It is a universal truth that Nutella is the nectar of the gods. It takes the already delicious (e.g., sandwiches, cupcakes, or even bacon), and turns it into something magical. Everyone also knows homemade is always better. So if you're looking to step up your baking game, follow these instructions from Cookies, Cupcakes, and Cardio and make your very own Nutella!
Summertime calls out for desserts that are easy to assemble and don't require heat. Voilà: crème de menthe grasshopper pies. They are minty, fresh, and cold, and are very easy to whip together with marshmallows and a microwave.
Soda bread, corned beef and cabbage, and colcannon are all great dishes to serve up on St. Patrick's Day, but desserts really let your inner leprechaun come out to play. Not only can you have fun incorporating all kinds of tasty Irish liquors into baked goods, you get to dye things green.
If you've just done a beer run for a party and come back with a bunch of beer that isn't cold, forget the bathtub, toilet tank, freezer or whatever method you use to quick-chill your brews and try this super easy fix instead.
Sometimes just drinking your alcohol can feel a little dull and boring. Eating your alcohol, however, is always a party.
Cheesecake is a nearly flawless dessert. It's rich but light, has a toothsome crust but a creamy body, and tastes good served room temperature or frozen. What's not to like?
Sprinkles are a gateway to excitement, whether it's a birthday party with friends or an ice cream sundae by yourself. It may seem like these colorful creations can only come from the grocery store, but it's actually pretty easy to make beautiful sprinkles in your own kitchen.
Surprise desserts (aka peekaboo desserts) are a gorgeous way to celebrate anything, whether it's a birthday, new baby, or just a brand new day. You can pretty much hide anything you want inside: candy, a cool design, and even other desserts. To help inspire you, try one of these fun-filled desserts out for a special, photo-worthy occasion. Then get creative and try out your own ideas (and make sure to share them with us when you're done).
If you've ever turned on an episode of Iron Chef or Top Chef, chances are you've seen a contestant in gloves and goggles, yielding a canister that looks far more fit for a chemistry lab than for a kitchen. Wonder what's in the canister? Liquid nitrogen, the go-to tool/ingredient of molecular gastronomy, and one of the trendiest items in many gourmet chefs' kitchens.
I have a confession: I hoard glass jars. I buy mason jars whenever I get the chance. When I finish a jar of pickles or mayonnaise, there's no way that glass jar is going in the recycling (thankfully, they're easy to de-stink). And when my sister gives me a basket of her homemade jams, she can forget about ever seeing those jars again.
The point of ice in your cocktail is to make it cold, right? Yes and no.
Essentially, the Anti-Griddle does exactly what its name promises: it turns things almost instantaneously cold when you drop them on its "grilling" surface. Unlike home methods of flash freezing, its staggeringly low temperatures (-30°F/-34.4°C) allows ingredients that normally can't be frozen—like oil or alcohol—to turn into solids in the wink of an eye. As you might imagine, this allows chefs to play with textures and tastes in a way that was previously unimaginable.
The original frozen hot chocolate is from Serendipity 3, an extremely famous eatery in NYC. However, its fame had created many copycat recipes, which eventually prompted its owner, Stephen Bruce, into releasing the delicious recipe in 2004.
Ah, the sensation of that first bite of sorbet in the heat of summertime: icy, refreshing, decadent in flavor and texture. We love sorbet almost as much as we love ice cream, and making it at home is actually pretty simple. Most recipes call for just water, sugar, and a base fruit of some sort (like strawberries or watermelon).
There's something great about sweet, ripe strawberries coated in a bit of hardened chocolate. They're decadent, beautiful, and make for the perfect after-dinner dessert.
Even if you haven't heard of ube (pronounced "OO-beh"), you've probably seen pictures of desserts made with this brilliant purple yam.
Pop-Tarts are a pretty iconic breakfast food. And while I'm more of a bacon, eggs, and toast person myself... sometimes a sweet, gooey, artificially-flavored treat is just what you need in the morning. Yet, despite the fact that I do enjoy Pop-Tarts, I've always found them a little bit bland. Therefore I decided to make them better—by cooking with them.
Ah, the joys of bottomless brunch. Paying a flat rate for endless mimosas while having a long gossip over eggs Benedict is exactly how many of us love to spend our Saturdays. However, in practice, this isn't the sophisticated affair we all like to imagine. After refill number four we sway in our chair, doze off into our porridge, and end up tipping 50% because math is too hard. In short, not a very successful brunch.
Mushrooms are glorious: they're nutritional powerhouses, add meaty savor to just about any dish, and are cheap and plentiful (mostly). But just when you thought you knew best how to use edible fungi (in gravies, as portobello burgers, stewed and served over pasta, just to name a few uses), you learn something new: there's a mushroom out there that tastes like maple syrup. Yep, maple syrup.
Cake decorating is one of those activities that used to leave my hands sticky and my spirits dampened. No matter what I seemed to do, the final result always ended up looking like a preschool art project.
