I made a batch of opera cream for Easter and it didn’t quite set up the way it should. It was looser and wasn’t cooperating enough to coat in chocolate for candy. What to do? Turn it into cake filling! I used my recipe for Coconut Lightning Cake . To turn it into a chocolate cake add…
Category: The Bakery & Sweet Shoppe
Coconut Lightning Cake with Italian Buttercream Frosting
I have mentioned before that my sisters are talented bakers, especially when it comes to cake and frosting. I can usually manage a cake recipe just fine. Due to past icing disasters, I tend to have icing anxiety every time I make it. Part of the problem is my propensity to devise shortcuts after reading recipes….
Baked Bread Dough Donuts ~ Glittered Clouds
Today is International Women’s Day and it has me thinking about all of the women I’ve known in my life. I’ve been lucky enough to have many great women role models in my lifetime, most notably my mom and sisters. I have learned a lot from them as well as my mother-in-law, sisters-in-law, both grandmas,…
1871 Chocolate Jelly Cake ~ Vintage Valentine
Valentine’s Day is approaching and to me, it has always meant CHOCOLATE! The richness of chocolate somehow symbolizes the richness of relationships, of family and love. Plus, it’s yummy! So I knew there would have to be chocolate in the house for Valentine’s Day. I have been researching brownie recipes in digital newspaper archives for…
Gluten Free Italian Wedding Cookies
I tested a gluten free version of my family’s recipe for Italian Wedding Cookies, see that post here: My Family’s Italian Wedding Cookies and they got my gluten free daughter’s full approval! You may make the following gluten free swap for the unbleached all-purpose flour called for in the original recipe: 3 1/2 to 4…
‘Twas the Nightmare Before Christmas!
This was supposed to be a blog post with beautiful pictures of hand dipped and decorated Opera Cream candy to take to my parent’s house for Christmas Eve. Then El Nino happened. Thunder, lightning and torrential rain. Warm temperatures and high humidity do strange things to sugar and chocolate. My candy morphed into something from…
From Scratch Caramel Sauce
Make this and keep it on hand throughout the holidays. This is the caramel sauce that was drizzled on my brownies, then sunk in and created Molten Caramel Lava Brownies! What to do with it? Serve it with fruit, ice cream, floats, pie and cake. Stir it into coffee or hot chocolate. Or just eat…
My Family’s Italian Wedding Cookies
These cookies were on every family wedding table and every family Christmas table when I was growing up. In my family, they are Italian Wedding Cookies. Each cookie I consumed ~ and there were many, represents some of my best and earliest food memories. Billowing clouds of frosting topped off by (sometimes overly ornate) sprinkles, shredded coconut,…
Sugar Cookie Cutouts
This recipe has been a standard in my family since it came out in the Bon Appetit December 2002 issue. We adapted it a little bit and it is my son’s favorite recipe for Christmas cutouts. They are great decorated with melted chocolate or buttercream frosting. We like a simple confectioner’s sugar glaze that is easy…
Light Sugar Syrup Recipe
I decided this recipe needed it’s own post. I had posted it previously in Homemade Marshmallow Fluff, but as I’m preparing for Christmas baking, I’m remembering how much I used it last year. While I make no claims that this is a healthier alternative to store bought Light Corn Syrup, I like being able to make…
Homemade Marshmallow Fluff
Make this recipe and you’ll never by store bought marshmallow creme again! I like to use vanilla paste to flavor this because I love the vanilla flecks visible in the fluff. You may substitute vanilla bean when you are making the light sugar syrup, or simply use vanilla extract. Homemade Marshmallow Fluff 3/4 cup granulated…
Countdown to Thanksgiving Tip ~Bake Ahead
Today was bread baking day. I wanted to get cornbread and loaf bread baked for my stuffing recipe. Cornbread is easy, I use the old stand by recipe in my red checkered Better Homes & Gardens cookbook (27 years old). You can find that recipe here: BHG Cornbread For the sandwich loaf you can use…
Dried Sugared Cranberries
