Whether they're packed with walnuts, shaped like ghosts and goblins or infused with bacon and bourbon, brownies rarely fail to satisfy. Maybe it's the fact that their texture is somewhere between cake and cookie (when done properly), or just that they're always packed full of chocolate. Even a simple brownie -- with no bells, whistles or bourbon -- can be absolute perfection. Just ask Flickr user little miss amanda, who made these using a recipe from the New York City bakery Baked.
On her blog, Slow Like Honey, Amanda admits that while they're actually her second favorite brownies, they'll still "render you senseless" and are -- like any brownies worth their weight in chocolate should be -- better the next day.
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Cheese with that pie? It might taste good, but it's definitely not required by law in the Dairy State.
The Wisconsin State Journal debunked the myth that Wisconsin requires apple pie to be served with cheese at restaurants in the state. The paper asked Connie Von Der Heide at the Wisconsin State Law Library whether or not state law required cheese to accompany the pie after a reader inquired about it.
"It certainly sounds plausible since after all this is the Dairy State, but the answer is no," she said. "The 1935 Laws of Wis., ch. 106 came close; it required serving a small amount of cheese and butter with meals in restaurants (effective from June 1935 to March 1937)."
What crazy food laws have you heard of? Let us know in the comments below.
As the weather turns cold (and occasionally dreary), we'll take little bursts of sunshine wherever we can get them -- especially if they're soft and sweet like these lemon-loaded cookies from Brown-Eyed Baker.
Lemon is often the perfect companion for butter, poppy seeds and, of course, vodka.
Made with lemon cake mix, lemon zest, lemon juice and lemon extract (as well as a few of the usual cookie suspects, like egg and confectioner's sugar), these "lemon burst cookies" are, like the Brown-Eyed Baker herself said, literally "bursting at the seams with bright lemon flavor."
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Dulce de Leche, a sweet found in Argentine, Uruguayan and Chilean cuisine, is prepared by cooking sweetened condensed milk to create a sumptuous sauce that tastes like melted milk caramels.
I will warn you -– it is dangerous. I could eat it out of the container with a spoon, but it can also be extremely versatile when used sparingly as a topping for healthier ingredients to make hundreds of fast desserts.
Robiola di Capra al Fico. Photo: Formaggio Kitchen.
Many cheeses, like St Pat and Hoja Santa, are covered in leaves to add a distinct herbal, sometimes earthy, taste. Wrapping cheese in leaves may seem gimmicky, but it can actually serve an essential role in developing the cheese's flavor. For instance, Robiola di Capra al Fico is a fresh Italian goat's milk cheese wrapped in fig leaves and exuding a citrus aroma.
The amount of time the cheese is aged in the leaves triggers the growth of certain molds and flavors. Coming from the Burrati family in Verbania, Italy, this incredibly milky tasting Robiola is not aged long enough for the fig leaves to create too pungent or too tart of a flavor. Instead, these bright-green leaves establish a mild acidity that beautifully balances the overwhelming creamy flavor and texture of the cheese.
We dare you to look at this playful picture from Flickr user erincooks and not think good thoughts. Impossible, right?
A pink twist on beloved cake-batter ice cream, this homemade version is strawberry flavored. When topped off with jumbo pastel sprinkles (our affinity for sprinkles has already been well documented), it's like a smile in a cup.
Ever the apex of comfort, we love how this darling apple pie truly wears its heart on its sleeve. The rustic imperfections of a home-baked pie only add to the appeal, especially with efforts made so lovingly -- and rightfully so, to blogger/baker Whitney in Chicago, who put this together for her boyfriend on their anniversary. Because really, what could possibly be more comforting than gooey apple pie?
Although everyone enjoys a white-tablecloth dinner celebration now and then, we'd like to know what you prefer: a relaxed, home-cooked meal or dinner at the nearest fancy restaurant? Argue your case in the comments. We might be tempted to kick off our shoes and indulge in a night in, if presented with options as visually appealing as this one.
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How can anyone not smile at the sight of these cookies? There's just something so positive about a little mound of sweet goodness, especially when it's homemade. Add to that a topping as fun as sprinkles or, better yet, whimsical sparkles of sugar, and all your troubles will melt away.
A simple recipe adapted by He Cooks She Cooks, this batch of sparkle cookies was made with flour, cornmeal, salt, sugar, butter and sour cream, all rolled in an extra cup of sugar for that shimmery coating!
