Chocolate-Halva Babka

As much as I love contemporary baking like layer cakes, cupcakes, and pastries, there are few baked goods that conjure childhood nostalgia like babka. Aside from my mom’s birthday cakes shaped in the number of my age each year, the most memorable and most loved cake that she made (and the most labor-intensive) was her “ugat-sh’marim”, or yeast […]

Pumpkin & Cookie Butter Sheet Cake with Toasted Meringue

You’re already preparing for Thanksgiving dinner, aren’t you. On the off chance that you haven’t started on dessert yet, I highly recommend walking over to the pantry and pulling out the jar of speculoos that you’ve been saving for something special. (Or is that just me??) Let’s all stay cool and calm and collected– Pumpkin […]

Apple-Maple Tart

I know. Pumpkin pie is supposed to be, like, the thing this week. I am fully aware of this, and yet, I refuse to conform. I’ve just never been a huge fan of pumpkin pie; it’s okay, but I can take it or leave it. I am much more excited about other Thanksgiving/autumn desserts. Things that […]

Baked Sunday Mornings: A Trio of Truffles

I love chocolate. I really do. A LOT. But for some reason, chocolate truffles, at best, illicit a lukewarm reaction for me– they are not my preferred chocolate delivery system. And you know what I enjoy even less than eating chocolate truffles? Making chocolate truffles. I admit that I groaned when I saw this week’s […]

Apple Orange Rye Honey Cake

We interrupt this regularly scheduled Italian Desserts blog post to wish you a Belated Shana Tova! If you celebrate the Jewish High Holy Days, I hope your Jewish New Year is off to an excellent start. I was planning to post a spiffy honey cake for you before the holiday, but it didn’t quite work out as […]

Baked Sunday Mornings: Peppermint Chocolate Chip Meringues

Guys, I did it. Baked Sunday Mornings is making our very last recipe from Baked Occasions, and I have baked every single one; this is the first cookbook that I have ever baked through 100%. I feel such a fondness for this book, because our group was with it from the very beginning as recipe testers […]

Baked Sunday Mornings: Lebkuchen

Orange. Lemon. Coriander. Ginger. Cocoa. Rum. Honey. Almonds. Many people would say all yummy things, yes? But have you ever put them all into one recipe? Specifically, a cookie recipe? Germany, YOU SO CRAZY. These German holiday cookies from Baked Occasions, called Lebkuchen, are the second-to-last recipe in the book for Baked Sunday Mornings. They include all these ingredients […]

White Chocolate Birthday Shortbread Bars

I’m kind of on a shortbread bender right now, guys. Ever since I started playing around with variations on Ovenly‘s Buttery Shortbread recipe, it’s all I can think about– work? sleep? gym? NO– only shortbread. And I’m just fine going about my day believing this is normal, adaptive, healthy behavior– please don’t burst my bubble. […]

Baked Sunday Mornings: Exceedingly Chocolaty Crinkles

Baked Sunday Mornings is celebrating Christmas in July… and I like it. We’re embarking on our last 5 recipes from Baked Occasions, which is really hard to believe! Most of our remaining recipes are holiday cookies, and Exceedingly Chocolaty Crinkles are among my favorites, as this was one of the recipes that I tested when our blogger group did […]

All it’s Cracked Up to Be: Matzah Buttercrunch Ice Cream

Soooo, anyone else have an extra box or two of matzah left over after Passover? I don’t know about you, but I can safely say that every year I have at least a full box left, which I keep around with the intention of making I-don’t-know-what-at-some-point, but hey, there it is the following Passover! This […]