Zoe Bakes

Chocolate covered Coffee Toffee and my Birthday Cake!

Today is my birthday. I am a woman of a certain age and I think it is worthy of celebrating, so I made one of my favorite candies, chocolate covered toffee, with a hit of coffee. I never buy Health Heath Bars, but every year I manage to convince my boys to give me them [...]

On Book Tour, Please Come Visit!

This is a picture my dad took of Jeff and me at our first book signing at Barnes & Noble in Edina, MN. From there we jumped on a plane and spent the next two days in Chicago and Milwaukee. Thanks to all of you who have come out to see us along the way. [...]

Caramelized Pumpkin & Armagnac Prune Pudding!

This season is bittersweet as far as fresh produce goes. On one hand my backyard urban farm is just a ghost of its lush summer self and I miss it. But, there are the apples, pears, persimmons, quince and the versatile sugar pumpkin, which are at the height of their season. I also associate the [...]

Halloween Marble Cake! …and a “Best Baking Blog” nomination

I will talk about the joys and pains (luckily there is a happy ending) of this cake, but first I want to Thank You, for it had to be you, who nominated me for the “Best Baking Blog” award from Foodbuzz. Imagine my surprise and delight to see my name on this list of wildly [...]

Alice’s Chocolate Mousse Cake with Cajeta!

I made this dessert as an assignment for Target. The store where I buy everything from school supplies to Riedel wine glasses. My friend Betsy Nelson is a food stylist for Target and she asked me to do some of the baking for a photo shoot. As inspiration she brought over the book Bittersweet by [...]

Pesto and Mozz Aebleskivers! (win an Aebleskiver package)

Nearly a year ago I made my first aebleskiver, thanks to the good folks at Aunt Else’s who introduced me to this fabulous culinary orb at the Mill City Farmer’s Market. They gave me a pan and a package of their mix and off I went. Now I make them with my sons on a [...]

Caramel Apple & Pear Cake

Haralson, Honeycrisp, Honeygold, Prairie Spy, Regent, Beacon, Red Baron and dozens of other varieties of apples have all been developed at the University of Minnesota. We may be known for our 10,000 lakes, but few people outside of the state realize that we are also a leader in apples. I didn’t realize this until my [...]

Wild Blueberry Crisp

This has been the summer of wild blueberries. First on my trip to Maine in August and then in the Northern most reaches of Minnesota just this past weekend. Maine is certainly known for their abundance of wild (or low bush) blueberries. In fact, they produce about 25% of all that are consumed in America. [...]

Ice Cream Cake

When I was an art student at the University of Vermont I worked at the Ben & Jerry’s making ice cream cakes. It was my first job in the world of sweets and I have never looked back. My brothers were very little then and it started a birthday tradition for them that lives on [...]

Garlic Kale Tamale Tart - yes, the crust is bright red!

The July issue of Saveur magazine was filled cover to cover with the foods of Texas. Everything from Pecan Pie to Mesquite Grilled steaks. But one recipe caught my eye, not only because it sounds delicious, but because the technique is unlike anything I’ve seen before. It is a Tamale Tart by the chef Stephan [...]