Tag: dessert

Apple Crumb Cake


I have to admit I’m not much of a baker but when it comes to the High Holidays, I pull out all the stops
Whether it’s an over the top bundt cake, my mason jar honey cakes for gift giving or my red wine chocolate cake – you’ll always
find me baking up something special for Rosh Hashanah. There’s just nothing like a a comforting slice of cake with tea for dessert,
or even for breakfast with a cup of coffee. I love creating new dishes that gets everyone excited for the holiday – it sets such a festive
mood for the whole family, and is really the foundation for making memories around the table. I know honey cake doesn’t always get
the most love, so this year, I created a recipe for an apple cider crumb cake that brings all the warm, cozy feels of fall. You can bake it
in a bundt pan, 9×13 tray or even a loaf – whatever you like best.

To view the reel on Instagram click here.

Apple Crumb Cake

3 medium apples, peeled and grated
1/2 tsp cinnamon
3 cups all purpose flour
2 cups granulated sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp kosher salt
4 eggs
1 cup canola oil
1 cup apple cider (unfiltered apple juice)
2 tsp vanilla extract

Crumbs
1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1/2 cup canola oil

Method:

Grease and lightly flour a Bundt pan, set aside.
In a small bowl mix the apples and cinnamon.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.

In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs, oil, apple cider and vanilla.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir with a rubber spatula to incorporate.

In a separate bowl, mix the crumb ingredients until crumbly.

Pour half of the cake batter into the Bundt pan. Add the shredded apples, discarding any liquid that accumulated in the bowl. Top with remaining half of the batter, and sprinkle generously with the crumbs.

Bake for 60-70 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Related Recipes:

Apple & Honey Galette
Lemon Blueberry Crumb Cake

Post a Comment

Funfetti Krembo


Nine years. NINE. WHOLE. YEARS. Somebody pinch me!!!!!! It’s almost like I’ve been pregnant with a blog, and now what? I’ve had a baby? Do I retire now? ha!


I’ve always kind of wondered that actually. Do bloggers actually retire? How does that work? Do you just stop posting? Not that it’s on the agenda or anything. I’d like to do this until I’m old and gray. Oh wait. I AM old and gray. Ok – I’d like to do this until I’m very old, and very gray.

I constantly surprise myself that I still haven’t gotten bored by all of this. I still jump up and down when I nail a recipe, and I do the happy dance when I shoot the perfect photo. I stay up at night dreaming up my next viral recipe and I cry happy tears when the hundreds of photos roll in and it actually happens!

Speaking of tears, I’m crying tears of gratitude as I write this because I am just SO. DANG. GRATEFUL. Grateful to have a job that nurtures me – mind, body and soul. Grateful that any of you even take the time to read this, cook my recipes, message me, share photos with me, and allow me to take a humble place upon your dinner table. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU.

This year, I was kinda more excited about using sparklers in my photos than anything else! This house was covered in firecrackers and I loved every minute of it! The krembos were a big surprise too, and my kids were so thrilled to come home to such a special treat!


Me? I’ve never been much of a cream person, I definitely prefer salty over sweet, but I love how pretty these turned out, and they are basically a kids cream come true.

Think about customizing them for a party with your sprinkle color of choice, or just bake up a batch of cookies and roll them in whatever fun toppings you have around.

Thank you for sticking around for 9 wonderful years. To many, many more!!

Funfetti Krembo

Yield: 12 krembo (plus extra cookie dough)

12 funfetti slice and bake cookies
1 recipe meringue cream
1 recipe chocolate magic shell
sprinkles, for garnish

Method:

Place the cream in a piping bag with a wide tip. Pipe onto the cookies, creating a mound. Place the cookies into the freezer for 30 minutes – 1 hour.

Pour the chocolate magic shell into a large mug. Place the cookies on a rack set over a parchment-lined baking sheet. Pour the chocolate over the cookies to coat. Garnish with sprinkles and set aside to harden, or freeze until set.

For the cookies:
YIELD: 24 cookies

1 1/2 sticks butter or trans-fat-free margarine
1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
1 large egg
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 c sprinkles
1/3 cup nonpareils

In a large bowl using a hand-held mixer, beat the butter and sugar until creamy. Beat in egg and vanilla, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add in the flour and salt and beat until fully combined. Add in the sprinkles.

Turn the dough out onto a work surface and divide into two. Shape each half into an 8-inch log, about 2.5 inches in diameter. The measurements don’t have to be exact. Tightly wrap the logs in plastic wrap and chill in the freezer for one hour.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Remove 1 log (or both, if desired) from the freezer and roll into nonpareils. Slice into about 12 equally thick cookies and place on baking sheet about 2 inches apart. Bake the cookies for 12-15 minutes or until lightly browned around the edges. Cool completely.

For the meringue cream:
1 cup sugar
⅓ cup water
½ teaspoon fresh lemon juice
4 egg whites
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Place the sugar, water, and lemon juice in a small saucepan and dissolve completely over low heat. Simmer until a candy thermometer reads 235°F.

