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Fiori di Sicilia Pound Cake

Fiori di Sicilia and Cara Cara Orange Zest give this cake a fresh, creamsicle-like flavor.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword dessert

Prep Time 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time 1 hour hour

Ingredients

• ½ cup butter at room temperature
• 1 1/2 cup sugar
• zest of 1 large Cara Cara orange
• 1/2 teaspoon Fiori di Sicilia
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 3 eggs at room temperature
• ½ cup buttermilk at room temperature
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• pinch salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda

Instructions

• Butter and flour a loaf pan. Set aside.
• In large bowl or the bowl of stand mixer, beat together the sugar and zest until the sugar looks orange.
• Add the butter and mix until light and fluffy.
• Add the eggs and extracts and mix to combine.
• With the mixer on low, alternately add in the buttermilk and flour. Beat in the baking soda and salt.
• Place your cake into your COLD oven. Turn the oven to 350°. Bake for 60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or just one or two dry crumbs.
• Cool in pan on wire rack 20-30 minutes then remove from pan to wire rack to cool completely.

Notes

• Fiori di Sicilia can be found at Italian markets or online.
• I'm sorry this recipe doesn't use the whole orange, that bothers me too but it didn't work. Have an orange snack while it bakes.
• You can use a navel orange but I think a Cara Cara gives it a little something extra.

I’ve been thinking about pound cake lately. When I was a kid there was a woman who sold it at the snowball stand by the slice for maybe a quarter and as a special treat a few times a summer we’d get a piece. We didn’t really make pound cake ourselves. Our standard cakes at home were sour cream cake (which has pound cake qualities) and hot milk cake.

I made this waiting for a big snow and ice storm and watching the latest ICE tragedy unfold. Baking does help distract one from the horrors for a few minutes and then at least you have cake.

I didn’t want to make too much cake so I made a loaf. What really draws me to pound cake is the distinctive top (very similar to what I love about sour cream cake) and my goal is to get that and not worry too much about what makes it a pound cake vs a random cake. I do like a tiny bit of baking soda to lighten it a bit but I know some are very against it in a pound cake. I do start in a cold oven which should give me some points.

It does bother me to use the zest of an orange and not the juice or flesh. Very few of my recipes (actually, none I can think of off hand) do that but I think the juice is too thin to give the proper texture and you really need that thicker dairy. A loaf cake doesn’t give you a lot of wiggle room for extra ingredients. Just eat the nude orange.

Fiori di Sicilia is not something I use a lot but it is perfect for an otherwise plain cake. It has a creamy orange flavor you can’t really replicate with anything else. It gives the cake a real depth of flavor. I love Cara Cara oranges and they are in season right now but you can use regular navel orange zest instead. Cara Cara is just a little lighter and more floral.

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Even Better S’mores Cookie Bars

Dark chocolate cookie base studded with chocolate chips and graham crackers bits.

Course Dessert, Snack

Cuisine American

Keyword bars, dessert, pantry baking

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes minutes

Servings 9

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter at room temperature
• 3/4 cup light brown sugar
• 1 egg, at room temperature
• 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 3/4 cup flour
• 1/4 cup Dutch process cocoa powder
• 10 graham crackers, coarsely broken (about 1 sleeve, divided use)
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• pinch salt
• 1 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips divided use
• 1 1/4 cup marshmallow crème aka marshmallow fluff

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350. Butter and flour an 8x8 inch lan. Set aside.
• In a large bowl or bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter and brown sugar together until fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until combined.
• In medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa, almost all of the graham cracker chunks (leave a small amount out for sprinkling), baking powder, and salt.
• With the beaters on low, stream the dry ingredients into the butter mixture combined.
• Fold in the chips, reserving a tablespoon or two for sprinkling.
• Spoon 2/3 of the dough into the prepared pan. Use the back of a spoon or measuring cup to evenly and smoothly cover the bottom of the pan.
• Spread the dough with marshmallow creme.
• Drop tablespoonfuls of remaining dough over the marshmallow layer. Lightly press them into the marshmallow
• Sprinkling with remaining chips and graham cracker bits.
• Bake 25 minutes or until a thin knife inserted in the center comes out with just few moist crumbs.
• Cool completely in the pan on a wire rack.

