After eating my way through the cupcake craze, I'm ready to put my muffin tins away and dust off the cake pans that have been sitting at the back of my cupboards. Don't get me wrong: I love a tiny handheld treat. But there's something very satisfying slicing into — and serving — a full-sized cake. This time of year, I want something that goes well with a cup of tea or a scoop of fresh Read more

Warmer months mean lazy afternoon tea parties, and these thumbprint cookies are a dainty treat to add to the table. For added crunch and flavor, try rolling the crisp, crumbly shortbread in toasted, slivered almonds. Although vegan, the smooth, dark chocolate "buttercream" imparts rich, tart notes to the otherwise delicate cookie. Take a look at the fast and easy recipe. Read more

If you've never had a pain d'epi, this pull-apart baguette is intended to mimic the appearance of the flower of the wheat stalk, or "epi" in French. Each little ear of wheat can be easily pulled apart, which makes this bread shape ideal to pass around the table at dinner parties or picnics. If you don't have time to create a sourdough bread starter, this overnight dough is the next best thing. Read more

Photo: Lauren Hendrickson A couple of years ago I watched the Barefoot Contessa roast bacon in the oven. She was making a BLT and didn't need the bacon fat. I had never thought to bake bacon, and the idea has changed my life! Now, I roast bacon all the time. It's an easy, convenient, and splatter-free way to cook it. Here's what you do: Preheat the oven to 375°F. Cover a large cookie sheet Read more

Living in a small, city apartment, I've learned that I can go without a lot in the appliance department while still managing to create delicious food. The oven, however, is not one of those things; in the modern kitchen, it's the king. Two cooking methods — roasting and baking — are nearly synonymous with the concept of the oven itself, yet they are seemingly identical techniques. They both Read more

As a native San Franciscan, I can't get enough sourdough bread. While this isn't the only city where you can get a great loaf, it sure perfected the art before artisan bread hit the mainstream. So it was just a matter of time before I took a stab at a homemade version inspired by the town I call home. Every region's sourdough gets its unique flavor from the yeast organisms in the starter. Read more

What if you could simply conjure ingredients out of thin air? It sounds like something out of a Star Trek episode, but it's absolutely possible in one instance: sourdough. This tangy, fluffy bread gets its start as a simple fermented flour and water mixture that pulls its yeast fungi straight from the air! While you can certainly bake delicious bread using the dry active yeast that comes in Read more

If you went to college or lived near a campus bar, you're undoubtedly familiar with a drink called the Irish car bomb. It's similar to a sake bomb or cement mixer in that it requires choreography: one shot each of Baileys Irish cream liqueur and Irish whiskey are dropped into a pint glass of Guinness stout, and some poor soul downs the entire concoction before the drink can curdle, often while Read more

I love using color to brighten up my baked goods, but sometimes the idea of adding drop after drop of artificial food dye makes me cringe. So with St. Patrick's Day coming up, the hunt was on to find a natural coloring agent to turn my baked goods a lovely shade of green. Historically used in Japanese tea ceremonies, matcha is finely milled green tea powder that today finds its way into mochi, Read more