Category: baking

Mom’s Chicken With Turmeric Tahini, Chickpeas, and Onions

This easy sheet-pan dinner exudes exotic aromas and makes an exciting colorful presentation. It smells like the butter chicken I get from my favorite Indian restaurant. As it roasts, the sauce sets up on the chicken, giving you a thick, crunchy-on-the-edges, chewy-moist-in-the-middle texture—amazing. Serves 4 1 (3 1/2- to 4-pound) chicken, cut into parts, or…


Artichoke Heart Gratin

This gratin is an elegant first course that can be made in individual dishes or baked in a single large tray. Use either frozen or unflavored canned artichokes hearts to make this dish—a way to quickly get to the heart. The artichoke hearts are first lightly sautéed in olive oil and butter, to bring out…


A Not-So-Classic Crème Brûlée

Rhubarb and rosemary are surprising bedfellows in this crème brûlée. Upright stalks of brilliantly hued rhubarb are always the first to arrive in the spring produce parade. Rhubarb’s natural astringency may overwhelm at first bite, but with a little sugar and fruit, its tartness is successfully tamed. For this dessert, however, I chose not to…


How to Make Classic French Madeleines

Madeleines are the little French butter cakes that most (non-French) people think of more as a cookie. I don’t think they’re for the inexperienced cook—they are a little tricky and need a fair amount of confidence to turn out just right. That said, I’ve tried to cover all the small details in this recipe so…


This Simple Recipe Makes the Best Baked Potatoes You’ve Ever Eaten

To produce baked potatoes with an evenly fluffy interior, we figured out their ideal doneness temperature is 205 degrees F. And while a microwave might seem like a fast way to “bake” a potato, we found several reasons why it’s actually the worst approach. First, microwaves heat foods very unevenly, so some parts of the…


Flourless Chocolate Almond-Hazelnut Cake

If you can’t find already ground almonds or hazelnuts, you can grind your own using a coffee grinder or high-powered blender. The cake can be served with whipped cream or coffee ice cream, but frankly, it’s perfect as is. Serves 8 7 ounces high-quality dark chocolate (at least 70 percent cacao), roughly chopped 6 large…


The Family Table: Memories of Easter Baking, From My Big Italian Family

Submitted by Laura Semenza-Marcos, West Hills, California Memories of my childhood surround the holidays and food. As an Italian Roman Catholic from a family of nine, and many relatives, I have stories to tell. The family of my youth consisted of two parents and seven kids—one boy and six girls—in a three-bedroom house, with one…


For the Easter Table, a Cake That’s Pure Nostalgia

Easter is perhaps my favorite food holiday. It’s the day that the food of my people comes out: Slovenian and Czech braided bread, fried krofi, and sausage with sauerkraut. But also? This cake. This cake is nothing short of pure American ingenuity, in my mind—a sweet and sticky confection of angel food cake, marshmallow icing,…


As the Weather Starts to Warm Up, Enjoy This Bright Dessert

Most lemon tart recipes feature butter in both the crust and the filling, but here we use extra-virgin olive oil instead. It makes the crust a snap: Just mix the flour, sugar, and salt with the oil and a little water until a soft dough forms; crumble it into the tart pan; press it into…


Have Your Mousse Cake and Eat It, Too

The name of this dessert is potentially misleading. It’s not exactly a cake, nor is it a bowl of fluffy mousse. But imagine the two concepts combined in a sublime chocolate confection that literally melts in your mouth. It’s flourless, too, which is wonderful for gluten-free diets, Passover, and frankly, for those chocolate fanatics who…