Valerie

Basic Banana Chocolate-Chip Bread

By: Valerie March 29, 2013March 15, 2021

Breads, Muffins and Sconesbanana, bread, chocolate chip3 Comments

Is there anything more comforting than a warm piece of classic banana and chocolate-chip bread? Unless it is accompanied by a hot cup of cocoa, I think not.

Rocky Road Tart

By: Valerie March 26, 2013March 15, 2021

Pies and Tartschocolate, marshmallows, rocky road, tart, walnuts2 Comments

Since I wanted to bake a couple of things this weekend and was looking for some ideas, I offered my roommate and best friend to chose the dessert of her liking that I would subsequently make. She thus sacrificed herself to be my quality control representative, as usual, and wisely chose the rocky road tart. Chocolate, marshmallows, walnuts and more chocolate. Wise choice indeed.

Nut-Crust Tart Shell

By: Valerie March 24, 2013March 16, 2021

Foundation recipescrust, nut, tart shell2 Comments

This nutty dough recipe somehow looks good even before it is baked, even just rolled up in a ball. As seems to be often the case for me, I had a little trouble making this dough.

Chocolate Layer Cake with Caramel Frosting

By: Valerie March 16, 2013March 17, 2021

Cakes and Cupcakescake, caramel, chocolate, fondant4 Comments

I decided to make this caramel-frosted triple-layer chocolate cake for my sister’s birthday. She loves anything sweet, so I figured this would be proper. The recipe was effortless to follow and the result was superb. The cake, particularly with the delightful caramel frosting that tastes like sucre à la crème, was scrumptious.

Caramel Frosting

By: Valerie March 15, 2013March 17, 2021

Frosting, sauces and garnishescaramel, frosting1 Comment

For my sister’s 18th birthday I wanted to make her a special cake. She has quite the sweet tooth and I was consequently looking for a sweet and ideally chocolatey dessert. As I flipped through the pages of my favorite cookbook, I came across a recipe for a chocolate cake with caramel frosting. Yum!!

Raisin Butter Tarts

By: Valerie March 13, 2013March 17, 2021

Pies and Tartsbutter, raisins, tart10 Comments

Miniature tarts. Butter. Gooey filling. This is the exact concoction that you will obtain with this recipe! Have you ever been in the process of making a recipe and you just knew by looking at it that it would be delicious once cooked or baked? This is one such recipe.

Coconut Hazelnut Biscotti

By: Valerie March 10, 2013March 17, 2021

Cookies, Bars and Biscottibiscotti, coconut, hazelnutLeave a Comment

Another new type of dessert to be tried: biscotti! I had not eaten many biscotti in my life, much less make them. I now know that biscotti are twice-baked and are meant to be dry. Having a bunch of hazelnuts on hand that were begging to be used, I opted to try this coconut and hazelnut biscotti recipe. What a tremendous success!

Peanut Butter Cookies

By: Valerie March 5, 2013March 17, 2021

Cookies, Bars and Biscotticookies, peanut butter2 Comments

I love peanut butter. It smells heavenly, tastes even better and can be used in so many different recipes. For a reason that I cannot fathom, I have however never tried peanut butter cookies. I made this recipe today after wanting some cookies and I simply love these!

Banana Coconut Muffins

By: Valerie February 23, 2013March 17, 2021

Breads, Muffins and Sconesbanana, coconut, muffin, walnutsLeave a Comment

Something I love baking is muffins. Muffins are versatile, delicious and usually quite filling, just like these ones. They’re almost like a healthy cupcake (or so I like to think when I’m eating one!).

Chocolate Chip Cookies

By: Valerie February 18, 2013March 19, 2021

Cookies, Bars and Biscottichocolate chip, cookiesLeave a Comment

One of the classics which also happens to be one of my personal favorite desserts is the chocolate chip cookie. For me, the perfect chocolate chip cookie must be chewy, tender and have a high chocolate chip to dough ratio.