Not So Sweet (Raspberry rhubarb crumble)

Spring is the perfect season for rhubarb, among the first plants we can harvest, growing outdoors from April until September. Greenhouse agriculture also allows rhubarb production year-round, so one never needs to go without. As a child I was as obsessed with rhubarb pie as I was with all baked goods (an obsession that remains), and confused to learn that the sweet, ruby-red filling was born of a bitter vegetable related to celery. Now that I have a more adult palate, rhubarb proves a wonderful option for making desserts that celebrate that happy zone of satisfying one's sweet tooth without being so cloying they induce a toothache. These individual raspberry rhubarb crumbles deliver sweet and tart in just the right measure.

For the not-so-sweet-tooth

Waffles 4 lyfe! (Liège-style Belgian waffles)

Over time, the entirety of my immediate family has trickled down to live in Chesapeake, Virginia. While I love the area, the job market has invariably left me further north. As the odd man out, it can sometimes be difficult to make family get-togethers. This was the case this most recent Mother's Day. I was sad to miss spending time with my family, but doubly so when I learned my equally epicurean sister had served gaufres de Liège, Belgian waffles with pearl sugar, as a holiday brunch.

Thus, with a waffle, I die

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

Berries Jubilee (Shortcakes with Mixed Berry Flambé)

Strawberry shortcake is a classic dessert, and I've been obsessed with it for as long as I can remember. As a child, I'd wait with bated breath for dessert-time, ever irked when my mother insisted it was so-named because the table is "deserted" from having cleaned one's dinner plate and cleared the way. Even when I was little, I knew the difference between a sponge cake and a shortcake and, despite how groceries dutifully place the spongy yellow pucks next to the strawberries every summer, I would accept no substitutions. Proper shortcake should be like a biscuit or a scone. Not spongy, but crumblingly delicious, at once dry and yet delectably saturated with oil; with flaking crumbs that melt away on the tongue and leave nothing but happiness in their wake.

Pictured: happiness

The Scone Guy (Raspberry Lemon Scones)

It started out simply enough, I baked Aaron some raspberry lemon scones to bring to work. I figured he and his officemates could use a treat. Heady on the train of requests and compliments that followed, more scones were suddenly in the works. Blueberry one day, lavender another... then came peanut butter chocolate banana, a batch of my original very vanilla bean scones, and, most recently, a double batch flavored with jewel-like dried apricots and slivered almonds. I'm not sure what's wrong with me, exactly, but somehow I just can't stop making scones. I could try making muffins, or cinnamon buns, or a banana bread but, to me, the scone is the undisputed king of the breakfast table. I'm soon going to have to declare a moratorium, as I don't want to just be known as "the scone guy." I'm so much more than that. Regardless, this week found me patting out the dough for scones again.

Habit-forming substances

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.

Some Assembly Required (Red, White, and Blue Tiramisu)

This post is also available as an article in the 6/27/2012 Williamsport Sun Gazette.

Once, back in high school, we were having a party and I was responsible for dessert. It was already the roaring heat of summer, much like now, so I decided to do something other than baking; something like tiramisu. I went a little overboard, doubling the amount of egg yolks to enrich the custard and finally adding a whole stick of butter because I wanted a conspicuously golden hue to contrast with the white whipped cream. Perhaps the only thing that saved me in the end was drowning everything in shaved chocolate, fresh raspberries, and mint sprigs.

Raspberries fix everything

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

Libation for Celebration (Raspberry Rose Bellinis)

This might surprise my college friends, but I'm no longer much of a drinker. One drink gets me tipsy, at one and a half I consider myself officially drunk. At least I'm a cheap date. With New Year's around the corner, though, something bubbly is definitely in order.

Upon closer inspection...