Even though we love taco salads and bread bowl soups, edible bowls and dishes have now gone far beyond those oldies-but-goodies. Using food as serving dishes helps with cleanup, reduces food waste, and makes your spread more creative and interesting.
We've already shown you how to dunk a regular-sized Oreo cookie while keeping your fingers pristine, how to upgrade Oreos into different desserts, and even make them into lazy ice cream sandwiches. Now we're going to introduce you to a few other essential Oreo hacks that will give you a brand-new outlook on a classic snack.
Stop! Do not pour that leftover wine, coffee, or bacon grease down the drain. And those herbs that have been in your fridge so long they've literally turned on you? And what about when that recipe only calls for two tablespoons of heavy cream, a quarter cup of tomato purée, or three cloves of garlic? Unless you plan on using the leftovers again in the next week or so, don't bother refrigerating them because they won't last.
A long time ago I was reading an issue of Saveur and saw an article about a trendsetting bar in Portland. The bartender at the joint had started making enormous blocks of smoked ice for his cocktails. When a patron ordered a drink that called for the smoked ice, the bartender would chip off a large chunk and place it in a glass with the booze. Then, as the ice slowly melted, the drink would take on more and more smoky notes, and the flavor profile of the beverage would change with every passi...
Last week, I showed you why your refrigerator is one of the best tools in the kitchen when it comes to saving money and preserving food at its tastiest. But did you know your freezer is another underutilized ally in the cooking game?
No doubt you internet-savvy folks have seen the incredibly beautiful rainbow bagel going viral all over the country—and if not, let me educate you on its multicolored brilliance. Crafted by the brilliant bakers at The Bagel Store in Brooklyn, this cheery creation has actually been around for 20 years now. Watch the video below to see how the colorful roll is created.
Cultured dairy products are great for topping chilis and soups, stirring into dips, and adding tanginess to breads and pancakes. They're extremely versatile and often interchangeable, and they contain probiotics that offer a long list of health benefits. They're also super easy to make at home with just a few basic ingredients. Here's how to make your own buttermilk, sour cream and crème fraîche.
Don't panic the next time you pull an empty tub of butter from the fridge. If you have some heavy whipping cream, save yourself a trip to the grocery store and just make your own. When heavy cream is shaken violently for a long enough duration, it turns to butter—and if you're doing it by hand, it also feels like your arm turns to jello.
No one ever said you had to be a culturally-relevant pun for Halloween, you know—or a scantily-dressed version of the inmates from Orange is the New Black.
Salad isn't very exciting—and neither is salad dressing. You're either eating rabbit fodder drenched in a too-sour vinaigrette or too-heavy, leaf-wilting dressing like Thousand Island or French.
The magic of an ice cold popsicle on a hot summer's day is undeniable, whether you're a child or a kid-at-heart. Neon-colored, store-bought popsicles may have a special place in your memory, but homemade popsicles are pretty hard to beat. Here's how to create delicious frozen treats that will both delight your inner child and tickle your adult taste buds!
Wait, don't dump that milk! It may have a slightly sour smell and be expiring tomorrow, but you can still put it to good use by making sour milk jam.
One of the best qualities about fresh bread (such as sourdough) is a thick, crispy crust—which is easy to create in a commercial oven, but can be tricky for home cooks to replicate. Luckily, the the trick to baking a professional-style crust is a simple one—just bake your loaf with steam using one of these three methods to achieve the perfect, crispy crust.
If I were to write a snickerdoodle FAQ list, the top question would undoubtedly be "Do I really need to use cream of tartar in my snickerdoodle cookies?"
If there's a better way to impress your friends than with cocktails, I don't know what it is. Some nice glasses, quality spirits, and a recipe that doesn't involve pre-made margarita mix, and you'll automatically look suave. However, the most overlooked cocktail accoutrement (and the coolest, in both senses) is the ice.
When you're trying to cut some calories or just eat more veggies, it's important to enjoy what you're eating. If all you're doing is telling yourself "no" and focusing on what you can't eat, you are pretty much destined to fail at your diet.
Bubble, bubble, toil, and trouble... it's time for another Halloween-themed food hack. This time, we'll be tackling the pumpkin cooler—an idea that has been done to death on DIY blogs around the internet. And there's no point in reposting something that everyone else has done, so I decided to change things up a little bit.
This decadent dessert is inspired and created by marrying tiramisu and s'mores. It's a moan-worthy version of that classic English dessert, trifle, that combines the soft, creamy layers of tiramisu with the gooey, sticky goodness of s'mores. You can make it as easy as you wish, with store-bought whipped cream and pound cake, or you can make everything from scratch for a special company-ready dessert.
Aluminum foil is one of those things that every cook, experienced or just starting out, has in their kitchen. And while we may think we know how useful this handy material can be, there are hundreds of ways we could be utilizing tinfoil to make our lives a whole lot easier.
Whisking liquids seems somehow quaint, especially since there are good, cheap devices out there like immersion blenders and hand mixers that can whip cream, turn egg whites into meringue, and mix batters for you.
