This is a sophisticated cake has a lovely texture from the cornmeal and almond flour, and buttery rich flavor with a hint of orange. It is not too sweet and naturally gluten free. It keeps for several days and truly is better the day after baking.

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On the rare occasion that one has “leftover” champagne, make a sabayon, the cloud -like classic French dessert. Sabayon is cross between a sauce and a frothy custard- a whipped mixture of egg yolks, sugar, and alcohol with whipped cream folded in. I love the bright notes the champagne brings.

Served over berries, citrus fruit or peaches, this makes a lovely and elegant light dessert, perfect for summer. It can also be used as a sauce alongside delicate cakes and desserts with fruit.

EQUIPMENT:

measuring cups and spoons

whisk

pot for double boiler

medium and large metal bowls

TIME:30 minutes

YIELD: about 8 desserts, with fruit

INGREDIENTS:

6 egg yolks

½ cup sugar

1 cup champagne

pinch salt

1 cup heavy cream

TO MAKE:

Whip 1 cup heavy cream to soft peaks using a mixer, or by hand with a whisk. Chill the whipped cream.

Heat water in a medium pot to boiling. In a medium bowl that fits on top of the pot, whisk together the egg yolks, sugar and salt. Whisk in the champagne.

Place the bowl on top of the pot and whisk continuously. The picture will warm and get foamy and thick. Continue whisking without stopping until the mixture is hot and thickened, about 6-8 minutes.

Remove the bowl and place into a larger bowl filled with an ice bath. Whisk until cool.

Gently fold in the cold whipped cream.

To serve layer the sabayon with berries or fruit in glasses or small bowls. Serve on its own or with cookies.

Keep the sabayon chilled. It will hold up for 1-2 days .

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You can’t get a more satisfying treat than a classic s’more turned into a brownie. The marshmallow becomes crunchy and chewy with baking, and the graham cracker crust contrasts with the gooey brownie. These brownies have a great balance of texture and flavor that make them rich without being over the top. Make a pan for your end of summer outdoor parties.

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This is the simplest and easiest of summer desserts, perfect when you want to quickly whip up something impressive and not too sweet. A clafoutis is a very classic French dessert, but is also great for breakfast or brunch. A cross between a custard and a baked pancake, I add lemon zest to brighten the flavor, and top with toasted almonds for texture.

Clafoutis is a rustic dessert, ideal for highlighting summer fruit. Feel free to substitute berries if you don’t have cherries. To serve it, just sift a bit over powdered sugar over and spoon it into small bowls while still warm.

EQUIPMENT:

measuring cups and spoon

microplane for zesting

blender

9”-10” ceramic pie plate or casserole

cherry pitter ( optional but helpful. can use a chopstick or straw to pit cherries as well)

sifter

TIME: 1 hour

SERVINGS: 6

INGREDIENTS:

2 tablespoons butter, melted

1 cup whole milk

1/4 cup heavy cream

3 eggs

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup flour

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon lemon zest

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 1/2 cups fresh cherries, pitted

TOPPING:

2 tablespoons sugar

1/4 cup toasted sliced almonds

powdered sugar

TO MAKE:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Melt 2 tablespoon of butter and spread across the baking dish.

Pit 2 cups of cherries and place in an even layer across the dish. In a blender, combine the milk, cream, eggs, sugar, flour, lemon zest , vanilla, and salt. Blend for about 30 seconds. Pour the batter over the cherries.

Bake for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and sprinkle the top with 2 tablespoons sugar and 1/4 cup toasted almonds. Bake for 20 more minutes, until the custard is set.

Let the clafoutis rest for at least 15 minutes. Sift powdered sugar over the top and serve warm or at room temperature.

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This galette is quick and simple to make and has great contrast in textures and flavors. The sturdy crunch of the cornmeal crust holds up to the soft fruit, and the richness from the butter and sour cream is a great complement to the tart-sweet fruit. Assemble this and throw it in the oven before dinner, and then top a slice with vanilla ice cream for a special summer treat.

