Desserts
You may prefer to view articles alphabetically.
Baskin Robbins' French Vanilla is no more! - 21 Jul 2010
It doesn't matter how inventive an ice cream company gets (consider the wacky concoctions from Jen & Berry's, as I know them). Bottom line, if you can't make a decent vanilla or a decent chocolate, then the rest of your flavors won't be much good.
So does Baskin Robbins suspect its French Vanilla is no great shakes? Because to celebrate its 65th birthday, it's taking the flavor off the market. read more...
Desserts: Sopa de Chocolato Blanco con Compota de Frutos Rojos - 24 Jun 2010
This is one of those recipes we all hunt for: a dish, in this case a dessert, that is impressive to taste and to look at, that can be whipped up with little effort and time. It came from Santi Zabaleta, when he was chef of Taberna del Alabardero. Now you'll find his cheerful face at A & H Seafood & Gourmet in Bethesda, which he owns. read more...
Berries - ripe for picking - 24 Jun 2010
Berry picking is one of the highlights of summer, with different fruits following each other through the season, even the rare blackcurrants and gooseberries. read more...
Cream teas - a summer staple - 20 May 2010
The British love their afternoon tea in town. Cream teas are another passion and no tourist to Devon or Cornwall should leave without having had one. They're named for the fresh baked scones smothered in jam and a cream so yellow and thick you could hang tiles with it. The great debate between the two English counties is whether the cream or the jam goes down first.
Clotted cream, the ultra heat-treated, stiff white paste sold in glass jars here is no relation to the real McKoy which you can make yourself. read more...
Moorenko's Ice Cream Café - 17 May 2010
Susan Soorenko was on vacation with her two sons and stopped for some particularly good ice cream. "Mom", said the sons, "why don't you bring this back to Virginia?" Soorenko, a fitness trainer, didn't realize they meant a quart of the stuff and approached the company to ship their ice cream across the country for her to sell. When they told her it was too far and she'd have to learn how to make it herself, she took herself off to Ice Cream University. read more...
Cupcake mania? I don't get it. - 12 May 2010
Aside from Ladurée in Paris which launched beautiful, crisp yet melting, highly-colored, scented macaroons as a patisserie to cross town for, the joy of indulging desire for a cake is to linger over a case full of éclairs, japonnaises, babas, fruit tartlettes, confections of chocolate, cream and custard, before pointing at the one gateau of the moment's desire.
A cupcake bakery offers you - cupcakes. I don't get it. Okay, you can pick between flavors and toppings. But cupcake is cupcake. Besides, cupcakes are so last tea party. The next fad coming down the pike is the individual whoopie pie. You read it here first. read more...
Bittersweet Mocha Grappa Torte with Walnuts - 23 Apr 2010
Domenica Marchetti, author of Big Night In, from which this recipe is taken, says: "I can't even count the number of times that chocolate tortes have been a source of disappointment to this chocolate lover...either too liquored up, too jammy, too nutty, too dry, or too dense (giant chocolate truffle, anyone?). That's why I am so in love with this recipe; it delivers everything it promises."
So I tried it. And she's right. But the photo is of my version not her elegant one. Tidying up its overspill was a treat - I just ate the bits I sliced off for beautification... read more...
Apple Tarte Tatin - 10 Mar 2010
This French classic gets a contemporary make-over from Michelle Poteaux, co-owner and co-chef at Bastille. Easy to do - though perhaps not quite as beautifully as professional pastry chef Michelle has done - it's a star at any party year round. read more...
West Indian Black Cake - 9 Dec 2009
At Christmas time in Jamaica, a traditional black cake is baked in which the dried fruits and peel have been soaking in alcohol since the previous Christmas. It's a far more intense cake than traditional fruit cake, and covered in a dark, dark frosting. read more...
York Castle Tropical Ice Cream: one of my favorites - 23 Nov 2009
This is one of my favorite spots not just for its exotic ice cream flavors. Owner Caroline Tay is also one of my favorite market people. Like me, she thinks Washingtonians should venture beyond the diamond for their culinary adventures. After all, her ice cream parlor is just at the top of 16th Street where it meets Georgia Avenue - a straight shot from the 7th Street NW Convention Center.
If you don't manage to get there in time for Thanksgiving, look for her ice cream cake with a pumpkin-flavored turkey shape running through it for a fall treat any time. And the Eggnog flavor ice cream is perfect for any holiday party. read more...
Quince - 4 Nov 2009
Quince season is short, so run out to a Middle Eastern market like Yekta or an Asian market like H Mart or Le Market, and pick out some of these yellow, pear-like and scented fruits to chop into a rough-on-the-tongue stewed puree or to make membrillo, the Spanish paste to eat with Manchego or Cheddar cheese, or for an exquisite translucent coral pink jelly to go with cold meats. read more...