While the sugar is heating, whip the egg whites with an electric mixer until foamy. Once the syrup is ready, carefully and slowly drizzle the syrup into the mixing bowl with the egg whites while the mixer is running. Add the vanilla. Keep whipping the whites until the mixture is stiff and glossy, 5 to 7 minutes.

For the chocolate magic shell:
8 ounces chocolate chips
2 tablespoons coconut oil

Melt the chocolate chips and coconut oil over a double boiler, or in the microwave. Stir until smooth.

Related Posts:

8th Blogoversary} Funfetti Tart Number Cake
7th Blogoversary} Funfetti Rice Krispie Bites
6th Blogoversary} Funfetti Raspberry Palmiers
5th Blogoversary} Funfetti Pecan Turtles
4th Blogoversary} Funfetti Cake
2nd Blogoversary} BBQ Brisket
1st Blogoversary} Mulled Wine

Post a Comment

Chunky Monkey Marzipan Nice Cream

Baby I’m back and it feels SO GOOD!! I finally found my blogging groove again and I’ve been cooking and shooting so much – not because I felt pressured, just for the sheer joy of it. It reminds me why I started the blog in the first place, and made me realize just how much I’ve missed it.

This recipe came to me one night this week, and I literally couldn’t sleep thinking about it! How it would taste, what dish I could use for it and how I would shoot it. It was inspired by one of my first smoothie experiences – back in the days when smoothies weren’t that popular. It was the banana, date, milk and honey smoothie from Bissaleh, the Israeli restaurant that gave me my first taste of Israeli cuisine when I was just a teenager. I’d order the drink – ice cold – whenever I would go, and it was just. so. freakin. good. Come to think of it, it’s the place that got me hooked on dates too. And sachlav. And malawach. And everything in between.

Call it the Middle Eastern take on chunky monkey – a classic banana ice cream filled with chocolate fudge and walnuts. Truth be told I’ve never actually HAD chunky monkey ice cream, and banana flavor wouldn’t normally be my thing. But nice cream is another story. If you’ve never made it, it’s basically the best ice cream hack of all time – blending frozen banana chunks until it’s the consistency of smooth-as-butter soft serve. And it’s pretty darn good too. Add some dates, almonds, marzipan and silan and you’ve got yourself a marriage of flavors that is pretty addictive. The fact that it’s good for you? that’s just a cherry on the top.

Now I know marzipan is one of those love it or hate it ingredients. Personally, I used to hate it growing up, but when I married a rainbow-cookie-lover, it slowly grew on me. My kids are huge fans of rainbow cookies too, so I had to come around.

Normally when I think of marzipan desserts, I imagine using almond extract for that intense flavor, but when Molly Yeh put chunks of store-bought marzipan into her biscotti in her cookbook, Molly on the Range, I started looking at marzipan in a new way. She also got me hooked on using the stuff instead of fondant for easy cake decorating (like in this cake!). Basically the stuff is magic.

Marzipan, like rosewater, is an acquired taste, so if you’re not a fan, no worries, you can just sub chocolate chunks in this recipe. You can also do a lot of other substitutions like candied almonds instead of roasted ones, other nuts of you choice, or figs instead of dates. Basically you can customize this however you like and it’ll still be delicious.

And you know what? If you don’t like bananas, just go ahead and fold the ingredients into some softened vanilla ice cream. How good would that be? Or just stuff some marzipan into a pitted date. Or into your mouth. You can’t really go wrong with that.

Are you a fan of marzipan? What are some of your favorite nice cream flavors? Share them with me in the comments below!

Chunky Monkey Marzipan Nice Cream

4 ripe bananas
4 oz. marzipan, chopped
4 medjool dates, pitted and chopped
1/3 cup salted roasted almonds, chopped
silan

Method:

Slice the bananas and place in the freezer overnight or until frozen solid. Place the banana slices in a food processor and blend until creamy. Spread half of the banana mixture into a baking dish and top with marzipan chunks, chopped dates and chopped almonds. Drizzle with silan. Top with remaining banana mixture and drizzle with additional silan. Freeze until solid.

VARIATION: If you don’t like marzipan, use chocolate chunks instead. You may also use candied almonds instead of roasted almonds or figs instead of dates. 

Related Recipes:

marzipan biscotti
marzipan date truffles
nutella banana ice cream
banana nut milk & honey smoothie
date and almond hamantaschen

Post a Comment

Fruit Salad with Basil Honey Lime Dressing

To me, Passover, or Pesach, is all about tradition. I’ve never actually hosted the holiday in my own home, but I imagine that when I do, I’ll be making the same foods that my mother always made.

