Category Archives: Recipes (Sweet)

Sponsored Post: Asiago Apple Galette with Pazazz Apples

Pazazz apples, Asiago cheese, thyme, and the most incredible crust make this the apple dessert of your dreams.
Pazazz apples, Asiago cheese, thyme, and the most incredible crust make this the apple dessert of your dreams.

Few things bring a smile in fall and winter like a bountiful slice of fresh-baked apple pie.

With cheddar cheese, though? Not so much.

At least, in my humble opinion.

But add Asiago and a pinch of thyme in its place, and apple pie soars to newfound heights.

New Englanders and Midwesterners may have an affinity for that sharp orange cheese married with apple pie. Yet, I’ve never been keen on the combination because I think it overwhelms the apples.

Instead, reach for Asiago, the Italian cow’s milk cheese full of buttery nuttiness for a true complementary addition in this superlative “Asiago Apple Galette (or Pie).”

That’s exactly what I did when I got my hands on some Pazazz apples.

Beautiful, delicious Pazazz apples are available now through June.
Beautiful, delicious Pazazz apples are available now through June.

This late-season variety sports gorgeous red skin with yellow-green striations. These apples are snappy and full of sweet, tangy juice. Best yet, when baked, they keep their shape, making them ideal to spotlight in pies, crisps, and crumbles, and in savory dishes such as roasted alongside duck, chicken, or pork sausages.

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Give It Up For Spiced Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls

Cinnamon rolls get extra delicious with the addition of pumpkin in the dough.
Cinnamon rolls get extra delicious with the addition of pumpkin in the dough.

Now’s the time for a boatload of cinnamon rolls warm from the oven.

Not just any ol’ kind, but ones made moister and more golden in color with pureed pumpkin, and even more delectable with pumpkin pie-like spices of cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger.

That’s exactly what you’ll get with this recipe for “Spiced Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls,” which makes 20 — yes! — palm-sized, swirly cinnamon rolls slathered with fluffy cream cheese icing.

Get your mixing bowls out now, and thank me later for turning you on to this recipe that’s simply made for this time of year.

It’s from the new cookbook, “The Shared Kitchen” (Smith Street Books), of which I received a review copy.

Written by Clare Scrine, an Australian food writer, it features 80 vegetarian and vegan recipes that by no means will leave you feeling deprived in any way.

Not when the selection includes the likes of “Luxe Potato, Apple & Fennel Bake,” “Spicy Capsicum & Artichoke Pesto with Hand-Rolled Pasta,” “A Big Moussaka,” and “Lemon & Rosemary Cake with Mascarpone Cream.”

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Chewy-licious Blueberry & Apricot Bars

Chewy, sweet, and loaded with dried fruit, there's a wonderful old-fashioned quality about these tasty bars.
Chewy, sweet, and loaded with dried fruit, there’s a wonderful old-fashioned quality about these tasty bars.

There’s a lovely wholesome taste to these chewy-soft fruit bars, which is not surprising, given that the recipe hails from a baker who got his start selling farmhouse-baked treats out of an old red truck.

“Blueberry & Apricot Bars” is a recipe in the new “The Red Truck Bakery Farmhouse Cookbook” (Clarkson Potter), of which I received a review copy.

It was written by Brian Noyes, founder of the Red Truck Bakery in Marshall, VA, who trained at the Culinary Institute of America in New York and at the King Arthur Baking School in Vermont.

In his previous career as the art director at the Washington Post and Smithsonian magazines, he would spend his free time baking pies and breads at his Virginia Piedmont farmhouse, which he sold from that vintage red truck that he bought from none other than designer Tommy Hilfiger.

Noyes now operates two Red Truck bakeries, both in historic buildings, and has fans in Oprah Winfrey and Barack Obama.

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Spoil Yourself With Blackberry & White Chocolate Muffins

Fresh blackberries, white chocolate, a little bit of yogurt, and a little bit of cream cheese star in these muffins.
Fresh blackberries, white chocolate, a little bit of yogurt, and a little bit of cream cheese star in these muffins.

The one and only time I rafted down the American River was truly memorable.

It wasn’t just the camaraderie of friends laughing and paddling together in three rafts down the relatively calm part of the river.

It was also the wild blackberry bushes our guide had us maneuver our way to near the shore as we waited for the other rafts to catch up to us.

Truth be told, we were all secretly wishing those other folks would just take their sweet time, because we were as content as can be, reaching over the side of our raft to pluck berries that we devoured voraciously.

Nowadays, I get my blackberries from the farmers market or grocery store. Maybe it’s not as adventurous. But it is convenient, especially as blackberries are abundant even through early fall.

In fact, I eagerly picked some up recently specifically to highlight in “Blackberry & White Chocolate Muffins.”

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Brown Sugar Angel-Food Cake — Or What To Do With A Dozen Egg Whites

When life gives you a ton of egg whites, reach for brown sugar, and make this beauty.
When life gives you a ton of egg whites, reach for brown sugar, and make this beauty.

It’s not often that you’re left with 24 egg whites in your fridge.

But that’s exactly what you’ll end up with if you make Chef Missy Robbins’ handmade pappardelle like I did.

Just think of it as the perfect excuse, though, to bake up a “Brown Sugar Angel-Food Cake.”

This recipe comes from “Martha Stewart’s Cakes” (Clarkson Potter, 2013) from the Editors of Martha Stewart Living.

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