Category Archives: Recipes (Sweet)

Lemon and Almond Oil Cake — That’s A Piece of Cake to Make

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Almond oil, almond flour, almond extract, and sliced almonds combine in this winning cake.
Almond oil, almond flour, almond extract, and sliced almonds combine in this winning cake.

With holiday gift-giving season commencing in full force after Turkey Day, I’m always on the lookout for locally made, gourmet goods to share with family and friends who love to cook.

Fresh Vintage Farms nut oils are definitely worth checking out.

The Turlock company produces cold-pressed, artisanal nut oils from almonds and walnuts grown in the Central Valley. The business was founded in 2019 by husband and wife, Tommy and Tara Tickenoff, whose families are third-generation almond growers.

I had a chance to try samples of both the almond and walnut oils. Both are lush and buttery tasting. The almond oil has a subtle natural sweetness to it, while the walnut one has a lovely roasty taste. Drizzle over salads, pastas, grilled bread, warm brie or goat cheese, or even a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

A bundle of two bottles (375ml each), one of each variety, is $27.99 on the Fresh Vintage Farms website or $23.99 on Amazon.

Fresh Vintage Farms Walnut and Almond Oils from California's Central Valley.
Fresh Vintage Farms Walnut and Almond Oils from California’s Central Valley.

I love oil-based cakes because they bake up so moist. So, I put the Fresh Vintage Farms Almond Oil to good use in this recipe for “One-Bowl Lemon and Olive Oil Cake” by Brian Levy, which was published in the New York Times on Jan. 3, 2025.

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In Celebration of Chocolate Chiffon Cake

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A chocolate chiffon cake with chocolate whipped cream that tastes lighter than you'd think.
A chocolate chiffon cake with chocolate whipped cream that tastes lighter than you’d think.

Apple pie, pumpkin pie, pecan pie, and pear tart may be the classics that typically cap off the holiday feast.

But for me, a chiffon cake enveloped in swirls of whipped cream frosting holds a dear place, as well.

As a Chinese American with extended family that includes Japanese American relatives, an airy, fluffy cake like those commonly found at Asian bakeries always hits the spot at the end of a heavy, bountiful meal when we want just a little something sweet but not too much.

Sometimes the cake would include a layer of fruit such as sliced fresh strawberries or drained, canned mandarin slices. Aunties always offered slices to take home afterward, too, carefully arranged on sturdy paper plates with a toothpick or two poking out of the top of the cake to prevent the plastic wrap cover from marring its whipped cream surface.

Even though that cake of my childhood was always vanilla, this “Chocolate Chiffon Cake” couldn’t but help bring back a rush of sweet memories.

While it’s slightly more indulgent, thanks to the melted chocolate in both the batter and the whipped cream frosting, at its heart it still eats light compared to so many traditional holiday desserts.

This marvelous recipe is from “Chocolate Lover” (Chronicle Books, 2024), of which I received a review copy.

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Kat Lieu’s Bodacious Black Sesame-White Chocolate Cookies

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Black sesame paste plus black sesame seeds give these cookies a deep nutty taste.
Black sesame paste plus black sesame seeds give these cookies a deep nutty taste.

What’s black and white — and delicious all over?

These “Black Sesame-White Chocolate Cookies” by Kat Lieu.

It’s from her new “108 Asian Cookies” (Little, Brown & Company), of which I received a review copy. Based in Washington State, Lieu is a food writer, recipe developer, and founder of Subtle Asian Baking, the global online group focused on spreading the deliciousness of Asian baking, and fundraising for Asian American and Pacific Islander communities.

Born in Canada to a Chinese mother from Hong Kong and a Chinese Vietnamese father from Vietnam, she readily admits that she didn’t even baker her first cookie from scratch until 5 years ago. The former doctor of physical therapy found herself embarking on a baking spree that year as a way to heal from the sorrow of her father’s death.

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Pumpkin Spice — But Make It Ice Cream

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Pumpkin spice ice cream to make and enjoy at home.
Pumpkin spice ice cream to make and enjoy at home.

It’s amazing how something so cold can taste so warm.

That’s the delectable dichotomy of “Pumpkin Spice Ice Cream” that’s frigid enough to give you brain freeze yet suffused with the autumnal fervor of cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, cloves, ginger, and mace.

When Adagio Teas sent me samples of its seasonal offerings of Pumpkin Spice tea, Honeybush Pumpkin Chai, and Pumpkin Spice Honey, along with its Pumpkin Pie Spice Blend by its sister spice company, Selefina, I couldn’t wait to enjoy them for an afternoon pick-me-up, as well as in recipes.

The Pumpkin Spice Tea ($3 for a sample bag or $9 for 3 ounces) is a robust black tea with pumpkin spice notes, as well as pretty marigold flowers for a subtle floral note.

The Honeybush Pumpkin Chai ($4 for a sample bag or $10 for 3 ounces) blends the honey taste of herbal, non-caffeinated honeybush tea with the expected cinnamon, cardamom, and ginger, but also cocoa nibs for a touch of earthiness that lends depth. This is a smooth, soothing, and relaxing sip that you’re going to want to enjoy every day this fall and winter. You don’t even need to add milk, if you don’t want to, in order to appreciate its chai-like taste.

A pot of Adagio Pumpkin Spice tea with its Pumpkin Spice Honey.
A pot of Adagio Pumpkin Spice tea with its Pumpkin Spice Honey.

Stir in a touch of Pumpkin Spice Honey into either cup of tea, and the pumpkin spices will come even more to the forefront.

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Salt & Straw’s Wild-Foraged Berry Slab Pie Ice Cream

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You're sure to flip for this dreamy "Wild Foraged Berry Slab Pie'' ice cream recipe by Salt & Straw.
You’re sure to flip for this dreamy “Wild-Foraged Berry Slab Pie” ice cream recipe by Salt & Straw.

A loaded, buttery berry pie a la mode — but remade into pure ice cream form.

That’s what this dreamy “Wild Foraged Berry Slab Pie Ice Cream” tastes like with its ripples of jammy berries and chunks of sugary crust throughout.

Of course, it can only be from the new “America’s Most Iconic Ice Creams: A Salt & Straw Cookbook” (Clarkson Potter), of which I received a review copy.

With more than 75 recipes for ice creams, sherbets, and sorbets, it was written by Tyler Malek, co-founder of Salt & Straw, one of the most boundary-pushing and wildly successful ice cream companies in the country; and James Beard Award-winning food writer J.J. Goode.

Malek hones in on America’s most beloved ice cream flavors, and provides not only his best versions of them, but uses them as a springboard to create even more fanciful riffs.

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