Pumpkin Cheesecake with Pecan Praline Sauce - a perfect holiday dessert!| David Lebovitz
It’s almost ready! Coming this Fall is the new, completely revised edition of Ready for Dessert: My Best Recipes. [It’s now available for preorder ==> Bookshop, Amazon, Barnes & Noble and at the links below.] When my publisher told me they wanted a new edition of the book, I decided to revise the book completely, from top to bottom. Ready for Dessert is a compilation...| David Lebovitz
Dinner in Paris generally starts at 8 pm, especially in restaurants, and I get ravenously hungry between lunch and dinner. Parisians do dine rather late – often not until 9:30 pm or later, and that’s an awfully long stretch. So French people visit their local pâtisserie for an afternoon snack, known as le goûter, although nowadays Parisians often call it le snack. Le snack is often...| David Lebovitz
In some places, eggs are in short supply. For bakers, that may present a problem for us. But the folks at King Arthur Baking have provided an excellent guidelines to using egg substitutes, with tips for using everything from seltzer and flax seeds, to chickpea liquid and fruit puree, so you can keep on baking. Check out their detailed guide to egg substitutions guide here!| David Lebovitz
I’ve been on a marmalade bender lately. Well, it’s actually been for the last few weeks. Winter, of course, is marmalade season and the markets in Paris are heaped with citrus: Corsican clementines, pretty yellow bergamots, hefty pink grapefruits from Florida (although some infer appellations from elsewhere – namely, the Louvre), leafy lemons from Nice, and lots and lots of oranges. The stands are so...| David Lebovitz
Whenever I mention “Chocolate Chip Cookies,” this recipe seems to come up in the conversation. I’ve been making chocolate chip cookies all of my life, and am always happy to add new ones to my repertoire. I’ve made them with various kinds of flours, different types (and sizes) of chocolate, some with nuts (or cocoa nibs), and others without. In some cases, the salt in...| David Lebovitz
Starting in late December, pastry shops in Paris start jumping the gun, and windows and showcases begin filling up with Galettes des rois, or King Cake, in anticipation of the celebration of Epiphany, on January 6th. Because it’s such a popular treat, and lucrative for bakeries, the period of availability seems to extend a few more days every year and it’s not unusual for find...| David Lebovitz
I’m somewhat of a grump about bread pudding. It’s not that I don’t like it, but to me, bread pudding is something you eat at home, like fruit salad. I don’t need someone cutting up a bowl of fruit for me nor do I need someone tearing up leftover bread and serving it forth. (And handing me a bill for it.) Bread pudding is home...| David Lebovitz
I've been pondering what, if anything, I should close out the year with. In the past, I've written down my thoughts here, which I spent the last couple of days pondering. Reading and re-reading what I wrote, I realized that I couldn't quite figure out what I wanted to say. And if I couldn't figure it out, I didn't feel like I should inflict that on| David Lebovitz
If you're anything like me, you're thrilled when the season for summer fruits is in full swing. I like nothing better than returning from my market with a basket full of fresh peaches, nectarines, cherries, and whatever other fruits happen to look best that morning. And since I've started plying the Parisian vendors with brownies, I'm getting the much-desired VIP treatment at the market. It's nice| David Lebovitz
My favorite thing that I bought this year is this old battered gelato dish, which was my score at a street market in Palermo. It was sitting there all by its lonesome, and there I was, to give it a happy home – it was kismet. (Or maybe it's called something else in Italian, but I'm just happy I stumbled across such a fabulous find| David Lebovitz
One of the least expensive, and most effective, things you can do to improve the taste of your cakes, quick breads, cookies, and muffins is to switch to aluminum-free baking powder. Baking powder is a leavening agent, and it's usually called for in recipes where there are alkaline (as opposed to acidic) ingredients. In actuality, baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) is one of the ingredients in| David Lebovitz
If I had to name five items that are obligatory in my baking repertoire, after The Big Four (sugar, butter, flour, and eggs), a bottle of kirsch is essential for me, right up there with vanilla, vying for numéro 5. A few drops of kirsch highlights and augments the flavor of peaches, nectarines, plums, and every kind of berry imaginable. And since it's summer and| David Lebovitz
I've been getting a certain amount of questions about homemade ice cream, which I'm going to answer here over the next several weeks. I'm going to start with the number one question folks have been asking: Why does homemade ice cream gets harder than commercial ice cream in their freezer? And what can be done to prevent it? Salted Butter Caramel Ice Cream (click for| David Lebovitz
Is almond flour the same as almond meal or ground almonds? Yes. If you are unsure, check the ingredients on the package; the only ingredient listed should be almonds. If there are other ingredients, it's not the same thing and should not be used in a recipe that calls for almond flour. Other names for almond flour are powdered almonds, almond meal, and almond powder.| David Lebovitz
A fresh fruit dessert that uses the best of the season!| David Lebovitz