“Bread is a staple in Iran, second only to rice,” Cody Ma says, who, along with his partner Misha Sesar, runs Persian all-day café Azizam, one of our Best New Restaurants of 2024, in the Silverlake neighborhood of Los Angeles. “We really wanted to highlight bread from Iran outside of lavash, which is why we … Read more
This vegan Coca-Cola cake is a delightful twist on a retro dessert, which dates back to the 1950s. Like me, this recipe was born in the South. The combination of rich cocoa with the subtle sweetness of Coca-Cola creates a moist, tender crumb and a pleasantly bittersweet flavor. Using hot Coca-Cola mimics the boiling-water method … Read more
Chicken paprikash is a comfort food classic originating from Hungary. My Austrian great-grandmother, Gita, used to make it for our family. This version is minimally updated from Grandma Gita’s. I bumped up the paprika quantity—and threw in a pinch of cayenne—for a punchier sauce. And while she skipped sour cream (and you could too), I … Read more
My mother is many things, including being a gifted cook, but she is decidedly not a baker. Her roll call of desserts has remained the same over 30 years: no-bake cheesecake, apple crisp (always made in collaboration with my dad), and lemon drizzle cake. The hotly requested cake was baked in a tube pan and, … 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 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
With its distinct multilayered presentation, Smith Island cake might just be the most flashy regional cake in the United States. Named after a group of three Island communities on the Chesapeake Bay (Tylerton, Ewell, and Rhodes Point) collectively called Smith Island, the layer cake is said to have been baked since the 1800s as a … Read more
If the last time you had a chocolate cupcake was at a childhood birthday party, it’s high time to bake a batch. This chocolate cupcake recipe is ridiculously easy—the batter comes together in about 5 minutes, no equipment required. But it delivers big on flavor thanks to a healthy dose of salt, vanilla extract, and … Read more
Chicken piccata is a classic Italian dish made from pounded flat chicken breasts dredged in all-purpose flour, pan-fried, and topped with a lemony white wine and caper sauce. While staying fairly true to tradition, this version leans into the quality that, in our humble opinion, unites all the best chicken piccata recipes: an ample amount … 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