Desserts & Baking

I don’t remember the exact year when I first saw people raving about Beatty’s Chocolate Cake online—it was sometime between my kids being old enough to pour their own cereal but still young enough to leave socks under the couch like confetti. I must have brushed right past it, too, because chocolate cake wasn’t really “my thing” back then. Strange, right? I was always the one who gravitated toward lemon bars or a cherry pie (my mother made the sourest cherry pies that puckered your whole face, and I miss that). But lately, maybe it’s age or just the way …

The first time I tried to make real baklava, I cried. Not dramatic, sobbing tears—just the sort of frustrated, silent tears that come when you realize you’ve buttered yourself into a corner. Phyllo sheets tearing, sticky counters, butter pooling in places it shouldn’t. My youngest, bless him, wandered through the kitchen and asked if I was “making paper crafts or food.” That was enough to make me laugh through it, but the pan of baklava never did set right. We ate it anyway—too sweet, soggy bottom, like eating nuts wrapped in damp tissue paper. Now, my mother (who would’ve been …

It’s funny, the way certain foods just attach themselves to particular moods or seasons in your memory. For me, Apple Pan Dowdy doesn’t belong to Thanksgiving or Christmas, or even to the kinds of gatherings where people are bustling around with clipboards of what they’re bringing. It belongs to the in-between days—the gray, misty Tuesdays, the slightly lonely Fridays where you’re restless but not sure why. The first time I made it, it was one of those bone-chill damp days in late October, years back when the kids were still in high school. I had apples sitting too long on …

There’s something about September that always knocks me a little off balance. The mornings suddenly carry that faint bite in the air, even when the afternoons are still sweltering. The cicadas sound different, like they’re starting to fade out, and then, of course, there’s the business of school schedules again. I don’t have school-aged kids anymore—my youngest is nearly thirty, which I can hardly believe—but even now I can feel that familiar gear shift, the clatter of lunchboxes on the counter, backpacks dropped in the hallway, and me standing at the stove with something sweet baking away, trying to make …

You ever have one of those desserts that just shuts everyone up at the table? Like, people take a bite and suddenly the room goes silent — all you hear are little hums of approval and the scrape of forks against plates. Yeah, that’s these Caramel Cheesecake Bars. I made these the first time when my sister was visiting from out of town. She’s a cheesecake snob — I say that with love — and she said (quote), “These are better than Cheesecake Factory.” I just smiled and handed her another bar. We both knew it was true. These bars …

Let me tell you something: this cake? This cake is happiness in a pan. I started making it years ago—honestly, more by accident than design. I had a box of yellow cake mix, some leftover pineapple from a Sunday ham glaze, and a bag of coconut that was supposed to go in cookies (never did). It was one of those “just throw it all in and pray” kind of days, and let me tell you—when that smell started floating through the house, I knew we were onto something. I call it my God Bless America Cake because it’s the kind …

Just like Grandma used to make — only now you get to be the one handing them out. Let me tell you something: there are cookies that get eaten, and then there are cookies that get remembered. Chocolate crinkle cookies? These are the latter. They remind me of snowy Midwest holidays growing up — my mom dusted in flour, Bing Crosby crooning in the background, and the smell of chocolate filling every corner of the house. We’d sneak spoonfuls of that sticky, dark dough straight from the fridge (you know you’ve done it too), then wait impatiently as they baked …

Simple. Sweet. The kind of treat you make once and never stop thinking about. You know how some recipes just feel like home? This is one of those. These little Amish White Cashew Clusters with Cranberries are so simple it’s almost silly. Just three ingredients, no oven, no stress — and somehow they still manage to taste like something your grandma would’ve had cooling on the counter for the church bake sale. The first time I made these, it was on a whim — I had leftover white chocolate chips, a nearly forgotten bag of dried cranberries, and a half-used …

You ever taste something and it just… takes you back? That’s exactly what this recipe does for me. One bite of Grandma’s Chilled Fruit Delight, and I’m a kid again, barefoot on the back porch, waiting for that big old Pyrex dish to come out of the freezer. It wasn’t a holiday or a potluck or even just a plain ol’ Sunday dinner without this sitting on the table — usually next to something in a Jell-O mold and a bowl of ambrosia salad with way too many marshmallows. This was the “fancy” salad. Creamy, sweet, loaded with fruit — …

I don’t know about you, but some of my favorite recipes weren’t fancy or complicated — just old-fashioned, made-with-love kind of food. Bread pudding is one of those. My mom used to throw it together with leftover bread, some milk and eggs, and somehow it turned into magic. We’d sit around the table with big scoops of warm pudding and maybe — just maybe — a little drizzle of custard if we had the time. This is my go-to version. It’s simple, cozy, and has that creamy texture with just the right amount of spice. The custard sauce? Optional, but …