Cherry Massacre

This is what happens every time I make a cherry pie.

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

Two strawberry rhubarb pies, made on a rainy day in my brother's kitchen in Brooklyn.  One to celebrate my friend Koleen's new baby boy (for her first child I baked an apple pie, so now the whole baby = pie thing is a tradition), and the other went to a BBQ on Bradley Beach.

Strawberry Parfait

Layers of moist olive oil cake, pastry cream whipped with butter cream (called mousseline), fresh strawberries, creme fraiche and raspberry jam make up this phenomenal dessert, which comes from Thomas Keller's Bouchon Bakery cookbook.  This was made for a number of coworkers' recent birthdays, but turned out to also be part of my own send-off from Arnold!

Hazelnut Almond Dacquoise

Hazelnut and almond meringue layers with creamy espresso buttercream and a chocolate ganache filling.  Recipe from Flour Bakery. Made for Erika Hakansson's departure from Arnold.

Brown Butter Crispy Rice Treats

These vanilla bean-laced Rice Krispy Treats made with brown butter are the brain child of Joanne Chang and her glorious Flour Bakery cookbook. Made for coworkers for Valentine's Day.

Polvorones

Polvorones, Spanish cookies that are popular during the Christmas season in Spain. Prepared to follow a paella dinner.

Raspberry Napoleon

A layer of puff pastry, a layer of pastry cream, repeat, add fresh, tart raspberries, and top it all off with another layer of puff pastry and a dusting of confectionary sugar.  Voila!  Millefeuille!  From Thomas Keller's Bouchon cookbook.

Rum Cake

From the Bouchon bakery cookbook-- bundt pans make everything so easy!  This is for Chris Kantos' birthday.

Pumpkin Pie

From Farmers' Market Desserts: Roasted Pumpkin Pie in  Maple-Pecan Crust. This was made for a pumpkin pie contest with Jane Schlech, who made her pumpkin pie with Libby's canned pumpkin, while this was made with fresh, roasted pumpkin.  All who tasted them both agreed they were equally delicious.  Good to know for situations when I don't have the time to cut up and roast the squash!

Homemade Poptarts

Another fantastic recipe from Joanne Chang. Pâte Brisée filled with raspberry jam and drizzled with simple vanilla glaze. A hit at a Sunday morning brunch with coworkers.

Coconut Macaroons

Simply flying through Joanne Chang's Flour cookbook.  Brought these in to work for an afternoon coffee break.

Swedish Pear and Almond Cream Cake

I brought this cake in to the office for our weekly Human Nature department status meeting. I had just purchased a bundt pan, so I was looking for an excuse to use it!  The recipe comes from Rose's Heavenly Cakes (authored by Rose Levy Beranbaum).

Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies

Thank you Cooks Illustrated, March 2012.

Macarons

Not to be confused with macaroons. I accomplished these thanks to the book i heart macarons, by Hisako Ogita.

King Cake

For Mardi Gras! Complete with baked-in baby figurine.

Chocolate Raspberry Genoise

Another heavenly recipe from Rose Leve Beranbaum, this cake was made for my friend (Blade's) 40th birthday.  His party theme was "Around the World," and the final destination was "The Future"... hence the stars and rocket ship.

Chocolate Banana Cake

Birthday cake for my brother, which we shared with him right after he ran a 1/2 marathon!  The recipe comes from Rose's Heavenly Cakes.

Cranberry Crown Cheesecake

Creamy cheesecake surrounded by lady fingers and topped with a bright cranberry compote. Recipe From Rose's Heavenly Cakes.

Crispy Rice Treats

Made for a holiday cookie swap party, these bar cookies are made with brown butter and vanilla beans.

Lemon-Ginger Scones

Rich, buttery, lemony, and filled with ground ginger and crystallized ginger.

Raspberry Tart

Raspberry jam in a hazelnut pastry with a lattice top.

Christmas cookies

Chocolate chip cookies.  And a Christmas tree.

Pumpkin Pie Souffle

Todd English's Olives Dessert Table cookbook provided this recipe-- Pumpkin Pie Souffle with Honey Lace, Cinnamon Anglaise, and spiced hazelnuts.

