Category: Dessert

• Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

  The carrot cake was fantastic. It was relatively light, tender and moist, but not soggy. And then there’s the cream cheese frosting. I think it speaks for itself. I knew the cake was good when our friend, Jane, had two servings of dessert, which she never does.

  Written by

  Chuck

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  March 20, 2008

• Lemon Olive Oil Cake

  Hungry Bear has been craving a tart, lemony dessert for awhile, so we made a lemon olive oil cake this past Sunday night. I love olive oil, but in a cake… hmm? I had my doubts about the cake, but Hungry Bear had it on her list of things to make, so we gave it…

  Written by

  Chuck

  ·

  March 3, 2008

• Tofu Chocolate Chip Cookies or Energy Bar?

  The first time I was offered a tofu chocolate chip cookie, I made a funny face, probably the same look that some of you are giving me right now. With a little hesitation, I took a bite and much to my surprise, the tofu cookie was really good.

  Written by

  Chuck

  ·

  February 18, 2008

• Blueberry Kuchen

  Blueberry kuchen is really easy to make and only requires fifteen minutes of prep time and forty or so minutes of baking. Our kuchen turned out great with a nice golden crust and a not too sweet, jam-like blueberry filling. Blueberries are added on top of the filling and each bite of the kuchen lifts…

  Written by

  Chuck

  ·

  January 17, 2008

• Chocolate Macadamia Nut Torte

  The torte was still good, with a nice nutty chocolate flavor. The texture is moist, dense and a little crunchy from the macadamia nuts. I will definitely make this torte again, but use a lower baking temperature of 350°F.

  Written by

  Chuck

  ·

  January 4, 2008

• Chocolate Pudding Cake

  The chocolate pudding cake is spectacular. It’s a cross between a spongy cake and a gooey pudding with a crispy, chewy top layer. This simple dessert has a rich, intense chocolate flavor, especially if the bite has a melted chocolate chunk in it. Add a scoop of vanilla ice cream or a dollop of whipped…

  Written by

  Chuck

  ·

  December 23, 2007

• Bouchon Battle – Valrhona vs. Scharffen Berger

  Chocolate bouchons are amazing cork shaped brownies found at Thomas Keller’s Bouchon Bakery in Napa and NYC. The recipe is also used to make the warm chocolate brownie served at Ad Hoc, which is our favorite dessert at any restaurant in the Bay Area country. Every time we go to Napa, we have to get…

  Written by

  Chuck

  ·

  December 5, 2007

• Ginormous Fruit Salad

  I present to you Hungry Bear’s ginormous fruit salad. On Thanksgiving, we had the latest version of her giant fruit salad with cantaloupe, honeydew, watermelon, pineapple, strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, kiwis, persimmons and mandarin oranges. The fruit selection is usually seasonal, but we are fortunate to get good fruit year round in San Francisco.

  Written by

  Chuck

  ·

  December 2, 2007

• Thanksgiving Feast

  Another Thanksgiving another feast in San Francisco. All of us SNDsters are transplants from the East coast or Midwest and we avoid traveling during Thanksgiving. Instead, we celebrate turkey day by hanging out and cooking at Jane and Mark’s place. It’s typically an eclectic pot luck with friends who also don’t have family in the…

  Written by

  Chuck

  ·

  November 25, 2007

• Chewy Chocolate Chunk Oatmeal Cookies

  Both batches of cookies turned out great and had a super nice texture — crispy around the edge, but still soft and chewy in the middle. I have never had oatmeal cookies made with Scharffen Berger chocolate. I loved the fruity, bittersweet chocolate with the oatmeal.

  Written by

  Chuck

  ·

  November 8, 2007