Tiramisu Chocolate Mousse – Pick’em Up and Lay’em Down

Most foodies know that Tiramisu is a decadent dessert featuring coffee soaked ladyfingers layered with a zabaione and mascarpone, but what many people don’t know is that the recipe’s name is one of the best culinary double entendres ever.

“Tiramisu” translates to "pick me up." Considering that this popular Italian dessert is spiked with proven mood-elevators such as coffee, cocoa, sugar, and alcohol, the name seems to fit perfectly. But wait, there’s more.

As legend has it, tiramisu was a popular snack with the “working girls” of northern Italy, where the dessert originated. So, not only does "pick me up" refer metaphorically to the obvious restorative effects of the dessert, but also more literally to the solicitation of another customer.

Which brings us to this upcoming Valentine’s Day. Not only would this make for a very happy ending for your V-Day meal, but think about the stimulating conversation that could follow when you recount this racy tale.

Anyway, even if you don’t end up talking about Italian prostitutes over dessert, if you’re a fan of chocolate mousse, and you enjoy a good "pick me up," you can’t go wrong with this deliciously decadent, yet still fairly light dessert. Enjoy!

Ingredients for 4 portions:

3.5 oz dark chocolate, broken into small pieces

2 tbsp espresso coffee, or strong regular coffee

1 tbsp unsalted butter

2 tbsp Marsala wine (may sub with rum, or omit)

2 egg yolks

4 tsp sugar

2 tbsp mascarpone cheese

3/4 cup heavy cream, whipped

A Banana Bread That’s Okay to Make Early

Banana bread is one of those things people rarely make on purpose. Even though you know you’re not going to eat seven bananas in a week, you buy the big bunch anyway, because, “it’s kind of green.” Now, those last three bananas are almost black and you’re feeling like a bad person.

Then you remember banana bread, and long story short, you realize you’re not a bad person…in fact, you kind of rock. While that’s the most common scenario, this scrumptious banana walnut loaf, spiked with dark chocolate chips, is so good you’ll want to make it well before the bananas get to that condition. Yes, it does come out better with extra ripe bananas, but if you can’t wait (like I couldn’t), you’re still in for a treat.

The chocolate chips are sparse here, but make a big difference in the overall flavor. This is a case where more wouldn’t necessarily make it better. This should be more of a snack, not a super-sweet dessert. When Michele makes this, she actually grates unsweetened baking chocolate instead, and it’s amazingly like that also. And, don’t even get me started on how good this is toasted.

The recipe is adapted from one by Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger, from their cookbook, City Cuisine. It’s one of the oldest cookbooks we have, and has tons of great recipes, so check the link if you’re interested. Enjoy!

Banana Bread Ingredients:

3 ripe bananas

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 cup soft butter

1 cup sugar

2 large eggs

1/4 tsp vanilla

1 tbsp milk
1 cup chopped walnuts

1/3 cup dark chocolate chips

*Bake in a 9x4 loaf pan at 325 degrees F. for about 1 hour 10 minutes.

Gingerbread Cake with Lemon Glaze – A Not-So-Secret Christmas Tradition

Unlike some families, we don’t have a set-in-stone Christmas dinner menu. It really varies year to year. We’ve tried just about every holiday roast imaginable, and I don’t think we’ve even had the exact same side dishes twice, but when it comes to dessert, that’s a whole other story.

The meal must end with this gingerbread cake and it’s glistening lemon glaze. My wife Michele makes this every year, and uses a recipe she adapted from the Silver Palate Cookbook, which despite being very simple, always gets rave reviews.

Of course, she adds a few secret, extra-exotic ingredients (I can’t confirm or deny that one is cardamom), which I didn’t use here, but I’ve always believed married couples should have there own unique gingerbread cake recipes, and mine features a little dash of Chinese five-spice instead.

