My Weekly Dessert

 Just in time for Passover; the recipe is my own. It started off as the Chocolate Macaroon recipe from The New York Times Passover Cookbook (1999 edition), but I didn’t have (or like) some of the ingredients, so took it in another direction. The batter will be thick after being mixed, so you’ll need a second spoon or your finger to drop each cookie onto the cookie sheet.   The bottoms can burn; check the underside at 15 minutes. Feel free to experiment with this recipe: increase the amount of chocolate, add cinnamon, plop in some coconut or even sub it for the praline (I’m not a fan of shredded coconut, but you might like it). Make the praline first, as it must be cool to be put in the batter. Oh, and there will be extra praline so that you can eat some as is. Makes 24-30 cookies depending on size Preheat oven to 300 degrees Praline 1 cup whole nuts (walnuts, hazelnuts, almonds or a mix) ¼ C. water 3/4 C. sugar 1.        Toast the ...

This recipe is listed as one of Ruth Reichl’s favorites. In case you’re not familiar with her, she is a chef, was the food critic for the New York Times and then the editor of Gourmet magazine. She’s written a number of books, two of which I own because she’s a splendid writer. Here’s the link to the cake recipe: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ruth-reichl-save-me-the-plums-memoir-recipes/  and the filling recipe: https://www.food.com/recipe/orange-citrus-cake-filling-147364.  This cake totally reminds me of the kind of chocolate cake you might have for a kid’s birthday party, topped with frosting and all kinds of decorations. The cake is light, not overwhelmingly chocolate, can be cut into two layers, and could likely take on anything you put with it, including ice cream. The cake takes about 1 ½ hours, start to cooling and the accompanying brittle can be made while it bakes. I love cakes that can be mixed by hand with a whisk and this cake fits that bill. Praline choppe...

This recipe comes from The Fiddlehead Cookbook  via the Fiddlehead restaurant in Juneau, Alaska, though I’m not sure the place is still there. I purchased the cookbook on a visit during an Alaskan cruise in 2007. The cookbook was published in 1991. Here is a similar recipe, but the one I made did not use a cake mix, as many on the Internet do: https://www.cooks.com/recipe/rz3zb64n/amaretto-chocolate-cake.html I imagine it would be a copywrite infringement to include the recipe verbatim here but let me know if there’s a way around that.   The ingredients are interesting and include mayonnaise, buttermilk, sour cream, and almond flour and it is baked in an angel food or Bundt pan, something with a hole in the middle. This cake could likely be made gluten-free using a gluten-free flour mix, but I don’t think there’s a way around the dairy. This cake is stirred by hand and I always appreciate not getting out the mixer. You’ll need a couple of hours start to finish, and that incl...

 This salted peanut and caramel tart was fun to make if you don’ t mind a bunch of moving parts, which I don’t. It’s a layer of crust, then meringue, and finally topping, all with timing you’ll need to pay attention to. The base is easy because it is pressed into the tin rather than rolled out (I used a small glass to get it smooth), but the topping needs to be used within seconds. It’s a Milk Street recipe; mine is in a cookbook, but the recipe is available online: https://www.177milkstreet.com/recipes/salted-peanut-caramel-tart . I’m guessing it could be made gluten-free, but dairy-free would be difficult as the recipe calls for whipping cream and butter. This isn’t a last-minute dessert. The crust is chilled for at least fifteen minutes, then baked for an hour, then cooled. The whipped egg whites and hot syrup for the meringue need to be ready concurrently, with the melted peanut butter soon after. The peanut topping will harden almost as soon as it’s off the heat, so it has...

This recipe was in the La Crosse Tribune a week or two ago. I thought it sounded like a wonderful combination—banana bread and brownies! These vegetarian bars could easily be made gluten-free and dairy-free, so that’s a plus. The web site says the bars are good after refrigerating for a couple of days. Here’s a link to the recipe: https://giadzy.com/recipes/banana-bread-brownies-giada-de-laurentiis/ I glanced at the ingredients when I printed off the recipe, but it didn’t dawn on me until I put some in the bowl that there are no eggs and only one tablespoon of sugar. However, I figured chocolate chips would make up for the lack of sweetener. wet & dry ingredients Changes I made: Though the first ingredient is avocado oil, I substituted canola oil. The recipe calls for spreading half the batter in the pan, then adding the chocolate chips and cocoa to the remaining batter and spreading that on top so that you get a layered bar. The batter looked minimal to me in the bowl, so I ...