The Ultimate Chocolate Cobbler
If you’re looking for a decadent chocolate dessert, my Chocolate Cobbler recipe is the one you’ve been dreaming of all this time. This chocolate cobbler is a self-saucing pudding; the chocolate topping melts down and creates a sauce that bakes down into the cake, which makes an incredible moist dessert. It’s mind-blowing, honestly. If I […]
Strawberry Dream Cake
Strange as it may seem, the vast majority of existing strawberry cake recipes turn to strawberry Jell-O for flavor. Hoping to avoid this artificial solution, we performed test after test to figure out the best way to season our cake with actual strawberries. Any strawberry solids wreaked havoc on the tender cake, but strained […]
Gingersnaps
We wanted to put the “snap” back in Gingersnap cookies. This meant creating a cookie that not only breaks cleanly in half and crunches satisfyingly with every bite but also has an assertive ginger flavor and heat. The key to texture was reducing the moisture in the final baked cookie. We achieved this by reducing […]
Italian Cream Cake
Chockablock full of nuts and coconut, this gorgeous Southern layer cake isn’t as well known as it deserves to be. It’s time to spill its secrets.We loved the idea of loading this layer cake with coconut and pecans, but the added bulk spelled destruction for the tender crumb and didn’t enhance the flavor. Toasting the […]
Caramel-Espresso Yule Log with Meringue Bracket-Style Mushrooms and Chocolate Crumbles
The first step in making a successfully rolled cake is choosing the right cake. We picked chiffon for its whipped egg whites, which provided resilience; its oil, which provided moist tenderness; and its baking powder, which provided an extra lift. While many recipes involve rolling the warm cake into a sugar-coated towel to “train” it […]
Chopped Chocolate Chip Cookies
A pinch of nutmeg and a sprinkling of salt amplify the butterscotchy flavor of chocolate chip cookies, while a blend of milk and dark chocolate chunks provide alternating bites of creamy sweetness and bitter intensity. You can bake the cookies until they’re golden brown and crunchy, but I prefer to pull them while they’re still […]
Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars
For these bars, we wanted to get the flavor of a gingersnap crust (which can bake up unappealingly hard) using graham crackers. The simple solution was to add ground ginger to the crackers to spice them up.
Yelapa-Style Chocolate Pie
In Yelapa, on the west coast of central Mexico, Chelly Rodriguez is known as the Pie Lady. For more than two decades, she’s been selling home-baked pies by the slice, to be eaten out of hand while lounging or strolling on the beach. Food writer and recipe developer Paola Briseño-González re-created Rodriguez’s chocolate pie […]
Amalfi-Style Lemon Cake
Giovanna Aceto, whose family owns a generations-old lemon farm on the Amalfi Coast of Italy, showed us how to make torta al limone, a simple lemon cake popular throughout the region. Naturally, Aceto used farm-grown lemons, a variety called sfusato amalfitano that mature to the size of softballs; the fruits are wonderfully fragrant and have […]
Old-Fashioned Flaky Pie Crust
This easy pie dough has a recipe that pastry chefs tend to favor, but it doesn’t require any fancy ingredients, equipment, or training. Just smash some cold butter in a bowl of flour, stir in a bit of water, roll it out, and fold it over a few times. It’s essentially a streamlined blitz, making […]
Peaches and Cream Pie
The name made it sound delicious, but the historic recipes we tried didn’t pan out. Custard to the rescue. Time and again the juicy peaches wreaked watery havoc on our custardy pie filling. Roasting them on the upper-middle rack for about 45 minutes evaporated their excess liquid, and a dusting of granulated sugar encouraged a […]
Chocolate Layer Cake Rounds
“Blooming” the cocoa powder in boiling water and adding instant espresso powder to the batter produce deep chocolate flavor. Sour cream adds moisture and tang. This recipe is very versatile—change up frostings and fillings to produce all sorts of different cakes.
The Best Cherry Pie (With Fresh or Frozen Fruit)
This recipe changed everything I knew about pie. Before I sorted out a truly scientific ratio of ingredients, fruit pies seemed to be a hit-or-miss proposition: some days soup, some days gloop. But, after cracking open the mechanics of starch, I can count on a flawless cherry pie every time, regardless of whether I’m […]
Apple Crumble
Making an apple crumble that tastes primarily of apples starts with plenty of fruit. We tossed 4 pounds of apples with 2 tablespoons of lemon juice to enhance their bright flavor. Adding just 2 tablespoons of brown sugar to the filling kept the apples from tasting too sweet. We baked the apples in a covered […]
Coconut Macaroons
Soft and chewy on the inside, crisp and golden on the outside — these are the perfect coconut macaroons. They’re delicious plain but even more irresistible dipped in dark chocolate. They also keep well for days, making them the perfect treat to bake ahead or give away during the holidays.
Creamy Eggless Chocolate Frosting
At last, a thick and creamy chocolate frosting without eggs or powdered sugar!This rich and creamy frosting is essentially our eggless chocolate mousse finished with butter instead of cream. Its flavor hinges entirely on the deep, dark flavor of top-notch Dutch cocoa, so don't expect the same results from a low-fat brand.Why It WorksUnlike […]