Was it as good as Michele’s annual Christmas offering? Of course not (see why I’ve stayed happily married for 22 holidays?), but it was very delicious, and I’m sure you’d thoroughly enjoy it. So, if you’re looking for a new addition to your holiday dessert table, I hope you give this a try. Enjoy!

Gingerbread ingredients for one 8 or 9-in square cake:

1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour (8-oz by weight)

1 1/4 teaspoon baking soda

2 rounded teaspoons ground ginger (3 if you like it spicier)

1 teaspoon cinnamon

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon Chinese five-spice powder

1 egg, beaten

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup dark molasses

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup boiling water

*Bake at 350ºF or about 35 minutes.
For the glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 tbsp lemon zest

Chocolate Mint Brownies – Behold, The Tree of Disappointment

I loved everything about these brownies, except the flavor. I love mint, I love chocolate, and I love chocolate mints, but for whatever reason, I don’t like chocolate mint brownies. It’s quite a personal mystery.

My wife Michele’s theory is that since we love the pure chocolately goodness of classic plain brownies, the addition of that extra layer of flavor, especially one as distinctive as mint, just throws everything off. That could be.

Also, I don’t like the combination of nuts and mint, and so these didn’t contain walnuts or pecans like they usually would. Maybe it’s nut denial that has me in this anti-mint mood. Anyway, enough about my problems, if you like chocolate mint brownies, which based upon all the requests I got, many of you do; you’ll probably love these.

I’ve used a very stripped-down method here that requires almost zero technique, and uses only cocoa powder to achieve a dense, chewy, very chocolatey brownie. I hope you give these a try, and if you don’t enjoy mint either, just leave them un-iced, or add another flavoring like vanilla, orange, or rum extract. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter

1 1/8 cups sugar

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 large eggs

2/3 cup all-purpose flour

For the icing:

1 cup powdered sugar

1/4 tsp mint extract, or to taste

2 tbsp milk

Let’s Get Ready to Rum Ball!

I want to thank a Twitter follower of mine, RookieKoo, for giving me the idea for today’s Michael Buffer-inspired post title. Of course, if you’re not familiar with the iconic boxing ring announcer’s catchphrase, then none of this will make any sense, and you’ll just have to trust me when I tell you it was an amusing reference.

There are hundreds of ways to make rum balls, but this one’s my favorite method. It’s very easy, especially if you have stale brownies lying around. I know, that never happens, which is why I’m linking to an all-purpose brownie recipe below the post. This will also work nicely with store-bought brownies, but stay away from anything that’s frosted. We don’t want to add any additional fat into the recipe, since that will hinder the absorption of the rum.

The amount of rum you add depends on how cakey and/or dry your brownies are, but for a half-pound, you’ll probably need between 1/4 and 1/3 of a cup to soak the crumbs sufficiently. A proper rum ball should be a fire hazard. By the way, I’m not responding to any comments asking about how to make these without using rum. In my humble opinion, you can’t.

The other issue I'm not going to be a big help with is altering the type of chocolate. I used a quality dark chocolate (70% cocoa), which worked beautifully for this, and hope you do the same. I don't have a lot of experience working with chocolate, so I'm not sure what will happen if you want to use white, milk, or other kinds of chocolate for the coating.

I realize these are more of a candy, than a cookie, but after about a half-dozen rum balls, culinary semantics will be the furthest thing from your mind. I hope you give them a try on your holiday dessert table. Enjoy!

Ingredients for about 20 small rum balls:

8 ounces stale chocolate brownies, crumbled

1/4 to 1/3 cup dark rum, or as needed

4 oz dark chocolate (I used Lindt Dark Chocolate 70% Cocoa)

NOTE: For a quick and easy brownie that will work well for these rum balls, check out this recipe from Allrecipes.com. I recommend checking out the comments on that recipe page before starting.

Easy as Chocolate Pecan Pie

Despite the colloquial idiom, pies are not that easy, and in my opinion, it’s not the dough that separates the good from the great, it’s the fillings. With fresh fruit pies, you have to worry about too much or too little liquid. Custard-based fillings are texturally tricky; and don’t even get me started on lemon meringue.

