Food Diary

All purpose flour, as the name suggests, is a standard baking ingredient and is usually my flour of choice when it comes to baking cookies. It isn’t the only type of flour you might have in your pantry, however, and I find that it is handy to have recipes that are designed to work with other flours, as well. These Self-Rising White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies are chewy, delicious cookies that are packed with creamy white chocolate and crunchy macadamia nuts – and are made with self-rising flour instead of all purpose. Self-rising flour is flour that has a leavening agent – usually baking powder – and salt added to it prior to packaging. To look at it even more closely, self-rising flours are typically made with a lower protein flour than all purpose flour (approx 11%), making them more like cake flour (approx 8%). The lower protein content leads to more tender baked goods, such as biscuits, cakes and – in this case – cookies. I used White Lily flour in my recipe (a favorite for b

Hello my dears! You know what time it is? Time for you to ease on down to New Orleans for a visit.  It’s been time, in fact… you’re late but it’s fine.  We take it mostly slow down here.   Every few months I put together a list of some of my New Orleans favorites. Spots I frequent for coffee and breakfast sandwiches.  Neighborhoods that I never get tired of strolling.  Shops with the best wares. Continue reading My New Orleans Favorites, Spring 2019 at Joy the Baker.

Secret’s out: we’ve been enjoying King Cake every which way from Sunday for the last two months.  The presence and intensity of the King Cakes in New Orleans has ramped up as we near the end of February, the end of carnival season, and the very biggest day of the year: Fat Tuesday.  King cake – every day.  I say that to say, I’ve eaten my weight in King Cake doughnuts, fancy Galette de Rois, grocery store King Cakes, King Cake any and every way and surely by the time Ash Wednesday rolls around next week I will fully welcome a plate full of broccoli.   Until then though prepare your hearts for this dream variation of a King Cake:  layered, cinnamon-swirled, soft buttermilk cake, with a delightfully rich cream cheese frosting.  If you’re not here in New Orleans with us, you sure can cake like you are!  This post is sponsored by the  Oster® brand.  The  Oster® Hand Mixer with HEATSOFT Technology blows a gentle warm air as it mixes. Continue reading Cinnamon Swirled Layered King Cak

Coconut Dragonfruit Blondies are a tropical twist on a classic batch of blondies. The buttery bars are packed with shredded coconut and bright pink dragonfruit, giving them a wonderful look and flavor while retaining the chewy texture that blondies are known for. Dragonfruit is also known as cactus fruit, is a melon-like fruit that grows on the cactus. There are multiple varieties of cactus fruit and dragon fruit tends to be the most widely known due to its exotic, scaly look (hence the name) and its vivid magenta color. Since its texture is similar to that of a melon, fresh dragonfruit is not a great option for baking. I used freeze dried dragonfruit in this recipe because is easy to chop up and add to a recipe, bringing in some tropical dragonfruit flavor and plenty of color! You can find freeze dried dragonfruit at some specialty stores, including Trader Joe’s, and it is also available online. Once you have it, you can use it in recipes like this one, enjoy it as a snack or add i

Hello my dears and welcome to this fine day.   Are you a deep space or a deep ocean person?  I’m a deep space person.  Space is amazing and we’re living in it and it’s such a wonder that it’s wild that we don’t even have to think about it every day.  There’s a new show on Netflix called One Strange Rock that adds some gratitude and perspective.   Back on Earth, here in New Orleans we’re enjoying the first big weekend of Mardi Gras.  It’s such a trip!  I’m celebrating by inviting strangers into my house to make King Cakes with me at The Bakehouse.  I can’t think of a better way to celebrate though next weekend I’ll be in the streets trying to catch beads and eat crawfish – just a different way to feel spirit.   The offering this week excludes some of the troubling madness in the world. Continue reading Let It Be Sunday, 211! at Joy the Baker.

Cold brew coffees are known for being wonderfully smooth and flavorful. They’are also typically brewed in a concentrated form, so that you can easily use them as a base for flavored iced coffee drinks without ending up with something watery. I loved the idea of adding some additional flavor to my cold brew, but decided that I wanted to add the flavor before the coffee was brewed, rather than waiting to add it to my finished drinks. This Cinnamon Cold Brew Coffee is infused with cinnamon right from the start, resulting in a coffee that is rich, smooth and has a delicious spice to every sip. The coffee starts out with freshly ground coffee. I prefer to use a medium-dark roast for most of my cold brews, but you can use a lighter roast if you like your coffee to be a little bit milder. Since this recipe has a lot of flavor added, it is actually a good choice for a lighter roast coffee. Once the beans are ground, add in two whole cinnamon sticks, broken in half. Like the coffee grounds, t

I planted camellias in my front garden (a humble but mighty two food wide, eight foot long patch in front of my house) last year.  Last year, as it turns out, just AFTER camellias were in full bloom.  I’m not much of a gardener, obviously.  I buy something beautiful, or with the great potential for beauty, and hope I can convince it to live long enough to share its beauty with me. I planted my camellia bush last year with the great hope that I could keep it alive for a year and that when camellia season graced us yet again, my little plant would have a flower for me. Continue reading Pistachio Rose Galette des Rois Cookies at Joy the Baker.

