This post is supposed to be about Shuna’s to-die-for caramel cake and the caramels are the optional challenge. I managed to finish the caramels but just ran out of time to make the cake. I’m very disappointed to miss a challenge, but I plan to make the cake for my birthday in January. I just [...]
Fresh Mint Ice Cream
October 3, 2008 By 15 Comments
In spite of our efforts to contain the mint, it spread beyond its designated area. We planted three different varieties (spearmint, chocolate mint, Bergamot mint), one plant of each in different areas, and each is staging a takeover. The plants spread by sending out shoots along the ground as well as seeding, and they expand [...]
Passion Fruit Macadamia Nut Ice Cream
August 5, 2008 By 12 Comments
My introduction to passion fruit (maracuya) came when I was teaching in Bogota, Colombia, where they enjoy a wonderful myriad of fruit. The locals and other teachers who had been there for a while taught me about the different fruits and showed me how to make juices from the frozen pulps that were available in [...]
Cherry Vanilla Ice Cream
June 13, 2008 By 19 Comments
What to do with a beautiful bowl of cherries and a stash of vanilla beans on a hot summer day? If you manage to rescue the cherries before my boys eat them all, you can make David Lebovitz’s vanilla ice cream and add fresh cherries. His book The Perfect Scoop needs no introduction from me, [...]
The Daring Bakers Make Opera Cake
May 28, 2008 By 48 Comments
When Ivonne and Lisa, the venerable founders of The Daring Bakers, choose a challenge, you know it’s going to be a challenge. Think Buche de Noel (Yule Log Cake), or in this case, think…L’Opera! Yes, Opera cake. Until now I’ve never tasted or made one, though I’ve seen them in posh bakeries, but I do [...]
How to Make Vanilla Extract
November 5, 2007 By 42 Comments
Vanilla beans + vodka + time = vanilla extract That’s pretty easy math! The process is simple and the equipment list very short: you only need a jar or bottle with a tight-fitting lid. There was a time when I would have said that the biggest part of that equation was the vanilla beans due [...]
The Daring Bakers Make Bostini Cream Pie
October 29, 2007 By 48 Comments
Chocolate. Custard. Cake. Three of my favorite things all wrapped in one delicious dessert. Each part is simple and enjoyable on it’s own, but together the parts form a perfect whole. For the October Daring Bakers challenge, Mary of Alpineberry chose this dessert that she enjoys at Scala’s Bistro in San Francisco but had never [...]
