If we can cook it, you can cook it!

Category: Holiday Baking

These Lemon-Almond Meringue Tarts made their Baker a Star

These Lemon-Almond Meringue Tarts made their Baker a Star

Their almond-flavored crust, lemon curd, and marshmallow meringue make a star turn every time you bake them. Matt Lewis was an adman who fell in love with baking. And he fell hard. With his partner Renato Poliafito, he turned their hobby into a bakery called…

Cranberry Crumb Cake with Almonds and Oats from Saveur Magazine

Cranberry Crumb Cake with Almonds and Oats from Saveur Magazine

Fresh Cranberries–or virtually any fruit you choose–make this Crumb Cake perfect for Holiday Baking. We have a lot of affection for Saveur Magazine. It was, after all, the first publication my food writing appeared in.  It’s also our kind of food magazine where there’s a…

S’mores Bars with Marshmallow Meringue from Cheryl and Griffith Day of Back in the Day Bakery, Savannah, GA.

S’mores Bars with Marshmallow Meringue from Cheryl and Griffith Day of Back in the Day Bakery, Savannah, GA.

The allure of a childhood favorite is undeniable.  Here two bakers from Georgia have captured the essence of one of life’s great pleasures—the S’more.  While the treat may be best remembered as campfire cooking at is best, here’s a recipe that brings it indoors and…

If you bake nothing else this season, bake these: Apple Pie Bars

If you bake nothing else this season, bake these: Apple Pie Bars

  As you may imagine, Andrew goes all out every Holiday season with baked goods that are not only extraordinarily good, they cover all kinds of desserts. For Thanksgiving just past, he made Apple Pie Bars, two pies, Blueberry and Chocolate Cream, and a Ginger…

Triple-Chocolate Cheesecake from Abigail Johnson Dodge in Fine Cooking Magazine

Triple-Chocolate Cheesecake from Abigail Johnson Dodge in Fine Cooking Magazine

       I needn’t tell you the Sweets Factory at our house has been in overdrive ever since we arrived here for the holidays.  There have been dozens of cookies, a Red Velvet Cake, even a Norwegian “Fyrstekake” a Cardomon Almond confection, beautifully decorated…

Claudia Fleming’s Apple Crostata with Bacon Toffee

Claudia Fleming’s Apple Crostata with Bacon Toffee

For such a relatively small corner of the world, the East End of Long Island is long on extremely talented chefs.  Proximity to New York has led many a city chef to, if not abandon the city, set up a second home out in the…

B’Soffener Kapuziner, an Austrian Family favourite nut-based cake, liberally doused with Gluhwein from the Stracey Family Cookbook

         When I was growing up in Montreal, my family had an endless stream of visitors, most of whom had some connection to my parent’s time in Britain during the Second World War.  They were both volunteers—my father was a Major in the Canadian Army…

Butternut Squash and Bacon Bread Pudding

Butternut Squash and Bacon Bread Pudding

         Last October, when I was out in California visiting my son Alex’s family, I picked up a freebie publication called California Home Design.  In it was an article about a wine making family in Healdsburg who, with the help of local chef, put together…

Christmas Baking: Homemade Oreos and Homemade Fig Newtons’ from Joanne Chang

The incomparable Joanne Chang Christmas Baking is as much a part of the holiday as decorating the tree or singing songs of Christmas.  And if you have children, it’s great fun to get them into the kitchen and bake a few cookies.  This year, the…