However, there’s one category of pie whose fillings are so easy, they’re nearly impossible to mess up. That would be the seasonally appropriate nut pie. If you can work a whisk, and set a timer, you have what it takes to excel in this genre.

We added a handful of chocolate chips, but the recipe is based on this one from Allrecipes.com, which I came across looking for corn syrup free versions. By the way, it’s not that I think corn syrup is a “bad” ingredient, I just know that most people don’t have it on hand, and I’d hate for them to buy a whole bottle when a perfectly wonderful pie can be made without it.

In fact, the filling is so deliciously decadent the crust is almost an afterthought. If you ever want to rationalize buying a frozen pie shell, this is your chance. Of course, if you want real “homemade,” you can check out this video recipe for making pie dough, but the point is, either way your chocolate pecan pie is going to rock. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1 9-inch pie shell

2 eggs

1 cup light brown sugar

1/4 cup white sugar

1/2 cup butter

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour (I didn't add in this recipe, but suggest you do. Add with the sugars.)

1 tablespoon milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/3 cup chocolate chips

1 1/2 cup chopped pecans

Watch Cream Cheese Frosting Being Made and Relax

As promised, here is the cream cheese frosting recipe that co-starred in our red velvet cupcakes video last week. If you’re a regular cake baker, you may be wondering why a video is even necessary for such a simple frosting? I used to think like that.

When I posted the red velvet recipe on YouTube, and teased the fact that I’d show the frosting in a future video, I was instantly met with a huge wave of panicked comments, all having a similar message; something to the effect of, “When the hell is the frosting video being shown? I want it now. I need it now. Give it to me now!”

So, not wanting an angry mob of people waving pitchforks and unfrosted cupcakes in front of my house, I quickly edited the footage and posted it today. This shows that no matter how simple a recipe or technique is, people just feel better and more relaxed about making it, if they can see it being done first.

Anyway, the next time you whip up a carrot cake, or batch of red velvet cupcakes, I hope you give this ultra-simple and delicious frosting recipe a try. Enjoy!

Ingredients for a cake or 12 cupcakes (plus maybe some leftovers):
*Double recipe if you like a thicker layer of frosting.

1/4 cup soft butter

4 oz room temp cream cheese

1 tsp vanilla

1 3/4 cups powdered sugar (or to your taste - start with a cup and go from there)

Red Velvet Cupcakes and My Big Moment on Just Desserts

I don’t make a lot of cupcakes, but since I’ve always been fascinated by the red velvet cake, I decided to try a version based on this venerable American classic. 

I’ve gotten so many requests for cupcakes and red velvet cakes that I figured I’d kill two food wishes with one video. They came out really well, and as I tasted, I actually caught myself daydreaming about being on Top Chef Just Desserts.

I imagined I’d furiously finished frosting these red velvet cupcakes just as time expired (I think the faux-hawked prima donna with the Jacques Torres tattoo next to me hid the cream cheese to screw me over). I bring them up to the judge’s table, and watch as the lovely Gail Simmons takes a big bite. She swallows, smiles, and then says, “Really not that bad for a food blogger.” Okay, so she’s too classy to ever say that, but still, it would be pretty cool.

Anyway, back to reality. I will also post the cream cheese frosting recipe next week, just in case you’re wondering. I joke about the red food coloring in the clip, and it does give the cake such a unique look, but feel free to leave it out if that’s not your thing.

Party season is upon us, and what holiday dessert table wouldn’t benefit from a plate of these classic cupcakes? It would be like Johnny Iuzzini's face without the side burns. In other words, just not as good. I hope you give these a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients for 12 Red Velvet Cupcakes:

Dry:

1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons cocoa powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon fine salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

Wet:

4 tablespoons softened butter

1 cup white sugar

2 large eggs

3/4 cup buttermilk

2 teaspoons white vinegar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 tablespoon red food coloring

Bake at 350 for about 22 minutes

Fig Brulee with Burrata Cheese – Let’s Burn the Top of Some Fruit!

