Fruit of the Underworld (Pomegranate lime vanilla cake)

Pretty in pink can be difficult to achieve without food dye. Unfortunately, taking an all-natural approach might not always turn out as you expected. This was the case with a batch of blood orange cinnamon rolls Aaron prepared one day. While delicious, the attempt to stain the icing ruby red with blood orange juice instead yielded a deeply unappetizing mauve-taupe. My attempts to correct with the trusty dropper of food dye resulted in nuclear pink. Ultimately, the project was abandoned for photographic purposes. This pomegranate lime vanilla yogurt cake, on the other hand, is perfectly calibrated to yield a beautiful finish using only the most natural of ingredients.

Au naturale

The Gingerbread Man (Honey stout gingerbread cake, honey glaze)

As the Thanksgiving dust settles, baking cakes may be the last thing on your mind, but as winter drags on, I expect that you (like me) will come creeping back into the kitchen. Call it culinary therapy. Winter demands sturdier, more substantial, more warming foods, and this month's honey stout gingerbread cake fits the bill, perfectly.    A bundt cake, this takes advantage of the pretty, fluted mold and uses a simple glaze you can just pour over the top, rather than fussing with layers and smoothing icing. Triple-spiked with fresh, ground, and crystallized ginger, it's an easy pick-me-up with just the right amount of not-to-sweet gingery fire.

Fyah

In the Limelight (Lime Delicious)

Lemon pudding cake is a recipe that has been haunting me across social media for weeks, now. Whether it's an algorithmic snafu or message from the divine, I finally surrendered and clicked through and now I have a new go-to dessert recipe. Especially using the Australian name of Lemon Delicious, it's an easy sell: soft, pillowy citrus white cake floats atop a layer of warm, semi-liquid custard. Making it in individual ramekins allows you to turn out portions onto plates for a prettier presentation and the enjoyment of drizzling the creamy sauce down over the cake. Or, you can chill them, in which case it becomes akin to a cakey rendition of lemon meringue pie. As both of the GourmetGents prefer limes to lemons, this version is for Lime Delicious, but any citrus variant is an option.

Delicious by any name

Salubrious, Celebratory Citrus (Triple citrus pound cake, citrus curd)

Hilariously overdue, I am loading the backlog of articles into the blog. Expect lots of updates, soon...

Now that Snowmageddon is but a fading memory, I'm ready to celebrate. This may seem somewhat incongruous, given my desire to go all-healthy last month, but every calorie-counter can find a way to make room for a little cake. If not for the pleasure of food, there's not much point eating, in the first place. Early spring is an interstitial season. For those in the northeast U.S., the first plants are just starting to perk up, leaving fresh & local food options a little thin on the ground. Spring greens like asparagus, fiddleheads, spinach, sweet peas, would all be appropriate, but I think they lack the right appeal for dessert. Instead, I opted for a melange of citrus fruits, which blend flavors I've always considered quintessentially summery, despite the most bountiful fruiting season being the dead of winter, splitting the difference for a spring theme. Triple citrus cake paired with citrus curd makes an easy, elegant dessert, appropriate for any time of year.

Citrus!!!

Decadent Delight (Gateau au chocolat fondant de Nathalie)

Chocolate cake is like the little black dress of dessert. It can be dressed up or down from the homeliest of meals to the pinnacle of haute cuisine and remain equally enticing in either environ. As a culture, we are given to hyperbole (and, as an individual, I am more so), so it would be no surprise to me if, when I say "this is the best chocolate cake in the world," you take it with a grain of salt. It helps that salt and chocolate pair so nicely. Perhaps it would change your mind, however, if I mentioned that a sizeable shard of the fractious and chaotic internet generally agrees this is, indeed, the cake of cakes? 

Truly, you are the cake of cakes

Honeyed Words (Honey Cake)

As we head into September, we come ever closer to the celebration of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. While not religious or ethnically Jewish, I was intrigued by the traditional dessert of honey cake, mostly because I was lured in by the name. I like cake and I love honey, surely combining the two should be especially delicious, right? The answer is: absolutely!

