Food, Photography and Bon Mots
Pie crust. Let’s see a show of hands from those of you who love love love the taste of a crisp and flaky homemade crust but find making it challenging–particularly during these hot summer months when those pea-sized balls of butter that are critical…
This Lemon Raspberry Cornmeal Cake is a sweet little dessert. It’s easy to prepare and I can personally attest to the fact that it is delicious any time of the day. It’s pretty, too, with tart jewel-red raspberries suspended in the pale yellow cake. It’s…
These Raspberry Shortbread Bars are sublime! The shortbread melts in your mouth and the raspberry jam is, well, raspberry jam. This recipe comes from Joanne Chang’s cookbook, Flour. You can buy the cookbook at your local bookstore or on Amazon here. Chang is also the author…
Every place in the world deserves a good chocolate chip cookie. Am I right? These Chocolate Chip Cookies With Ras el Hanout are right out of the Middle East. The recipe comes from New York Times Food Writer Nargisse Benkabbou and can be found on…
I know. It’s another cake. This Strawberry Almond Flour Cake is just too delicious (and interesting) to delay sharing. And, anyway, it is finally strawberry season here in Southern California. Interestingly, no wheat flour is involved here. It’s just almond flour and a small amount…
Nutmeg has long been highly valued–sometimes commanding astronomical prices. In 14th century Europe, a pound of nutmeg could set you back seven fat oxen! Wow! Nutmeg’s story begins early. According to food historian Harold McGee (On Food and Cooking), nutmeg is known to have…
Every month Blue Cayenne features recipes from our archive of more than four hundred recipes. These recipes are our “Oldies But Goodies.”Here is a recipe for a sweet little almond cake. Here is the link: Almond Cake. You don’t want to miss this great recipe…again. Want…
This little Tequila Lime Cake is wonderful. With generous amounts of tequila and lime juice in the batter, it’s a Margarita with all the flavor and none of the guilt. This recipe also is interesting for its inclusion of masa harina ( flour made from…
Rough puff. It’s a thing among home bakers–a shortcut to glorious puff pastry. What’s the big deal about puff pastry? The magic of puff pastry (and rough puff) is the moisture in the generous amount of butter that is incorporated into the dough. As the…
I usually march to the beat of my own drummer, but the crush of interest in recipes for Burnt Basque Cheesecake has piqued my interest. It turns out that Burnt Basque Cheesecake originated in the 1990s as a Tarta de Queso at La Vina Restaurant…
