DESSERTS
Growing up, apple pie did not excite me, and at our Thanksgiving and Christmas tables, I always chose blackberry and pumpkin pies instead. As I've grown, I've come to appreciate, even love, apple (and pecan) pie, and often find myself craving one when the first hint of fall creeps into the air. Here is my favorite recipe. It's appley, not too sweet, is delicious warm or cold, and makes a great next-day breakfast.
This all-natural strawberry cake is both unbelievably delicious and one of the most popular cakes I make. Every bite makes you close your eyes and sigh with contentment. Ice it with whipped cream-mascarpone frosting, and you'll be a star.
I cannot adequately describe my love for this tart nor am I willing to tell you how many I make and eat during plum season. Suffice it to say that this is a truly outstanding, scrumptious, perfect, should-be-your summer dessert!
Olive oil cakes are, at their best, incredibly fragrant, moist, flavorful creations. They lend themselves to all manner of tweak and topping: you can load them with citrus elements, or stud them with chocolate (as Boyce does here); you can let them be and top with macerated cherries and any other fruit compote. They are a lovely combination of sweet and savory which makes them as good for breakfast as they are for dessert. And this one incorporates some spelt flour which pairs marvelously with the chocolate.
I adore Meyer lemon anything and have long been wanting to combine its juice with coconut milk for a sweet-sour dessert. Cakes and pies are awesome but a dime a dozen; crème brûlée, on the other hand, is a treat I don't get to enjoy often enough. This is ethereal, every bite a smooth, creamy pleasure.
Coconut cream pie is one of my all-time favorite desserts, and this all-natural one is perfection. My husband and I wiped it out in two days flat! This pie definitely wants a night in the fridge to set and let the flavors deepen, so make it a day in advance if you can.
This is an insanely good strawberry-rhubarb pie. Instead of using the more traditional lemon juice to add tang and brighten the flavors of the fruit, I've used orange juice and almond extract for a slightly more mysterious taste profile. It's so fantastic that I made a jam with the same elements!
This is a classic strawberry-rhubarb pie, lightly spiced with cinnamon, lemon and vanilla, in which the sweet strawberries and tangy rhubarb shine.
Shortbread, caramel with hazelnuts, espresso-chocolate ganache. Just so insanely good. That's all.
This is a perfectly moist, wonderfully chocolate cake with a great crumb. It holds up well over time and under frosting. I've tweaked the original Hershey's recipe only slightly to include a bit less sugar and some whole wheat flour which no one has ever noticed.
Custard has always been one of my favorite desserts, the eggy, smooth, velvety flan a decadently simple treat. I love a hearty chai tea and created this riff on my mom's custard recipe using a spiced tea milk in place of the regular milk and nutmeg.
Having been obsessed with homemade ricotta for quite some time now, I'm always looking for new ways to enjoy it. Recently, during a magical weekend in Charleston, my husband and I noticed the delightful presence of candied kumquats in several dishes. I returned home and immediately candied a batch of these teeny citrus orbs for myself. It didn't take long for me to spoon them atop some ricotta, and to heaven I was immediately transported. Since that fortuitous snack pairing, I've been thinking about ways to formalize the ricotta-kumquat duo into a true dessert. A tart sounded promising and shortbread is always a lovely base perfectly happy to play second fiddle. This.is.scrumptious!
Since I was very young, I've adored a good crisp and still take great pleasure in all manner of crisps, crumbles and cobblers today. They remind me of home; they're simple yet, when well done, extraordinarily good; they're flexible; and they're a terrific way to highlight fresh fruit. I love blackberries and peaches and enjoy adding herbal elements into sweet things; it provides terrific contrast to the sugar aspect as well as a complexity you might not otherwise have. This is a perfect crisp in my opinion. I hope you enjoy it too!
