Everyone needs a birthday cake recipe in their repertoire. One that you can bust out to make a killer birthday cake or any type of cake for that matter. Well here it is, the only yellow cake recipe you will ever need. Promise. The only one you will ever need. With the perfect vanilla taste and tender crumb here is the ultimate yellow cake recipe.
Read MoreI recently discovered roasted peanut flour thanks to a subscription box someone gifted me. I had never heard of it before - have you? Well I am hooked, once you open the bag, the amazing aroma of delicious roasted peanuts is a total game changer. Once I tasted it, I knew it would be perfect in peanut butter brownies...
Read MoreWe have landed in LA. It has been a rough and crazy couple weeks but we are officially LA residents. I don't think it has hit me yet because I am just so busy. Between my 36 hour trip last week to speak at the Samsung event space and a top secret baking cookbook I am helping to write, I don't know up from down. Which is good and bad. On the one hand it is good because there hasn't been time to really process that we are in a new city trying to make new friends and find new places to eat, things to do. But bad because one day in a couple months I am going to wake up and realize I no longer live in the Bay Area. But I guess denial is good right?
Read MoreI spent this past weekend in LA. I love LA... I think. Or maybe strongly like. I used to overlook it as a town filled with nothing but movie star hopefuls but the more time I spend there, the more I am drawn to it. Although for the record I do not love the traffic. It is a whole different beast compared to the Bay Area. However I do love the food world there. There is some really interesting stuff happening with food and I was excited to get a glimpse of it this past weekend. I was in town for a food conference (IACP) which is a food industry conference that focused a lot on social media, blogs and video this year. It was really interesting to see what people are doing in this space. It is almost like the Wild West in that the possibilities are endless, especially in online food video/YouTube. Really inspiring. So if I can just get over looking at myself on camera I am going to put out some YouTube videos (there are already some of me for Williams-Sonoma floating around which you can view here. Eeks! )
Read MoreThis week I was fortunate enough to be interviewed by Leslie of SpottedSF for the site SFGirlbyBay. I am super excited - it is one of my all time favorite blogs and I am thrilled to be sharing some details on what it is like to work in the Williams-Sonoma Test Kitchen, why this blog came about, as well as where to eat on Oakland.
Read MoreMy co-worker recently called me the key lime whisperer. I think it was a term of endearment (right?) because of my love of anything and everything key lime. It stems from growing up in Florida and being surrounded by citrus fruits. Key limes were front and center (that and grapefruits and honeybell oranges). It is pure nostalgia I think. We had a key lime tree in our backyard so key limes were used in everything. They were just as common place as regular limes, maybe even more so. I even remember ordering a key lime pie martini when I was barely old enough to drink- the rim was lined with crushed graham crackers-amazing. But my love of key limes in its purest form is found in a big slice of delicious key lime pie.
Read MoreGrowing up peppermint patties and Junior mints were always my favorite candy. Anytime we went to the movie theater it was always a box of Junior Mints (jumbo box if no one was looking). Then in college when everyone was on Weight Watchers (because that is what everyone did then, you remember that right? ) I would forfeit lots of point in exchange for Peppermint Patties. Priorities right?! That chocolate mint combo is my favorite flavor combo. I make my own homemade peppermint patties now and give them out as holiday gifts. I may make a dozen or two to keep for myself. I honestly can't resist them. When thinking about the perfect holiday dessert I was inspired by three things - chocolate, peppermint and cream cheese. From there this simple yet utterly delicious chocolate cake with peppermint cream cheese frosting was born.
Read MoreThe taste of s’mores is quintessentially summer. Melted chocolate, gooey marshmallows and crisp graham crackers just screams summer, right? It is amazing that something so simple can be so delicious. I think it is part nostalgia( I am pretty sure I have eaten s’mores every summer my entire life) and part perfect flavor combination. Although s’mores are nearly perfect as is, I am kicking it up a notch just in time for 4th of July by adding in vanilla ice cream and taking this summertime treat to a whole new delicious level.
