Over the next month I will be on a mission to post every cookie that’s ever been a standard in my Christmas cookie boxes. I try each year to send a box of cookies to our relatives that we won’t be seeing during the season. It’s a special tradition for me because deep down, way way deep down, I’m sort of a softy. And nothing says Merry Christmas From Your Secretly Sentimental (emphasis on mental) Relative like a box of cookies. Continue reading “Eggnog Snickerdoodles”
Sometimes I like to overly complicate things. For instance, I once based an entire dessert around a Caramelized Spruce Syrup that gets brushed onto the cake layers and is made by collecting spruce tips in the spring and tenderly caramelizing them. Then I coordinated the rest of the cake around an IPA palate, frosted it twice and covered it in gold leaf, oversized gold-plated sprinkles and chocolate work. I’m low-key like that. Continue reading “Gingerbread Birdhouse Cookies”
These beauties always pop into my mind as I wait for the first snow of the year to fall. They’re sweet and crisp, crunchy and buttery, with just the right amount of orange and cardamom. And they are EASY. My friends like to say, “Oh, maybe for you that’s easy! Mine wouldn’t look like that.” But I swear to sweet baby carrots, these are the most straightforward sugar cookies you are ever going to meet. And because no snowflake is alike, variations and “mistakes” just make them more charming.
Continue reading “Orange-Cardamom Snowflake Cookies”
I have drop-cookie issues. I know they’re tasty and easy and much beloved. But I really can’t handle the uncertainty inherent in a cookie that just gets plopped onto a cookie sheet with a spoon. I need cookies to be precisely scooped or rolled or cut out, not “dropped”. Making chocolate chip cookies leaves me deeply unsatisfied. I’ve been thinking about a cookie with dried fruit and nuts but all my internet research led straight to drop cookies. So I got to work cooking up some delicious fruit-nut cookies that could be rolled out and cut into precise circles. No blobs allowed!
I used to work for a wedding photographer back in the day, before digital photography was a thing. He was very eccentric, had a lot of odd habits and some very strong opinions. He once leapt from a moving train that had gone express mid-route to avoid being late to class. He woke up the next day in the hospital with a nasty head injury then ran a marathon 3 days later. To save time while eating he would mash entire slices of bread into dense balls he called “cowboy bread” which he washed down with as much milk as he could safely drink in one sitting. He was unapologetically hostile towards new trends in photography, such as color film. He was fond of saying, “Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.” I thought he was a curmudgeon and a bit daft at the time but it turns out that’s exactly how I feel when it comes to the almighty PUMPKIN SPICE. Continue reading “Soft Chai Snickerdoodles”
Grassy matcha and ripe strawberry combine to make a meringue that tastes as cucurbit as it looks. Stripe your piping bag with green food dye, line the sides with your matcha mixture, then fill the center with strawberry meringue. Voila, Strawberry Matcha Meringue! Continue reading “Strawberry Matcha Meringue”
Despite my own personal views, apparently cupcakes are not the solution to every problem. Sometimes you need to bake something for a brunch, for a potluck, or for a weekend treat and for some reason cupcakes just won’t work. Sigh. You don’t have to like it, but you do have to have a go-to, delicious, and simple recipe that will still get rave reviews. This is it. Plus, they have fruit in their name, so I’m thinking they’re probably very healthy. Continue reading “Blackberry Bramble Bars”
This edible moss is perfect for cookies, cakes and cupcakes. I perfected this technique for a special woodland themed cake I made for my birthday. I love making meringue mushrooms and discovered an easy way to make chocolate “logs” but really needed some edible moss to bring it all together. All the details of putting together this cake are below but if you’re just here for the edible moss recipe, scroll to the bottom!
Most years my birthday is well after Easter. So usually by the time I’m thinking birthday cake, I’m so over bunnies and eggs and pastels and spring. But not this year! So I thought I’d kill two birds with one stone and make a birthday cake that was also Easter-y! I had dozens of my favorite bunny cookies and thought I’d make a pastel cake adorned with pink and white bunny cookies, pastel watercolor buttercream and a white chocolate sail. And then I accidentally made this. My creative process is what some might call chaotic, but I prefer the term “experimentally unhinged”. Continue reading “Edible Moss-Spring Woodland Cake”
One of the best things about my new BFF caramel is that the flavor possibilities are so wide open. Think of any dessert, candy or drink you like and then google that with the word “caramel” and you’ll see what I mean. Continue reading “Banana Nut Bread Caramels”
Does your mixologist have a waxed mustache? Suspenders? Do they make their own artisan bitters? Then there’s a pretty good chance you have had mezcal. Mezcal is a smoked tequila that all the cool kids are drinking. After a particularly tough day a few weeks ago I was having a pity-party and texted a friend #sendmezcal. A few days later the FedEx guy rings my doorbell and hands me a box. Inside was a bottle of Sombra mezcal! I have the best and most literal friends. Continue reading “Salted Mezcal Caramels”
