I love frosting. I love cupcakes with lots of frosting and cakes covered in big frosting rosettes. But sometimes a cake is just so delicious, you want the frosting to simply complement, not dominate. This raspberry almond cake gets that balance just right. The cake is rich and perfectly textured and the raspberry buttercream frosting adds a bright flavor and color. It’s loaded with real raspberries and topped with tender candied blood oranges, giving just a bit of bitterness to balance the sweet. All of the three components are delicious on their own. But together, they’re magic. Continue reading “Raspberry Almond Cake with Candied Blood Oranges” →
These chocolate banana cupcakes are insanely delicious. Moist banana cake dipped in dark chocolate then topped with chocolate almond buttercream and a banana chip. After getting rave reviews for these Chocolate Covered Strawberry Cupcakes, I put my thinking cap on to see if I could come up with a new take on the chocolate-covered cupcake. This was a no-brainer. My family says that these are the best cupcakes I have ever made. They look so appealing and the two kinds of chocolate take it to the next level. It’s like a decadent version of the classic chocolate chip banana bread. Continue reading “Decadent Chocolate Banana Cupcakes” →
My younger sister Eva, who I adore, has been living with us for four months and just returned to Olympia last week. It was so lovely to spend all that time together and have an extra set of hands around to help with the kids. But one of THE BEST things about having Eva around was having a new chef in the house. I’m pretty handcuffed when it comes to family dinners. The kids seem to eat only things from two food groups: beige and tube-shaped. Continue reading “Rice Pudding with Chocolate-Tahini Sauce and Black Sesame Praline” →
I got lucky at a garage sale a few years ago and scored a wonderful table top fryer from the sixties. It’s built like a tank, still has the original cloth cord and had never been used. I had never really done any deep-frying so I was a little nervous. But it turns out that with a bit of practice it’s very easy and super fun. The kids love it when I make frites or chocolate donut holes but I haven’t experimented with it too much. Then I saw a delicious looking, teensy little braided donut from South Africa called a koeksister. Finally, a treat worthy of a Deep-Fried Experimentation Project. New band name, I called it! Read on to learn how to make koeksisters. Continue reading “How to Make Koeksisters-Fried South African Mini Doughnuts” →