I love a crème brulee as much as the next portly chef, but when you consider the custard base is egg yolk-thickened, sweetened heavy cream, it’s not something you should be eating more than occasionally. But, why waste such a great technique when it can be applied to other things, like fresh fruit?

In the spirit of full disclosure, I chose figs here because I received a generous sampling from the California Fig Advisory Board, and decided this would be a wonderful way to enjoy them. As I mention in the video, this technique also works on fresh banana, a roasted peach or apple, and basically any tender fruit you can slice and sprinkle with sugar.

While this will work with white sugar, the Demerara sugar you see in the video seems to work best. It’s a type of raw brown sugar, and pretty much the same thing as you get in those little, brown “Sugar in the Raw” packages at the coffee shop. Let me be clear – I’m not suggesting you borrow a few of those to use for this recipe. That would be as illegal, as it would be free and convenient.

These were amazing with the fresh, creamy burrata, but any style cheese plate would benefit mightily from the shiny, sexy fruit. If cheese isn’t your thing, go grab a pint of vanilla ice cream, forget all about that sweet-savory thing, and just go full dessert.

Anyway, thanks to California Fig Advisory Board for inspiring the recipe, and if you want more info on how awesome figs are, you can check out their homepage here. I hope you give this a try soon. Enjoy!

The Crazy Basil Peach Black Pepper Parmigiano-Reggiano Cobbler that Captured My Heart

This unusual basil, peach, black pepper, Parmesan cobbler recipe started out as an innocent experiment making individual-sized cobblers, but somehow spun out of control into weird and wonderful new directions.

I was thinking about a cheese Danish, so I grated some Parmigiano-Reggiano into the batter. I was thinking about Gougères, so I added some freshly ground black pepper as well. I was thinking about a peach and basil sorbet I had one time, and decided that some of the sweet aromatic herb seemed perfectly appropriate.

The result was one of the more interesting and delicious desserts I’ve eaten in a long time. The flavors are subtle, but identifiable. I love, love, loved it. It may sound a little savory, but it was plenty sweet enough, and would make a memorable end to any late summer meal. I hope you give it a try soon. Enjoy!

Note Regarding Self-Rising Flour: As we said in the regular peach cobbler post, it is recommended you go out and get some self-rising flour. You can make it yourself, by adding baking powder and salt to all-purpose flour, but for whatever reason, it just doesn't seem work as well.

Ingredients:

Two 10-oz ramekins with 2 tsp melted butter in each

For the batter:

1/2 cup sugar

2/3 cup self-rising flour

2/3 cup milk

1 tbsp finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

pinch of black pepper

For the peaches:

1 large peach, peeled, pitted, sliced into 10-12 slices

2 tbsp sugar

2-3 torn or sliced basil leaves

1/2 tsp balsamic vinegar

1 tsp water

#APieforMikey: Love and Loss in the Age of Twitter

Monday, my friend Jennifer Perillo lost her husband, Mikey. At age 51, he suddenly collapsed and died from a massive heart attack – with no warning, he was here one moment, gone the next. I heard about this on Twitter.

The initial shock and disbelief was quickly swept away by waves of profound anger. Not directed towards anyone or anything, I was simply mad at the universe for this cruelly random and incomprehensible event.

I’ve only met Jennifer once, spending a few carefree days with her at a food event in Sonoma a couple years ago, but through our blogs, and more so Twitter, we had become good friends. For all its superfluous minutia, the social network not only makes real friendships possible, it makes them inevitable.

Instead of withdrawing into the darkness, and shutting out the world, Jennifer used her social network to share her grief, and help her cope with this unimaginable loss. She did so with a courage, dignity, and grace far beyond anything I could have managed.