Read MoreI am not a huge chocolate dessert person. Given the option I will always choose a berry or lemon dessert over a chocolate bomb. It is just too heavy. But do you know what I love - chocolate bars. I will take any kind of chocolate bar I can find. These days I am loving Seatles Chocolate and Chocolove. I can't leave the grocery store without at least a couple in my cart. But don't give me any of that dark chocolate stuff, I want milk chocolate. With lots of crunchy bits like rice krispies, toffee and nuts in it. Totally bad for you but so freaking delicious. I thought I would create a dessert that pays homage to my love of milk chocolate bars. This milk chocolate carmel pretzel tart is just like eating a chocolate bar, but may be even better.
Read MoreThanksgiving is by far my most favorite holiday. What could be better than getting together with friends and family and eating all day? Since I am hosting Friendsgiving and Thanksgiving this year, I have started planning my menus and these pumpkin cheesecake bars with toasted marshmallow topping are front and center at both. I have been making pumpkin cheesecake for the past 5 Thanksgivings and without fail, it is always a crowd favorite.
Read MoreSo I rarely talk about my day job as a test kitchen cook on here mostly because this is a place where I can try out my own recipes and talk about random things like travel and kitchen design. (I do post a lot of pictures from the test kitchen on Instagram) But there are a couple outstanding recipes that I have tested recently that I want to make sure you all know about.
Read MoreI have to admit, I don't really like camping. I am sorry, I know, I know but it is not really my jam. I can go glamping, but camping without running water, electricity or bathrooms isn't really how I like to spend my time off. We did go fake camping last summer and it was amazing but there were fire pits, bathrooms and I brought a well stocked cooler that included watermelon margaritas and artisanal hot dogs. Is that even considered camping? But you know what i do love about camping - s'mores. Ooey goey s'mores. Nothing beats those suckers. But since I am not going to find myself camping anytime soon or in front of a fire pit, I decided I need to be able to get that taste and those flavors all year-long. What is the perfect vehicle for these? Cupcakes. So the next time you want all those delicious camping flavors but can't bring yourself to go camping make these s'mores cupcakes and it will be just like the real thing.
Read MoreIs it safe to say that summer is upon us? I always consider summer Memorial Day to Labor Day. 3 months of sunshine, outdoor eating and lots of travel. Bring it on. You know what goes well with summer? Ice cream. Loads and loads of ice cream. Sadly eggs and I are not really getting along these days so I can’t have real ice cream. (I know it is horrible) But that is not going to stop me. I decided to recreate one of my favorite frozen treats I used to eat all the time in SF and make it egg free so I can eat it. My secret ingredient, coconut milk. You may think Nutella ice cream is going to taste all hippie dippie with coconut milk, but it might just make you forget any ice cream that came before it. Consider yourself warned.
Read MoreLuke was recently in Abu Dhabi and brought back the most beautiful Iranian dates. He knows me well enough that a) when he travels without me, he must bring me back presents as a form of restitution and b) it always has to be food. So in an effort to make up for the fact he went on an exotic vacation without me, he brought me some beautiful dates. And boy are they yummy. Someone said to me recently that dates are going to be the next hot food. You heard it here first folks. The next hot food. They are great natural sweeteners and might be the best appetizer ever with you stuff them with cheese and wrap them in bacon. But today I am sharing my new favorite way to eat dates - a date milkshake.
Read MoreCalifornia has been in a major drought recently and thankfully over the past couple of weeks we have gotten some serious rain. Although I love when it pours here, because it rarely does (not like it does in Florida) I get a little stir crazy when stuck inside. So last weekend during another downpour I decided to try a cake that I have wanted to experiment with for a while - a lemon olive oil cake. I know olive oil sounds like a weird ingredient to put in a cake but it made the cake light, delicious and moist. Plus the grassy flavor of the oil matched perfectly with the tart sweetness of the Meyer lemons.
Read MoreCafe Jacqueline is this fantastic restaurant near our apartment that only serves soufflés. Literally the only thing on the menu are soufflés. Amazing.
This is an old school gem of a restaurant. There are no frills at this place, only a couple of tables, and an old women in the back (presumably Jacqueline) whipping those egg whites for the soufflés. You have to walk by her to get to the restroom and there she is whipping and whipping - by hand no less.
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