16-14: Orange-Almond Cake

16-14: Orange-Almond Cake

No, this isn’t a repeat of 16-47: Orange-Almond Pie–at least, not exactly. 16-14: Orange-Almond Cake uses almond paste while the pie version used almond meal (flour). This one also includes dark chocolate, which ALWAYS goes well with almond and orange flavors. 🍫

In the interest of not eating the whole cake at once (which is possible with something like this), I’m going to bake 12 individual cakes instead with a mini-Bundt pan that I have. That way, I can make them all, wrap and freeze them so that we can pull out a portioned piece for dessert without the temptation of eating the whole thing.


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16-9: Raspberry Tart

16-9: Raspberry Tart

Here’s a simple dessert that’s easy for a dinner, gift, or even just a snack. 16-9: Raspberry Tart is exactly what it sounds like–pie crust in a tart pan filled with raspberry preserves and topped with bits of dough. Simply Delicious uses a simple drop method for the dough topping, but I think we can do better than that. 🌟

Why did anyone think that amorphous blobs of dough were an acceptable tart topping? 🤷‍♀️


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18-10: Pasta II

18-10: Pasta II

Back with another Cooking School follow-up to 18-19: Pasta I from a few weeks ago.  18-10: Pasta II discusses proper pasta making techniques & cooking methods on its front face, as well as offering some tips on using fresh and dried varieties. On the back side, the deep dive into the myriad of pasta shapes that started with 18-9: Pasta I continues–this card covers smaller forms like penne, farfalle, and tortellini.

Most of this advice is pretty generic–here’s a basic pasta dough recipe, and pasta cooking methods are outlined pretty well here. I’ve made both plain dough as well as some with spinach and sun-dried tomato–it’s a lot of work, but the taste difference is pretty noticeable. I don’t currently have a pasta machine, but I’d love to add one to my already-too-large collection of kitchen appliances and tools.

After the jump, read about some more pasta shapes–there’s some links to a few additional pasta dishes we’ve already covered here as well.


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17-50: Cornmeal-Jalapeño Biscuits

17-50: Cornmeal-Jalapeño Biscuits

Making biscuits is quick and easy, especially when following this recipe for 17-50: Cornmeal-Jalapeño Biscuits from Simply Delicious. One of my favorite rainy-day activities, I enjoy baking because the warm oven heats up the house nicely. The only feeling that can beat it is sitting by the fireplace.🔥  

A recipe like this could be cooked similar to a cornbread in a cast iron skillet placed near a fireplace hearth. That would be really old school, but I prefer using this biscuit method because each biscuit is baked with its own crunchy, delicious crust.

This recipe is so versatile. You can make the biscuits small for appetizer-sized portions or you can make dinner sized biscuits as a side dish.


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17-45: Light Coffee Rolls

17-45: Light Coffee Rolls

17-45: Light Coffee Rolls were made as part of a gift box for a family friend. These coffee rolls can hardly be described as “light” in my opinion. The batch I made came out rather heavy, but buttery and delicious. 😋

The rolls were best served fresh from the oven, upon cooling, the rolls got heavier and less airy.


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16-54: Lemony Cottage Cheese Pie

16-54: Lemony Cottage Cheese Pie

Whenever I think of lemons, I can’t help but think of Lemongrab from Adventure Time, my favorite, lemon-insipred, animated character. From my research, there are two other major characters who are lemon-themed, Lemon Meringue from “doll commercial hidden in a cartoon” Strawberry Short Cake and Honey Lemon, one of the main characters from Big Hero 6, a 3D animated feature film released by Disney in 2014 . I haven’t had a chance to check this movie out yet, but if it ever pops up on Netflix, I’d watch it. Now that my rant about cartoon characters is complete, enjoy this entry about 16-54: Lemony Cottage Cheese Pie, a really weird lemony pie. 🍋

Serving this pie on top of a tapestry featuring a creepy little girl must somehow enhance the flavor of this otherwise weird lemony pie. The background tapestry is probably the most interesting and tasteful part of the entire photograph.


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18-9: Pasta I

18-9: Pasta I

Simply Delicious dedicates its last few chapters to “Cooking School“, comprised of informational cards on various techniques, ingredients, & basic recipes that any serious cook should learn to master. 18-9: Pasta I is the first in a two-part series about pasta, the second being 18-10: Pasta II. This particular card covers a few different shapes of pasta, including spaghetti, fettuccini, & lasagna. 🍽

18-9: Pasta I only begins to scratch the surface of different types of pasta–there are so many more out there. The important takeaways from this particular set of tips are the different kinds of sauce that go with the various shapes, as well as how to identify some common variances in the shapes.  18-10: Pasta II goes more into the cooking and serving of pasta, as well as listing a few more shape/sauce combinations if you’re looking for a bit more from Simply Delicious on the topic. 📚


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17-40: Apple Rolls

17-40: Apple Rolls

Editor’s note: Happy New Year! We start the new year by finishing up a bit of old business from last year! 

My second apple recipe for this year’s holiday gifts (XMAS 16) is 17-40: Apple Rolls. These “not too sweet” rolls contain an apple wedge wrapped inside a savory dough, covered with sesame seeds. I made a double sized batch of these rolls. Thankfully, the instructions are very good and I’ve practiced with yeast enough times to make a pretty decent dough.

I wish I had taken the advice from the front of the card and used chopped pecans instead of sesame seeds.


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17-25: Almond Rolls

17-25: Almond Rolls

17-25: Almond Rolls are kind of a bonus holiday baking (XMAS 16) post for me–only one person received the bulk of these, as they made up part of a week-long Secret Santa gift-giving event that my work puts on. 🎄🎁 My giftee for Secret Santa not only got these, but a batch of 17-9: Brownies with toasted hazelnuts both in the batter and on top, as well as a batch of my family’s chocolate chip cookie recipe with red & green M&Ms swapped in for semisweet bits. 🍪🎅

These almond rolls are similar to cinnamon rolls/buns, and like the recipe that Simply Delicious provides for cinnamon rolls, these ones lack a glaze/icing as well. However, given the sweetness of the filling and the fact that these are a gift for someone, I’ll forgo adding icing on my own this time. 🍰


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17-49: Apple Muffins

17-49: Apple Muffins

My contribution to this year’s holiday baking (XMAS 16) consists of two recipes which include my favorite fruit: Apples! 🍎 🍎 🍎

I ended up multiplying this recipe by 3, which gave us more than enough apple muffins for the holiday gifts. 🎄

The notes on the front of the card are from Jamie’s mom. I made this recipe once before when I had a lot of apples laying around.


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