From the category archives:

Cakes & Cupcakes

Mini Glazed Lemon Corncakes

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Holy Moly, these Mini Glazed Lemon Corncakes are fab!! {TWO exclamation points.} Dense, moist, lemony, sweet. Here’s the brainstorm… first, a too-large bag of cornbread mix in the pantry, left over from Easter. Next, lemon tree, loaded with fruit. I was on my 3-mile Sunday walk (good girl), pondering cooking (natch). There HAD to be [...]

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Tangerine Upside Down Cake

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Tangerine slices, I came to realize, are beautiful on a cake but I screwed up.  In order to get the bitter flavor out of the rind before I assembled this, I should have blanched the slices. I’d simply substituted them for the lemons in the Lemon Upside Down Cake recipe published in the LA Times [...]

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Chocolate Mayonnaise Cake ~ a Southern Cake for the Groom

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This Chocolate Mayonnaise Cake was the companion cake at my sister’s Friday night pre-wedding family shindig. Groom, Mike likes chocolate. I like chocolate. I like Mike and wanted to make him a chocolatey cake from Nancie McDermott’s Southern Cakes – Sweet and Irresistible Recipes for Everyday Celebrations. But OOPS — three mistakes got me THIS [...]

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Pineapple-Coconut Cake ~ a Southern Cake for a California Bride

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This bride-inspired Pineapple-Coconut Cake is from Nancie McDermott’s dreamy Southern Cakes – Sweet and Irresistible Recipes for Everyday Celebrations (will post the groom’s little cake, behind, soon). My sister remarried on 9-10-11-12. September 10, 2011 at noon. No, no, this isn’t the “wedding cake.” Janie and Mike tied the knot at the house (Mike’s). But [...]

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Kahlua Ice Cream Layered Cake ~ A Tutorial

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Step-by-step, make this killer Kahlua Ice Cream Layered Cake by following my photos. The idea has been in my recipe binder since 2004, a Family Circle cover recipe made with kid-friendly flavors. No way, this had Kahlua potential, requiring a dinner party at home for obvious melting challenges.

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Chestnut Cakes

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Do you remember THIS THROWDOWN (to myself)?  My jar of Roland chestnuts was befuddling. What the heck does a California girl make with chestnuts? Plenty of folks tweeted suggestions; most were savory (as in, toss with brussel sprouts. Seriously?). A few readers told me to eat them from the jar. Tempting, but I envisioned something [...]

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Little Lucy’s Excellent Cake Pops

Lovely Lucy belongs to Yoga Jen, our way-cool yoga instructor at Camp GetAway for Mothers & Others.  They were excited to show me their Cake Pops project. These gals are big fans of “Bakerella” and decided for Lucy’s classmates, they would make some of her Snowman Cake Pops – here is Bakerella’s recipe for these guys! 

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Citrusy Olive Oil Cake with Limoncello Drizzle

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  This cake was such a surprise! It’s not a fluffy commercial texture, nor is it a brick – which was my first thought when I heard we’d be making an Olive Oil Cake with Limoncello Drizzle at our “Date Night Romantic Mediterranean” cooking class with Chef Diane Brown. If you haven’t noticed, we’re a [...]

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Look: My Glazed Lemon Pound Cake Recipe Is Now An Illustration

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 This blogger is an artist with a delightful idea – draw high-quality illustrations of food bloggers’ recipes and post the art on her blog. Then, allow visitors to click to the source recipe. This is the work of the talented Lisa Orgler at The Lunchbox Project. Her artwork and products are available here on Etsy.  [...]

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Triple Citrus Cupcakes with Lime Glaze

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  Culinary throw-down: prepare a dessert elegant enough to complement friends’ upscale picnic contributions, portable, and cannot compete in flavor with the other two desserts: Larry’s Famous Brownies As Seen In Bon Appétit, plus a batch of caramel corn. The venue? A cemetery, but not to visit dearly departed. We were there to picnic and [...]

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Namibia Sunset Orange Blossom Cake

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African sunsets go on forever; the sun drops behind the horizon quickly, then melts the sky into a full hour of magnificence. Considering there are no buildings to block the view, hundreds of miles of horizon can (and do) glow every night.

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Roadkill Cake

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In the spirit of a kicking off your fun, long holiday weekend, I present this ROADKILL CAKE.  No, I didn’t make this, it was Adriana Shoning’s blue ribbon winner in the Ugly Cake Contest at the Iowa State Fair, a competition for teens.  Animal lovers like me needn’t stew…  better this happened to a cake [...]

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Mini Kahlua Carrot Cakes with Maple Icing

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Mini cake, giant cupcake or big muffin, you decide.  It’s the same pan – the large one-cup muffin tins.  I obviously like to bake with Kahlua.  If you’ve read previous posts, you know that Kahlua was a longtime PR client of mine.  Few days went by without a learning experience, and now-friend, Madeline was responsible [...]

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Glazed Lemon Pound Cake

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Do you have a go-to recipe that works for most occasions? Add Glazed Lemon Poundcake to your list. Hostess gift? Check. Dessert for potluck? Check. Neighbor thanks for taking in your mail? Check. Oops, I forgot a birthday? Check, check, check.

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Mmmm Kahlua Chocolate Cupcakes with Kahlua Buttercream Frosting

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The beginning of my friendship with Sara Kate Gillingham-Ryan, the powerhouse behind wildly successful culinary blog The Kitchn, was steeped in Kahlua.  She was probably in the fifth grade.  It’s a fun story. My boutique PR firm had Kahlua as a client for many years.  Pretty yummy work; our best PR efforts were culinary-focused.  Over [...]

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