I had my first taste of basil and chocolate almost two decades ago, out with friends at Lucia’s restaurant in Minneapolis. Our server recommended the chocolate cake paired with the basil ice cream, and the combination sounded so intriguing we decided to trust him. The bright blue of my shirt, the buzz of voices at tables surrounding us, the candles speckling the dimly lit room, and chocolate and…
I officially turned in my manuscript and all my photographs for my third cookbook (a holiday baking book, out Fall 2021) and have found myself rather lost, wandering into the kitchen wanting to bake but also wanting to take a break. I did sneak in last week and make this Raspberry Caramel Bubble Bread, which turned out to be very delicious and a perfect summer treat, especially with…
I’ve been working hard the last few weeks on finishing up projects, finishing book edits (my cookie book comes out October 2020!), working on posts for Breadin5, and helping my kids with distance learning (which seems like another full-time job). I haven’t had much time to bake from some of the beautiful cookbooks I received the last few months, but I finally was able to sneak in some…
I’ve been baking quite a bit of bread the last few weeks (along with everyone else) and was inspired to try making circle bread after seeing a commenter on Amazon mention they made a similar bread out of two Almond Cake Loaf Pans and some metal clips (thank you, Diana!). Lo and behold, it worked like a charm, and circle bread is now a ‘thing’ at our house.…
**I’m re-posting my Cinnamon Roll recipe to the front page, after it was featured on The Kitchn today. I’ve included the sweet dough recipe and an option to print the recipe below. ** I’m posting the cinnamon roll recipe from my book here today, as many of you have been looking for it after the Pancake Princess declared it winner of her Cinnamon Roll Bake Off…
This is an older post, originally posted in 2011, that I’m highlighting this December. My daughter and I were looking through old blog posts, trying to decide on a birthday dessert for her upcoming day, and she died laughing at how terrible the photos were for this post (they were pretty bad). So I remade the cake this week updating not only the photos, but the recipe as…
This past week I was on Twin Cities Live for their 12 Days of Cookies that airs each year around the holidays. I made these cheesecake cookies, and wanted to include them here as well because they are so delicious. On the show I didn’t add the chocolate drizzle, but I made them again this weekend and liked the added touch. They are good either way (you could…
One of my favorite holiday treats is pumpkin bread and I make quite a few loaves every year, some for giving, some for keeping. This version comes from Michelle Lopez’s new cookbook, Weeknight Baking. It’s based on a recipe from the Tartine: A Classic Revisited cookbook, and it is quite delicious. Michelle makes hers with granulated sugar sprinkled on top instead of the cream cheese icing, but I…
I decided to see what would happen if I played around with my Sweet dough recipe – adding apple cider instead of milk, for an Autumn-ish type of breakfast bun. The rolls came out beautifully, with the faintest apple flavor. I’m not one for apple chunks in my buns and rolls (I find them distracting), so instead, to draw out the apple flavor, I opted for an apple…
Nigel Slater describes an apple in his book Ripe as a “quick hit,” but the pear as “something to take our time over.” I would have to agree and have always been partial to pears over apples, especially when it comes to pies. Here, however, I’ve combined them; this pie is chockfull of fresh pears, and their juice is cooked down with a good splash of hard apple…
