Apple Cider Muffins from The Craft of Baking by Karen DeMasco and Mindy Fox. Very moist and delicious (even though I substiuted dairy-free “sour cream” for the real thing). Here is the thing, though: the recipe is supposed to make a dozen muffins OR a loaf. I was able to make a dozen muffins AND a loaf. Judging from the comments on Serious Eats, I am not the only one who had this experience.
A recent post by David Lebovitz about an Israeli couscous recipe from Gourmet sent me straight to the kitchen. The combination of roasted butternut squash, golden raisins, pine nuts, and preserved lemons sounded fantastic. But, I couldn’t resist making a few changes. (more…)
Mini Peanut Butter Cannolo with Mini Chocolate Chips
The November 2009 Daring Bakers Challenge was chosen and hosted by Lisa Michele of Parsley, Sage, Desserts and Line Drives. She chose the Italian Pastry, Cannolo (Cannoli is plural), using the cookbooks Lidia’s Italian-American Kitchen by Lidia Matticchio Bastianich and The Sopranos Family Cookbook by Allen Rucker; recipes by Michelle Scicolone, as ingredient/direction guides. She added her own modifications/changes, so the recipe is not 100% verbatim from either book.
These have to be the best corn muffins. (more…)
Just like last year, I made Nick Malgieri’s Breton Apple Pie for Thanksgiving. I cut the recipe for dough by a third (I pressed the dough into an 8″ round pan instead of a 10″ pan), but made the full amount of apple filling. I think this was the right ratio of apple to crust.
Instead of making pumpkin pie and pecan pie, I made Vera’s Pumpkin Mousse Cake with Maple Whipped Cream Topping. A lot of work, but so worth it. My changes to Vera’s recipe: (1) 2 Tbl. bourbon, 2 Tbl. water, and 1 Tbl. vanilla instead of brandy in the filling; (2) Kojel instead of gelatin; (3) glazed pecans instead of candied ginger on top; and (4) Rich’s Whip (dairy-free) instead of cream. I used a 3″ wide acetate strip as a liner in my springform pan, and it was the perfect height for the cake, filling, and topping. (more…)
My sister told me she made these yummy peanut butter filled chocolate cookies from a recipe in a recent issue of Mishpacha Magazine. (more…)
I’m really enjoying Cooking Jewish by Judy Bart Kancigor (originally self-published as Melting Pot Memories). Pictured above is the maple walnut cake, which is a chiffon cake that is baked in a 9″x13″ pan. (more…)
In an ongoing quest for the best chocolate cake ever, I tried the Chocolate-Cinnamon Bundt Cake from the September issue of Bon Appetit. I did not go with the mocha icing.
Observations: Not intensely chocolate-ey tasting. Interesting crumbly, dense texture that my husband likened to cheesecake. Caramel overtones and spiciness that reminded us of a honey cake because of the brown sugar and cinnamon and coffee. I thought it was just “eh” but my husband and kids loved it. I baked it on Friday and it was gone by lunch Sunday. And, okay, I had a lot even though it was not as intensely chocolate as I would like.
Loretta Lynn has a recipe for yeast bread in You’re Cooking it Country (p. 78) that I had to try. The recipe produces two huge loaves. (more…)
These pecan tarts are a sure winner. My mother whips them up all the time because they are easy, look impressive, and people love them. (more…)
Pragmatic Attic 
