I make carrot cake for my mom.  Not everyone loves cake full of chunky bits of pineapple and pecans and raisins, but over the years it has grown on me.  I keep the chunks as small as possible so they are well dispersed and unoffensive and the result is a sweet, spice cake full of little surprises.  This recipe will also work for a layer cake if you are so inclined, but it is so hearty and rich that we rarely finish a whole birthday cake.  These little cupcakes are the perfect single serving and can be frozen whole, frosted, for pulling out as a snack any time your sweet tooth demands it.(...)
Click here for the recipe Carrot Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

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What is more fun than a banana cake with peanut butter and chocolate frosting?  Granted, it isn’t a tall, celebratory birthday cake but still, brought to a potluck or party or to the office for an afternoon pick-me up, this cake is fantastic.  The cake itself is delicious and needs no topping but spread with a thin layer of your favorite chocolate frosting it is transformed into a real treat.

The peanut butter in the cake is very subtle, almost too subtle, which is why I added a couple of tablespoons to the ganache as well.  Next time, I will increase the peanut butter to one full cup.  Also, I have made the cake with both oil and butter so use whichever you have on hand.  The butter cake is denser but still moist and tender, while the oil version comes out a little taller and fluffier.  Try to use bananas that are on their very last leg-the kind that split from their peels at the slightest pressure-for the best banana flavor and sweetness.   (...)
Click here for the recipe Peanut Butter Banana Cake with Chocolate Frosting

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Canned cherry pie filling is a no good dirty liar.  It promises cherries and sweet cherry syrup.  It screams “Pie is hard!  Pick me instead!”  Canned cherry pie filling should be forced to apologize.  It should have its nose rubbed in itself.  Because what you get isn’t cherries and syrup.  Instead you get cherries, water, high fructose corn syrup, more corn syrup, and Red 40.  Yum!

If I had known it was this easy to make a fresh cherry pie I would have been making them for years.  And the flavor!  Fresh cherries, tossed with real sugar and a little lemon then cooked to bubbling inside a pastry crust is so far removed from the thick tasteless junk in the can that you can’t even call them by the same name.  (...)
Click here for the recipe Oh My! Cherry Pie

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Do you know how to make the best iced coffee?  Combine a pot of strong coffee with sweetened condensed milk and chill.  It is so simple but truly makes wonderful, velvety iced coffee.  Vietnamese iced coffee (Ca Phe Sua Da) is the same concept but in a single serving.  The flavor is rich and smooth and almost chocolate-like.  This ice cream is all of that in one creamy and decadent mouthful.

I have always made custard based ice creams fearing that milk based recipes would be thinner or icier.  I was nervous about this recipe but my KitchenAid ice cream maker did a fantastic job.  The result was dense and creamy and smooth and just as perfect as any custard based recipe I’ve made.  The best part is that the coffee base took only a couple of minutes to whisk together.  I see a lot more of these style ice creams in my future.

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Click here for the recipe Vietnamese Iced Coffee (Ca Phe Sua Da) Ice Cream

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I am calling these Payard cookies because that’s where the recipe originated but they go by many names.  Basically they are flour-less chocolate cookies made with egg whites, sugar, and cocoa.  That’s it.  So is a fat-free, gluten free cookie any good?  Oh yes.  These cookies are deep, dark, fudgy and chewy.  With a handful of walnuts sprinkled about and a crisp, crackled brownie top-they are a chocolate lover’s dream.

The original recipe calls for almost 3 cups of walnuts but it isn’t necessary to use that many.  I use only a cup and they get just enough nuttiness without freaking the kids out.  I have not attempted the recipe without nuts but as a no-nuts-in-my-brownies kind of girl I will tell you that this amount is perfect and pleasant.  (...)
Click here for the recipe Flour-less Chocolate Walnut Payard Cookies

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