I have a funny relationship with coconut. I don’t buy coconut candy bars, I leave the coconut balls behind in the assorted chocolate box, would order caramel over coconut cake and don’t do coconut rum drinks. But when I happen to be served a coconut sweet, I always love it, and wonder why I don’t eat, and bake with, coconut more often. Recently, my Dad requested a coconut … [Read more...] about Coconut Cloud Pie
Sweets
Pralines for Idiots
Candy making is not something I typically try my hand at. All that talk about thermometers and stages and testing methods. Those recipes always look like the kind of thing I don’t have the patience for. Plus, once you’ve been badly burned by hot sugar, it makes you candy-shy. But this is an exception. I call it Pralines for Idiots, because it really does away with all that … [Read more...] about Pralines for Idiots
Tunnel of Fudge Cake
Before molten lava cake or chocolate fondants or fallen chocolate cake there was Tunnel of Fudge Cake. It’s a classic recipe, and I am sure many people have their own version. Tunnel of Fudge Cake is possibly the recipe that I have been making longer than any other, and more often. My mother passed this recipe on to me; she’d gotten it from my cousin and kept it in her little … [Read more...] about Tunnel of Fudge Cake
Gingerbread Pillows
I set out to make a cookie reminiscent of good-old fashioned gingerbread cake. When I managed to achieve this, it occurred to me that if I called them gingerbread cookies, it would bring to mind the crispy, crunchy type - like gingerbread men or tree ornaments. That is not what these lovelies are at all. These little pillowy cushions of cakey, gingerbread goodness are … [Read more...] about Gingerbread Pillows
Egg Nog Tres Leches Cake
The holidays are here and that, for me, means egg nog. The most wonderful time of the year! I love egg nog straight from a Santa Claus mug, but it is a great flavor for baking and adds real holiday cheer to almost anything. I stir it into hot chocolate, oatmeal, bake it in breads and muffins and flavor cookies and candies with it. And of course, my must-have Christmas … [Read more...] about Egg Nog Tres Leches Cake