When you think of chiffon cakes, you make not think of chocolate cake. While there are plenty of moist, light chocolate cakes out there, most of us associated chocolate cakes with bring richer, heavier and densely packed with chocolate flavor. This Chocolate Chiffon Cake still delivers plenty of chocolate flavor, but its light texture makes it a great cake for any occasion. Chiffon cakes also happen to be one of my favorite types of cake to bake, as I love both their fluffy crumb and their showstopping size. The cake gets its flavor from dutch process cocoa powder , which is combined with hot water to deepen its flavor before it is combined with the rest of the ingredients. A natural cocoa powder could also be used in this recipe, but I find that dutch process results in a slightly more chocolatey cake in the end. Once it has been combined with water, the cocoa mixture is blended in with both the wet and dry ingredients to create the basic batter for this cake. While there is a smal

I’ve just done a bit of reflecting and counted up legitimately four places in my house (outside of my kitchen) where I’ve stashed little bits of chocolate.  My guest room has a vase (no joke) oh Hershey’s kisses on the third shelf to the right.  There is a container of chocolate covered almonds next to the large mixing bowls.  There are a few chocolate bars in the drawer next to the extra silverware for dinner parties, and a small bag of peanut M&M’s in my bedside table.   The thing is, if I have too many chocolate options greeting me every time I open my pantry, I’m liable to make only one choice:  chocolate all the time.  With the chocolate spread through the house, it’s like going on an Easter egg hunt every time I have a craving… which is, not infrequent and also not a crime.   My friend Maggie’s new book A New Way To Food respect our deep need for chocolate but frames her recipes along side her journey towards a healthy and nourishing relationship with food.  Her recipes a

Desserts that have some extra color are always eye-catching. Food coloring is usually the source of bright colors in desserts, but in the case of Trader Joe’s Blushing Apple Tart, the color is all natural. This tart is a newer item from the frozen dessert section of Trader Joe’s. The pink of the apples on the box caught my eye as I was walking up the aisle. The red-fleshed apples are all natural and their unique color is what sets this simple tart apart from other desserts This dessert is a tart made with a puff pastry base that is filled with almond cream and topped with thin slices of apple. As is the case with most frozen desserts, I was worried that the tart crust would not bake through completely in the oven, but the baking directions were accurate and my tart crust baked up to be crisp and flaky. The frangipane layer was not overly thick and it had a wonderful almond flavor that complimented the apples without overpowering them, so the tart felt very balanced. The apples kept

Hello dear friends! I hope this Sunday finds you happy and well! It’s a holiday weekend here in the states which means we’re blessed with a second Saturday – isn’t it fine!? I took a last minute weekend trip to Miami to visit my friend Lauren for the weekend.  Miami is a wonder!  The architecture, the palms, the sunsets, the ocean – it’s gorgeous and it’s such a trip.  I’m content thanks the the sidewalk cafes alone.   This past week has been packed with recipe testing and Bakehouse workshops and there’s nothing like hard work to make an afternoon bike ride on the beach feel pretty great.  I hope you’re feeling steady and accomplished this weekend!  The reading offering is below and stay ready for a brownie recipe this week.   I appreciate you very much! Continue reading Let It Be Sunday, 210! at Joy the Baker.

There are many simple desserts out there that you can bake with fresh berries, but few are as simple as these Cornmeal Berry Bars. The bars are made with a cornmeal shortbread base and filled with a combination of jam and fresh berries. It’s a lot like a fruit cobbler , but more buttery and much easier to cut into individual portions. The shortbread mixture is easy to make. It uses butter, flour, cornmeal and almond flour, as well as some sugar. The same mixture is used to make both the base for this recipe and the crumble topping. The cornmeal gives the shortbread a bit of additional texture and actually adds a hint of additional sweetness. The almond flour gives the shortbread a little more substance, so the base packs down firmly and stands up to being handled after it is cut into individual portions. The filling is comprised of a layer of apricot jam that is topped with fresh berries. I used a mixture of raspberries and blackberries, although blueberries or other favorite berri