Notes

I just bashed the crackers in the wrapper against the counter a couple times. You don’t want or need a powder, some chunks are good!

I was working on this recipe for a while and kept emailing it to myself with evolving subject lines-“s’mores bars”, “more s’mores bars”, “better s’mores” bars until I ended up with these Even Better S’mores Cookie Bars.

I was thinking about s’mores because we had our annual New Year’s Eve themed movie night (click the tag to see what we’ve made in earlier years) and this year the theme was summer camp. We watched Sleepaway Camp, the original Parent Trap, Camp, Crip Camp and Meatballs. What is more camp spirited than s’mores?

I thought a bar cookie would be fun since I had just made a cake and we made brownies for Thanksgiving.

I noticed that most s’mores cookie and bars recipes called for a graham cracker base or a plain vanilla base. I even made some myself years ago. But isn’t the best part of the s’more the chocolate? I decided to make a dark chocolate cookie base, studded with graham cracker chunks and chocolate chips, and to top it with marshmallow, more chips and more graham cracker chunks.

And you know what, I was right! It is better with a chocolate cookie base. I used marshmallow crème (aka fluff) instead of actual marshmallows to get an even layer and it really worked well! It was sticky but it helped keep the chips and crackers from falling off and toasted up nicely.

We could not get enough! It had all the flavors of a s’more and wasn’t overly sweet thanks to all of the chocolate. A real success story.

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Black Bottom Bundt Cake

Inspired by the Maryland classic black bottom cupcakes.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword cake

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 50 minutes minutes

Servings 12

Ingredients

For the cream cheese filling:

• 8 oz cream cheese at room temperature
• 1 egg at room temperature
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 teaspoon cornstarch
• 1/3 cup mini semi sweet chocolate chips

For the cake:

• 1/2 cup buttermilk at room temperature
• 2 eggs at room temperature
• 2/3 cup Dutch-process cocoa powder
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup light brown sugar
• 2/3 cup canola oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 teaspoon instant espresso powder
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• pinch salt
• 2/3 cup warm tap water

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 350. Throughly butter a Bundt pan and dust with cocoa powder. Set aside.

For the cream cheese filling:

• Beat cream cheese in a large bowl or the bowl of in a stand mixer until smooth. Add egg, sugar and vanilla and cornstarch and beat until smooth. Fold in the chips.
• Scrape into a bowl (or swap bowls) and set aside.

For the cake:

• In a large bowl or bowl of standmixer, mix together the sugars, oil, buttermilk, eggs, espresso powder and vanilla until smooth.
• Slowly add the flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Beat until combined. Mix in the water until a smooth batter forms.
• Pour about 2/3 of the batter into the Bundt pan and smooth into an even layer if needed.
• Taking care not to get it on the sides of the pan, spoon the cream cheese mixture over the chocolate batter to form a ring.
• Carefully pour the remaining batter over the cream cheese mixture.
• Bake 45-50 minutes or until a a thin inserted into the center comes out clean.
• Cool, in pan, on wire rack for 20 minutes.
• Invert the cake onto the wire rack and cool completely. This can take up to 2 hrs!
• Place the Bundt pan on a wire rack and let cool for 20 minutes. Flip the cake out onto the rack and let cool completely, at least 1 1/2 hours more.

Notes

I used decaffeinated espresso powder because my husband is sensitive to caffeine. Regular would work fine as well but decaffeinated is worth seeking out if you have similar concerns. It adds some richness and depth to the cake.

My family always made and gave away black bottoms at Christmas time. I first shared our recipe back in 2005 and then updated it in 2019 when I made the family batch when my mom was sick. Now both of my parents are gone and making 5 dozen mini cupcakes felt like too much.

