Every year at this time, I try to find some new ghoulish and creepy way to terrify my sweet young boys (in a motherly-love kind of way). Nothing like a coffin shaped cake, with a mummy laying on top to make them squeamish and thrilled to go at it with a fork. The vanilla cake, raspberry filling and chocolate ganache on a bed of oreo crumbs, may be spine tingling enough for kids on Halloween, but tasty enough for the parents as well. Read More
Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. I love the theatre and creativity it inspires in people. Once I had kids it took on a whole new level of special. The boys love to get in costume, and it is a great excuse for me to dress up too. They’ve gone from being little toddler dinosaurs, to anything scary and repulsive as pre-teens. I hate to miss any of it, because pretty soon they will be “too old” to dress up. So it is bittersweet this year that I will be on the road for Halloween. Off I go to Portland tonight to bake pizzas for our Artisan Pizza and Flatbread in Five Minutes a Day
Book Tour. I hope I will see you as I travel from Portland, to Seattle and on to San Francisco to attend Foodbuzz 2011. To find out where we will be this coming week, please visit the events page.
This is a revisit of a spider cake I did a couple of years ago. I recreated it for a post on Cooking Channel and thought I would share it again with you. Here is a link to the original post, have a very happy Halloween.
Yesterday was my 20th wedding anniversary. I asked my husband what he wanted to have for dessert on our special day. After being together for 25 years I could predict what he would pick; either Madeleines or the nut cake his mom used to make him when he was young.
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This is a “German Chocolate Cake,” but instead of the layers of chocolate cake I used a coconut sponge to create Coconut Caramel Cake. For the longest time I thought the original version was invented in Germany, hence the name. But, it was actually discovered in Dallas, Texas around 1957. A woman shared the recipe with a local newspaper and it became an instant success. The mystery doesn’t end there, because the cake wasn’t named for her either. Her recipe called for “German’s Baking Chocolate” from the Baker’s Chocolate Company. The name of the cake gave credit to Sam German, who created the chocolate. Eventually the possessive apostrophe was dropped from the name, and all the confusion began.
The sticky, gooey, caramel-coconut topping is rich and filled with pecans. Traditionally the cake was served topped with maraschino cherries, but I use chopped dried cherries in the coconut filling instead. The bittersweet chocolate ganache between the layers gives this cake a distinct “Almond Joy” candy flavor.
If you are a traditionalist you should try this with my dark devil’s food cake, it is not the same as the milk chocolate “German’s Chocolate Cake” recipe, it’s BETTER!
You can find an updated recipe for this vanilla bean pound cake in my cookbook Zoë Bakes Cakes.
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When making homemade ice cream, you have to start with a really great base, which for me means lusciously smooth, with a dense and silky texture. The flavor should be rich, but not too buttery (greasy) and I always start my “French custard” ice cream base with vanilla. So start with my basic vanilla ice cream recipe below (and customize it with your favorite flavors), then try all the other amazing recipes.
If you’re more into sorbet, which is its own icy treat, check out my guide on how to make sorbet.
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Everything about a macaron says France. They are sophisticated, gorgeous, delicious and have a romance to them; a certain je ne sais quoi? (That was gratuitous, but I couldn’t help throwing in one of the few French phrases I can actually pronounce.) But, it is true, they have a mystique to them that is both alluring and intimidating, like a really gorgeous woman; think Catherine Deneuve and Brigit Bardot. When you bite into them they are just as beautiful on the inside, and inviting, even seductive. I can eat my entire body weight in these nut-meringue cookies and still want for more. What on Earth does all of this have to do with St. Patrick’s day you might ask? I admit it is a stretch, but I really wanted to make them and they are adorable in green. I added a bit of mint to the ganache and voila, you have minty macarons for St. Patrick’s day! Read More
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