Blueberry pie

A la Joanne Chang, to share with the neighbors in my building tonight so they can't complain when we have parties.

Tomato sorbet with Garlic Tuiles

Leave it to Thomas Keller to come up with this one.  The sorbet, made from vine-ripe tomatoes, is perched on top of fresh tomato tartare, which sits in a leisurely pool of chive oil, surrounded by dots of balsamic glaze.

Raspberry Crumb Bars

Melt-in-your-mouth shortbread topped with raspberry jam and confectioners' sugar.

Croissants

Part of 'breakfast for dinner'... these took the anticipated 3 days (including early mornings!) to make.

Almond Macaroons

With bittersweet chocolate ganache filling.

Cornmeal Lime Cookies

A grainy, cakey cornmeal cookie with lime glaze.

Caramel cake

Made in an angel food cake pan, doused with caramel, and sprinkled with toasted almonds. Perfect wintery day dessert.

Pear Croustade

Rustic pear tart with lemon pastry and toasted almonds.  Followed pork ala Apiscius.

Coffee chocolate layer cake

Three layers of cake with mocha mascarpone frosting and white and dark chocolate curls.

Mini pies and cookies

Mini pecan pie, mini apple pie, and three almond butter cookies.  To accompany an osso bucco dinner.

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

One for me, and one for everyone else.

Monopoly Die

Three layers of white cake, separated by raspberry sauce and lemon curd, and finished with buttercream frosting.  Dots are Oreo cookie halves.  The custom Monopoly board was also made for the three gamenight friends (Ed, Gus, and Martin) who all had birthdays this week.

Pancakes and Ping Pong

Saturday morning bliss. No, I didn't eat all of those. Yet.

Strawberry tart

A sea of strawberries on a bed of mascarpone cream in a citrusy tart shell. Finished off with a drizzle of port wine sauce.

Carrot cake

Carrot cake with cream cheese frosting, made for dinner with coworkers (Amanda, Steve, et al). This cake was one of the better recipes I've used-- crushed pineapple and sweetened coconut flakes in the batter, but no nuts.

Devil's Food Cake

Made for my brother's 32nd birthday, this cake is two layers of devil's food cake, each topped with dark chocolate ganache and white chocolate cream frosting. Finished off with some dark chocolate curls.

Pizzelles

Pizzelle cookies in a box designed especially for them, for a Christmas party at my friend Blade's.

Many Macarons

Not to be confused with macaroons, these French sandwich cookies were made to be a bite-sized snack on the table where I sold cards, calendars, and books at MIT's Artists Beyond the Desk semi-annual craft fair.

Thanksgiving Pi

Pumpkin pi, with label as requested by my nephew Jason.

Gingergread cake

Individual 'hot and sassy' gingerbread cake, courtesy of Todd English's fantastic recipe.

For art class

I took a graphic design class at MassArt, and in the middle of the semester we had a potluck party. As we had been working with Sylvia Plath's poem 'Mushrooms', I decided to make a cake with that theme. Happily, I had just received the perfect cake pan from my friend Rachel, originally designed to make a cake in the shape of a giant cupcake. Turns out cupcakes and mushrooms look quite a bit alike.

Berry Pavlova

This 'cake' is composed of 3 layers of sweet meringue disks sandwiching and topped with a mixture of whipped and sour cream and fresh berries.

Red Velvet Cake

Assembling berries on the frosting between layers.
Completed cake, frosted with cream cheese icing and topped with a pile of fresh berries.
Inside the cake, in all its red velvet glory. This cake was colored with food coloring-- it's pretty much just a vanilla flavored cake that's tinted red-- but in the early days of this cake's making, it was a small amount of cocoa powder (which was processed differently then) that gave the cake a red velvet appearance. This may also be the reason for the title "Devil's Food Cake" given to other chocolate cakes.

Easter 2009

Easter dinner at my apartment in Boston included whole stuffed artichokes, green beans, honey glazed ham, prosciutto with melon, deviled eggs with capers and tarragon, and potato, leek, gruyere, and mushroom gratin.

Lemon meringue pie with toasted coconut for dessert.