I wasn’t totally willing to give up the tradition so this year I decided to make it in a different form. I made black bottom brownies years ago so thought sticking closer the original might be fun. This cake has buttermilk instead of vinegar for the acidity but it is still an easy, oil based cake. I stuck with mini chips because I don’t want to bite into a big, hard chip once it’s cooled. Plus it’s cuter. I used Dutch process cocoa instead of the regular kind for a richer flavor.

I had the impulse to add a glaze initially but once I actually made the cake and realized how rich it was, it was clear there was no need. This is a super chocolatey cake! The filling is surprisingly light and has a nice tang. Since it is in the middle, I added a little cornstarch to stabilize it but you can’t taste it.

It is just such a good cake!

I struggled with the name of this cake a bit. It’s based on a very specific dessert and the name is even descriptive! The flavors are the same but the topping is in the middle. Would people expect a Black Bottom Bundt to have the cream cheese on top when it is unmolded? I think I would but for a Bundt that would mean that the cream cheese layer would go in first and then it would really brown. What I’ve made is a filled cake. We are just going to have to deal.

Longtime readers might remember I did make a swirl version years ago but this one has a more substantial filling and the cake is richer.

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Tangerine Ginger Poppy Seed Jumbo Muffins

Zesty tangerines and spicy ginger make for tasty and easy jumbo sized muffins

Course Breakfast, Snack

Cuisine American

Keyword breakfast, muffins, pantry baking

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes minutes

Servings 6 jumbo muffins

Ingredients

for the batter:

• zest of two tangerines
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 1/4 cups flour
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• Pinch salt
• 1/2 cup canola oil
• juice of two tangerines about 2/3 cup
• 2 eggs
• 2/3 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 inch knob fresh ginger grated
• 1 tablespoon poppy seeds

for the glaze:

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 2-3 tablespoons tangerine juice
• Zest
• or sugar:
• 1/4 cup coarse sugar like demerara sugar

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 425. Line 6 wells in a jumbo muffin tin. Set aside.
• In a large bowl or bowl of a stand mixer and mix together the zest and sugar until well mixed and fragrant.
• In a second bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients. Add them to the sugar mixture in a steam as the mixer runs. A clumpy dough will form.
• Add the oil, juice, eggs, buttermilk and ginger. Mix until a fairly smooth batter forms. Stir in the poppy seeds.
• Fill each well about 3/4 of the way. Sprinkle with coarse sugar if using.
• Bake for 5 minutes then reduce heat to 375 and bake an additional 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean or with one or two coarse crumbs.
• Meanwhile, whisk together glaze ingredients, if using.
• Remove to wire rack and drizzle with glaze if using. Or use neither!
• Cool on wire rack.

We all know my love of the Stayman-Winesap apple but my second love is the tangerine. Strangely in the last ten years or so they’ve been difficult to find. I blame big Cutie and the take over the citrus aisle by easy peel clementines, tangelos and mandarins. While in the same family, tangerines have a tartness I enjoy.

I think the tangerine I used to get was the Dancy Tangerine but apparently they haven’t been sold commercially since around the time I stopped seeing tangerines in every store. Which tracks.

In hopes of getting the perfect fruit, I’ve ordered tangerines online and had them replaced by mandarins by the growers. I was refunded but still didn’t have tangerines. I’ve bought what is labeled as a “tangerine” at supermarkets only to get them home and see in small print they are actually tangelos.

This year I ordered an early growing variety, the Fallglo from a grove in Florida and they literally delivered. I don’t love them as much as the Dancy but they were pretty good, if a few were hard to peel. I don’t remember this issue with the Dancy! I’m hoping tangerines will fall back into fashion the way apple varieties have come and gone over more recent years.

It really was too many tangerines for two people so I used some to make these muffins and some in our pineapple-cranberry sauce this year at Thanksgiving. I don’t know why muffins are all I feel like baking the last year or so but here you go.

The muffins are sweet-tart and have that great poppy seed crunch. I froze half of the batch (without icing) and when I defrost them, I think I will make a fresh batch of icing for them even if I have to use oranges or worst, a clementine.

