Who knew there was such a crying need for this? I just got this email: “I’m writing to ask if you know of any recipes for Amaretto cake or Harvey Wallbanger Cake that don’t require a cake mix. I’m a from-scratch baker and I’m looking desperately for one! If you can help, that’d be great!! Thanks, Chavi Samet, Israel. So I promptly googled Harvey Wallbanger scratch cake and found no less then ten plaintive cries for a real, honest-to-Pete cake recipe that didn’t start with a box mix. (more…)

What do a spoonula, a large plastic bag, a spray bottle of water and parchment paper have in common? They’re all part of the arsenal when I start to make pie crust. Of course, there’s a rolling pin and pastry cutter involved, too. This messy business is one of the key steps to good pie crust. Really.

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On a recent trip to New York City, I had a conversation with Regina Ragone, the Food Director of Family Circle Magazine. She said she’d had a note from a reader whose child had an egg allergy. The reader’s question was, “what can you do to make eggless French Toast?”. I got that glazed look I often do when I’m thinking about a new food invention, (more…)

From Penny Raynor: “I’ve been a member of the Baking Circle for a L O N G time but I find this blog to be especially fun. I think you should include a demonstration of the shaping of the Kaiser Rolls that you put in the Baking Sheet in the Spring 2006 issue. It’s one of my favorite “tricks” and I always use it for my (or Moomie’s) burger buns.”

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Ever have one of those conversations when someone absolutely puts their finger on the pulse of a universal experience? Phil Jones did that for me in his email last week: “When using cinnamon, e.g., for French Toast, how do you get it to blend in nicely, instead of floating on top of the mixture, and/or making an unmixed coating on the bowl at the edge of the liquid?”

My reaction was visceral: “He is SO right!” Is there anything more annoying?

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Anatomy of a test run, chapter 1.

People contact us all the time looking for long-lost recipes. Not long ago we fielded an email from a customer who was looking to re-create a collection of family recipes. They’d found sources for everything on their list but a recipe called Tweedies, and wanted to know if we could help. (more…)

After my first attempt at bar Tweedies, I did a little cogitating. I knew I had to back off the baking powder for sure. I also realized it was time to use some common sense about the middle layer, and make a confectioners’ sugar frosting that would just plain behave itself. Finally, I wondered what kind of brownie-like proportions could be brought to bear on the base layers, to get something more moist, that would read more like a bar cookie. (more…)

If the rest of the country has a picture of as Vermonters, it probably involves Birkenstocks on our feet, flannel on our backs, and traces of cow manure on our shoes.

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This afternoon our Listen Center community service team is in full swing. (more…)

The last recipe where I tested Granulated Splenda and Clabber Girl Sugar Replacer yielded some of the most dramatic effects. (more…)