Recipe Maverick

Showing category "Desserts" (Show all posts)

Dutch Magic Tart

Posted by Emma Barker on Tuesday, August 23, 2011, In : Desserts 


I love to bake things for people. When a friend's birthday rolls it around, I like to use it as an excuse to fire up the oven. But sometimes I don't feel like baking a cake. I make a lot of cookies, but after awhile those don't feel as special anymore. That's when I start to pull out the weird recipes. A few days ago, I decided to bake this tart for a birthday party I was going to. It may not have candles you can lick frosting off of, but it's fun to make and even more fun to try to explain ...
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Blackberry Strudel

Posted by Emma Barker on Wednesday, August 10, 2011, In : Desserts 


Whip some cream and put it on top of your strudel...
 
 
But hold on a minute. Before I tell you how my friends and I pulled off the diamond heist of the century only to end up in the interrogation room at the Davis Police Station, let me take you back to the beginning...
~enter flashback~
 
It was a hot and beautiful day in June. The sun was sifting through the green leaves of the redwood trees onto a
 patch of wild blackberry bushes,
all thorns and not a berry to be seen. Inside the plants,...
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Chocolate Walnut Cookies

Posted by Emma Barker on Monday, August 1, 2011, In : Desserts 


The cookies I make are like a story I tell over and over, changing slightly with every retelling to highlight the parts which seem the most relevant. Little adjustments to the recipe can yield cookies that are chewy or crunchy, sweet or buttery, nutty or chocolatey, or anything else I can imagine.

When my roommate's sister came to visit, I decided to make chewy, chocolate cookies studded with chocolate chips and chunks of walnuts. We ate them while enjoying Sean Connery's voicing of the drag...

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I'm Back... With Limes

Posted by Emma Barker on Tuesday, July 26, 2011, In : Desserts 


It's been almost a year since I posted, and I guess all I can say is I got distracted by life. Over the past year, I graduated college, stopped working at the dining hall, and figured out that I still don't know what to do for a living. This summer reminds me so much of last summer that I can hardly believe a year has really gone by. The thing is, it's not like last summer at all, because everything's about to change. In about a month, when my lease is up, I'll be leaving Davis and moving bac...
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Maple Cream Wafers

Posted by Emma Barker on Sunday, October 10, 2010, In : Desserts 


    It's still about 90 degrees in Davis, and feels a lot more like summer than fall. Sadly, much though I would love to pretend it's still summer vacation, it isn't. I have reading to do and papers to write, and pretending I don't won't make them go away. The cool thing for me right now is that I'm actually learning how to say things in Italian, like "non mi piacciono gli asparagi" (I don't like asparagus).
   
    Since I can't change the fact that I have classes and homework now, I'm trying...

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Reese's Pieces Cookies

Posted by Emma Barker on Sunday, September 26, 2010, In : Desserts 


    To me, one of the coolest things about baking cookies from scratch is that once you have a basic cookie recipe, you can customize every batch you make by tweaking it. I love chocolate cookies, and I'm crazy about the crunchiness of m&ms baked into regular cookies. So when my friend had his birthday last week, I decided to take the chocolate and the crunch and combine them, using reese's pieces for a peanut buttery twist.

Ingredients:
*makes about 18 cookies

1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup granulated ...

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Raspberry Napoleons

Posted by Emma Barker on Tuesday, August 31, 2010, In : Desserts 


  "It's a pastry. It's flaky and creamy, and it tastes great!" -The Snarkout Boys and the Avocado of Death, Daniel Pinkwater.

Daniel Pinkwater has been one of my favorite authors since I was in middle school. His novels, from Alan Mendelson, the Boy from Mars to The Worms of Kukumlima captured my imagination and basically summed up my feelings about being a weird kid. My favorite of his books is The Snarkout Boys and the Avocado of Death, which, with its two sentences about Napoleons, got me s...

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Blackberry Pie

Posted by Emma Barker on Tuesday, August 17, 2010, In : Desserts 


    Now, I'm no masochist. As a general policy, I avoid pain as much as possible. But sometimes, the best things in life are made all the sweeter if you have to suffer a little to get them.

    I went on vacation in Greece a few weeks ago, which was wonderful. I could tell you all about the beaches on the Greek Isles with the sand and the water and the hot foreign shirtless guys and the baklava and the spanikopita. I could tell you about Athens, a modern city thriving all around the crumbling...

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Raspberry Sorbet

Posted by Emma Barker on Saturday, July 3, 2010, In : Desserts 


    Frozen desserts are likely to become a running theme for me this summer, since I'm staying in Davis where it gets HOT. When I lived in the bay area, it almost never got hot enough to make me want to avoid using the oven, but here in Davis temperatures frequently get over 100 in the summer. It's enough to make you want to eat nothing but ice cream all day long.

