If you’ve followed my work for a while, you likely know that I love Baked Alaska. I have several on this site, including a red, white and blue version for the Fourth of July, a coffee bourbon chocolate baked Alaska, and a passion fruit baked Alaska, which I have dubbed the most delicious creamsicle ever!
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When my grandmother passed away she left me her recipe box, her collection of Norwegian spoons, other sentimental things from my childhood and her 1950s copy of the Betty Crocker cookbook. It is dog eared, written in, splattered on and the book’s spine is held together with nothing but flour and 60 years of determination.
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Whipping up a batch of pâte à choux is both easy and super satisfying. Milk, flour, butter and eggs transform when cooked and baked into delicate puffs of pastry. If you’ve never ventured into the world of éclairs, profiteroles, cream puffs or even a Croquembouche, I think a Tuesday is the perfect day to get started.
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The first book I bought when I headed off to culinary school was the Larousse Gastronomique (LG). It was to me then, what google is to current students at the CIA (Culinary Institute of America). All the French recipes and kitchen terms I needed to know in one 1,200-page volume. I carried it around like a 10-pound security blanket, so I could quickly look up the french techniques I knew nothing about. It was my culinary bible.
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Blueberries are one of those ingredients that need nothing more than themselves to be special. The color adds natural drama and the sweet-tart flavor is a perfect feature for so many desserts, be it cheesecake, galette, cobbler or bars. I also love that you can have delicious blueberry desserts any time of year because frozen blueberries work so well in many different recipes. I always have them in my freezer, so even if it’s not peak summer, I can pull them out and make something incredible whenever I have a craving for blueberry desserts!
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This is a cake from Zoë Bakes Cakes and in the book, I baked it with grapes; juicy, sweet, but slightly tart, table grapes. It’s curious why grapes are rarely used in baking, unless dried into raisins. They are juicy and have such a wide range of sweetness and flavor, depending on the variety. They’re also a perfect match for almond paste, an ingredient with which I’m more than just a bit smitten; there are so many ways to play with the slightly creamy, earthy flavor. Together with the olive oil, the combination makes a gorgeous cake that’s just as suited for a holiday table as it is for a Tuesday-morning coffee cake. The moist cake is also one that lasts for days, so if you need a cake you can bake ahead for your holiday morning, this is the one!
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