Happy New Year! Chocolate, Candied Ginger and Grapefruit Biscotti!

Print Print   |  Print Email this to a friend   |  December 31, 2008
Filed Under Uncategorized | 24 Comments

What a year it has been. It started with the launch of Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. A project that I knew was a great concept, but had no idea that so many people would embrace it. Thank you all for the fabulous support and wonderful emails, pictures and thought provoking questions you’ve sent! Due to those inquiries and suggestions Jeff and I have embarked on our second book. This time we are focusing on breads made with whole grains and really healthy ingredients, that are still fast, easy and tasty! Even some gluten free breads. The book is due at the publisher in TWO days and we are working like crazy to get it in on time. It should be available next fall.

Of course, I need something to nibble on as I work on the book so I made my favorite biscotti. This is the one cookie that I can not keep my hands off of. I force myself to give some of them away so that I don’t eat the entire batch all by myself! ;) Read more

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Candied Pink Grapefruit! + The Aebleskiver Winner!

Print Print   |  Print Email this to a friend   |  December 19, 2008
Filed Under dessert, giveaway!, recipe | 31 Comments

Wow, thank you all for such a wonderful response to the Aebleskivers post. I was not the only one who’d never heard of these fabulous little pastry orbs, but most of you had! I was struck by how many stories there were of people eating them as children and in particular from Solvang, California.  A destination to be added to my travel plans.

Thanks also to the folks at Aunt Else’s Aebleskivers for sharing this fantastic prize with us. So many of you were interested in their cast iron Aebleskiver pan that they have generously reduced the price for all of you who did not win this time. Check out their website for details. Now the lucky winner of the Aunt Else’s Aebleskiver mix and pan is Jane! She said the pan has been on her wish list for years and no one has ever gotten it for her. This is your lucky year! Enjoy.

This time of year you find many recipes that call for candied fruits. Read more

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Aunt Else’s Aebleskiver Giveaway! (My Baker’s Christmas Wish List continues!)

Print Print   |  Print Email this to a friend   |  December 12, 2008
Filed Under equipment, giveaway!, kids | 255 Comments

This fall I met Chad and his partners at the Mill City Farmer’s Market in Minneapolis. My co-author and I did a bread presentation from our book Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. When I came off the stage, there was Chad and these funny round pans which were filled with little cakey spheres. I’m not sure what pastry rock I have been living under, but this site was completely foreign to me. I had to run off to do a wedding cake that day so I couldn’t stay to see Chad’s explanation or try one of these donut/dumpling/cake/crepe like creations.  The following week I went back to find him and his spheres and this is what I learned:

Plus, enter to win… Read more

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Maple Brown-Butter Shortbread Cookies! (A Christmas Wish List for Every Home Baker!)

Print Print   |  Print Email this to a friend   |  December 9, 2008
Filed Under cookies, recipe | 26 Comments

When I was growing up I looked forward to Christmas morning at my Granny’s house. It seemed like magic how I’d go to bed at night and wake up with a stocking stuffed with goodies at the foot of my bed. Later I learned that this was her way of keeping us kids in bed for an extra hour.  Smart lady! My Granny had rituals that she never strayed from and one of them was making Christmas cookies. I remember tins of them all over the house. On every table, in every room there would be a different kind of wonderful sweet. I would search all over for my favorite, the maple shortbread cookies that had a sticky caramel coconut topping and a rich buttery bottom. It always seemed to me there were less of these lying around than the others. It turns out they were my father’s favorite as well and he beat me to the tins. Read more

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“Red Hot” Boston Cream Pie

Print Print   |  Print Email this to a friend   |  December 5, 2008
Filed Under cake, recipe | 19 Comments

This week was my husband’s birthday and he requested a true American classic for his cake, Boston Cream Pie. Light pillowy sponge cake with layers of rich vanilla pastry cream and topped with a smooth chocolate glaze. Why do we call this cake a pie? It was invented in the 1850s by a French pastry chef working in Boston. My theory is that he got lost in translation and mistakenly called it a pie! (but I’m making that last bit up.) Whether the name fits or not hardly matters, it is delicious. In fact, my family loved it so much the four of us ate the entire 8-inch cake in one sitting. I was thrilled except I never got a picture of it for this post.

The next day a package arrived in the mail from the White On Rice Couple, Diane and Todd. It was a perfect stickof Vietnamese cinnamon bark. I had won it during a giveaway they had on their fabulous website. It is not an exaggeration to say that this gift has changed my life. Read more

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