If we can cook it, you can cook it!

Category: Chocolate

Dorie Greenspan’s Lisbon Chocolate Cake

Dorie Greenspan’s Lisbon Chocolate Cake

A Visit to Portugal leads to a craving for Lisbon Chocolate Cake This cake is all about chocolate. The cake is brownie-like. There’s a layer of chocolate cream. And finally, a shower of cocoa adds even more chocolate flavor. But first, a tale of how…

Claudia Fleming’s Chocolate Caramel Tart

Claudia Fleming’s Chocolate Caramel Tart

Come ‘Out East’ for a recipe a famous Pastry Chef gave a special twist to. The East End of Long Island is extremely fortunate in the caliber of chefs that are either restaurant owners or lured here to work in what is a gorgeous place…

The Absolute Best Chocolate Raspberry Cake Ever Baked 

The Absolute Best Chocolate Raspberry Cake Ever Baked 

Our dear friend Don was celebrating his birthday. And who wouldn’t want to make him the best Birthday Cake you could imagine? And wouldn’t you know who volunteered to bake it. Why Andrew, of course. This was before he heard that Don was inviting 18…

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…

Ice Cream Sandwiches…Portable Summer Treats

Ice Cream Sandwiches…Portable Summer Treats

I must admit to having been slightly taken aback when Andrew told me his weekend plans included making Ice Cream Sandwiches.  Not that I didn’t want one.  And when the smell of his dark chocolate ‘biscuit’ wafted through the kitchen, I could hardly wait until…

Bittersweet Chocolate Raspberry Tart from Nick Malgieri’s “The Modern Baker”

Bittersweet Chocolate Raspberry Tart from Nick Malgieri’s “The Modern Baker”

Our Godchild hit a major milestone this month. Olivia graduated cum laude from Poly Prep Country Day School in Dyker Heights, Brooklyn. For four years she has left her home on the Upper West Side of Manhattan and  travelled to school, a considerable journey.  There…

Chocolate Brownie Cookies and yes, they’re Gluten-Free

Chocolate Brownie Cookies and yes, they’re Gluten-Free

At this year’s Easter Celebration, one the guests was also celebrating Passover which overlapped this year for the first time in ages. For those of you who may not be familiar with Jewish dietary laws, leavened bread is forbidden during the 8 day celebration of…

One of Andrew’s Top Ten Cakes of All Time: Rumfest’s Ding Dong Cake

Rumfest’s Ding Dong Cake in a blaze of glory          Every year, our friend Jayne’s Birthday Celebration is declared Rumfest.  That’s a combination of her maiden name and the fact that Jayne’s Birthday is never confined to a single day. It seems to carry on…

Red Eye Devil’s Food Cake…fit for the White House and Our House

I know Andrew is good, I mean really good. But his baking skills really hit an all-time personal best with the making of this sinfully rich, fudgy, bittersweet cake.  As Melissa Clark, who co-wrote “The Perfect Finish” (W.W. Norton and Co. (2010) the cookbook it…

Peppermint Patty Flourless Chocolate Cake…And yes, it’s Gluten-Free!

Peppermint Patty Flourless Chocolate Cake decked out for Easter        One of my oldest and dearest friends, Michael, was the first person I ever met with Celiac Disease, the root cause of which is gluten.  He suffered terribly through college, fearing the worst and not…

Classic Chocolate Mousse from The SoNo Baking Company Cookbook

John Barricelli the baker behind this Classic Recipe           More often than not, when Andrew is baking I am dumbstruck by the effort he takes.  One recent project involved making three different cupcakes, getting up at 7:30 to do so and finishing the last of…

Baked’s simply incredibly delicious Sweet and Salty Chocolate Cake

Baked’s simply incredibly delicious Sweet and Salty Chocolate Cake

There’s a new shop that just opened practically across the street from us.  Across town, on the East Side, it’s called “The Best Chocolate Cake in the World”.  Somehow, on the West Side, it’s morphed into “Choco Bolo” (2058 Broadway between 70th  and 71st  Streets). Perhaps the…

Milky Way Tart adapted from Joanne Chang

Milky Way Tart adapted from Joanne Chang

       I’ve told you some of the story of Joanne Chang, the Harvard educated economist who threw in the towel and went on to open “Flour”, a Boston bakery and cafe that’s grown to three locations. That was between opening a marvelous pan-Asian…