    Of course, eating nothing but ice cream would be pretty unhealthy. That's why I'm mixing things up with this raspberry sorbet....

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Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble

Posted by Emma Barker on Tuesday, June 29, 2010, In : Desserts 


    A few days ago, Deb of Smitten Kitchen posted a recipe for strawberry rhubarb pie, which put me in mind of one of my favorite summer desserts: my Dad's strawberry rhubarb crumble. I think I will always associate the month of June with the smell of a sweet and tangy strawberry rhubarb crumble baking, both the berries and rhubarb freshly harvested from my parents' garden.

    Now, a crumble is not a pie. In my opinion, crumbles are superior to pies. Pies take fruit, berries, and other water...

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Grapefruit Granita

Posted by Emma Barker on Wednesday, June 16, 2010, In : Desserts 


       For the past few days, I've been having to remind myself that it's summer vacation. I'll be relaxing in front of the TV or taking a leisurely walk, unable to shake the feeling that I ought to be stressing about something. Then I'll remember that I have no reason to stress about anything at the moment, and a big smile will come over my face.

    My plan for this summer goes something like this: Work a few shifts a week at the dining hall. Cook lots of good food and blog about it. Spend ...

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Peach and Gingersnap Tarts

Posted by Emma Barker on Monday, May 31, 2010, In : Desserts 


    Last week I was pleasantly surprised to find peaches at the supermarket. They looked so pretty and enticing I bought three, only to find that they weren't sweet at all. Siiigh. What a let-down. And after eating one peach that was too sour, I was still stuck with two more that I didn't want to throw away.

So I did what I always do when fruit disappoints me: I put them in something else. I crumbled up some gingersnaps to make a buttery, flavorful crust, then mixed the remaining peaches with ...

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Blackberry Walnut Cupcakes

Posted by Emma Barker on Monday, May 24, 2010, In : Desserts 


    There are people who look down on cake mix cakes. There's an instinctive feeling that cake shouldn't be this easy, and that if it's made from a mix it won't be special. People worry that the magic ingredient, Love with a capital L for "labor intensive" is missing from these cakes. I get that. I do.

    But the thing is, using a mix saves a lot of time, and the results are consistently good. If I'm looking to whip up some cupcakes and I don't want to take all day measuring ingredients, a c...

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Ganache Filled Strawberries

Posted by Emma Barker on Saturday, May 8, 2010, In : Desserts 

   
    There are hippies on the quad.
    The Whole Earth Festival has come to Davis once again. One weekend every spring, hippies bring tents and camp on the quad, selling hemp clothing and homespun knick-knacks by day and partying at night. What isn't completely clear to me is how selling stuff to college students has anything to do with the earth. But what does have to do with the earth is this:

    Strawberries are coming into season.
    This is truly a wonderful time of year. In winter, ...

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Macarons: So It Begins

Posted by Emma Barker on Thursday, April 22, 2010, In : Desserts 


    During the month I was in Paris over the summer, I did not eat a single macaron. I saw them in various patisseries, and although I didn't know what they were, I thought they looked very dry and artificially colored and not worth my time.
    Then I came back to the States, started a recipe blog, and discovered that macarons, the weird looking cookies I had dismissed with hardly a second thought, were all the rage in the food blogging community. People were really going nuts over them: goi...

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Crepes Sucrees

Posted by Emma Barker on Friday, April 9, 2010, In : Desserts 


    A lot of people are going to question my sanity here, but for a long time I didn't see what the big deal was with crepes. I mean, they're just like skinny pancakes, right? Ohhh, so they're Freeeench...they're still just pancakes, albeit skinny French ones. I mean, it's not like just because a food is French that means it has to be good. Lest anyone forget, the French eat snails, people!

    It wasn't until I got to Paris and saw the crepe stands on every corner that I understood the true ...

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Chocolate Fix Cookies

Posted by Emma Barker on Friday, March 19, 2010, In : Desserts 


    Oh, the hypocrisy! So you know how yesterday I wrote all about how I wasn't going to give in to my cravings for sugar and caffeine? Well, guess what? These cookies contain both! You know what else? They are totally worth it!

    Hoookay, now that I've gotten all those exclamation points and question marks out of the way, I'll tell you why you should make these cookies: because they're good. It's best if you aren't alone when you pull them out of the oven, because you will be tempted to eat...

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Brown Sugar Sables

Posted by Emma Barker on Sunday, February 28, 2010, In : Desserts 


    Shortbread has never appealed to me the way it does to, say, my mom. To me, "shortbread" is just shorthand for bland, dry cookies that leave me wishing I'd done something better with all that butter and sugar.
    However, I've been seeing all these recipes for sables everywhere, recipes that claim they're different from the unsatisfactory shortbread I'm accustomed to. These little French cookies have a sandy texture (from which they got the name sables), and thanks to the brown sugar I u...

