No time to make doughnuts for Hanukkah? No problem. You can whip these beauties up in no time, using Pepperidge Farm Puff pastry. These are much easier to make than sufganiyot and they look and taste amazing. Happy Hanukkah! vegetable oil for deep fat frying 1 package puff pastry (I use Pepperidge Farm), defrosted [...]
Here’s a great autumnal cake to serve on Sukkot. Pumpkin pecan cake is one of my favorite go-to autumn cakes. Moist and tender and infused with pumpkin, warm spices and studded with pecans, this cake is the quintessential autumnal dessert. Pumpkin pecan mini bundt cake is a great make ahead dessert that you can whip [...]
Here’s a recipe that will chase away the fruit salad doldrums. The kitchen smells heavenly as the pears simmer in their poaching liquid, redolent of vanilla bean, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and Amaretto. I like to serve the compote accompanied by biscotti or meringues.
As the days get shorter and the air is crisper and cooler, I am back in my kitchen baking after a summer hiatus. One of my favorite cakes to bake during this season is Autumn Spiced Honey Chiffon cake. While this cake is baking, an ambrosial aroma of warm honey, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, ginger, and [...]
Cookie baking season is upon us! If you’re a cookie baking aficionado, you will want to add these to your repertoire. This recipe produces a sugar cookie for all seasons. You can use just about any cookie cutter on the dough—autumn leaves and turkeys for fall, snowflakes and menorahs for winter, butterflies and flowers for [...]
As always, I baked up a storm for the holidays—lots of round challahs; 3 cakes—Honey, Marble and Apple; two types of brownies—Honey and Dark Cocoa; two types of cookies—sugar and honey; 2 quick breads—banana and applesauce. I can go on and on—but you get the drift—I like to bake—I probably bake too much—but, it’s a [...]
The recipe for this showstopper cheesecake comes from Maida Heatter, aka “Queen of Cake”. She passed away in 2019 at the age of 102. A prodigiously gifted pastry chef and cookbook author, Maida Heatter wrote more than ten cookbooks, many of which are treasured baking resources that I refer to time and again. Her recipes [...]
Velvety smooth, rich and creamy, this cheesecake is divine. Its decadent taste and texture belie the fact that it is relatively easy to make. Cream cheese, sugar, eggs and cream are beaten together and then poured into a cake pan lined with a traditional graham cracker crumb crust. The cake is then baked in a [...]
My all time favorite cake to make during sultry summer months is Ice Cream Cake. Its main ingredient—ice cream—is America’s most loved dessert. An ice cream cake is no bake, easy to make, and you can prepare it weeks ahead of time and keep it in your freezer until ready to serve. With the wide [...]
I made these cheese blintzes for Passover. The recipe calls for potato starch instead of flour. They were so delicious, I’ll be making them for Shavuot and year round. Crepe batter ½ cup potato starch ¾ cup water 2 eggs ½ tablespoon butter or margarine, melted pinch salt Filling ½ cup farmer cheese ½ [...]