Of the countless fig-related threats and insults that military leaders have hurled at one another over the course of human history, there’s one that really stands out for me. It was spoken by Xerxes the First, emperor of Persia, in about 480 BC, and was directed at the Athenians. It goes like this: I shan’t […]
READ ONThe last selection in our sweet tomato serenade is an oldie but a goodie: tomato caramel sauce. When you think about it, tomato caramel is really just the logical extension of tomato jam, only the sugar is cooked to a higher temperature to create a complexity of flavor you wouldn’t otherwise get. What possible application […]
READ ONLeftover puff pastry is indeed a many-splendored thing, and another reason to never, ever throw anything with that much butter in it away. I keep a scrap ball in a sandwich bag in the freezer. It starts out the size of a walnut, and in a couple of months is usually about the size of […]
READ ONThe wife, being a chocoholic bar none, commented that I haven’t made any “real desserts” in a while, meaning of course that I haven’t done anything with chocolate. So, to entice you choco-fiends back into the fold, I think it’s time for an oldie but a goodie: crêpes with Nutella and bananas. But since I […]
READ ONActually the most you can say of any particular fat is that it’s “high” in saturated fatty acids, since every fat, whether solid fat or oil, contains a mix of saturated and unsaturated fatty acid molecules. It’s the proportion of those fatty acids that’s important. You can imagine a fatty acid molecule as a long, […]
READ ONWe just found out that the wife has another pastry in the oven, as it were. The poor girl gets terribly sick in her first trimester. In the brief moments when she’s able to eat, her sweet tooth comes out with a vengeance. This week’s projects come by her request. Here’s for the good times: […]
READ ONI have to say that the weekend’s drive over the Blue Ridge Mountains was spectacular. It rained quite a bit on the way home, but on the way out the endless vistas of tree-covered mountains rolling off into the distance like waves, well they were awe-inspiring. Being a history buff (in Virginia no less) I […]
READ ONPreserving is like government surveillance. Once you start looking for it, you start seeing it everywhere: at the mall, at the corner bar, in your house, at work, at the ball game, your daughter’s locker at school, on a hike, a car trip, a picnic, a trip to the moon. It’s everywhere man. Just about […]
READ ONLike this week’s bread, ciabatta, pecan pie is a baked good without much of a pedigree. There are no known recipes for pecan pie that date back further than 1925. The reason for this is fairly straightforward: corn syrup, one of pecan pie’s primary ingredients, wasn’t in common use before that time. Though corn syrup […]
READ ONFor such a terrific little cake, the list of components is relatively short. You can find the génoise, syrup and marzipan recipes under the components menu. 1 recipe genoise 1 recipe simple syrup spiked with 2 tablespoons cognac 1 1/4 cups raspberry jam 12 ounces marzipan Confectioner’s sugar for rolling
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