I know icing a muffin can be contentious for some reason, does it make it a cupcake? Why does everything have to be sweet? Blah, blah. There is a very good reason why so many, particularly citrus-based muffins have an icing or a glaze. You get a lot of fruit flavor from the zest in the icing.  Although I know it is tempting, I highly recommend not skipping it, citrus has a tendency to “bake out” in baked goods making it less flavorful (I cannot find rhyme or reason for this because it has happened to me in two different batches of baked goods made from the same bag of fruit) so if the flavor fades in the muffin, you can still get that flavor in the uncooked icing.

My other tip is to really mix the zest and sugar together well. It feels like a step you can skip but you really can’t, it gets those citrus oils into the sugar and then the whole muffin and is your best bet to get a really flavorful citrus muffin.

You want that white sugar to turn orange.

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Speculoos Apple Crumble Cake

Cookie butter and speculoos cookie crumbs infuse this autumnal cake with flavor.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword dessert

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 45 minutes minutes

Servings 9 squares

Ingredients

for the cake:

• 3/4 cup light brown sugar
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1/4 cup creamy cookie butter
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 1/4 cups flour
• 1/4 teaspoon Saigon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon cardamom
• 1/4 teaspoon mace
• 1/4 teaspoon ginger
• pinch salt
• 1 cup grated apples I used 2 Crimson Crisp. peel-on

for the streusel topping:

• 4 tablespoons melted butter
• 1/3 cup flour
• 1/3 cup crushed speculoos cookies
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• pinch Saigon cinnamon
• pinch cardamom
• pinch mace
• pinch ginger

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350. Butter and flour a 8 X 8 inch pan. Set aside.
• In a large bowl or bowl of a stand mixer, mix together the brown sugar, oil, egg until smooth.
• Add buttermilk, cookie butter and vanilla and mix until smooth. Beat in baking soda, baking powder, flour and spices until a batter forms. Fold in apples.
• Pour into prepared pan, set aside.
• In a medium bowl, stir together the topping ingredients until it looks like wet, coarse sand. Sprinkle evenly over batter.
• Bake 45 minutes or until a thin knife inserted in the middle comes out with 1-2 moist crumbs.
• Cool on wire rack.

Notes

 

• You can make your own speculoos or use store bought--the brand name in the US is Biscoff, made by Lotus 
• I used Lotus brand Biscoff smooth cookie butter

It is funny I almost hesitated to post this recipe after my long hiatus because it feels like cookie butter recipes are flooding the recipe sphere and I wasn’t sure if there was room for one more. When we went to Belgium years ago, we found speculoos spread in the grocery stores and brought it back in our checked luggage. We loved the cookies and I ended up making my own because they were not easy to find here. No one had a clue what we were talking about when we mentioned speculoos and we had to really explain cookie butter  (it’s like peanut butter made with cookies!) and they were honestly skeptical. I was surprised when within a few years I started seeing it in stores–even generic versions. Now it is in everything! Nothing But Bundt had a Biscoff Spice Cake Bundt recently and I think it was all I saw for days online. We only recently got a location that is reasonably close so I went there to check it out and they were sold out! So cookie butter was on my mind when I was trying to think of ways to use up apples ahead of my annual haul of my favorite apples, the Stayman-Winesap.

The trick with this cake is really loading it up with crumbs. It seems like too many for a little cake but it works. They not only add cookie flavor but a rich butteriness to the super fluffy and moist oil and buttermilk-based cake. Luckily oil based cakes are my preference for apple cakes because they end up being so much lighter in texture than butter based. They also make the cake come together so much faster–I did set the buttermilk and egg out a bit while I got out the other ingredients but they were not quite at room temperature when they went in the bowl. The longest part of this recipe is the baking, which is longer than you’d think thanks to all those crumbs!

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Stayman Winesap Apple Crumble (Jumbo) Muffins

My favorite apples, in muffin form.

