Category Archives: Dessert

Four-Layer Pumpkin Cake with Orange-Cream Cheese Frosting

As a food blogger I feel it’s my duty to break down seemingly difficult recipes and encourage fellow cooks to try new things and not be intimidated! So perhaps I should abandon this post. Because the truth is after an entire afternoon’s worth of effort my first attempt was such an epic disaster that I made the cake over again the next morning in order to get it right.  And that was only possible thanks to the dozens of how-to videos I found on youtube. So how pumped are you about trying this cake?!! Yeah, exactly …

But the reason I’m still sitting here typing away is that the payoff from this cake was huge. At least for me. Not only is the cake both gorgeous and sinfully delicious, the sense of accomplishment that comes from learning new kitchen skills trumps all. And for me that was learning how to assemble and frost a 4-layer cake. There are a couple key things you need to know that the recipes don’t tell you – it’s as if there’s a keep-the-most-important-tips-a-secret-from-the-cooking-masses conspiracy theory at play. Well readers, read on because I’m exposing those secret tips!

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Strawberry Mascarpone Tart

As many of you know, I’m not so much about the baking. Cooking I adore – it’s often the best part of my day – but baking sometimes feels more like a chore. But, when I do bake something that comes out really good I get a huge sense of accomplishment and the sense that slowly, I might actually be learning some of the fundamentals about baking. And this dessert was really good so I’m sharing it with you.

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Chocolate-Amaretti Tortes

Featured on Tasteologie, 2/19/11 & Photograzing, 2/24/11

Looking for a dessert reminiscent of molten-lava cakes that can be prepared in under 30 minutes? Well look no further! These chocolate-amaretti tortes have scrumptious almond flavor from toasted almonds and crushed amaretti cookies with gooey fudge-y centers. And without hauling out your heavy kitchen-aid mixer, these tortes can be prepared up to the baking stage in under half an hour. That is my kind of dessert!

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