Inundated by online friends asking what they could do to help, she suggested making this Creamy Peanut Butter Pie, as it was a favorite of Mikey’s. If you search the hashtag, #APieforMikey, you’ll see a truly astonishing outpouring of love and support. As I tweeted yesterday, if there's a stronger, more generous and caring online community than food bloggers, I don't know what it would be.

As many of you know, this has been quite an amazing week for me personally, with the announced acquisition. I don’t think I’ve ever experienced such a crazy, hectic week of soaring highs, and gut-punch lows. So, for reasons too trivial to mention, I haven’t made the pie yet, which is okay, since the tribute really isn’t about the pie.

It’s about making something delicious for someone you love, sharing it with them, and then, in Jennifer’s words, “Hug them like there's no tomorrow because today is the only guarantee we can count on.” This is something Michele and I try and do on a regular basis.

Anyway, stay tuned for a future video recipe tribute to Jennifer and Mikey. In the meantime, I wanted to share this extraordinary video done by the incredibly talented White On Rice Couple, Todd and Diane. This has to be the most powerful, sincere, and touching food video I’ve ever seen. Enjoy.

This Peach Cobbler Not the Work of a Shoemaker

I’m afraid the expression is quickly dying out, but there was a time when being called a “shoemaker” was the ultimate kitchen insult. It meant that your cooking skills were so weak, the cobbler down the street could have taken a break from resoling wingtips, come into the kitchen, and done just as well.

That little culinary history lesson has absolutely nothing to do with this beautiful peach cobbler, but I’ve been trying to keep the saying alive, and it gave me an excuse to share. Ironically, this recipe is so easy any shoemaker could master it.

I have to thank everyone who chimed in last week when I asked for cobbler recipes and inspiration. I received so many great variations and techniques, and while I didn’t use any one single recipe, I definitely used parts of several.

I hope you don’t have much trouble finding fresh ripe peaches this time of year, but if you can’t, this will still be very nice using canned. Speaking of finding ingredients, one thing I learned from my research was that for whatever reason, self-rising flour was the way to go.

No one could quite explain it, but cook after southern cook report that the self-rising flour performs much better than plain with salt and baking powder added in (see ingr. below). Do you have a theory? Maybe most people’s baking powder is so old it’s not as strong as the leavening in a freshly purchased bag of SR flour? What I do know is how nicely this turned out.

Anyway, I’m going to kick off my shoes, put up my feet, and savor the last of this delicious cobbler. Enjoy!

UPDATE: Reports from people trying this are that the ones made with self-rising flour came out awesome, and the ones using regular flour didn't work well at all. Fair warning! Get some self-rising flour!

Ingredients:
For the peaches:

5-6 cups sliced peaches (if you use canned peaches, do not make the syrup)

1/8 tsp Chinese 5-spice

1 tsp freshly grated lemon zest

1 cup water

1 cups sugar

For the batter:

1 stick (1/2 cup) butter (real butter! Do NOT use margarine!)

1 cups sugar

1 1/2 cups self-rising flour (or 1 1/2 cup AP flour, plus 2 1/2 tsp baking powder and 3/4 tsp salt - NOTE: this does not work as well...get some self-rising flour!)

1 1/2 cups milk

This Blueberry Clafoutis Didn’t Get My Goat (Cheese that is)

I’ve had this wacky idea to try a berry-studded goat cheese clafoutis, so when I saw these gorgeous looking blueberries at the market, I figured the time was right. 

I had a couple ounces of leftover chèvre in the fridge, and was very excited to see if this possibly odd, but fundamentally sounds idea would work. And, everything would have, if I had only skipped breakfast that morning.

That morning I woke up starving, and facing a pile of emails and other less fun computer-driven busywork. So without thinking (literally) I whipped a nice cheese omelet, using the aforementioned cheese. D’oh!

It was a delicious mistake, and one I forgave myself for very quickly, but it also presented me with a tough choice. Go back out to the store, or just make a good, old fashioned, plain blueberry clafoutis. Laziness prevailed, and here you have it.

