Apple Pumpkin Cake

Apple Pumpkin Cake Recipe | ZoëBakes | Photo by Zoë François

Every year at this time I make apple cakes, many of them. It is our traditional dessert during Rosh Hashanah** and just simply delicious for any occasion. This year I tried a new recipe — this apple pumpkin cake — from Robin Asbell’s latest book on Whole Grains. It gets its richness from pumpkin puree, a layer of sautéed apples and then the whole thing is topped with spiced streusel. This cake is so amazing, I had to bake two. The first one my family ate before I could photograph it, so I made another, and it’s gone too. Because the cake is made with whole wheat flour, apples and pumpkin I feel great about satisfying my boys’ requests to eat it for breakfast, a snack and dessert.

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Sweet Peach Lassi

Sweet Peach Lassi Recipe | ZoëBakes | Photo by Zoë François

How can something so tasty be SO easy? Just throw it all in the blender, let it whirl and you have a a gorgeous sweet peach lassi! This is what I made my boys for breakfast this morning. Peaches and a bit of honey sweeten the tangy yogurt. Pour it in beautiful little glasses you can serve it as dessert after an Indian feast or a light picnic on the patio.

The recipe comes from my friend Suvir’s book, Indian Home Cooking. I switched to peaches from his traditional mango and replaced the sugar with honey, otherwise it is all his! He and I will be teaching a class at Cooks of Crocus Hill on August 30th for any of you in the area who would like to join us. It will be a wonderful evening of his incredible food and I will be creating breads and sweets to match.

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Crepes My Kids Love

Host Zoe Francois fills crepes with her sons Henri and Charlie, as seen on Zoe Bakes, season 2.

May Chen asked me what I fed my boys when they were little, as part of an article she wrote for Cribsheet, a blog about kids at the Star Tribune. My guys are very adventurous eaters, borderline extreme. Yeah, they will try anything once. The raw oysters were not a huge hit but sushi is a favorite. I suppose they have to draw the line somewhere, for now!

As part of the article I gave her a recipe for crepes, because my boys LOVE them, depending what you fill them with they can be a meal or a sweet treat!!!

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Back to Basics: The Original Chocolate Chip Cookies

Plate of Chocolate Chip Cookies | ZoëBakes | Photo by Zoë François

They are the chocolate chip cookies we all ate as kids and probably still make on occasion. Toll House, of course. The recipe right off the bag. It is the cookie by which all others are measured. The perfect balance of sweet, salty, gooey, chewy and crisp. Most of us, as we got more confident in the kitchen, ventured from the bag and experimented with other recipes. We dared to add oats, nuts, dried fruit, black pepper, and even pumpkin puree to our chocolate chip cookies but there is still a place for the original. Read More