatten the dough balls with the bottom of a drinking glass.

“I Want to Eat Cookies.”

That’s the title of this cookbook (Hardie Grant, 2025), of which I received a review copy.

But it could just as easily be my daily mantra.

Because left to my own devices, I would eat cookies every day — morning, noon and night.

Good thing this purse-sized book has more than 90 recipes to tempt should I ever make good on that.

The cookbook is by Ellen Morrissey, a New York City-based writer and editor who is a former editorial director for special projects for Martha Stewart Living.

You’re sure to find just the cookie to satisfy your sweet tooth from a collection that includes “Brown Butter and Toffee Chip Cookies,” “Milk Chocolate Hazelnut Meringues,” “Whisky Currant Shortbread,” “Sugar-Spiced Grahams,” and “Yo Yos with Berry Buttercream.”

With a half-full bag of masa harina in the freezer, I couldn’t help but want to give “Glazed Masa Harina Cookies” a try.

Read more

Sponsored Post: Fritter-Style Pazazz Apple Pancakes with Creamy Brown Sugar-Peanut Butter Sauce

Posted on by Leave a comment
Yeasted pancakes brimming with Pazazz apples that get finished with a velvety peanut butter sauce.
Yeasted pancakes brimming with Pazazz apples that get finished with a velvety peanut butter sauce.

What happens when pancake batter gets a lift from yeast and a boost from an eye-popping amount of diced fresh, juicy Pazazz apples?

You get a stack of irresistible “Fritter-Style Apple Pancakes.” Served with a creamy, brown sugar-peanut butter sauce, they are sure to impress for breakfast, brunch, snack or dessert.

Tender yet with wonderful lofty chew to them, these golden fritters are made with minimal sugar so that the naturally sweet and tangy taste of the Pazazz apples really shines through.

A late-season variety, Pazazz are related to the Honeycrisp. Grown by a small group of family farmers across North America, these shiny red-skinned apples with yellow-green striations are perfect for snacking out of hand or to feature in all manner of sweet or savory recipes. Pick some up now at your favorite grocery store.

Pazazz apples.
Pazazz apples.

The original recipe for these fritter-style pancakes comes from “Dobre Dobre: Baking From Poland and Beyond” (Chronicle Books, 2025), of which I received a review copy.

Read more
« Older Entries Recent Entries »