Course Breakfast, Snack

Cuisine American

Keyword muffins

Prep Time 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes minutes

Servings 6 jumbo muffins

Ingredients

for the batter:

• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 1 ½ cups grated peel-on Stayman Winesap apples or other apple you like to bake with
• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 2 eggs
• 2/3 cup buttermilk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon Vietnamese cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon mace
• ½ teaspoon nutmeg
• 2 1/4 cups flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 ½ teaspoon baking soda
• Pinch salt

Crumble topping:

• 2/3 cup flour
• ½ cup light brown sugar
• 4 tablespoons melted butter
• 1/2 teaspoon mace

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 425. Line 6 wells in a jumbo muffin tin. Set aside.
• In a large bowl or bowl of a stand mixer and mix together the oil, apple, eggs, buttermilk and extract. Mix until a fairly smooth batter forms.
• In a second bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients. Add them to the apple mixture in a steam as the mixer runs. A slightly clumpy dough will form.
• Fill each well about 3/4 of the way.
• Using a fork, mix together the crumble topping in a small bowl until coarse crumbs form. Sprinkle over the muffins in an even layer.
• Bake for 5 minutes then reduce heat to 375 and bake an additional 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean or with one or two coarse crumbs.
• Remove to wire rack and cool at least 10 minutes before serving.

Notes

You may have a bit of batter and/or crumble leftover depending on your pan size--either make more muffins (regular-sized in a pinch), really load the existing muffins up with crumble or toss it.

2024 has really been a rough year. My father-in-law went into the hospital in March in NYC where my in-laws live. My dad went into the hospital in April. My father-in-law ended up going into hospice and then dying in May. My dad was in the hospital until June. Since my mom died in 2020, I’ve basically ran his life, and my husband and I have split helping him with his health. He lived alone with his dog and was very independent so it was a big switch to have him in the hospital.

Luckily I found a great pet sitter for his dog during his long stay in the hospital because we have three dogs of our own and a small house. Hospitals require more hands-on and in-person visits from caregivers than you’d expect so we were constantly at the hospital and rehab centers for those months when my father was there.

Meanwhile, my husband was also running to NYC to see his parents and since they refused to take any Covid precautions, couldn’t stay with them which was a big expense and a source of stress. My dad came home Memorial weekend with some in-home physical therapy to get him up and moving again after being in the hospital for so long.

He was able to live alone, his dog joined him after a week and then suddenly when we were pulling into the beach in June for a day trip, I got a call from the police that his friend who mowed his lawn found him dead in his house. While he wasn’t in great physical health, the doctors seemed to think he could live alone, go on walks, and soon drive his car so it was a big surprise. We had only gone to the beach because he was doing so well living alone that week and my husband had just taken him to multiple doctor visits the day before at the hospital.

Luckily the dog sitter was eager to adopt his dog so she is well taken care of. Now I’m handling his estate and as I was already the owner of his house, working on making that a studio/weekend spot for us as it is paid for and on the spot on the river where we spent our summers in an uninsulated cabin with an outhouse my grandfather bought in the 1950s. I am truly exhausted.

All that to say, we haven’t been cooking since around April. Some very basic meals here and there but we have been surviving on takeout and meals from a place near us that sells prepped meals ready to heat. I know some posts have gone up but outside of the coconut and lime muffins for the 20th anniversary of the blog in May, they were mostly scheduled recipes I made years ago and let languish in drafts but had decided to publish alongside the recipes I thought I’d be making this year.

I have not baked until yesterday when I made these muffins while my husband recovers from surgery(!).

Stayman-Winesap apples are my favorite and I ordered a half bushel from a service that seems to mostly service restaurants but will do residential orders if they are big enough. In more recent years they have become harder to find. I found just Winesap at a farm store but they aren’t as good. The farm stand I used to get them at has changed owners and is a bit far away and I didn’t have the energy to drive out there and be disappointed.

We have been eating an apple a day and these muffins were a good way to mix things up. They are so moist and tender and even though they are large, they don’t bake for very long. Mine took exactly 25 minutes.

