When time is tight and you need something to feed a crowd at a picnic, potluck, or bake sale, this Texas sheet cake recipe is the answer. The fudgy single-layer cake gets its lush crumb from melted butter and a tangy boost from buttermilk. The genius of the recipe is in its timing: Right after … 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 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
You probably have everything needed to make this Dutch baby recipe on hand right now. A cross between a fluffy oversized pancake and an eggy crepe, the large-format breakfast favorite is believed to derive from the German pancake pfannkuchen. According to legend, an American restaurateur mistook the word “Deutsch” for “Dutch,” and a misleading moniker … Read more
If a coffee cake and a focaccia had a baby, it would look something like this. Sugar cake is a tradition of the Moravians, a group of Czech Protestants who landed in the same Pennsylvania region as the Amish and Mennonites, and later settled in North Carolina. In 1766, the Moravian church founded Salem, now … Read more
The first known record of the Greyhound cocktail dates to Harry Craddock’s 1930 drinks compendium, The Savoy Cocktail Book. Craddock’s version used gin and fresh grapefruit juice; as Americans’ appetites for vodka grew during the 20th century, bartenders tinkered with the ingredients in this classic cocktail. Its reputation as a vodka drink was cemented when … Read more
I once heard the Appalachian author and editor Ronni Lundy say, “There’s no such thing as a bad biscuit,” and the idea has stuck with me over the years as I’ve tried many times to prove her wrong: overworking, overcooking, and generally overthinking dozens of attempts. Even a botched biscuit has its charms when it’s … Read more
It’s tough to describe exactly what a caramel roll is, yet every Midwesterner seems to know. It’s not a sticky bun, and it’s not just a cinnamon roll either. A caramel roll is a large cinnamon bun that is soft, plush, buttery, cinnamon-y, drenched in caramel, and sometimes includes nuts. It’s distinctively pronounced car-mull (not … Read more