So many photos of baked items are shades and bumps of brown because … well, baking. Muffins are a good example. No matter what you put in them to give them flavor or texture, they come out of the oven brown on top, so I shoot fixings. Sure, the close-up isn’t exactly brown but I … More Ginger, Date & Clementine Muffins with Orange Glaze & Tulips
The mother of a neighbor child asked me to make her daughter’s birthday cake again this year. She wanted a three-layer cake with two white layers, top and bottom, a chocolate layer in the middle and with vanilla buttercream filling, top and sides, to provide cake for 18-20 people. I said that a 9″ cake … More Feliz Cumpleanos, otherwise Happy Birthday without the tilde
Having seen a friend’s post on Facebook yesterday concerning the requirements for items children bring to school to share on Valentine’s Day, I had sighed a little sigh. No gluten. No dairy. No peanuts or tree nuts. No candy. No sugar. Shortly thereafter, I agreed by text to an order of baked goodies for Valentine’s … More Valentine Goodies for children to take to school, now with gluten, dairy
“There’s a lot going on in there,” said a neighbor looking at a huge chunk of cake on its way to his family for dessert. Indeed. The cake has sourdough starter in it for one thing, so there’s a flavor that only an experienced palate will detect as well as adding moisture and density. The … More Juliyya’s Cherry Chocolate Coconut Sourdough Cake, Chocolate Cream Cheese Icing
Coincidences between events and the freezer began last week when I found out that I’d missed the birthday of one of the master gardeners whom I admire. I knew that he is quite fond of my blackberry ice cream and that, between his pie crust and my filling and ice cream, he, his wife and … More Blackberry Pie & Blackberry Ice Cream for a belated birthday
There was much fun and mixing in my kitchen this week in preparation for the birthday party of a young girl who will be six. She wanted a snowman cake, the description of which changed several times over the course of several days and, indeed, right up to the last moment when she decided that … More In the kitchen with juliyya: Adorable Snowman Cake for a birthday
I spent some summers during university years as a live-in cook/keeper for a family with a “cabin” in a country club on Bainbridge Island where they spent that part of the year. As with any family, they had a rotating menu of favorites for which the recipes were available for whatever cook was in the … More Mrs. W’s Tamale Casserole. Now with Sriracha. Also leaves, a Seattle crane.
A lovely neighbor gifted me with two bars of Seattle’s own Theo Chocolate, a pure and dark variety, which, in this house, means “Bake something with it.” Some people have suggested a deficit in the planned cookie menu for MsChef in Seattle upcoming shops, namely, a chocolate chip cookie. I’ve resisted because that cookie is … More Whoop-tee-doo Chocolate Shard Cookie, V.1, Seattle’s Theo Chocolate
Several years ago during a wander by the bakery aisle at one of the big West Coast grocery chains, I saw a slice of tuxedo cake that looked so different from the other cake slices in the case, was so attractive to someone who was hungry, had/has a sweet tooth and screamed “chocolate!” that I … More Tuxedo Cake from the Cakerie for my birthday
Having missed an opportunity to provide a friend with birthday goody, I asked what he’d like. Cake? Nah. Pie? Yes, please, real Southern Pecan Pie, dark and gooey, with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. As much as I don’t like to make the crust, I did it anyway, making a single butter crust. There … More Southern Pecan Pie for a friend on my birthday, Crispy for me
