The chance to bake sourdough bread in a 185-year-old, wood-fired brick oven is a baker’s dream. Even if you never get such an opportunity, I have some bread-baking tips that will help you create beautiful fresh loaves from your home oven. About 5 years ago I was invited by a friend to bake at the home …
Creme Brulee Shortbread – Buttery Shortbread topped with a crispy, crackly caramelized topping. I love to bake because I love to share goodies from my kitchen. It would be no fun to bake a big batch of cookies and eat them all by myself (hmmm, or maybe it would be). For the holidays I like to create gift boxes filled …
Apricot Frangipane Tartelettes are the perfect pairing with sparkling wine. In the words of the singular Julia Child, “Wine is part of the food chain…there’s not anything evil about it. It’s part of the food.” There is a reason I love that woman! We have a great group of friends we call our “wine group”. The group …
Dark Chocolate Ganache has all the pure chocolate flavor of a really great square of bittersweet chocolate but it has a soft and creamy texture. It’s like eating chocolate silk. Use this recipe to make great chocolate truffles. As a staple in the pastry kitchen, ganache is used for glazing and filling cakes and cookies, …
Old-fashioned Rhubarb Pie just might be my favorite fruit pie of all. I love the tart-sweet flavor and beautiful pink color of pure rhubarb pie filling. In my “Perfect Pie Crust” post I end the article with a paragraph about the importance of patience in baking. You’ll see here how I didn’t take my own …
A number of years ago I was interviewing for a job at a critically acclaimed restaurant. The restaurant didn’t have a pastry chef (as many don’t, I’m sorry to say). They were making some desserts in-house and buying the rest. Recent reviews had noted that dessert was a weak spot in the menu. I thought …