So, while I’m very proud of this clafoutis, I can’t help but wonder how much better it would have been with that faint, but tangy accent from the cheese. Maybe you could give it a try and let me know? I was simply going to add it to the blender and mix it right into the blender.

Anyway, goat cheese or not, this recipe is a great way to enjoy fresh, summer fruit, and as I mention in the video, this technique really lets it play the starring roll. I hope you give it a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

butter as needed

pint of blueberries

1/2 cup flour

2/3 cup sugar

1 1/4 cup milk

3 large eggs

1 tbsp vanilla

pinch of salt

Fried Peanut Butter & Jelly Pinchy Pies – One Chef's White Trash is Another's White Treasure

I was doing some research on shrimp toast for an upcoming video, and I became obsessed with the thought of frying things on white bread, which led to being obsessed with the thought of frying things in white bread. These fried peanut butter and jelly pinchy pies are the result.

The technique was ridiculously easy, but naming these delicious discs was another thing altogether. They aren't cakes, donuts, or fritters; so I was sort of stumped on what to call them. I decided to make up something completely new (or at least Google says so), and the pinchy pie was born.

As I mention in the video, the possibilities are endless as far as stuffings go, so I can see this really catching on. I think I'm actually going to trademark the name, and maybe hit the state fair tour. These would totally fly out of any Ferris wheel-adjacent food stand.

Regarding the title: While frying stuffed Wonder Bread is about as stereotypically "white trash" as it gets, I don't like or condone the use of that term. I only used it here because I couldn't think of anything as clever. Enjoy!

New York Cheesecake with Chocolate Chip Crust to the Rescue!

Believe it or not, this New York cheesecake with chocolate chip crust recipe post was suppose to be a spicy coconut shrimp bisque video. Please allow me to explain.

When I woke up this morning, I could not have been more excited about the video recipe I was about to film...an Asian-Cajun-inspired bisque that I've been tasting with my mind since I saw John Besh make it in Atlanta.

As I set up the camera, my shrimp-eating grin turning into a frown that would have put Droopy the Dog to shame. I realized I'd left my camera battery and charger in Santa Monica. D'oh! So, after the longest video drought in Food Wishes history, my plans to make it all right were suddenly dashed.

Anyway, the show must go on, so I'm posting this New York Cheesecake with Chips Deluxe Crust recipe, which was going to air tomorrow. This is part of a series of eight snack videos I did for Kellogg's Snackpicks.com, and while I'm usually a cheesecake purest, this is one of my exceptions, since it's works so well.

A little heads-up: when you click on the video player below, you'll be taken to their site where you can watch the video and get the written recipe. Do not be afraid – if you have questions or comments, you can come on back and post them here. Thanks, and please stay tuned for the aforementioned bisque recipe. Enjoy!

These Cherry Folditups Only Sound Easy and Inexpensive

Why am I calling this a cherry folditup, and not a cherry galette, its correct culinary name? Because one sounds like something that's easy to make, and one doesn't.

You may think it's silly to dumb-down the name just so a few more people watching on YouTube will give it a try, but it's very important to me that these recipes are accessible to as many people as possible. Oh, and by the way, did I mention you need to buy a $18 jar of cherries to make it? 

So much for that whole accessibility angle. Yes, I did use the world's most exclusive jarred cherries. Luxardo make's what they claim are the original Maraschino cherries. The deep, dark fruit is candied in Marasca cherry syrup, and I find the taste and texture totally irresistible.

And no, I didn't hit the lottery; I had these on hand because of some recipe testing I was doing for a client, and I couldn't think of any finer way to use them up. If things are going well, here's the Amazon link is case you want to try Luxardo cherries for yourself. However, as I say in the video, any cherry or other fruit pie filling will work beautifully.

