You hear a lot of discussion in the news, on food blogs, and in grocery stores about organic food. Organic food is something my husband and I try to buy as much as we can, mostly because we think it tastes better, and because we prefer our food pesticide free. Another label that I think …
Walnuts
I’m chasing a white whale, I know it. But my Ishmael is clearly the perfect bakery muffin. I’ve got the texture down pat. The pancake mix is really what does it. However, I am still searching for that exquisite domed top, the high rise of those Panera Bread behemoths. I’ve got a few more tricks …
Just a week ago I stood in this beautiful Walnut orchard as a guest of the California Walnut Board and learned all of the hard work, blood, sweat, and tears that goes into growing 99% of our nation’s walnuts in the tiny farming communities surrounding Sacramento. I can’t tell you how beautiful it was. I …
Hummingbird Cake is one of those recipes that’s uniquely Southern, and found nearly every springtime at someone’s baby shower, wedding, or barbecue.
Rumor has it the cake’s name comes from its over-the-top sweetness – so sweet that there’s no way a hummingbird could resist it’s sugary lure.
Personally, it reminds me a lot of carrot cake, but instead of getting its sweetness from carrots, it gets it from fresh pineapple, ripe bananas, and warmly roasted walnuts. They’re each equal stars of this show.
You might be looking at that photo and thinking to yourself, “Amber, that’s just another chocolate chip walnut cookie. Yum, but, come on! It’s been done!”. Well, my friend, you’d be right, except that that right there is a Levain Bakery chocolate chip walnut cookie, that I made at home.
The Levain Bakery is famous in this area, and honestly, beyond. It’s been the subject of New York Times articles, Food Network Shows, and many a food blogger discussion.
These cookies, they’re special. They’ve got weight. They’ve got this outer.. shell, for lack of a better word. When you bite into the cookie, the outer layer has a crunch to it, a bite. But it’s ever so slight, and gives way immediately to a texture somewhere between cake and chewy that I thought I’d never be able to duplicate.