I am not sure what we are doing for Thanksgiving yet! My brother is coming down for faux Christmas in early December and requested our classic family stuffing balls so I will make a turkey and other Thanksgiving-y holiday dishes then so I don’t want to make all of that a week earlier. Nornally we spent Thanksgiving with my parents and now they are both gone. My mother-in-law is flying to California and again we can’t stay with her or eat indoors so that’s not an option anyway. I did order some seasonal cupcakes from a bakery that’s something.

But at least we had muffins and I know I didn’t forget how to bake.

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Lemony Tuna Salad, Salad

Easy and tasty lunch idea

Course Lunch, Main Course

Cuisine American

Keyword salad

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Servings 2

Ingredients

• juice and zest of one big lemon
• 1 tablespoon Dijon
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
• salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• 7 oz canned tuna in olive oil
• 14 oz can Great Northern beans, drained
• ½ red onion, sliced into half-moons
• ½ pint cherry tomatoes, halved
• ½ English cucumber, sliced
• 6 oz baby arugula
• optional: a tiny splash of Annie's Naturals Goddess Dressing I normally use a store brand dupe

Instructions

• In a medium bowl, whisk together the lemon juice, mustard, garlic, Italian seasoning to taste (I use the kind in a grinder and give it a few good twists), salt, and pepper. Add the tuna (with the oil), beans and dressing (optional) and toss to coat.
• Serve over a bed of arugula with red onion, cucumber and tomatoes.

This is my go-to when I’m making lunch for myself and want to include a few extra vegetables. It can be stretched to serve 4 if you have some bread on the side or add some hard-boiled eggs but I normally make the bean/tuna mix, refrigerate it, and top the salads with it over 2-3 days. So satisfying!

The arugula is key, it really sets off the lemony tuna more than regular lettuce or my go-to watercress does. Big, bold flavors and you didn’t even have to heat up a single pan.

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Coconut & Lime (Jumbo) Muffins

the 20th Anniversary of Coconut & Lime celebrated with tasty muffins

Course Breakfast

Cuisine American

Keyword muffins

Prep Time 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes minutes

Servings 6 jumbo muffins

Ingredients

for the batter:

• zest of three limes
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 1/4 cups flour
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• Pinch salt
• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 1/4 cup lime juice
• 2 eggs
• 2/3 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• drop lime extract
• 1/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

glaze:

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 2-3 tablespoons lime juice
• Zest
• 1/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut toasted in a skillet

or sugar:

• 1/4 cup coarse sugar I used demerara sugar
• 1/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut toasted in a skillet

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 425. Line 6 wells in a jumbo muffin tin. Set aside.
• In a large bowl or bowl of a stand mixer and mix together the zest and sugar until well mixed and fragrant.
• In a second bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients. Add them to the sugar mixture in a steam as the mixer runs. A clumpy dough will form.
• Add the oil, juice, eggs, buttermilk and extracts. Mix until a fairly smooth batter forms. Fold in coconut.
• Fill each well about 3/4 of the way. Sprinkle with coarse sugar and coconut if using.
• Bake for 5 minutes then reduce heat to 375 and bake an additional 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean or with one or two coarse crumbs.
• Meanwhile, whisk together glaze ingredients, if using.
• Remove to wire rack and drizzle with glaze if using about 3 minutes after you remove them from the oven. Or leave the muffins unadorned all together!
• Cool on wire rack.

Notes

• If I am not serving these muffins right away, I chose the sugar option instead of the glaze. The glaze is really best the first day. Alternatively, make the glaze fresh when you want to serve the muffins. 
• I order this coconut in bulk 
• Lime extract can be oddly tricky to find but grocery store stalwart McCormick does make it. 

 

May is the 20th anniversary of this blog if you can believe that! It is getting harder to find new things to make and post but I knew I had to make some coconut and lime food to celebrate!

