Bake or Break

Sour Cream Coffee Cake with Chocolate Cinnamon Swirl

I toyed with the idea of having this be the shortest description of a recipe I've ever written by simply writing: This is the best coffee cake ever. But, I thought maybe you'd want to know why this is the best coffee cake ever. One of the reasons for that declaration is the texture of the cake. It is so amazingly soft and light. It's one of the most easy-to-eat cakes I've ever had.

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Peanut Butter Cookies with Milk Chocolate Chunks

The recipe for these amazing cookies comes to us from the equally amazing guys at Baked and their cookbook, Baked: New Frontiers in Baking. I've only made it over to Red Hook once to sample their creations, but their two cookbooks are certainly well-used in my kitchen. I've had these cookies bookmarked for a while. Recently, I had a couple of baking... Well, I hate to say disasters. Let's just say I've had some challenges of late. Because of that, I found myself wanting to bake something straightforward. Not surprisingly, I turned to an old favorite pair of mine - peanut butter and chocolate.

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Mississippi Mud Pie

Take a look at that beauty. That is a prime example of what happens when I let Quinn pick out dessert. Now, take a look at the recipe. That is also what happens when I let Quinn pick dessert. So, here's what we have. First, there's the amazing Oreo crust that is sufficiently thick to hold up all of this deliciousness. Next is a flourless chocolate cake with just the right amount of coffee flavor. To top that off, there's a chocolate pudding that would be an impressive dessert on its own. Then, just in case all that isn't enough, there's a lovely, thick layer of sweetened whipped cream on top.

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Sweet and Salty Cake

View a printable recipe or more photos After only a few seconds perusing its pages at the bookstore several weeks ago, I fell in baking love with Baked, which is brought to us by the bakery of the same name in Brooklyn. I brought it home, poured over its recipes, and marked more than a few as "must-bake." Fast forward to a few days before Thanksgiving, when I was having a very hard time decided what to make in the chocolate category for our dinner. Suddenly, I remembered this cake and became very excited about making it.

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