How did vanilla get such a bad rap? I don't know how it came to mean "bland" or "boring", when done correctly, it is exotic and floral and sweet, rivaling the intensity of chocolate or fruit.
Read moreRASPBERRY RICOTTA CAKE
This cake is improbably delicious. At first glance -- well, at first glance it looked good enough that I wanted to dive into the magazine page and take a bite. At second glance -- and upon reading the recipe -- I was confused about the texture. It has over a cup of ricotta cheese and 3 eggs, so is it a cheesecake? But it has over a cup of flour and butter, like a regular yellow cake.
Read morePERFECT CHOCOLATE CAKE
The best part of this chocolate cake was not the perfectly swirled frosting success (thank you Erin McDowell for all the lessons), or the very, very, very intense flavor that comes only from regular old Hershey's cocoa, or how good it tasted three days later at 1 AM when we ate some, tipsy, on the couch.
Read morePOSIE'S CAKE
Cake decorating can be a tricky skill to master -- too many piping bags required, and fondant scraps all over your kitchen, and food coloring stuck to your hands for days. It's easier than you might think to make a very impressive cake, without needing to have lots of decorating practice, and here are my favorite ways:
Read moreAPPLE CUSTARD SQUARES
These apple squares taste like a cross between a clafoutis and an apple pie. They possess a soft, custardy layer where the fruit is baked against batter -- like a Dutch baby pancake in a handheld form, just begging to be wrapped up and slipped in your bag for later.
Apple Custard Squares
Adapted from Dorie Greenspan and Food52