I started this blog back in May 2004 when I was a teacher in grad school to share what I was cooking. I had picked the name pretty much randomly (two things that taste good together!) not thinking I’d have it still in 2024. Back then I’d have to explain what a blog was every time I mentioned it. I’ve been featured in many magazines, websites, radio and tv since then. I’ve written several cookbooks! Blogs rose to prominence and then fell but here I still am.

These muffins are super moist and delicious. I bought this jumbo muffin pan last year and it turns out jumbo muffins are so much more fun to make and eat! You get proportionally more of the soft center and less of what I like the least, the side crust. I think you can taste the flavors of the muffins more than you can smaller ones. Maybe that’s all in my head but it feels true.

The trick is to really beat the lime zest into the sugar so those oils really distribute and to use a tiny drop of lime extract. This is especially important when you are making these muffins outside of citrus season–the limes need a little boost!

Toasting the coconut in a skillet is my preferred method—you have to keep an eye on it or it will burn but at least you aren’t reaching into the oven and it’s easier to see.

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Potato-Artichoke Kugel

Always looking for a new savory kugel? Here you go!

Course Side Dish

Cuisine American, European

Keyword passover

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 1 hour hour

Servings 8

Ingredients

• 3 lb Yukon Gold potatoes, grated and drained
• 12 oz frozen artichoke hearts, defrosted and coarsely chopped
• 2 onions, sliced
• 4 eggs, beaten
• 2 tablespoons potato or cornstarch
• 1/3 cup matzo meal
• salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• canola oil

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350. Bake the empty dish for 10 minutes.
• Toss together all ingredients in a large bowl. Pour into the pan. Bake for 50-60 minutes or until golden and cooked through.
• Slice and serve.

This is another homely recipe that has been sitting in drafts for literally years but it’s tasty, I promise! I’m  trying to get away from thinking everything has to be pretty to be worthy to post. Who am I impressing? I don’t have ads and while I have a steady stream of visitors, almost 20 years in, I know what people are really here for is tasty food.

Kugel is never going to be cute and since I’m actually making and serving these recipes for dinner  I don’t always have the time or want to send it on prettying up potatoes.

We are always team savory kugel and this is just an easy, tasty way to jazz up plain potato with minimal extra effort. The artichokes not only add flavor but I felt like I could skip on making vegetable sides which is always a win after you’ve spent some time shredded potatoes.

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Beef Eggplant Matzo Pie

A beef and eggplant version of Mina de carne, Sephardi meat and matzo pie

Course Main Course

Cuisine American

Keyword passover

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 45 minutes minutes

Servings 8

Ingredients

• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 3 Japanese eggplants, cut into 1/4 in half-moons
• 1 1/4 lb lean ground beef
• 3/4 cup chopped garlic chives
• 8 oz shiitake mushrooms, sliced
• 1 1/2 teaspoons five spice
• freshly ground black pepper
• salt
• 5-6 sheets matzo
• 1 egg beaten with 1/2 teaspoon water

Instructions

• Preheat the oven 400. in a large skillet, heat the oil.  Add the onion, garlic chives eggplant. Saute, and until the onion is translucent, 5-7 minutes. add the beef and sprinkle it with the spices, breaking up the beef until it is fully cooked
• Grease an 8 or 9 inch springform cake pan and set it aside. Soak the matzo in warm water (I used a 8x8 inch baking dish)  until softened. Line the bottom and sides of the pan with the matzo pieces, covering the bottom and sides completely. Blot to remove any excess water with a cloth or paper towel.
• Add the meat mixture and smooth the top. Cover the top with soaked matzo, pressing the edges to seat. Brush with egg. Bake until golden brown, 30 minutes.
• Cool in pan for 10 minutes, then release the pan, slice and serve.

I made this beef and eggplant version of Mina de carne, Sephardi meat and matzo pie a long time ago and only realized that it never posted. Maybe because it is not cute? Maybe because it is very tasty but it is a little fiddly to make? I think it is worth sharing though–it is very flavorful and the shiitake and Japanese eggplant combination is really good and deepens the flavor of the beef. I had been worried all the matzo might make it bland but with this filling it is anything but. It is deeply savory and fun to eat.