Bake or Break

Salty Brownie Tassies

One of my most-baked recipes is Pecan Tassies. When I posted that recipe years ago, I had discovered that the word "tassie" was not that familiar to most people. Thus, the name change. But, to me, they have always been and always will be tassies. While I'm still likely to whip up a batch of those old favorites some time during the holidays, I also wanted to do something just a tad different. Enter chocolate.

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Double Nut Drenched Chocolate Cake

View a printable recipe or more photos As many of you may know, Quinn and I made the big move to New York in October. Not surprisingly, I've had very little time for baking before or after the big day. As Thanksgiving approached, however, I knew that I would have to break my bake-less streak for our first New York holiday.

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Hazelnut Cake

View a printable recipe or more photos Quinn's birthday cake this year is a familiar theme: chocolate and hazelnut. That's been the common factor of his birthday dessert for the last couple of years. I'm certainly not complaining because that is one of my favorite flavor combinations.

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Chocolate Hazelnut Cake

Every year, I let Quinn pick his birthday dessert. Now, when I say that, what I actually mean is that I spend a good bit of time asking lots of questions. A cake or something else? Chocolate? Caramel? Cheesecake? Any idea at all what you'd like? Then, using the bits of information I'm given here and there, I pick out several recipes and let him choose one. This year's choice is from one of my favorite baking books, How to Be a Domestic Goddess by Nigella Lawson. It's actually called Torta Alla Gianduia. That seemed a bit much to me, so I went with the much simpler name.

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Raspberry Hazelnut Crumble Bars

View a printable recipe or more photos Do you like butter? A lot? Well, look no further. These bars are just for you. This may be the most butter I've ever used in a single recipe. Especially for something made in a small square baking pan. I found this recipe in my "to bake" collection the other day and put it aside to make sooner rather than later. The page was ripped from a magazine, although I'm sad to say I'm not sure which one. From the looks of it, I think it was either Taste of the South or Southern Lady. Considering its Southern origin, I suppose we shouldn't be surprised at the amount of butter. Being a Southern girl myself, I'm certainly no stranger to butter-laden baked goods.

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Sour Cream Hazelnut Bundt Cake

View the original recipe or more photos For years, I had no luck with Cooking Light's recipes. Nothing ever turned out the way I had envisioned. I don't know if they've changed or if I have, but I find myself enjoying their creations more and more. I stopped my subscription to their magazine years ago, but I have renewed and am enjoying it more than ever.

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