Mariel here. The women in my family are queens of the cheesecake. If you haven’t already given my grandmother’s versions a spin – both the chocolate and the regular – you better hop to. My mom has become a cheesecake pro in her own right and regularly dishes up these treats for her nearest and[…]
Chocolate Pumpkin Bundt Cake with a Gooey Chocolate Glaze
Mariel here. For this month’s installment of Secret Recipe Club, I bounced on over to Liv Life, where I stumbled across this recipe for a decadent-looking Chocolate Pumpkin Bundt Cake. I’ve been intrigued by the Choco-Pumpkin pairing since I spotted these brownies over at Smitten Kitchen and since I recently added a Bundt pan to[…]
Spiced Apple Cider Bundt Cake with a Cinnamon-Cider Glaze
Mariel here. I spent part of the weekend upstate, lapping up the peace and quiet that only the countryside can provide. Living in the city is like living under constant attack – honking horns make my hair stand on end, a scary neighbor ensures I break into a cold sweat when I leave the apartment,[…]
Banana Cupcakes with Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting
Mariel here. When I was a wee middle-schooler, my best friend at the time used to love making sweet breads. Banana bread in particular was her forte and we spent many an afternoon whipping up a double-batch in the kitchen and then snacking on our own personal loaves while playing Donkey Kong or modeling the[…]
Creme Brulee with Candied Peaches
If I happen to stumble upon a roadside sign for tree-ripened peaches, you can bet your bottom dollar I’m pulling over and bogarting the whole lot. In light of summer’s last gasp, I’ve been stocking up on September produce, single-handedly keeping Big Peach in business. Thanks to my surplus, I’ve been adding these sweet, juicy[…]
Key Lime Pie
Mary Anne here. This really should be entitled, “How I Spent My Summer Vacation.” August 26th heralded my first week off since last December, and I was eager to spend nine beach-filled days at our family homestead on eastern Long Island. I had invited my little sister, Heather, (a professional photographer), to spend the first[…]
Ooey-Gooey Mocha Cake with Swirl Frosting
Mariel here. I just spent a few glorious days in Ye Olde Adirondack Mountains – it’s a family tradition on my father’s side and we’ve recently reinstated this annual pilgrimage up north. While my husband had to cancel last-minute thanks to work deadlines, I had carefully parceled out a meager respite from my own affairs,[…]
Strawberry Mousse
Mary Anne here. While Mariel is busy trimming her caloric intake with naturally sweet, healthful condiments like this Cucumber and Watermelon Salad with Pickled Onions, I seem to be channeling my Southern ancestors, conjuring up sweet strawberry confections like this delicious mousse. Did I mention that not one, but TWO kinds of sugar candy-coat this[…]
Apple Pie Pancakes a la Mode
Mariel here. This, my friends, is what happens when you start reminiscing on an empty stomach. After waxing geriatric for Father’s Day and drumming up old memories of Bakery Sundays filled with Apple Turnovers, sugared Elephant Ears and crotchety Bran Muffins for the fiber-philes, I couldn’t stop thinking about all the delicious breakfast treats of[…]
Old-Fashioned Devil’s Food Cake
Mary Anne here. In honor of Father’s Day, I opted to plumb the pages of my catering archives and recreate a Devil’s Food Cake that was a favorite “special occasion confection” from gigs past. While both my dad and step-dad are no longer in this world, I humbly offer a culinary tribute to two equally[…]
Orange Curd Puff Pastry Tartlets
Mariel here. This past weekend, one of my bffs from college took the long walk down a short aisle, marrying another friend of mine in one of the most beautiful weddings I’ve ever attended. Everything was perfect – perfect weather, perfect Lela Rose dress, perfect yachty Montauk backdrop, perfect sunny-and-75 weather, which can be a[…]
Key Lime Pie Pops
Mariel here. We’ve been on a roll recently, snapping up catering gigs left and right. For last week’s job, our clients requested our Key Lime & Blackberry Bites – a refreshing, super summery treat that puts a new twist on the traditional pie beloved by grandmothers and Boca Ratonians alike. The recipe didn’t make enough[…]
Sweet-Tart Rhubarb and Ginger Sorbet
Mariel here (again). When my parents were still married, we used to head to my paternal grandparents’ farm in Pleasant Valley, New York as often as possible. My grandmother and grandfather lived on 23 relatively untamed acres – save for two sprawling grass fields complete with a four-stable barn – that was absolute paradise for[…]
Frosted Zucchini Brownies
Mariel here. About a month ago, I stumbled across a “Secret Recipe Club” hosted by Amanda’s Cookin’ and since I’m a sucker for secrets, I opted in. The premise is simple enough: each chef is assigned a different food blog and must choose a recipe to recreate in their own kitchen. Then, on a designated[…]
Compost Fudge: A Chocolate Brick Brimming with Walnuts, Raisins, Toffee and Butter Cookies
Mary Anne here. Coming off of EIGHT weeks of denying myself chocolate, I was smitten by La Cucina Italiana’s June ’11 issue, featuring an incredible selection of indulgent cocoa-loaded recipes. The following recipe was inspired by their version of a chocolate “loaf” studded with a variety of nuts and crumbled butter cookies. As I eagerly[…]
Gluten-Free Chocolate Mousse Cake
Mary Anne here. Ah…the holidays are upon us once again, and this year Passover and Easter arrive within a week of each other. As I’ve written in the past, when my mom married my step-dad, George, the Ellicott brood donned both Easter bonnets on Sunday and Yarmulkes on Friday night (the boys, of course!). And[…]
Grapefruit Pudding Cake
Mariel here. This past weekend I spent some time down in Florida celebrating a close friend’s impending nuptials, and let me tell you, I was more than excited to escape the refrigerator that is NYC. This past winter has been a doozy – for so many reasons – and it felt damn good to head[…]
Lemon Olive Oil Cake with a Lemon Rosemary Glaze
Mariel here. Last week, I cooked dinner for an editor friend of mine from Epicurious, no pressure or anything. I whipped up Halibut with a Hazelnut Romesco, which was to-die-for – thank God – but it was much pricier than most of my any-given-Monday meals (you can check out her recap of the dish here). […]
Putting the “Cup” Back in Cupcakes
Mary Anne here. Mariel recently took her maiden voyage into the wild and woolly world of catering and I have to say, it was a total blast having her as my partner in crime. A second pair of hands in the kitchen is never an unwelcome guest. On request, we prepared some of our specialties[…]
Valentine’s Day Chocolate Ice Cream Cups
Mary Anne here. This confection is dedicated to one of my true loves. Valentine’s Day is upon us – as is Feast on the Cheap’s second birthday – and so I’ve spent a lot of time this week thinking about both occasions. In my musings, I realized that while February 14th is usually equated with[…]