Mochi - a Japanese dessert - 14 Oct 2009
Mochi, a Japanese ice cream covered in dough, has developed a broad fan base. It makes for a very different dessert... read more...
Endless Simmer picks up an eatWashington recipe! - 23 Sep 2009
Endless Simmer, a DC-based food blog, has picked up a recipe (and some info) from eatWashington! read more...
Barbara Kafka's Crème Anglaise in 6 minutes - 9 Sep 2009
Crème Anglaise is such a seductive, soothing vanilla sauce wonderful with fall fruit tarts and cobblers, it's tempting to ignore the dessert it coats and just eat this perfect custard. Cookbook writer and regular New York Times food pages contributor Barbara Kafka has a brilliant short cut to perfect Crème Anglaise that you don't need to stand over fearfully to prevent it from curdling. It's one of two good reasons to invest in a microwave. (The other is heating milk to froth for coffee...) read more...
Desserts: Blue Duck Tavern Apple Pie - 3 Sep 2009
You can't have enough apple pie recipes. Here's a very different one with phenomenal, though very challenging, pastry from Laurent Merdy, pastry chef of The Blue Duck Tavern. It was selected by USA Today as one of the Top 25 Best Dishes of 2006. read more...
Desserts: Eton Mess - 26 Aug 2009
This aptly named Mess is an easy English recipe to make the most of strawberries. You get the stages ready ahead, to put together at the last minute. It's named after the posh private school of Princes and sons of parents with deep wallets near Windsor Castle - so convenient when Queen Granny wanted to visit William and Harry.
On the 'Fourth of June', a holiday with The Procession of Boats - the top crews row past in vintage wooden rowing boats (Brits find this kind of thing normal) - scholars and parents gather to celebrate the birthday of Eton's patron, King George III (the mad one - that's normal, too). Eton Mess is the pudding de rigueur. ('Pudding' is the posh English word for 'desserts' - a word that would never cross the lips of an old Etonian.) read more...
Saint Michel Bakery - one of my favorites - 8 Jul 2009
I've been mourning the deterioration in quality of Bonaparte Bakery's baguettes. They've lost that balance between crustiness and crumbiness and Wagshal's, where I go to buy them, no longer stocks their ficelles which I preferred to the baguettes. I don't know if that means that Bonaparte's doesn't bake them any more. But at any rate, I don't mind too much. I've discovered a proper French bakery - Saint Michel Bakery, owned by a proper French baker, Bertrand Houlier. read more...
Desssert: Pain du Mom with Crème Anglaise - 1 Jul 2009
"My mom came up with this recipe," says John MacPherson, owner-chef of the Foster Harris House (so, Francophones, don't get picky about the grammar), "and has served it for some 20 years. Of course the serving size at my mom's is five times as big as we serve at the Foster Harris House, but a little goes a long way with this decadent breakfast dessert." read more...
Ice creams & gelati - 17 Jun 2009
In Russia, even in the depths of winter, queues of people form around the ice-cream carts stationed on street corners and down the iced-over paths of Moscow's Gorki Park. The world over, it's a seductive cold comfort. read more...
Clotted cream - home-made - 3 Jun 2009
Real clotted cream is good to dollop on summer's fresh berries. It's a far cry from the ultra heat-treated stiff paste you get in those glass jars in the supermarket. So have a go at making it yourself. read more...
It may be sacrilege to say so, but I did have a moment's wonder at Julie Powell dedicating a whole year to cooking out Julia Childs. Life is surely too short. But I admired her staying power. Most cookbooks contain only a handful of recipes you actually want to tackle - though heaven forfend that I should level this criticism towards Mastering the Art of French Cookery.Anyway, here's someone who really slackened my jaw. Meet Todd Wilbur, who spends his time to trying to recreate food made by the industrial giants. He wants to cook Krispy Kremes just like the factory. He wants to clone Big Macs, Yoo Hoo chocolate drinks, and dozens more junk foods, to taste just like the real (or unreal) McKoy.
Oriental fruits identified
Latino menus - what's is that stuff?
Bourbon unburbled
Chew On This: Will they tell us about nanotechnology?
Gazpacho
Cinnamon - what is it?
My favorite markets: Mom's Organic Market
I Slept in Queen Elizabeth's Bed; or How To Cook on A Cruise Ship
Baskin Robbins' French Vanilla is no more!
Summer Berry Tiramisu
Chew On This: Chicken can make you fatter than red meat
Rice - the long and the short of it
KoGiBow
Risotto - the grains of truth
Browse for
Delicious Recipes
DC Chefs
Cuisine Regions