ZoëBakes

Maple Brown Butter Shortbread Cookies

December 9, 2008October 9, 2023 Zoë François 28 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 brown butter 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.

“Red Hot” Boston Cream Pie

December 5, 2008March 29, 2021 Zoë François 20 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 stick of 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

Butterscotch Sweet Potato Pie

November 27, 2008March 2, 2024 Zoë François 26 Comments

Update: There was no contest between the pumpkin and the sweet potato pies that I made for Thanksgiving! The Sweet potato was the unanimous winner. Most of you predicted that in your comments. The truth of the matter is that it wasn’t a fair contest. I made a traditional pumpkin pie, like the one you find on the can and it just wasn’t all that thrilling next to a butterscotch sweet potato pie that is spiked with whiskey! 😉

Happy Thanksgiving! I love this day. It is the ultimate holiday for anyone who loves to cook and eat. Today I am hosting the feast at my house. It will be a small party of my family, those who live in MN. We have all the old favorites from turkey to pumpkin pie. Due to my new found love of sweet potatoes I also did a butterscotch sweet potato pie. There are only 8 of us and we have two pies. I hope it is enough! 😉 I thought it would be fun to see which pie becomes the family favorite. After our meal I’ll report back what we decide.

For Butterscotch Sweet Potato Pie inspired by a recipe for pumpkin pie in Bon Appetit:

Do you have pie questions or need to troubleshoot your recipe? Check out my guide on how to make pie crust.

The Sweet Potato vs Yam Debate

November 21, 2008December 26, 2018 Zoë François 88 Comments

A couple of days ago I got an email from Ochen Kaylan, a producer of American Public Media’s Weekend America. He was gathering information about the differences between Sweet Potatoes and Yams, for a Thanksgiving show, and invited me to participate. We all know the sweet, sticky, gooey side dish that is loaded up with brown sugar, spices, lots of butter and the ubiquitous marshmallow topping. But people always wonder which to use, sweet potato vs yam? Really what is the difference?

Cream Puffs and a Nest of Nuts!

November 16, 2008December 9, 2022 Zoë François 55 Comments

It is my birthday and I decided to make myself something fun to celebrate. Now that I am squarely in my 40s I find it especially important to make this occasion a special one. I was in the mood to play with sugar. It has been years, many years, since I have worked in the restaurant world and had the opportunity and excuse to do over-the-top fanciful things with sugar. It is more the act of creating these wisps of golden caramel that thrills me, even more than eating them. To sit on top this ethereal nest I decided I needed something creamy and decadent; cream puffs filled with pastry cream in three flavors. I set these cream puffs on a sugar nest.

The tale of two puffs: Read More

Bourbon Pumpkin Cheesecake with Sugared Cranberries

November 10, 2008November 27, 2022 Zoë François 53 Comments

This past week I taught several classes on bread baking. We made breads from my book Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day that fit the cooling weather, like oatmeal pumpkin bread. The recipe calls for a roasted “pie” pumpkin, but only uses 1 cup of it. I promised all the wonderful people in my class that I would come up with a way to use the rest of that pumpkin puree and share it here. Every year at this time I make a bourbon pumpkin cheesecake, in fact I make a few of them, by demand. It tastes like the richest, creamiest pumpkin pie you will ever eat. Even people who swear they don’t like pumpkin love this cheesecake.

I topped it with some beautiful red fruits, including sugared cranberries. The tartness combined with the crisp sugar coating is a perfect compliment to the smoothness of the cake.