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These are a fun summer afternoon project when you have plenty of seasonal blueberries. They really taste like a frozen blueberry pie! The ice cream sandwiches need to freeze overnight before slicing so plan ahead.

If you don’t want to spend the time making the sandwiches, you can just make the ice cream. It has a gorgeous color and is delicious on its own or alongside pie or cobbler.

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When I started this Substack, 2 years ago today, I was in a much different place in my life than I am now. A year out of selling my bakery, I was between careers and figuring out what came next. Now, 120 posts later, I’m in a dream new career (email me at beth@specialluxurytravel.com to plan your travel and vacations) and have traveled around the world several times over. I’m proud I haven’t skipped a post, even when it meant a marathon baking session before I left on a long trip.

Last weekend I heard from two of my subscribers who sent pictures of the recipes they had just made with their families. I loved seeing that and knowing you are enjoying this Thank you to all who have been here from the beginning, and those who have joined along the way.

Looking forward, I have many more dessert recipes to publish, and want to add some savory recipes here and there, including my Moroccan recipes. Those were developed after several trips, and I taught them over zoom during the pandemic. I also plan to include more articles documenting my travels; Sicily, Kenya, and Tanzania are upcoming.

I often get asked what desserts I like most. Since the recipe archives are now fairly extensive ( see: RECIPE INDEX ) and some of you are newer, I wanted to go back over my posts and list my personal favorite recipes. I have a huge sweet tooth. You can see here I love fruit desserts, caramel, and using herbs in sweet items. I was going to pick a top ten but couldn’t cut the list down that much. So here are my top 12. I hope you enjoy my favorites too. Here’s to another year of baking.

PUMPKIN ROSEMARY CAKE

LEMON BERRY PAVLOVA

APPLE TART TATIN

COCONUT LAYER CAKE

CHEDDAR BISCUITS

BLUEBERRY BASIL POUND CAKE

MINI SUGAR COOKIES

PASSION FRUIT BARS

CARAMEL ALMOND BRITTLE ICE CREAM

BLOOD ORANGE ROSEMARY SORBET

VANILLA ALMOND CAKE WITH VANILLA BUTTERCREAM

CHOCOLATE ALMOND RUM COOKIES

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This cake is great for summer gatherings. It can be made with any berries you have available and decorated in variety of ways: as a flag for the 4th of July or Bastille Day, or in a pretty design for picnics and barbecues. The cream cheese buttercream is a crowd pleaser and the sheet cake format makes it easy to slice and serve.

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During peach season, there’s almost nothing better than a bellini, and this sorbet turns one of my favorite drinks into a frozen dessert. This is best made with ripe local peaches; my favorite in New Orleans are from The Peach Pelican, who import peaches weekly from Georgia during their summer peak. This sorbet is delicious and refreshing on its own but pouring more Prosecco over a few scoops turns it into a slushy drink, perfect for hot nights.

EQUIPMENT:

small and medium pot

knife and cutting board

measuring cups

blender

ice cream maker

YIELD: 3 pints

TIME: 2 hours plus freezing time

TO MAKE:

INGREDIENTS:

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 1/2 cups water

8-10 peaches ( to make 6 cups of peeled chopped peaches)

2 lemons

1 cup chilled prosecco

In a small pot, bring the sugar and water to a boil to make simple syrup. Stir to dissolve the sugar. Boil for one minute, remove from the heat, and chill the syrup until completely cold.

Bring a medium pot of water to a boil. Make an ice bath in a large bowl. Score the peaches on the base and place in the boiling water for one minute. Immediately place the peaches in the ice bath to cool. When cool, the peach skins will easily slide off.

Remove the peach pit and chop the peaches to make 6 cups of peaches. Place the peaches in a bowl and strain the juice of 2 lemons over them. Place the peaches in a blender with 1 3/4 cups cold simple syrup and 1 cup prosecco. Puree well until completely smooth.

