eat dessert first
These Super Bowl Bars feature a little bit of everything—chocolate, peanuts, marshmallows, pretzels and more—to make for a salty sweet treat perfect for a party. I love watching the Super Bowl. I don’t want you to get the false impression that I follow any team in particular, or even the sport […]
It’s 90°F in the shade and I just can’t bring myself to fire up the oven today. So, the only reasonable thing to do is make a 4th of July Baked Alaska with homemade ice cream and top it with flaming meringue. If you don’t want to make your own […]
My Granny Neal made a version of these Sticky Coconut Maple Bars every Christmas. They’re really perfect for any occasion, but when I was a little kid they were a special treat reserved for Christmas morning. Enjoy! These are inspired by my Granny’s holiday coconut bars, which I later realized […]
Inspiration can come from the craziest of places, including a nail salon. My friend and I were having our nails done when a man carrying stacks and stacks of baskets filled with Rambutan, a tropical fruit related to Lychee, walked in to sell them. Apparently he drives in from Florida […]
If you’ve ever seen my kitchen, you’ll know I am not a minimalist. The abundance just sort of happened. I’ve lived a full life and gathered stuff along the way. Too much stuff, perhaps. I just got Melissa Coleman’s (thefauxmartha) beautiful new book and I am determined to declutter, downsize […]
I first posted this Coconut Cream Cake recipe 6 years ago and have made it several times since. It is always a crowd pleaser, partly because of the meringue topping, all done up like curls that remind me of Phyllis Diller and because it is just delicious. Decadent pastry cream full […]
This year I added a little extra flavor power to classic chocolate caramel matzo. I made a triple batch to make sure I could send gift bags home after the seder. All the toppings were a hit, but the toasted sesame seeds with the milk or dark chocolate is my […]
The fact that Bosc pears taste like spicy, buttery perfume (I mean sweet, pure essence of pear, not old lady soap), may be second to their beauty. I admit I bought this bag of pears to decorate my kitchen. They’re so sleek and statuesque that most every still life painter […]
Sometimes great ideas can come from the strangest places. Who would have imagined that spending my birthday, in the rain, making S’mores with people I didn’t know could have been so much fun and such creative inspiration? In November my good friend and partner in many culinary adventures, Jen, treated […]
This is a “German Chocolate Cake,” but instead of the layers of chocolate cake I used a coconut sponge to create Coconut Caramel Cake. For the longest time I thought the original version was invented in Germany, hence the name. But, it was actually discovered in Dallas, Texas around 1957. […]
A traditional (UK) Bakewell Tart is inspired by a rich baking history dating back to the 1800’s in England. It is a tart consisting of a simple shortbread crust, a layer of jam and frangipane (almond cream). Bakewell is a classic style of tart I’ve made lots of times and […]
Order my new cookbook, Zoë Bakes Cookies, now! When I was growing up I looked forward to Christmas morning at my Granny’s house. It seemed like magic how I’d go to bed at night and wake up with a stocking stuffed with goodies at the foot of my bed. Later […]