You know you’re a new homeowner when you find yourself attempting to do some quick and easy home improvements, like replacing the gungy kitchen faucet and tightening the loose handle on the dishwasher, and two days later, after trips to three different stores, you still don’t have the right part for the faucet and the …
Chocolate
When our friend Traci commissioned a surprise birthday cake for her significant other, Dan, she requested something chocolate. So I started flipping through my cookbook collection looking for inspiration for chocolate, chocolate, and more chocolate. This was no time for restraint. Special occasions call for special cakes. And this would be a special cake. I …
This cocoa nib semifreddo might be the easiest fancy dessert I’ve ever made. It has three ingredients (well, four if you count the pinch of salt), it requires about 10 minutes of active work, and it doesn’t require any special equipment like an ice cream maker. You just need some kind of mixing apparatus (anything …
I have a confession to make. I’m not really into the whole mint and chocolate combination. I’ve never disliked it, exactly, but it’s never been one of those things I crave. Mint chocolate chip has always been my father’s favorite flavor of ice cream, but ever since I was a kid, I could take it …
This cake is a beauty. It’s an oversized s’more in cake form. Four layers of honey graham cracker cake get filled with vanilla marshmallow cream and bittersweet chocolate ganache and topped with a gooey marshmallow meringue frosting which gets toasted with a kitchen blow torch to bring in a whiff of campfire. This cake was …
It was 70° on Saturday. Then on Sunday it turned cold and misty. And today it was colder still with a forecast for snow. It’s springtime in Chicago. A season that always seems intent on doubling back on itself a few times before it settles in for good. It’s a good day for simple comforting …