Pour the mixture into an ice cream maker and spin until frozen. You will most likely need to do it in two batches.

Transfer to a container and freeze for several hours before serving.

This rich chocolate cake with peanut butter chocolate buttercream and a peanut brittle garnish is the perfect way to celebrate the dads in your life this Father’s Day. The cake and buttercream are fairly simple to make and great for kids who want to help in the kitchen. If you make the peanut brittle for garnish, that requires adult supervision.

This cake stays very moist , so you can bake and wrap the layers a day or two in advance if needed. However in order to keep the peanut brittle crisp, the cake is best decorated the day it is served.

Chocolate cake can be made gluten free by substituting equal parts Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1 Baking flour for the all- purpose flour.

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These muffins are perfect for summer, when gardens and farmer’s markets are full of fresh blueberries. Blueberry muffins can be completed, start to finish, in under an hour- you can stir them together in one bowl and they benefit from barely being mixed. I like them not too sweet and barely spiced, with ground coriander, to let the blueberries be the focus.

Serve them at room temperature, and wrap the extras. They will keep for several days. They also freeze well if you want to have a quick tasty breakfast on hand.

EQUIPMENT:

measuring cups and spoons

bowls

whisk

large spatula

muffin tin

muffin liners

TIME: 1 hour

YIELD: 12 muffins

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

3/4 cups buttermilk ( not non- fat)

1 stick butter, melted and cooled to room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon dried ground coriander

2 1/2 cups blueberries

turbinado sugar for sprinkling on the top

TO MAKE:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Line a muffin pan with 12 muffin/cupcake liners.

In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs and sugar together well. Whisk in the melted butter, buttermilk and vanilla. In separate bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and coriander. Stir the dry ingredients into the wet until just combined. Be careful not to over mix. Gently fold in 2 cups of the blueberries

Scoop the muffin batter into the lined muffin pan. Sprinkle the top with the remaining 1/2 cup blueberries and turbinado sugar.

Bake for 20-22 minutes until browned on the top. Cool to room temperature and serve.

This cake is a showstopper . At my bakery we made this for birthdays for both children and adults, in June for Pride month, and sometimes even weddings. I once made rainbow cake for a 500 person wedding, using almost every pan and bowl we had in the process.

Making a 6 layer sprinkle covered cake seems daunting, but it really just takes a bit of time and patience. Each step is simple, and you can have the whole thing done in 3 hours. Rainbow cake is great for parties because it’s so tall that you can get 25-30 servings out of an 8” cake.

There are two options for decorating: frosting the cake with vanilla buttercream so that the colors inside are a surprise, or covering the entire cake with rainbow colored sprinkles.

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Growing up, I never like mint flavored things. It was only when I tried a dessert made with fresh mint that I realized I only dislike artificial mint flavoring.

During the summer I keep my freezer stocked with homemade ice cream and this is one of my favorites to eat on its own. But, it’s also a great complement to any chocolate dessert. The freshness of the mint brightens up very rich chocolate desserts like chocolate layer cake or double chocolate cookies.

The mint available at grocery store works fine in this but if you find ( or grow) fresh peppermint, even better.

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I love adding herbs to sweets for more depth and flavor. Tarragon is a favorite of mine and the subtle anise notes are great with buttery shortbread. This shortbread is baked in a pan and then cut into thick slices , giving it a crunchy exterior and soft crumbling interior. It is a variation on the traditional crisp shortbread cookies I’ve made in the past. The tarragon can be substituted with the herb or extract of your choice.

These cookies are great with coffee or tea or alongside ice cream. They are also delicious served with lemon curd on the side.

TARRAGON SHORTBREAD

INGREDIENTS:

3/4 cup powdered sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 3/4 cups all purpose flour

2 sticks ( 8 ounces) unsalted butter, cubes and slightly softened

1- 2 tablespoons finely chopped tarragon

turbinado sugar for topping

TO MAKE:

Grease an 8” x 8” pan and line with a piece of parchment paper across the bottom and up the side.

