This post is sponsored by California Walnuts. As always, all opinions are my own. I’m a fan of cake, of course, and while I’ve made plenty of layer cakes and snack cakes on this site, I realized that I could also do with a sheet cake, an essential for birthday parties, picnics, and other large get-togethers. This one is double chocolate, with sides coated in candied walnuts. I’ve…
This post is sponsored by California Walnuts. As always, all opinions are my own. I’ve been so busy working on my book, and just now realized it is now August and this is the first pie I’ve made. Hopefully there will be more to come in the near future (I’ve got a bowl full of peaches on my counter calling to me). Usually I’m a big fan of…
Would you like to throw a stone at me? Here, take all that’s left of my peach. Blood-red, deep: Heaven knows how it came to pass. Somebody’s pound of flesh rendered up. Wrinkled with secrets And hard with the intention to keep them. Why, from silvery peach-bloom, From that shallow-silvery wine-glass on a short stem This rolling, dropping, heavy globule? I am thinking, of course, of the peach…
I have a gigantic stack of cookbooks that I have been meaning to bake and cook from, but sadly they have sitting on my dining room table (along with heaps of legos and papers to be sorted and summer homework that hasn’t been started and laundry to be folded and and and…) while I finished working on my next book (and the manuscript is in! And the photographs!…
I posted a photo of these S’mores donuts on Instagram today and they got quite a nice reception, so I decided to put the recipe up here on my site. Donuts can be time consuming to make, they are best eaten immediately, and they will cause an entire home to smell like fry oil for a day or two, so I don’t always turn to them (especially on…
I’m a big fan of quick bread, and most often turn to pumpkin or banana when whipping up a loaf. However, I wanted another variation in my usual rotation, so I came up with this honey walnut bread. It is a delicious change of pace, and perfect for those in-between spring days, when citrus is fleeting and we are anxiously awaiting on berries. I’ve teamed up with California Walnuts…
It took me a long time to feel confident making pies. I never actually made one until my late twenties, as they had seemed so daunting and time consuming; so much work for something that had such a high percentage of not turning out right. My first attempt actually was incredible: I made a perfect apple pie. The crust was flaky and golden brown, the filling perfectly cooked,…
This post is sponsored by California Walnuts. As always, all opinions are my own. I’ve teamed up with California Walnuts to bring you some recipes over the following year (such as this chocolate walnut cake and these chocolate donuts). Over 99 percent of walnuts grown in the U.S. come from California’s walnut orchards, many of which are on family owned and operated farms that have been around for generations. Walnuts are nutritious…
I’m addicted to kolaches. Any and all kinds, but especially these pictured here. Kolaches were brought to Texas by Czech immigrants and now have a cult-like following, for good reason. Almost a Danish pastry, they are made with a brioche-like bread dough instead of laminated layers; their centers filled with creamy sweet cheese and the slightest hint of lemon. When I first came across them in Bread Illustrated…
I’m back with more swirl buns! When I stumbled upon the recipe for Strawberry Poppy Seed Buns from the new Bake From Scratch cookbook, I decided to drop everything (which was really just taking a break from recipe testing for my next book) and make them. The dough came together beautifully and was a dream to work with, and my family and neighbors devoured them immediately then raved…
