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No-Churn Mexican Ice Cream
From cinnamon to honey, classic Mexican dessert ingredients range from earthy to sweet. So do the notes of tequila. An unaged variety has the sweetness of blue agave, but as it matures in the barrel, notes of vanilla, spice, and oak develop. For this no-churn Mexican ice cream, I incorporated añejo for its smooth and smoky qualities, which bring out the deep side of vanilla. You can skip the tequila altogether to make this dessert suitable for everyone, but I recommend making one batch for adults and a separate one for kids, since it adds a flavor you won’t want to miss. As if the tequila and vanilla weren’t enough…
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Chocolate Chip Olive Oil Muffins
We all love butter for the way it makes virtually any dish more flavorful and decadent. Take your favorite loaf of sourdough or your best pan sauce, and it’s hard to imagine how a pat of butter won’t make it even better. For bakers, butter is more than a finishing touch. It is the key to tender, flaky crusts and delicate cake crumb. Since I crave the goodness of butter, trust me when I say that you will not miss it in this muffin recipe. While many bakers turn to oils as a healthier alternative, I turn to olive oil for flavor. Not just any olive oil will do, unless…
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Golden Beet Salad with Feta
With their long stems and bright greens, beets lure in quite a few people at the market. They pick them up but then put them down. On their faces I sometimes see the flashbacks to horrible childhood beet experiences, many beginning with the canned red ones. If you have such memories, I recommend the golden variety as the gateway beet that might just make you change your opinion. In contrast to their red counterparts, golden beets are more mellow and slightly sweeter. They perk up with the addition of white wine vinaigrette and feta, making a great lunch salad or side dish. Since beets are filling but won’t leave you…
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Chocolate Plum Upside-Down Cake
Forgive me they were delicious so sweet and so cold – William Carlos Williams (Excerpt from “This Is Just To Say”) With a delicious plum layer, this chocolate upside-down cake sparked me to repeat William Carlos Williams’ lines in the way that lyrics might play in your mind. As a lover and writer of poetry, I count his work as one of the sensual pieces that is as likely to pop up as any song. Having “eaten / the plums / that were in / the icebox,” the speaker apologizes…sort of. They were so sweet and cold, after all. Other poets have turned to the fruit and flowers of the…
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Coconut Honey Lace Cookies
Lace cookies are sweet, crispy thins all the more enticing because they break so easily. Still pliable when removed from a hot oven, they cool quickly, and some likely won’t survive the first transfer from cookie sheet to plate. That’s the best part, as you get to eat all the coconut cookie shards. The inspiration for these cookies came while making last week’s custard tart. I wanted to create a topping that would be brittle like the torched sugar coating on crema catalana or crème brûlée. Thin and crispy coconut lace cookies were a satisfying and crunchy topping for natillas, and they are just as delicious on their own. Ingredients…
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