Cuisine: Dessert
Almond Ricotta Cake
This Almond Ricotta Cake is a traditional Italian dessert that originated in Sicily. It's soft, light, delicate, and absolutely divine. The almond flour makes it gluten-free and perfect for breakfast, brunch or dessert!
By - Prep: 25 mins
- Cook: 50 mins
- Yields: 8 Servings
Peach Parfait with Salted Graham Cracker Crumble
When peaches are in peak season during the summer, I like to serve them for dessert. I made this Peach Parfait with Salted Graham Cracker Crumble. I have to say the salted graham cracker crumble is so good I could eat it on everything! You could also serve this with ice cream instead of whipped cream.
- Prep: 15 mins
- Cook: 15 mins
- Yields: 4 Servings
Bananas Foster Shortcake
I happen to love Banana's Foster. When I was pregnant with my first daughter, Zoe, I woke up one morning and said to my husband. "I want bananas foster." He then said that we would make it that evening. I then said, "No, you don't understand, I need it now!" It's really amazing that we had all the ingredients in the house. He granted my wish and it hit the spot! It's one of my favorite desserts. Zoe likes it too! Anyway, I have made Brennan's Bananas Foster, Bananas Foster Layer Cake, and Bananas Foster Upside-Down Cake. I guess you could say I'm a bit bananas! Anyway, I went further and made this I love
- Prep: 20 mins
- Cook: 30 mins
- Yields: 6 - 8 Servings
Lemon Madeleines
Our neighbor gave us an enormous bag of lemons, so I made Lemon Madeleines. They are easy to make, but you have to have a Madeleine pan. They came out super moist and lemony.
- Prep: 35 mins
- Cook: 10 mins
- Yields: Makes 2 dozen
Basque Burnt Cheesecake
Basque Burnt Cheesecake is deeply caramelized "burnt" on the top and the bottom, has a creamy center. It is said to have originated in 1990 in San Sebastian, Spain. The beauty of this dessert is that you really can't mess it up. My brother David was in town recently and wanted to make this together. Well, we never got around to it and since I actually had 4 blocks of cream cheese during the cream cheese shortage, I decided to give it a try. FYI - There was a cyberattack against the largest US cheese manufacturer in October, 2021. Anyway, it is one of the best desserts I have ever made and I am a serious New York style cheesecake fan. It's so light and silky smooth.
- Yields: 12 Servings
Pumpkin Cheesecake
Our friends came to dinner the other night and offered to bring dessert which was delicious and right on target for the holiday season: Pumpkin Cheesecake. In this case, it takes two old favorites—pumpkin pie and cheesecake—and the whole becomes greater than the sum of its parts. Sinfully rich and as Autumnal as can be, this cheesecake has a ginger snap crust and cinnamon whipped cream. It is not too late if you are stuck for what to serve this Thanksgiving!
- Prep: 40 mins
- Cook: 1 hrs 20 mins
- Yields: 10 - 12 Servings
Brown Butter Salted Caramel Tart
For an easy “wow,” grace your holiday table this year with Erin Clarkson’s Brown Butter Salted Caramel tart (@cloudykitchen). Perfectly balanced and make-ahead-friendly, this recipe calls for making more brown butter than necessary, leaving your with your own stash of beautifully browned goodness to use at your leisure (enter ravioli, sage, and parm!). A quick word to the wise, while this is tart is easy easy easy, make sure your crust is packed tight and cooled completely before filling to avoid crumbling.Happy baking!
- Prep: 45 mins
- Cook: 15 mins
- Yields: 8 Servings
Red Bean Mooncake
I think you can learn so much about other cultures through food. My husband and I were invited to learn how to make Chinese Mooncakes, to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival. The moon’s roundness symbolizes harmony and prosperity, and the festival celebrates the harvest, often bringing together family members from near and far.
Our Chinese hosts prepared the dough and the filling for the Red Bean Mooncakes in advance and helped us roll out the dough, wrap it around the filling and press it into special molds before brushing with beaten egg and baking. We also made SuZhou-Style (salty, pork filled) Mooncakes.
At first, making these pastries seemed daunting but by the end we actually got the hang of it and our hosts called us experts, which was very generous of them!
- Prep: 1 hrs
- Cook: 15 mins
Lemon Dainty
Lemon Dainty is a cross between pudding and cake. They are light and refreshingly tangy. My husband thought it was total nirvana. I think I might be able to use this at some point to my advantage! I served it warm out of the oven, though I think it's better refrigerated. If you don’t have ramekins, you can bake it in an 8-inch or 2-quart baking dish for 45 to 50 minutes.
- Prep: 20 mins
- Cook: 45 mins
- Yields: 6 Servings
Buttermilk Pie
Buttermilk Pie is a staple of Southern Cooking and is known as a “desperation pie” (i.e. when you only have staple ingredients like butter, sugar, eggs and flour on hand). That said, these few simple ingredients are greater than the sum of its parts and make for a seriously rich and satisfying dessert. Our friend Kathy who runs a large cattle ranch/horse farm in Texas recently whipped up one of these and was kind enough to share the recipe.
- Prep: 5 mins
- Cook: 40 mins
- Yields: 8 Servings