I have fond memories of my mom’s Passover ratatouille, mock chopped liver, beet salad and cucumber salad all neatly arranged in mason jars on the door of the fridge. She always had big jars of simple syrup on the counter, which she used to sweeten everything from chicken to fish, meat and nuts. Towards the second days, when everyone had enough of the heavy meals, she always diced up a huge fruit salad in our giant glass Pyrex. And she doused it in simple syrup too.

The simple syrup didn’t bother me, especially as a kid, because the fruit tasted like candy. But the bananas – they just threw the whole thing off. There were never really rules to what went into the fruit salad – it was whatever was leftover around the house – but it almost always had melon, kiwi, sliced bananas, walnuts, and oranges.

There was always someone in the house who was walking around scratching their throat from one of the fruits – probably the kiwi, and I think it was usually my sister. But we still ate it – bananas, oranges and all – and we sipped up all those sweet drippings from the bottom of the bowl like they were liquid gold. Ah, Passover memories.

While everyone is busy preparing trays of Passover brownies, whipping up macaroons and fancy pavlovas – I’m here to say that it’s really just about the tradition. Fruit salad may be simple, but it’s what my Momma always made, and it’s what I plan to make when I host Passover in my home in the coming years.

For this recipe, I’ve done away with all the fruits that I picked out of my Mom’s fruit salad – the awful mushy bananas, pithy oranges, and throat-scratching kiwi’s. Instead, I used melons, mangos, plums and nectarines, and fancied it up with a basil honey lime dressing (a lot healthier and more flavorful than the simple syrup of my youth!). Feel free to adjust this salad to your liking – adding more lime juice for extra tartness, or more honey for extra sweetness. And you can also switch up the herbs with some fresh mint instead of basil, if you so desire. Don’t forget to top it off with some coconut whipped cream and chopped nuts to really take it over the top!

Wishing you and your loved ones a very fruitful and happy Passover!

Fruit Salad with Basil Honey Lime Dressing

1/2 cantaloupe, peeled and diced
1/2 honeydew, peeled and diced
3 mangos, peeled and diced
4 nectarines, diced
4 plums, diced
handful of basil (about 20 leaves)
juice of 2 limes (3-4 tbsp)
1/4 cup honey
coconut whipped cream, optional
chopped nuts, optional

Method:

Add all the diced fruit to a bowl. In a food processor or blender, blend the basil, honey and lime juice. Alternatively, you may chop the basil into thin ribbons and mix with the lime juice and honey. Pour the dressing over the salad and mix. Serve with whipped cream and chopped nuts.

VARIATION: Feel free to use any fruit of your choice. Try using fresh mint instead of basil. Add lime zest for a stronger lime flavor.

NOTE: Add more or less honey, depending on the sweetness of the fruit.

YIELD: approximately 2 quarts.

Other Passover Desserts:

marzipan apple crisp
nutella banana ice cream
chocolate ganache tart with macaroon crust
raspberry sorbet

Post a Comment

Mexican Hot Chocolate Pecan Pie

It’s amazing how I’m becoming less and less into sweets. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I love a good dessert. But sometimes I find the sugar so overly cloying. Like in pecan pie.

But with pecan pie being so traditional and all, I didn’t want to just cut it out of my life without at least trying. So try I did. And succeed, oh yes, I did!

Enter Mexican Hot Chocolate – the sweet and spicy rich chocolate drink with just the right amount of kick. I love how the bittersweet chocolate and chili balances out the sweetness in this pie. It totally works.

I’ve done this before with brownies, and it has become one of my most favorite recipes. My guests always ooh and ahh over my Duncan Hines fix, thinking I spent hours perfecting the best brownie recipe.

With pecan pie, it’s just the same. The filling is really fairly simple, and if you use a frozen pie crust like I did (insert-surprised-emoji-face-here), it’s as easy as 1-2-3.

This beauty is being gifted to Melinda of kitchen-tested for her pie bar tomorrow, which I will be lucky enough to be sampling from, after her crazy Thanksgiving feast! Sorry that I had to slice it open Mel!

Don’t forget to follow me on Instagram for a play by play of Melinda’s incredible meal! Happy Thanksgiving!

Oh, and happy pie eating too :)


Mexican Hot Chocolate Pecan Pie

3 large eggs
1 cup dark corn syrup
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp kosher salt
3.5 oz. dark chocolate (I used 72% cocoa)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
2 tbsp cocoa nibs, optional (I use these)
1 pie crust (thaw if frozen)
1 cup pecan halves

Method:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt the chocolate over a double boiler and set aside.

In a bowl, lightly whisk the eggs. Add the corn syrup, sugar, vanilla and salt and stir to combine. Slowly add in the chocolate, mixing as you go, until completely incorporated. Stir in the cinnamon, cayenne and cocoa nibs.

Pour the filling into the pie crust and top with pecan halves (they will float). Bake for 50-60 minutes, until pie is set and jiggles just a little in the center. Cool completely, at least 4 hours, before serving.

Related Recipes:

Mexican hot chocolate brownies
pecan pie lace cookies

Post a Comment