In the bowl of a stand or hand mixer, combine the powdered sugar, salt, and flour. Add the butter and mix until the mixture comes together. Mix in the tarragon.

Spread the dough evenly in the lined pan. Chill for several hours to overnight.

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Score the shortbread into 12 pieces. Pierce the top with a fork in neat rows. Lightly sprinkle with turbinado.

Bake for about 45 minutes until lightly browned. Let cool for 5 minutes, remove from the pan and slice along the scored lines. Cool completely before eating.

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This weekend is Mother’s Day and if you are lucky enough be spending it with your mother, make her something special. I am having a brunch at home and it will definitely end with my mom’s favorite vanilla almond cake with vanilla buttercream.

If you are making breakfast, try the cheddar biscuits, ginger scones with lime curd, or raspberry almond coffee cake with brown butter streusel. The tomato, basil, and feta galette is a great addition to a brunch menu. For dessert try strawberry mascarpone olive oil layer cake or lemon berry pavlova or make her a big batch of caramel chocolate chip cookies.

This week’s recipe is for real coffee lovers. I made a rich and not too sweet coffee ice cream with fresh coffee beans from my favorite local roaster, Applied Arts Coffee. You can use any coffee beans you have available. Served with the chocolate espresso bean cookies, this has a double coffee (and caffeine) punch. The coffee ice cream would also be delicious in profiteroles or alongside my old fashioned chocolate cake.

If you like a chunky ice cream you can chop the cookies and fold them into the ice cream when it comes out of the ice cream maker.

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It’s Jazz Fest in New Orleans and almost everyone I know will have house guests. This coffee cake is the perfect thing to have on hand. The flavor is complex and not too sweet and it’s great for special breakfasts and then snacking on the leftovers all day with coffee. I love the slight tartness of the raspberries, but you can try blueberries or chopped peaches or pears as well.

It can be assembled the night before and then baked the next day to avoid early morning cooking.

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Oatmeal cookies are very hard to get right and I often find them bland, dry or cakey. These are buttery and flavorful, with crisp edges. I always use raisin or cranberries in mine because that’s what I grew up with. I know oatmeal chocolate chip cookies have a lot of fans as well. Try the recipe with your favorite addition.

My goal with making gluten- free alternatives to my recipes is always to make them taste as close to the original as possible. With the addition of a bit more flour and a change in baking time, these come pretty close.

Make sure to cool the cookies completely on the baking sheet for the best flavor and texture.

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On my recent trip through Eastern Europe, I spent a few days in Budapest with a group of fellow travel advisors, learning more about the hotels and sites of the city. A highlight of my time there was a cooking class where we made traditional dishes and ate them with local wines. This cottage cheese based dip is typically served with fresh vegetables or spread on slices of sourdough bread. Simple to make and fairly healthy, this is a unique option for a party snack.

Some of the traditional ingredients like sheep’s milk cottage cheese are not available locally so I substituted sheep’s milk yogurt( Bellwether Farms brand.) If you can’t find that either, Greek yogurt will work as well. Make sure your spices are fresh for the most flavor. Feel free to adjust the amount of spices and onion to your taste. Each Hungarian chef would have their own version of this classic spread.

INGREDIENTS:

1 1/2 cups cottage cheese ( optional: puree in a food processor if very chunky)

1/2 cup sheep cottage cheese (bryndza), sheep’s milk yogurt, or Greek yogurt

3 tablespoons sour cream

3 tablespoons red onion

4 teaspoons finely chopped chives

2 tablespoons Hungarian sweet paprika

3/4 teaspoon ground caraway seed

3/4- 1 teaspoon salt

TO SERVE:

fresh vegetables for dipping ( sliced carrot, cucumber, pepper, radish etc.)

sourdough bread, sliced

TO MAKE:

Combine all of the dip ingredients into a bowl and stir well until completely combined and smooth. Adjust the seasonings according to taste.

