When I’m not making all manner of cakes and retro cafeteria pizzas at home for fun, I’m making donuts at my day job. Do you realize the number of times someone has said to me, “Time to make the donuts”? It’s endless. I’m pretty much just like that guy, waking up at 3:30 AM so I can sleepily make my way to work and create donut goodness … Continue reading german chocolate tea cookies
“Who knows where thoughts come from? They just appear.” – Lucas, Empire Records
I’m not sure what gave me the idea for this cake. The ease of baking a cake in a loaf pan versus two round layers? The fact that I love coconut and chocolate, so why not combine them into one tasty pile of kickass glory? Who knows.
I have what you’d call a little obsession with the little French cookie known as the macaron. There’s just something so alluring about these cookies to perfectionist bakers because it’s so technical a cookie to produce. Anyone can make a macaron, but to make a good one, the technique has to be perfected and you have to be present in the moment with these guys. This is no time to go into the kitchen and do a half-assed job. Use your whole ass!
Continue reading “a lesson learned: nut-free coconut + pineapple macarons”
It was a sad, sad day for junk food lovers everywhere when Hostess filed for bankruptcy in January. I remember the day after the news spread about the brand going under, I was at my local Target and the shelves that had previously held boxes upon boxes of Twinkies and cupcakes were totally bare. Even the end caps filled with packages of mini donuts were picked clean.
Bart’s a smart one! Much to Homer’s chagrin, he picked the sno-ball!
There are two things that will forever remind me of Easter. One is the movie Grease. I received it for an Easter gift back when I was like 13 or so, and I’ve loved that movie ever since. What girl didn’t love a young John Travolta dancing and singing, with those big blue eyes? And remember, if you can’t be an athlete, be an athletic supporter!
The other thing that always reminds me of Easter is coconut cake. I remember my mom or my grandma had this cartoon plastic rabbit face that you could shove against a store-bought jelly roll-style coconut cake, effectively making the cake look like the Easter Bunny. I’ve never really known why coconut cake seems so ubiquitous around Easter and springtime in general. Regardless, I’ll eat it happily whenever it’s served!
Hooray, it’s Girl Scout cookie season! Is there no better time of year? The ushering in of springtime, adorable little girls in their Girl Scout uniforms, harassing you asking you to buy some cookies as you walk into the grocery store. It’s wonderful. There seems to be quite a dividing line between people and their love of the top two Girl Scout cookie flavors, Samoas and Thin Mints — people always seem to prefer one over the other. I’ll generally devour anything containing coconut, and toasty coconut with caramel and chocolate is just a bonus.
oven + apron 