Hey there! We haven’t posted for a while because we wanted to get our new site ready (soon hopefully!!!). But we got tired of waiting and wanted to make a little food contribution on V-day so we made a red soup with cute and tasty toppings on. Unfortunately our kids rated this soup as “One of the worst soups they have ever eaten!”. But don’t listen to them. Your Valentine’s date hopefully has better taste than our kids. Because this is a good and simple little number with creamy cauliflower and potatoes, earthy beetroots and lovely spices. We serve it with sauerkraut and a generous drizzle of pistachio dukkah on top. So, happy Valentine’s Day. Cook this soup for someone you like. Make sure to top it with lots of dukkah. And don’t let your kids try it. We also made giant dino kale chips by brushing whole dino kale leaves with oil and salt and roasting them on 150°C / 300°F for 20 min or until crisp. Peace, Love and Beetroots! /Lul Beet & Cauliflower Soup Serves 4 as a dinner

Nothing says indulgence like chocolate and that goes for drinks, as well as for desserts. I love a big mug of hot chocolate topped with whippped cream or marshmallows on a cold night, but a chocolate cocktail can sometimes be an even better option for a festive (and grown-up) occasions. This Chocolate Espresso Martini is a delicious dessert cocktail, made with chocolate liqueur and espresso, that is perfect for any after dinner occasion. The cocktail is pretty straightforward to make, even if you’re not a mixologist, but you will need a few special ingredients. It’s a unique drink and if you’re a chocolate-lover, it is worth heading out to the store to pick them up. You will need chocolate liqueur (Godiva makes an excellent one), vodka and cream de cacao. Creme de cacao is a chocolate liqueur that is less sweet than regular chocolate liqueur, but adds an important dose of extra chocolate flavor to the cocktail. I also add a small splash of Frangelico, a hazelnut liqueur that adds a s

Chocolate lava cakes, also known as molten center chocolate cakes, are one of the most indulgent desserts that you can treat yourself to. They’re a popular restaurant dessert because there is a perception that they are tricky to make. Making the batter for a chocolate lava cake is easier than you might think, but the cakes do need to be eaten almost immediately after baking for best results. Many recipes make size, eight or more cakes, but this recipe for Small Batch Dark Chocolate Lava Cakes makes just two decadent chocolate cakes, perfect for treating yourself and a loved one. The recipe starts out with a dark chocolate batter that almost resembles brownie batter, as it contains no leavening and only a small amount of flour. It gets plenty of chocolate flavor from dark chocolate that is melted into the mixture. The batter is divided into two eight-ounce ramekins to bake. The baking is done at a high temperature and is done for a relatively short time. The high temperature allows t

Did your dad cook chicken in an oven bag, too?  There’s something truly magical that happens in an oven bag – ok, sure it’s mostly steam but I’m here to tell you that steam is pretty high up there on the magic in the kitchen scale.   My dad made this Hawaiian Chicken (so named because it came from one of his 1970’s cookbooks and the recipe contains pineapple) every month as we were growing up.  It’s a toss-in-a-bag type dinner which I think is an early version of a one-pot or sheet-pan dinner.  Get it done, dinner.  It never goes out of style, obviously. Continue reading Dad’s One-Pot Hawaiian Chicken at Joy the Baker.

Hello dear friends! Wow – isn’t every Sunday a wonder? Making it to this day is an accomplishment, to be sure. This week I feel like I’ve put my forehead down upon a broom stick and run myself in circles.  The current moment finds me a little dizzy from travel and car rental, and Waze following, and family visiting, and somehow working, and somehow chasing my dreams day in day out. Continue reading Let It Be Sunday, 209! at Joy the Baker.

Ruby chocolate is a unique type of chocolate that is an all natural rose-pink color. That color is all natural and a result of how the chocolate is processed. The process is a trade secret, but it starts with unfermented cacao beans, which means that the chocolate has a wonderful berry flavor instead of some of the more familiar flavors you might associate with chocolate. I recently picked up few packages of this chocolate – it is made by Callebaut – at Trader Joe’s and put it to good use in these Raspberry Ruby Chocolate Chip Cookies. The cookies are delicious: chewy, buttery and with a fantastic berry flavor. The dough itself is similar to what you might use to make classic chocolate chip cookies, but it includes a small amount of sour cream. The sour cream helps give the cookies a chewy texture and also blends very well with the vanilla in the cookie dough. Unlike traditional chocolate chip cookies, the ruby chocolate chips added to the cookies after baking and are not incorpora

When you think of chocolate, you probably think of dark, milk and white chocolates. But chocolate fans may also be interested in trying the “4th type” of chocolate, ruby chocolate. Ruby is a chocolate variety that was developed by Callebaut. The process to make ruby chocolate is a trader secret (although there is a patent out for the process that is likely used in it’s production), but it seems to start from unfermented cocoa beans that become red or purple when treated with an acid. The result is a product that is very similar to white chocolate, but with a unique flavor and a beautiful rose-pink color. At the moment, Callebaut’s Ruby chocolate is only available to professionals, so you can’t buy it directly from the company. You can find it, however at Trader Joe’s. Trader Joe’s Ruby Cacao Wafers are small packages of ruby chocolate chips that are just right for giving this type of chocolate a try. The chocolate is very fruity, with an almost berry-like flavor – and there is no add