For many years, my grandmother, Nanny, had a dozen or so large blackberry bushes thriving in her sunny backyard. Growing up, it was such a treat when the "season" opened as my sister and I would race out with a big bowl, eating and collecting from bush to bush. Those we didn't eat we brought inside to store or to dip in sugar and savor. Those we stored were most often turned into this pie, a sure hit and favorite of everyone I've ever made it for. The crust is a family tradition too and is both easy and superb. This freezes beautifully!
My maternal great aunt, Aunt Da, made wonderfully simple tea cakes that seemed simultaneously substantial and light. She always made huge batches and stored them in a silver canister that seemed bottomless. Here, I've reimagined them to be even lighter (using a combo of cake and whole wheat pastry flour) and slightly spiced with Irish Breakfast tea, Meyer lemon zest and a nice dose of marzipan (rather than the originally called for vanilla). These are absolutely delightful, subtly flavored pillows of comfort.
After first tasting candied kumquats during a foodie trip to Charleston, I came home and immediately made some of my own. They are such a treat. Serve atop fresh ricotta for a breakfast of champions, use them to make my candied kumquat tart or simply enjoy them plain.
This is such a delicious apple cake: incredibly moist, perfectly spiced, and as good for breakfast and a snack as it is for dessert!
This is a family recipe passed down through generations, and it's the best pie crust in the world.
What's not to love about a great bread pudding? It's comforting, delicious, decadent and homey, all at the same time. Topped with a caramel whiskey sauce...well, that's perfection.
Homemade ice cream is so fabulous, and with a great foundation, the flavor possibilities are endless. My sons asked me recently what my favorite candy was, and I replied that the older I get, the less I actually enjoy candy. I'd much rather have chocolate or some sort of baked good, but when pressed to consider a candy bar I'd eat if I had to, I thought of the Almond Joy. Coconut, chocolate and almonds- what's not to love?! Inspired by this conversation, I made this ice cream which is like a homemade, subtle Almond Joy with a twist: a dash of cardamom. Divine!
Since discovering the ease of making (and enjoying) fresh ricotta last year, I've been an ardent fan and rather obsessive maker of it. Most weeks, there's a fresh batch in my fridge, and one of my favorite ways to enjoy it is with lightly-spiced poached figs and their syrup. I also really enjoy using the whey which is great and useful in so many ways. This ice cream combines the use of whey with my favorite fig-ricotta snack.
This is a really yummy, not too sweet, unique cake from Food & Wine. I love the glaze and think the cake is terrific served with fresh strawberries.
This is the perfect dessert to bake in the fleeting moments that rhubarb and cherries' seasons overlap; rhubarb's tartness tames the cherries' sweetness, and the hibiscus keeps you digging your spoon in until the whole thing is magically gone.
This is my go-to basic buttercream frosting. Delish and easy to tint with food coloring.
My mom always made sundaes like these. They're such an easy, underrated way to enjoy mangoes, and grilling the fruit adds a depth and complexity that really excites. Then, with Amaretto, ice cream and amaretti, you've got a seriously good treat for adults!
I adapted this from an Andrew Knowlton yogurt cake recipe in the May 2012 Bon Appétit. AK's used more yogurt and did not include the strawberry-rhubarb compote. If you don't incorporate the fruit swirl, up the yogurt to 3/4 cup. You can make this cake up to three days in advance.
A rich, firm pudding-like cake that hails from Sicily. I found this recipe in a Cook's Illustrated special edition, Heirloom Recipes. Cook's Illustrated suggests serving this warm. I actually enjoyed better cold, after it sat in the fridge for a full day.
I got the recipe for this fabulously indulgent chocolate-peanut butter treat from a dear friend who grew up in Ohio. The name refers to the Ohio state tree; these goodies look like the nuts of the Buckeye.
Back to the pie. I have, over the years, worked on what is, in my opinion, the best representation of a number of pies: blackberry, apple, coconut, pecan. This summer, I set my sights on their peach cousin, and I think I'm nearly there.