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Black and White Cookies

Posted by Emma Barker on Saturday, February 13, 2010, In : Desserts 


    Valentine's day inspires a lot of mixed emotions in different people. Those who sarcastically celebrate SAD (single's awareness day) risk being branded as bitter singles, while those who buy into the chocolates and roses are accused of confusing love with commercialism.

    My solution is this: rather than buy things for Valentine's day or try to ignore the holiday altogether, I bake. This year I made black and white cookies, adapting a recipe from Smitten Kitchen. Although they are not t...

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Butterscotch Bites

Posted by Emma Barker on Monday, February 1, 2010, In : Desserts 


    My mom and I don't always see eye to eye when it comes to desserts. For instance, she doesn't care for whipped cream, while I could happily sit and eat bowls full of whipped cream with nothing else for dessert. She also doesn't think that cakes always need frosting, whereas I think if you have frosting, what do you need cake for?

    One dessert we have never disagreed on, a simple sweet that neither of us would change one thing about, is her rice crispy butterscotch bars. There is nothing...

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Mocha Cupcakes

Posted by Emma Barker on Saturday, January 23, 2010, In : Desserts 


    In my philosophy classes this quarter we've been talking quite a bit about mind/body dualism, the theory that the mind and the body are separate. The difficulty lies in explaining just how the two are separated-after all, if the mind is non-physical, how can it have an effect on the physical world? And how can the physical world affect it?

    Cupcakes are the answer. These little morsels of sugary goodness transcend the physical sensation of eating and bring joy to the very essence of you...

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Candied Kiwis

Posted by Emma Barker on Tuesday, January 12, 2010, In : Desserts 


    This quarter has gotten off to a fast start. It's certainly not one of those quarters that lounges around waiting for someone to tell it to get a move on. No, it's one of those quarters where you find yourself scratching your head at the end of the first week and wondering where all your free time went. Really, though, I would like to know what happened to it. And if I could maybe have it back sometime soon... please?

    In spite of the fact that I have suddenly become busy and am current...

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Daring Bakers Challenge: Gingerbread House

Posted by Emma Barker on Sunday, December 27, 2009, In : Desserts 


    The December 2009 Daring Bakers’ challenge was brought to you by Anna of Very Small Anna and Y of Lemonpi. They chose to challenge Daring Bakers’ everywhere to bake and assemble a gingerbread house from scratch. They chose recipes from Good Housekeeping and from The Great Scandinavian Baking Book as the challenge recipes.

    This was a fun challenge for me, because I'd never made a gingerbread house from scratch before. In the past, I've always used kits or graham crackers, and the fo...

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Peanut Butter and Jelly Cookies

Posted by Emma Barker on Thursday, December 17, 2009, In : Desserts 


    You didn't really think I would let the holidays go by without baking cookies, did you? There are so many good reasons to bake cookies this time of year: they make great homemade gifts, they make the house smell amazing, and having the oven on warms up the kitchen for a few hours. Not that I need any of these reasons, since I love to bake, but if you usually shy away from homemade cookies, let me try to change your mind.
    In past years I've gone all out with gingerbread, sugar cookies, ...

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Raspberry Mini Wreath

Posted by Emma Barker on Sunday, December 13, 2009, In : Desserts 


    Finals are finally over, much to my relief. Tomorrow, I'm going back to my parents' house for winter break, which means that today I was trying to use up as much of my food as possible. I had a pack of raspberries sitting in the fridge (They were on sale at the store a few days ago, and I never say no to Chilean produce!), and I spent most of the afternoon debating what to do with them while watching "Lawrence of Arabia" in an effort to distract myself from how cold it is. The movie was a...

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Cookie Dough Ice Cream Pie

Posted by Emma Barker on Friday, December 4, 2009, In : Desserts 


    Just about anyone who's ever made a batch of cookies can tell you what the best part is: licking the extra cookie dough off the spoon at the end. I haven't partaken in this for years, however, because I gave up raw cookie dough when I was nine and found out about salmonella. My thinking was that however much I loved cookie dough, I was not willing to die for it. Amazingly, considering how often I bake cookies, it never occured to me until last week that I could just make a batch of cookie...

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Daring Bakers Challenge: Cannolis

Posted by Emma Barker on Friday, November 27, 2009, In : Desserts 


    Yes, it's the day after Thanksgiving, but I'm not going to blog about turkeys or cranberry sauce because, to be perfectly honest, I didn't cook any! My sole contribution to my family's meal was stirring the gravy while it was cooking, and then helping eat all the wonderful food my grandma had made.

    What I am going to blog about is the Daring Bakers Challenge for this month. This was my first challenge, so I was pretty excited about it. Until I made this recipe, I had never cooked or e...