These are like little gems of sweet, tart candy! Eat them out of hand, or use them in granola or to decorate holiday cookies, cakes and candies. Note: I let these go too long the first time I tried them and ended up with bitter browned cranberry nuggets. That batch went in the trash. Watch them closely…
Pumpkin Spice Snickerdoodles
Yes, pumpkin again! It is fall and while I admit I am getting quite pumpkin’d out I have some pumpkin fanatics in the family. Today we made Pumpkin Spice Snickerdoodles. My son scarfed down two of them before I could blink an eye. He is now burning off the sugar playing! The addition of pumpkin…
Wine Poached Apple Tart
There are photos of pink apples all over the internet! And I can’t get my hands on them, because they aren’t local. What to do? Create my own pink apples by poaching them in red wine! I love the variation of flavor in this apple tart, it is a distinct departure from apple and pumpkin…
Pumpkin Apple Cider Waffles with Apple Cider Syrup
Pumpkin Apple Cider Waffles ½ cup unsweetened pumpkin 2 eggs 2 tablespoons oil or melted butter 1 ¼ cups apple cider, milk, or water (warm this in the microwave, not hot, just fingertip warm enough to melt the sugar) 2 tablespoons granulated sugar 1 ¼ cups unbleached all-purpose flour* ½ cup whole wheat flour* 1…
Applesauce Crazy Cake with Apple Cider Lemon Curd
Remember Crazy Cake? A.K.A. Wacky Cake? This is a take on that depression era cake made without eggs. You can make a gluten free version of this cake by substituting any gluten free baking mix for the all-purpose flour. You can make a vegan version of this cake by using canola oil or another lightly…
Salted Caramel Frosting
Happiness is… Salted caramel frosting! No, this is NOT health food from a diet standpoint. Yes, it is health food from a mental health standpoint. One spoonful of this frosting will have you singing even on your worst days. If you are watching your diet, just don’t eat too much of it! I adapted this…
Cornmeal Buckwheat Crepes
These crepes are a quick and easy option for busy back-to-school schedules. Fill with sweet or savory ingredients for breakfast, lunch or a snack. They also just happen to be gluten free! Serve them for breakfast with fruit and yogurt cream (one cup of Greek yogurt mixed with 1/2 cup of light cream or half…
Peach Hand Pies
The best peach hand pie I ever tasted was a Peach Fried Pie from a roadside stand in the North Georgia Mountains on an amber autumn afternoon. A friendly older farm couple, skin etched by the sun, were lounging on aluminum lawn chairs under a large blue and white striped beach umbrella, waiting patiently for customers. They…
Blueberry Jam
Super Easy!!! Mix in a medium saucepan: 2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries, juice and zest of one lemon, 1/4 cup granulated sugar and 1 tablespoon potato starch* Bring to boil, let boil for 2 minutes while stirring, you will see it thicken. Remove from heat, let cool. Store, covered, in the refrigerator for use…
Gluten Free Quick Rolls
This is my go-to recipe for gluten free dinner/sandwich rolls and buns. There is no yeast in this recipe, so you can mix and bake these quick rolls and get them on the table in 30 minutes! Baking powder and egg are used to make them rise, and buttermilk powder and honey add flavor. Gluten…
Pulling Sugar – Opera Cream Dreams
This post started out as an ode to my mixer and my gratuity for the labor saved by it’s electronic exertion. I spent several hours contemplating this when I first attempted homemade Opera Creams. But as I stood pulling sugar in my kitchen by hand, I thought about all of the people who may have…
Soft Chocolatey-O Cookies
These soft Sweet Chocolatey “O” Cookies are perfect paired with the opera cream outlined in my post, Homemade Opera Creams. They just happen to be both dairy free and gluten free and the flavor is reminiscent of that famous chocolate sandwich cookie! For the cookies you will need: 2 and 1/4 cups confectioners sugar 1/4…
Homemade Opera Creams
As a child, opera creams were frequently a part of Easter for my family. My Grandma S. faithfully sent a huge opera cream egg for each member of the family when we couldn’t make it to Northern Kentucky for the holiday. If I close my eyes, I can remember the scent that filled the air…
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