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
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
An easy dessert or afternoon snack, this lemon pound cake recipe gets its pillowy crumb from cake flour and six whole eggs. Don’t swap in all-purpose flour here; its higher protein content produces more gluten that would result in a cake noticeably denser and less fluffy. You can, however, make a decent cake flour substitute … Read more
There is literally nothing better than a big bowl of golden chicken soup. It cures everything and is a universally comforting dish. I gave birth to my oldest in the spring, during Passover, so I lived off of chicken soup. It was something I looked forward to daily, giving me the nourishment and comfort I … Read more
For shortbread, buttery texture is everything, which is why most recipes limit the liquid they use and rely on eggs as the only binder. Bakers are hesitant to add water, which, when worked with flour, creates gluten. But dry shortbread dough is hard to work with and often results in overly brittle cookies that shatter … Read more
Vodka might seem like an unexpected ingredient to use in ice cream, but its presence proves invaluable in achieving a creamy texture without having to use an ice cream machine. Alcohol has a low freezing point (around -16°F), and just a splash will keep the batch silky smooth as it chills in a home freezer. … Read more
“Chocolate chipless cookies? But like, what even is the point?” asked more than one befuddled colleague when I told them I was developing a chocolate chip cookie recipe minus the chocolate chips. “I don’t know, just the perfect distillation of buttery, butterscotch-y cookie essence?” I replied, wild-eyed, deep in the midst of my 11th batch. … 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
This tea-based tiramisu is for all the non-coffee drinkers out there (because yes, we see you). As much as I love traditional tiramisu made with punchy espresso, I wanted to create an alternative with more gentle notes. In this version, Earl Grey tea is infused in the Grand Marnier–spiked soaking liquid and speckled throughout the … Read more