Absolute honey

The Forbidden Fruit (Grapefruit Mascarpone Pound Cake)

I was trying to come up with something special for the holiday season, seeking a treat that was not just seasonally appropriate, but also a bit off the beaten path. It seems to me that stereotypical winter desserts always either go straight for the chocolate (not that I can blame them) or some variation of cinnamon, clove, and nutmeg. Those flavors are all well and good, but ever the iconoclast, I set my heart upon creating a grapefruit cake. Moistened with butter and mascarpone cheese, this rich cake allows the delicately sweet-tart perfume of grapefruit to bloom beautifully.

Sadly less pink than I'd hoped

Sunny Side Up (Pineapple Upside-Down Cake)

Pineapple upside-down cake is amazing. Don't get me wrong; I think lots of cakes are amazing, but this one definitely has a little something special. Growing up, it was my father's favorite and requisite for each of his birthdays (conveniently in May). As a child, I protested the lack of icing, which is kind of silly, because pineapple upside-down cake's appeal is a luscious caramel topping that makes icing wholly unnecessary. There's a kind of witchery that occurs in the baking, whereby the oozing caramel fuses into the cake itself to provide a layer of incalculably succulent sweetness. In a fit of nostalgia, I baked it for my sister-in-law Sarah's birthday, as a little something different.

See the difference?

Setting the Mood (Chocolate Raspberry Trifles)

Now that January is drawing to its close, the last big holiday of the winter approaches: Valentine's Day. I think a singular day of romance is rather silly, as if people need a reminder once a year to be good to their partners. There's also much to be made of the rampant commercialization of the practice and for those who happen to be single, it's simply annoying. It will most definitely always have one saving grace, though, and that's as an excuse for chocolate.

Best excuse, ever.

Much Ado About Mocha (Mocha Cheesecake)

This post is also available as an article in the 8/29/2012 Williamsport Sun Gazette.

August marks the beginning of one of my very favorite times of year, as blistering heat ebbs and gives way to fresher air, bluer skies, and cooler breezes. Living in the valley, our mornings are often deceptively shrouded in thick fog, only to burn away into the clear light of day. As the season turns, my sister-in-law Sarah and her husband, Seth, take different tasks on their farm, like gathering fresh honey from their many hives. While I had originally intended to feature that glowing, liquid sweetness for today's article, an even more momentous occasion cropped up: Aaron's birthday.

Increases happiness by at least 5%

The Raw Truth (Raw Vegan White Peach Cheesecake)

About two weeks ago, we held a small party with family and friends, celebrating the 10,000th pageview of our blog (we should hit 11k, today). Our good friend Jules, who we hardly ever get to see outside chance encounters at the Grower's Market, would be in attendance and she happens to be vegan. To make her feel welcome, I wanted to ensure more items were vegan than not, because it's awful to be at a party and be unable to eat anything. For the glorious finale, that meant a raw, vegan cheesecake.

Less cooking, more awesome

Cupcake Wars (Raspberry Cupcakes)

As we've recently established, I am coo coo  for cupcakes, a chronic condition from which I am unlikely to recover. So, while my friends ready the "intervention" banner, I look to any occasion as an excuse to begin manufacturing tiny treats. Recently, it was our good friend Mandy's birthday, so the spirit was with me once again.

I wish I could quit you

Capricious Citrus (Orange Snacking Cake)

When it comes to cooking, a lot of my creations start with pure whim. After all, "who knows where ideas come from? They just appear." I can't say exactly why, but last night I decided I simply must bake an orange cake. An orange snacking cake, to be more precise. I'm not entirely sure what merits the distinction, but I love the sound of it. I presume it has something to do with making it somewhat smaller and less elaborate than the standard birthday cake, happily that means it's even easier to cook.

Snack time