Breakfast breads dress up a brunch table, encouraging everyone to have another cup of coffee and stay awhile. Homemade muffins and quick breads welcome new neighbors and make excellent additions to a care package. But these recipes can also serve as a gift to yourself—stashed in your freezer, they offer a sweet (or savory) bite … Read more
How we tested the toasters When it comes to the perfect piece of toast, sliced white sandwich bread is the ultimate blank slate—so we started by grabbing a few bags of Wonder Bread to gauge how each machine could handle the basics. We toasted pieces of bread at each setting on the low to high … Read more
Frozen shredded potato patties transform into a crispy yet fluffy crust for this meaty hash-brown-and-egg casserole. It hits as well at a leisurely brunch (it’s prime holiday breakfast fodder) as it does for a weeknight dinner. Need a go-to breakfast bake for busy mornings? This cozy crowd-pleaser is a make-ahead dream (see Do Ahead for … Read more
Is there a marked difference between New Jersey–style crumb cake and New York–style crumb cake? Not really. But as someone from the Garden State, I’ll always think of this style of cake as the former. “Crumb cake” is a moist vanilla cake topped with a thick layer of cinnamon-scented brown sugar streusel. Unlike “coffee cake,” … Read more
The All-Clad’s settings make a huge difference in doneness. Megan Wahn Other waffle makers we tested There’s no easy way to say this: The real revelation of this test was just how mediocre most waffle irons are. But at least they were consistent in the ways in which they were mediocre. Far and away, the … Read more
The sun is out, the birds are singing, and there’s a sweet scent in the air. Strawberry season is officially upon us, which means that these strawberry muffins should be at the top of your to-bake list, right along with the requisite strawberry shortcake. Showcasing spring’s finest jewels, these muffins are chock-full of strawberry flavor … Read more
This homemade raspberry jam recipe has no lemon juice, pectin, or other add-ins, just the berries and sugar. Adding pectin “necessitates more sugar,” says Eleanor Topp, author of The Complete Book of Year-Round Small-Batch Preserving. And using more sugar “dilutes the natural flavor of the fruit.” She also notes that while not adding pectin requires … Read more
This recipe for strawberry preserves does not turn out run-of-the-mill store-bought strawberry jam. Here whole pieces of fruit float in a sweet, bright syrup that’s equally useful in the kitchen. To make it, you only need sugar, half a lemon, fresh strawberries, and sterile jars. Most of the prep time is hands-off: After you mix … Read more
From David Lebovitz’s 2010 cookbook, Ready for Dessert, comes this easy orange marmalade recipe with a genius juicing method. By squeezing cut oranges over a mesh strainer, Lebovitz preserves the valuable seeds. He wraps them in cheesecloth and adds to the mixture of boiling water, sugar, and citrus—pith and all—on the stovetop, then simmers and … Read more
Step 1 Mash 10 lb. peaches, sliced, and their pits in a large, nonreactive pot, using your hands, until no large pieces of fruit remain. For every quart of fruit pulp, add 1 cup water; bring to a boil over high heat. Decrease the heat to low, and simmer until very juicy, about 20 minutes. … Read more