As far as the crust goes, we have a couple of surprises for you. I decided to use whole wheat flour, as I wanted a dough that was a little nuttier and rougher around the edges, and this did the trick. I also used some orange vodka I had in the freezer for part of the liquid in the dough.

I'd seen Alton brown do this, and apparently the vodka adds moisture, but doesn't create gluten, and somehow that makes a tender, flakier crust, or something like that. I can’t be bothered to do any more research, but I can say it made one hell of a crust.

Of course, if anyone want to go all food nerd on us and explain what's going on molecularly, I think we'd all pretend to be interested. Enjoy!

Update! I call for whole wheat flour for this, but want to let you know I used the oxymoronically-named King Arthur Unbleached White Whole Wheat Flour. It's a very light wheat flour, and can probably be simulated by using 1/2 regular wheat flour and white flour. 

Ingredients:
6 oz whole wheat flour by weight (about 1 1/3 cup)

6 tablespoons ice cold butter

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon sugar

1/4 cup ice water (plus 1 tablespoon if not using vodka)

1 tablespoon ice cold orange or plain vodka, optional

1 cup cherry pie filling

That's Some Sweet Pie Crust

This great pie crust video features Alan Carter, the pastry chef at Mission Beach Cafe, a great little neighborhood restaurant just a block away from our home in San Francisco. I've been planning on filming a new pie crust recipe, and have always wanted to try the vinegar/water method. 

Knowing that our neighbor, Chef Carter, known for his world-class pies, uses that same technique has me very excited to give this a try. The clip comes via The Feast, who credit Mike Anderson, from NBCBayArea.com, for the video's production. Enjoy!

I Want a Real Snow Cone

I grew up around snow. Actually, I didn't just grow up around it, I grew up in it, on it, and under it. So, when I saw this video from Chef Jason Hill on how to make snow ice cream, I was kind of upset I had never done it. I'm not usually one of these "blame your parents" people, but in this case, I really have no choice. Why didn't we make snow ice cream? Mom?

Anyway, I'd love to hear from anyone that's tried this dessert, and what your experiences were. Of course, I don't have to tell you (but will), this is not something we're doing downwind from the old tire factory! You'll need to find pristine, freshly falling snow to attempt this. Enjoy!

It's Time for Michele's Famous Christmas Gingerbread Cake

My wife Michele makes this great gingerbread cake every Christmas, and in addition to being quite delicious, it's really simple and would be a perfect item to bring to any holiday party.

It has a very simple lemon glaze on top, but also works nicely topped with lemon curd, whipped cream, or vanilla ice cream.

This has been posted previously, and here is the original post in case you'd like some more information. Enjoy!

Click here for Gingerbread Cake with Lemon Glaze Recipe.
Photo (c) Flickr user terren in Virginia

Holiday Pumpkin Bread in Theory and Practice

I could have just Googled a pumpkin bread recipe. I'm sure there are hundreds of excellent ones, tested and retested, right there for the taking. But I didn't, because I had something better, a theory. Theoretically speaking, there is nothing better than a good theory.

My theory was that if I took my banana bread recipe, which is one of my absolute favorites, and used pumpkin puree in place of the mashed, ripe bananas, I would have an equally impressive loaf.

So, what were the results of this grand pumpkin bread experiment? A very decent loaf of quick bread, which would make a handsome addition to any holiday dessert table! Having said that, next time I make it, I will be tweaking some things.

This was very good, but didn't have the I-can't-stop-eating-this-ness of the banana bread recipe. Considering the obvious fact that bananas and pumpkins are not the same thing, I will adjust the sweetness and fat content a bit to compensate.

Anyway, stay tuned for future updates, and if you happen to make any variations on this, I'd love to hear about it! Thanks, and enjoy!




Pumpkin Bread Recipe Ingredients:
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, soft
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 (15-oz) can pumpkin puree
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon Chinese 5-Spice
1/8 teaspoon allspice
Mixed in a bowl:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon table salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup chopped roasted walnuts
Bake at 325 degrees F. for about 1 hour