Travelling Lore

Okay, so I might not be the best food and/or dessert photographer, but I promise you that this is one of the best cakes I've ever made!  Even my fiance said it was the best cake he's ever eaten!  I had some leftover cranberries to use so naturally I searched Pinterest for dessert ideas and behold, OMG Chocolate Desserts' recipe for Christmas Cranberry Pound Cake fell into my lap.  She has much better pictures of this scrumptious dessert than I do, so check out her blog for a more photogenic cake. As many of you know, cranberries are tart on their own, but this recipe sweetens them right up!  Also, as usual, I made a few modifications to her original recipe to suit my preferences.  I used all-purpose flour because it's what I had on hand (just make sure to sift it well!); less granulated sugar than was originally called for; and heavy cream and cream cheese instead of mascarpone cheese, which I couldn't immediately find in my local grocery store. ...

I've been bouncing around a lot this month with a work trip, a short personal vacation, and everything else in between.  Like free food when shopping around for wedding caterers, yum!  But what better time to sit down and get back into the swing of things with a divine pie recipe just in time for Thanksgiving! Naturally this is a Pinterest find.  I was searching around on the internet for the cranberry pie recipe we've made the past few years, but it must only be in a recipe book as I couldn't find it.  However, during the search process I found this gem of a cranberry pecan pie recipe on I should be mopping the floor's blog .  Pumpkin pie will always be my favorite, but pecan pie is a close second and I love how festive the pie looks when adding the cranberries.  Plus they're full of antioxidants which makes this pie healthy, right?! I normally make a wheat flour-based pie crust and I try a different recipe each time since I haven't found the per...

Last week at work we threw a low key gathering for a coworker whose wedding is next month.  The food theme was based entirely on desserts, so I decided to make (for the first time) a blueberry swirl cheesecake.  And I must say I think it turned out splendidly for my first time making it, especially considering I presented it to my coworkers without even getting a chance to try it first for myself! I used  Sally's Baking Addiction 's cheesecake recipe  as the base and then modified it with ingredients I had available at home. Blueberry Swirl Cheesecake Ingredients For the crust: 1.5 cups toasted pecans 3 tbsp brown sugar 3 tbsp butter 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon For the blueberry sauce: 2 tsp cornstarch 1 tbsp warm water 2 cups frozen blueberries 2 tbsp granulated sugar For the filling: 24 oz 1/3 fat cream cheese 1 cup granulated sugar 1 cup nonfat yogurt 2 tsp vanilla extract 3 eggs Instructions ...

Earlier this week was my boyfriend's birthday.  And what better way to celebrate it (and channel Spring) than with a delicious lemon poppy seed bundt cake.  I found this recipe on Sally's Baking Addiction  via Pinterest, so please see her site for the  full recipe .  Be prepared to use a lot of lemons (it's totally worth it, though!) and expect to eat more than one slice in a sitting! Preheat the oven to 350F.  Sift the dry ingredients into a bowl and stir the poppy seeds into the dry mixture.  Set aside.  In a separate bowl, beat the butter for one minute until creamy.  Then add the sugar and beat on high for an additional two minutes until they're blended well together.  Beat in the lemon juice and zest.  (I didn't include zest as I don't have a zester.) Combine the dry and wet ingredients along with the buttermilk and blend on low speed.  Pour the batter into a bundt pan and bake for 40-50 minutes, or until a...

I found this delicious recipe for Nutella truffles with Frangelico on My Baking Addiction 's blog a couple of weeks ago.  I had hoped to post this for Valentine's Day dessert inspiration, but didn't have the time to make them until the day of.  Valentine's Day or not, these homemade truffles are rich, nutty, and perfect for any time of the year. This recipe calls for toasted hazelnuts.  The grocery store had none in stock, so I bought raw hazelnuts instead and toasted them at home.  Raw hazelnuts have a dark skin, which you can choose to remove before toasting them or not.  I chose to remove the skins and followed a very helpful tip on how to peel hazelnuts .  It's incredibly easy to do and all you need is boiling water and baking soda. Bring two cups of water to boil, add 3 tablespoons of baking soda (the water will foam up), and put the hazelnuts in the boiling solution for 4 minutes.  The water will turn black from the pigment in the haz...