Last year about this time Steve and I went to Rome and not surprisingly we loved every minute. A few of our “When in Rome” highlights: a close-up of the Pope; the Borghese Galleries; tracking down Bernini sculptures in some lesser-known churches; and the Diocletian Baths. And of course, the food, the food, the food! Armed with recommendations […]
Classic Desserts
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 […]
CHOCOLATE MONT BLANC
If you’re hankering for an opulent dessert, look no further. This Chocolate Mont Blanc recipe is an update of a post we did last year; click here for more history on this classic dessert. Chocolate Mont Blanc is a craggy peak of cocoa-infused chestnut strands studded with boulders of dark chocolate. The snow-capped summit is […]
CROQUEMBOUCHE
Croquembouche: The dessert that “combines elegant traditionalism with an imaginative modern approach to the elaborate form of styling.”* It’s not quite fair to say that Croquembouche is simple, but the effort-to-reward ratio is off the charts, thus making the endeavor well worth the undertaking. Croquembouche’s translation, basically “crunch in the mouth,” is spot on. The tower […]
THE TRIUMPH OF GLUTTONY
Could there ever be a more tantalizing recipe name than Triumph of Gluttony cake? I think not. Director Luchino Visconti’s 1963 classic The Leopard stars Bert Lancaster as Don Fabrizio Corbera, Prince of Salina; Claudia Cardinale plays Anglica, a maiden so ripe she practically exudes sweet juices from her heaving bosom, and studly bad boy aristocrat […]
Spectacular Spectaculars
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 […]
SCOTCH EGGS
By all rights Scotch eggs should be a lot more popular than they are. Hard boiled eggs, yolks just barely firm, are wrapped in sausage meat then breaded and fried. What could be bad? I suppose it’s the frying part that holds most people back. But why professional kitchens don’t whip up Scotch eggs along […]
WHITE CLAM PASTA WITH SEA BEANS – LINGUINI ALLE VONGOLE
Freshly foraged briny little sea beans pair beautifully with just-dug quahogs for a hearty, down-home tangle of linguine alle vongole. And the best part is out here in East Hampton the ingredients are only as far away as the water. At water’s edge of our favorite clam bed in Three Mile Harbor is a healthy stretch of […]
CUPOLA di BUCATINI / PASTA DOME RECIPE
Frequent readers will know that Spectacularly Delicious has a fondness for tall food. From croquembouche pyramids to kugelhopf ziggurats, the peaks of Mont Blancs to tumbling cascades of lobster, we take the “haute” in haute cuisine very seriously. That goes for alta cucuina as well. The arching swell of Spec D’s Pasta al Duomo is joined by another architectural […]