Mexican Hot Chocolate Rice Crispy Hearts

Does everyone else love rice crispy treats like I do, or do I have some sort of abnormal obsession? I love baking – cakes, cookies, tarts, all the yummy things. But I can’t think of anything else that brings more joy to both adults and kids as rice crispy treats, IMHO. So I wanted to […]

The Stuff of Valentine’s Dreams: Vanilla Bean Cake with Pomegranate Buttercream

Some days I’m wrapped up in daydreams of fluffy, buttery, happy, vanilla-scented cake. On some of those days, I’m also enthralled with thoughts of creamy swirls of tart, fruity, billowy pinkness. Today is one of those lucky days. A good vanilla cake is remarkably challenging to get right, though it sounds like such a simple thing. However, I’ve […]

Sealed with a Kiss: Chocolate Heart, X & O Cakes

The symbols of X & O representing kisses and hugs are of course among the most recognizable symbols associated with love and, by extension, Valentine’s Day. I never really knew where this came from, though I assumed that the letters simply resembled their corresponding affectionate gesture: X looks somewhat like puckered lips, and O looks […]