Cream Cheese Sugar Cookies
I know…I know…Does the world really need yet sugar cookie? The world may not, but apparently I do. That’s because I ran out of cream of tartar. My grandmother’s sugar cookie [...]
Quince Newtons
Once, when I was in my 20’s, I tried to make my own fig bars. They were a whole lotta work for precious little pay-off because they didn’t look or taste anywhere near as good [...]
Devil’s Food Cupcakes
I loathe beets. But I absolutely love what they do for these cupcakes. Luckily, it’s easy to buy cooked beets at farmers’ markets and supermarkets in France, so my contact wi [...]
Halloween Pumpkin Squares
I have been making this recipe for something like 30 years now – the original version comes from one of the first cookbooks I ever owned. It has been such a favorite that I ev [...]
Spicy Gingerbread
When and why did gingerbread get pigeonholed as a *strictly* holiday treat? Sure, I get that all things gingerbread are a holiday tradition, but must that mean that they vani [...]
Lemon Lover’s Frosting
This frosting has at least three times the amount of lemon juice most recipes of the other recipes I’ve seen call for. It has a tart hit like a lemon curd or lemon meringue p [...]
Favorite Chocolate Cake
The original version of this cake was a Sour Cream Chocolate Cake from San Francisco à la Carte, a cookbook I purloined from my Mom’s kitchen shelf as soon as I moved out on [...]
Perfection V/GF Cookies
These are everything a chocolate chip cookie should be: crisp on the outside, tender on the inside, with a decent dose of vanilla and the rich, caramel flavor of brown sugar. [...]
Apple Far Breton
To make my neighbor Françoise's far breton work with apples I made one minor/major adjustment: I let the batter rest before baking. The tiny tweak made a huge difference in t [...]