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Pear Galette with a Flaky Crust

Posted by Emma Barker on Tuesday, November 24, 2009, In : Desserts 


    Pear galette. It started out as a little whisper in the back of my mind, and became more and more insistent as the day went on and I went to class and then work. Pear galette. On the bus ride back to my apartment, I found myself getting off the bus one stop early so I could drop by the grocery store. I bought three bartlett pears. The next day was Saturday and I didn't have to work. I made some pate brisee, I peeled some pears. I made a pear galette. And here it is.

Ingredients:
*makes one ...

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Blueberry Crumble

Posted by Emma Barker on Saturday, November 21, 2009, In : Desserts 


    When I was a kid, we had several blueberry bushes in the backyard. Every summer I would wait eagerly for the berries to ripen, watching as the little white flowers bloomed, lost their petals, and swelled up into sweet fruit. Then, when the berries were ripe, I would sneak out and eat them all before anybody else could get any! Luckily for my parents I eventually learned to share. Unfortunately, the blueberry bushes died a few years later, probably because they weren't getting any sunlight...

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Eggless Chocolate Mousse

Posted by Emma Barker on Sunday, November 15, 2009, In : Desserts 


    When I went to Paris over the summer, I got to see some famous sights:



    I also got to eat lots and lots of chocolate mousse. It's everywhere! You can find little pots of it in the dairy section of the grocery store, sitting nonchalantly next to the yogurt.

    When I returned to the United States, I was completely addicted to the stuff, but unable to find it in American grocery stores. I wanted to make my own, but the recipes I found contained raw eggs, something I don't eat. EVER. Not ...

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The Imperfect Parfait

Posted by Emma Barker on Saturday, November 14, 2009, In : Desserts 


    I've been a perfectionist for as long as I can remember, and it causes all sorts of problems. Although it is useful when it comes to completing school projects and getting good grades, it can also be counterproductive. Sometimes I feel like nothing I do is really good enough, because none of it is perfect. I can get so bogged down in feelings of inadequacy that I don't get anything done. It's taken me a long time to accept myself as the imperfect person I am, and to learn that even if som...

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Raspberry Turnovers

Posted by Emma Barker on Wednesday, November 4, 2009, In : Desserts 


    We've started to have some cold days here in Davis, a sign that the summer really is over and fall is, well, falling. The quarter is in full swing, as evidenced by the many stressed-out faces on campus, and turkey, stuffing, and pumpkin pie are on the horizon.  But before we get too used to this cold-weather fare, Davis has given us a few more sweater-free days and a sale on raspberries at the supermarket. A berry dessert seemed a fitting farewell to summer, so I made raspberry turnovers ...
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Dulce de Leche

Posted by Emma Barker on Monday, October 19, 2009, In : Desserts 
    This recipe isn't quite in the spirit of cooking for the busy and broke. Although it is cheap to make, it also takes about two hours. Why this sudden departure from the theme of my blog? I have a story about that...

    Today I was sick at home with what might possibly be Swine flu. Not that I particularly wanted to go to class feeling as lethargic as I am, but my official reason for staying home today is that I have received several very nice emails from the Chancellor of UC Davis and var...
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Chocolate Chip Cookies

Posted by Emma Barker on Monday, October 19, 2009, In : Desserts 


    What’s more comforting than a chocolate chip cookie fresh from the oven, lovingly spatula’d onto a plate by Mom and accompanied by a cold glass of milk? How about one you made yourself? This simple recipe was handed down to me by my mother and allows lots of room for creative modification.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup softened butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 large egg
1+1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
6 oz (half a 12 oz package) semi-sweet chocolat...

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Mint Cheesecake Brownies

Posted by Emma Barker on Monday, October 12, 2009, In : Desserts 


    This delectable morsel not only beats the crap out of brownie mix brownies, it was pretty easy to make. If you are pressed for time, then you can use brownie mix for the brownie portion of this recipe. However, I would urge you to invest the time to make the brownies from scratch, because it will make a difference in the taste of the final product. First you mix up the brownies and pour them into a pan, then you mix up the cheesecake and pour it on top. You swirl it with a knife to make i...

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Chocolate Peanut Butter Apples

Posted by Emma Barker on Wednesday, September 30, 2009, In : Desserts 



The weather finally cooled down today to the point where eating chocolate no longer seemed like a ludicrous proposition, and I took full advantage of that fact with this new recipe. It's just about as easy as it gets; I made it in just an hour between classes, and I think I could probably have made it faster if I wasn't making it up as I went along.
      Apples with peanut butter are a popular, healthy snack that I eat quite often. Peanut butter and chocolate put together make another powerf...

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Welcome to my blog! I'm Emma, a recent college graduate with a BA in French. I am passionate about cooking and writing, among other things. Come share in my love of food!

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