While today, the 14th of September, is my birthday, I baked this delicious Banana Cake with Toasted Walnuts and Ermine frosting to celebrate the birthdays of two other women as well as myself, all of us within a few days of the other. We’re also all participants in Music Night and I like to celebrate … More Happy Birthday to Yumiko, Lisa and Me
Hummingbird cake is composed with bananas, crushed pineapple in its juice, roasted pecans and, typically, cream cheese frosting. Because the cake itself is quite sweet, I decided to make the butter version of classic Ermine frosting, meaning without shortening. The frosting is lighter in sugar content and fluffier than cream cheese frosting. (Leftover ermine frosting … More Hummingbird Cake with Ermine Frosting
Over the past few weeks I’ve experimented with cookies made with walnuts and semisweet chocolate. Two versions were for a friend who’s a diabetic, so I used brown sugar substitute erythritol by Swerve and whole wheat flour which gives less glycemic load than all-purpose flour. The first of those used some almond flour with the … More Finding the Ultimate while experimenting with Chocolate Chip Cookies
In a previous post, I told the “discovery” story of how I’d found and used Trader Joe’s Caramel Sea Salt Baking Chips in several of my own and one family recipe.* Last week I made cookies for my sister and niece (who had a birthday), and froze some dough to make a dozen for my … More Caramel Sea Salt Chip and Walnut Cookies
A neighbor grew up with a version of this cinnamon and walnut bread with Red Hots, but a piece she gave me to taste was very dry and I decided to have a go using my own base recipe for quick breads. I added a whole 5.5 ounce package of Red Hots, which was too … More Two Cinnamon Walnut Breads: One with Red Hots, One Without
Recently one of my Chinese Mahjongg ladies gave me a Chinese cookie with sesame seeds in it and I was reminded that I’d had an idea for a butter cookie with things I associate with Lebanese sweets. Another one of the ladies here (who is a world-class gardener) provided me with rose petals mid-June to … More New! Flavors of Lebanon Butter Cookie
Not long ago, I bought almond and coconut flour along with erythritol so I’d be inclined to use them and learn about preparing gluten-free and sugar-free goodies. I made sugar-free raspberry syrup for a diabetic friend for his birthday. I used some coconut flour in addition to all-purpose flour in a quick bread, but these … More Amoretti Macaroons – A Gluten-Free Cookie
When I get a brainstorm about trying a new baked quick bread, well … here’s the result. Not long ago I experimented with canned pumpkin and a packet of Fresh Gourmet Honey Roasted Walnut Pieces*, made a Pumpkin Rum Raisin Honey Walnut bread, posted about it on my Instagram** and said I’d put the recipe … More New! Maple Date Honey Pecan Bread with My Recipe, and a Note about My Pumpkin Rum Raisin Honey Walnut Bread
When I was 11 years old, I won two blue ribbons at the State Fair in Puyallup, Washington, which I’d entered for 4-H projects. One blue ribbon was for perfect corn meal muffins and the other for an orange and coconut bread. Those two entries gave me the title of Prize-Winning Baker and today, after … More Orange and Toasted Coconut Bread
I like to experiment with flavors in my cookie lines and this is the newest in the Chew line. I used a mix of all-purpose and almond flours and did not over-emphasize the taste with too much extract. They are delicately flavored and my Chinese Mahjongg players approved this addition to the almond-flavored cookies* I … More Happy Autumn with New Almond Chew
Ms Chef in Seattle 