For July 4th last year (yes, I’m 6 months behind on posts) I made bite-size boccone dolce. I hadn’t remade this recipe since I posted it in 2015, but did recall that the meringue moistened up really quickly, so I made the components ahead of time and had a DIY boccone dolce set-up when dessert o’clock rolled around. These were little bite-sized red, white and blue desserts with a simple, sweet kick. Not sure how feasible these are for a larger potluck (typical of July 4th) but might work fine if you skip the whipped cream entirely.
gluten free
ricciarelli
HAPPY NEW YEAR!! Ok, so. Josh says these are his favorite cookies that I’ve ever made. I think that’s saying a lot, considering. These ricciarelli (not sure how to pronounce this… “rich”-ee-uh-relly? “rick”-uh-relly? Any Italians in the house?) were inspired by Arizmendi’s, but chewier, with more orange zest. These are gluten free!! Super chewy because of the nut flour and egg whites, with strong aroma.
marshmallows
Ok, with this new experience I can officially define a marshmallow to be 80% texture, 10% flavor, and 10% flavor-of-the-powdered-sugar-coating. I tried a bit of the goopy mess before it dried out, and it was not delicious. Tasted like plastic. But somehow, magically, after drying out overnight and getting coated in powdered sugar, I am at risk for eating the entire batch by day’s end. Help.
blueberry bourbon basil whipped cream frosting
Longest blog post title ever, but there’s not really a simpler description for this cake I made for Rose’s birthday this year. Which obviously dates this post to basically two months delayed, but um, better late than never? This was definitely one of my best cakes of the year. Look at that beautiful lavender color of the frosting – so pretty! And I swear it was tasty to boot, we have witnesses.
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macarons
Supposedly one of the most challenging pastries to make at home, macarons are famed to need extreme precision and effort. But in my typical way, I lazied this recipe down to its very minimum, and it came out delicious and with really good texture! Great success for a first effort, and I will be working on other flavors! Hojicha macarons, anyone?
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chocolate ganache – whipped and smooth
Chocolate ganache gets a bit of a reputation for being finicky and difficult, but in my experience it’s not too bad as long as you give it a little extra attention and don’t act recklessly. Of course I’ve broken my ganache before but it’s always a case of user error… Read more
tiny flourless chocolate cake
The main effect of this cake is to satisfy that chocolate cake craving we get around 9pm every night, without producing tempting leftovers that test our self control from the countertop for days afterwards.
The side effect of this cake is to remind you (me) that baking is easy, available, and always worth it. This is what I bake when I don’t want to wash my measuring cups. When I really want cake but I really don’t want to put on pants.