Serve immediately or refrigerate until ready to serve. Remove from refrigerator 15 minutes before serving.

Transfer the dip to a serving bowl, and garnish with chopped chives. Serve with sliced raw vegetables and fresh sliced bread.

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Decorated sugar cookies were the most popular item at my bakery, especially around holidays. They are also the item people find hardest to make on their own. Decorating cookies with royal icing takes a little practice and patience, but the results are worth it. These marbleized easter egg cookies are pretty and impressive, but fairly simple to decorate. They would make a great addition to an Easter dessert table or bagged individually for Easter baskets.

You can use the colors of your choice- I prefer a lighter pastel base and slightly brighter colors for the stripes. You can also make monochrome cookies by using several shades of the same color. Vary the size and placement of the stripes to make each cookie unique.

There are a few important things to remember for these:

1)Take your time.

2)For this design, decorate each cookie completely before moving on to the next. If the icing starts to dry the design won’t work.

3)Wipe the toothpick off each time you run it through the icing.

4)Make the cookies 1-2 days in advance and let the decorated cookies dry overnight before bagging or boxing them.

If you want to make a bigger batch of cookies, you can multiply the royal icing recipe as needed.

NGREDIENTS:

You can use any homemade or store bought sugar cookie dough for these. The link to my sugar cookie recipe that I’ve posted in the past for subscribers is below.

SUGAR COOKIE DOUGH

ROYAL ICING:

3/4 cup pasteurized egg whites

8 cups powdered sugar, sifted

generous pinch salt

2 teaspoons vanilla

FOR DECORATING:

sheet pans with parchment

easter egg cookie cutter

food coloring: 3-4 colors ( I like the thicker gel kind available where cake decorating supplies are sold)

disposable piping bags (at least 4)

offset spatula

toothpicks

scissors

Time :2 hours

Yield :18-32 cookies depending on size of cookie cutter

TO MAKE:

Roll out the sugar cookie dough to 1/8” thick and cut out the cookies with an easter egg cookie cutter. Bake and cool.

TO DECORATE:

Make the royal icing by combing 3/4 cup egg whites, 2 teaspoons of vanilla and a pinch of salt in the bowl of a mixer. Whisk at medium speed until foamy. Add 8 cups of sifted powdered sugar in two parts. When it is incorporated, whip for about two minutes.

The icing will need to be divided to color it. Place about a half cup of icing each in three small bowls for the stripes. The remaining icing will used for the background color.

Gel color is very concentrated so start with a little bit of food coloring, stir it in completely and add a bit more until you get the color you want.

Put each of the icings in the disposable piping bags. Using scissors, snip the end of each piping bag to make a small opening for piping.

Using the background color, outline each cookie. This will keep the frosting from spreading off the edge.

Then, you will decorate each cookie individually. Gather your 4 piping bags, small spatula, toothpicks and a paper towel to wipe the end of the toothpick after each use.

Using the background color, fill in the frosting within the outline. You want to use just enough the cover the cookie without it overflowing. If needed, you can lightly spread the icing using a small spatula. Immediately, pipe stripes with the other colors across the cookie. Use a toothpick in a downward, then upward movement across the cookie to marbleize the design. Wipe the toothpick off between use. Repeat with each cookie individually, varying the placement of the stripes to create different designs.

Let the cookies dry completely overnight. Keep at room temperature, do not refrigerate.

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Pavlova is a meringue shell, with a crisp outside and pillowy interior, filled with cream and fruit. As simple as it sounds, it is one of my favorite desserts and has one of the most impressive presentations of any I make. There are an infinite combinations of fillings that can be used but this one, filled with whipped cream, lemon curd, and an assortment of berries, is a favorite. I also love doing a passion fruit version which I will post soon as well.

While the components can be made earlier in the day, a pavlova should always be assembled just before it is served, to maintain the crisp texture of the meringue.

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