The clock's ticking on getting traditional fruitcakes done by next week -- but all's not lost! My pal Frank Morgan's Nanna Jepson from Walpole, Mass, passed down this recipe for a light, white fruitcake that is good to go as soon as comes out of the oven. Sweet, cakey, colorful. It will stand out on a holiday buffet and better still, those bah-humbug "I hate fruit cake" … [Read more...]
KUGELHOPF DELUXE WITH ORANGE GLAZE
Spring yard sale season is in full swing here in East Hampton with treasures galore to be had for a pittance. Witness my new Wilton kugelhopf pan - never used, label intact though showing the benign neglect earned by long storage under sub-optimal conditions. No matter, it was well worth its 25¢ price tag. And not just any label, but one with a recipe! The Wilton recipe … [Read more...]
CLASSIC FRENCH BREAD: BOULE
If I said making really good bread at home takes Herculean effort you'd probably stop reading here. But wait! Baking an outstandingly crusty, chewy, fragrant and flavorful boule (French for ball) is doable. Yes, it's a little involved, and you do have to plan ahead, but it is well worth it. Fact. Reading this recipe in Bon Appetit was enough to get me sweaty with excitement. … [Read more...]
KUGELHOPF DELUXE
The lordly Kugelhopf Deluxe is a magnificent and airy yeast cake. Studded with brandy-soaked golden raisins and shingled with sliced almonds, this traditional Alsatian pastry is cousin to the brioches of France, the dense stollens of Germany and Italy's chewy panettones. But why "Deluxe?" In the NYT's recent profile on the cheesecake baking Nuns of New Skete, a Sister … [Read more...]
KUGELHOPF DELUXE RECIPE
KUGELHOPF DELUXE Recipe (Notes: 1. Be sure to have the butter at room temperature or it will be difficult to work into the already mixed dough. 2. If using a stand mixer, always use a low speed, careful not to over mix. 3. The dough needs a warm environment to rise properly; allow extra time to each rise cycle if needed.) 4 c. all-purpose flour 1 package active dry … [Read more...]
IRISH SODA BREAD
From the Sullivan family cookbook Forks Up! comes my sister-in-law Malinda Sullivan's recipe for Irish Soda Bread. As my mother, Mary Pat, wrote in Forks Up! "It is amazing how many variations of this bread there are -- almost one per Irishman." In keeping with this world-view we substituted dried raspberries for the raisins only because they were on hand and raisins were … [Read more...]
LEMON RICOTTA MUFFINS WITH TRUVIA BAKING BLEND
I met Truvia when she was just a baby. She made her debut on Rockefeller Plaza in the summer of 2008, just before our first House Beautiful Kitchen of the Year. She was just as sweet as can be from the very start. There was a darling nursery set up for her, all surrounded by Stevia plants, which actually give her her all-natural sweetness. Appropriately, baby-sized cups of … [Read more...]
MOZZARELLA BRIOCHE
This recipe for Mozzarella Brioche came via a somewhat circuitous route. With the recent publication of the Craig Claiborne bio The Man Who Changed the Way We Eat: Craig Claiborne and the American Food Renaissance, I've been itching to tell the story of retrieving a set of massive antique Edwardian dining chairs for a friend when Craig's estate was being settled. Regular … [Read more...]
KUGELHOPF SURPRISE REVISITED
I am very happy to report that SpecD's recipe for the original, authentic Majestic Kugelhopf Surprise stands the test of time. And now you can get a behind the scenes look in this video of How to Make Kugelhopf Surprise. One of the first recipes posted on Spectacularly Delicious in 2009, Kugelhopf Surprise has been a reliable show stopper for at least 20 years. Kugelhopf … [Read more...]
PISTACHIO STICKY BUNS
There's nothing quite like a well-thought out breakfast delectable. You can count on these beautiful pistachio sticky buns, warm from the oven, the honey and brown sugar glaze trickling down each appealing, chewy bun as you pull them apart. Pistachios caramelized and slightly browned, golden raisins studding the tonka bean-scented interior. I'm a big … [Read more...]