Winter would just feel too hard without one things: citrus.  Well, winter would also feel hard without Mardi Gras but that’s just us, down here, living our truths.    There’s an order to things in the world.  As the holidays come to a close, as we pack up our ornaments and lights and send the Christmas tree off to be recycled, as a chill and maybe a few anxieties settle into the new year – just when we need a bright light and a kick in the pants we are blessed with winter citrus.  Queen among these blessed fruits – the gorgeously pink grapefruit.   Dreamy any which way. Continue reading Grapefruit Yogurt Poppy Seed Loaf at Joy the Baker.

This year, I headed to Disney California Adventure – Disneyland’s neighboring park and home to many fun food events at Disneyland Resort – to check out their Lunar New Year celebration . I tasted a wide variety of sweet and savory items, and I left inspired to try to recreate one of my favorites at home: the Mandarin Orange Green Tea Tarts. The reason I chose the Mandarin Orange Green Tea Tarts, which I picked up at the Lucky 8 Lantern marketplace, is that it really exceeded my expectations for flavor when I took a bite. The original tart is made with a matcha green tea shortbread crust and it is filled with a touch of orange filling and a layer of pastry cream. The tart is then topped with mandarin orange segments and fresh raspberries. For my tart, I started with a matcha-laced pastry dough. I only used matcha for the coloring and it does give it a great color – as well as a slightly citrusy fragrance and flavor – but you can add in a few drops of green food coloring if you need t

Nutella is a delicious chocolate and hazelnut spread that I regularly use in baking. The spread is rich and creamy, with a flavor that translates very well to a variety of different desserts. These Nutella Cupcakes with Raspberries are brownie-like cupcakes made with Nutella that have a couple of raspberries inside and are topped with a dollop of creamy spread. The batter is easy to make and contains a generous amount of Nutella. There is cocoa powder in the mix, but only enough to accent the chocolate in the Nutella and not so much that it overpowers the nutty flavor of the hazelnut spread itself. The Nutella in the batter is what helps to give these cupcakes a dense and brownie-like texture, although they are a bit cakier than most classic brownies recipes would be. I popped two whole raspberries inside of each cupcake before baking, giving them a nice pop of raspberry flavor to contrast with the chocolate and hazelnut when you take a bite. In addition to the raspberries inside,

Hello my friends.  We’ve made it out of January – let’s stop and take that in. Well done. Let’s keep hydrating.  Let’s keep moisturizing.  Let’s keep it moving.  I’m feeling, well, behind on my Mardi Gras costume making but very well up to speed on my King Cake consumption.  There has been no shortage.  I had a King Cake doughnut just today thankyouverymuch.  I have a houseguest in town and it’s always fun to take extra long walks and take in the city.   I spent the earlier part of the week in New York and left the city just before the cold cold cold.  I hope all of you in the chill are staying warm and well and have a Roasted Vegetable Winter Crumble in the oven.   The offering this week is below.  You’re good at this by now but – take what you need and leave the rest.  I am thankful for your presence.  •  A case made by a mild-mannered dermatologist:  Is Sunscreen the New Margarine? Continue reading Let It Be Sunday, 208! at Joy the Baker.

While I have a sweet tooth, there are plenty of desserts out there that are overly sweet. Adding a pinch of salt to a very sweet dessert can take that sugary edge off and make it even more delicious. Adding a pinch of salt to a dessert that is balanced and you can turn something already delicious into something that is downright addictive. These Butterscotch Potato Chip Blondies are a wonderful blend of salty and sweet, chewy blondies loaded with crushed potato chips and butterscotch chips that are perfect for any snacking occasion. The recipe starts out with a straightforward blondie recipe. Like brownies, you want blondies to be dense and chewy, even though there is no chocolate in the batter. To keep that dense texture, these bar cookies do not contain any leavening agents – so don’t be surprised that baking powder and baking soda aren’t on the ingredient list! The blondies will rise slightly thanks to the egg in the batter, but they’ll be dense and chewy, with a crisp exterior af

Hello dear friends! I’ve put together a kitchen-focused challenge for us!  It’s called The Well-Kept Kitchen Challenge and it’s designed to be a way to purge, clean, and organize our kitchen spaces in a way that feels approachable and less daunting than flinging cabinets open and stressing all the way out. I’ll be the first to admit that my kitchen has gotten away from me.  Drawers are spilling over with utensils, cabinets are filled with half bottles of cleaning products, the junk drawers seems to be contagious and has infected several other spaces in the kitchen and listen… enough is a enough. Continue reading The Well-Kept Kitchen Challenge at Joy the Baker.