When is a savory slab of bacon not a savory slab of bacon? When it's a deliciously sweet, sugary cake merely masquerading as a salted and smoked side of pork.
This bacon-slab "groom's cake" from Flickr user debbiedoescakes is entirely sweet and, even better, entirely edible, right down to the cutting-board base. It makes our mouths water for both, and forces us to ask: Which would you rather -- cake or bacon? Or cake that looks like bacon?
We have a confession to make: We have a really hard time not turning Feast Your Eyes into a direct daily feed from Smitten Kitchen. Not only does the blog's author, Deb, constantly concoct an amazing array of seasonally diverse dishes over and over and over again, she manages to always take incredibly flattering photographs of her subjects.
Case in point: this nectarine galette -- a flat, round tart which Deb claims is "ridiculously easy to make." Making it look beautiful, however, is another story, yet somehow she manages to make that sound simple too: "A single pie crust, a brush of melted butter, a sprinkling of sugar and big wedges of peak-season fruit, in this case, arranged on a bed of ground almonds, baked until the edges are browned and the fruit is starting to caramelize."
Yeah... we'll just watch from over here -- with mouths watering, of course.
Same-sex marriage is legal in Vermont as of today and to celebrate, Ben & Jerry's has renamed its Chubby Hubby ice cream flavor "Hubby Hubby" for the month.
"From the very beginning of our 30 year history, we have supported equal rights for all people," Walt Freese, Ben & Jerry's CEO, said in a statement. "The legalization of marriage for gay and lesbian couples in Vermont is certainly a step in the right direction and something worth celebrating with peace, love and plenty of ice cream."
In this weekly series, home cook Bruce Watson works his way through a decades-old family cookbook, adapting the best recipes exclusively for Slashfood.
Back in the early 1980s, when my Aunt Evie was putting together our family cookbook, my mother volunteered a recipe on my behalf. Titled "Brucie's Microwave Cheesecakes," it stood alongside my cousin Teddy's "Sesame Street Cookies" and my cousin Cathy's "Oven Fried Chicken," evidence that, at age 8, I was already a kitchen prodigy. However, it was all a lie: My recipe was stolen from the "Sunset Microwave Cookbook."
Years later, I found out that my cousins' recipes were also reprinted from various sources. In the meantime, however, I felt like a plagiarist and was always careful to point out that it wasn't my recipe, but rather one that I made a lot. Even so, there was something about my culinary larceny -- intentional or not -- that rubbed me the wrong way.
Recently, as I was working my way through various family dishes, I decided to give this one another shot. While the recipe that follows owes much of its inspiration to the fine folks at "Sunset," the ingredients, preparation method and taste are definitely my own, and I take full responsibility for all of the above!
Get the recipe for lime cheesecake tarts after the jump!
The gluten-free community has been in the limelight in recent months, and now they have a new celebrity of sorts backing them.
Betty Crocker now offers a line of gluten-free classic dessert mixes -- Gluten Free Yellow Cake Mix, Gluten Free Devil's Food Cake Mix, Gluten Free Brownie Mix and Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix.
Among the ingredients in the mix is rice flour, a grain allowed on a gluten-free diet.
While the price point is a little higher than the normal cake mixes (the retail price is usually around $4.49), it saves a trip to the health-food store for your next gluten-free brownie craving. Plus, other comparable gluten-free mixes usually run a price point of $6 and up.
"There was always a premium paid for a product that was considered gluten-free," Elaine Monarch, executive director of the Celiac Disease Foundation, tells Slashfood. "Now that General Mills has brought that into the mainstream for a much lower price, it's fabulous."
The Betty Crocker Baking Team says they came up with the mixes after witnessing firsthand through two staff members how the disease can affect day-to-day living.
Whoever conceived the idea to bake individual cakes in muffin tins is a culinary genius -- not only for giving the world the perfect sugary serving size, but also for allowing bakers at every level to mix and match flavors, colors and the most fun part of any sweet treat, sprinkles.
This chocolate-frosted chocolate cupcake was one of a delightfully diverse dozen captured by The Feisty Foodie after she received a box from New York City's Billy's Bakery. Just looking at the chocolate triple whammy -- chocolate frosting on a chocolate cupcake with chocolate sprinkles on top -- is enough to get us through a midweek slump (though a taste would be even better).
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