Laura Rebecca's Kitchen

When I was very little, I would ride with my parents from Long Island to NYC; my parents would go to work, and I would stay at my grandma’s house until they returned. We’d usually stop at a coffee truck pulled over on the side of the road and grab breakfast: for me, a carton […]

I was thrilled when March’s DB challenged was announced: Dorrie Greenspan’s perfect party cake. Our host, Morven of Food Art and Random Thoughts, said we could play around, adapting the recipe’s flavor as we liked; we just needed to stick to a layer cake format. Who doesn’t love cake? As spring is here, and I […]

Another day, another cake but from the same cookbook: In the Sweet Kitchen by Reagan Daley . Last week, we were invited to a “Thanksgiving dinner in February” at Carolyn’s house. She provided the turkey (21 lbs!), mashed potatoes, mashed turnips, stuffing and gravy and all I needed to bring was dessert. Given that there […]

To be honest, I was initially disappointed with this cake. The day I made it — Valentines’ Day, a Thursday — the topping struck me as too bitter, despite all the caramel encapsulating the pineapple. But by Saturday, the bitterness had given way to a gentle tartness, pairing well with the dense and lovely vanilla-flavored […]

I just had another piece of this lovely cake and here’s the thing: it’s delicious, but it’s supposed to be gingerbread, and it doesn’t taste like gingerbread to me. This is Nigella Lawson’s “Fresh Gingerbread with Lemon Icing” recipe and I have to ask, where’s the spicy hit? I even doubled the amount of ginger […]

The only time a presentation like this is appropriate is for a Halloween party. Or, maybe, when celebrating Charles Manson’s birthday. My favorite part of Halloween is the candy. Candy makes me swoon. And the opportunity of getting mounds of it simply by dressing up, knocking on a few doors and saying “TRICK OR TREAT!” […]

Look, it’s good carrot cake. Moist, thanks to the buttermilk glaze. Tender. Flavorful. The frosting is to. die. for. But the cake itself? Meh. I think my issue with it is that its only spice is cinnamon and, in my ideal carrot cake, there’s more going on. It kind of reminds me of an oatmeal […]

Once again, Lis from La Mia Cucina and Ivonne of Cream Puffs in Venice have teamed up to host La Festa al Fresco. The event is a celebration of fresh, seasonal (and preferably local) ingredients. Such a good idea, no? So, armed with plenty of zucchini from my neighbors’ garden plus 2 lbs of fresh, […]

Let’s take trip ’round the world, retro style, shall we? Haalo from Cook (almost) Anything at Least Once offers a delicious “uber retro, Swiss-classic, fondue” perfect for any well-heeled jet-setter. The recipe hails from Graham Kerr’s classic 1973 cookbook, The Complete Galloping Gourmet Cookbook. Retro pro Emily at Appetitive Behavior visited France via Hungary (read […]

Wacky cupcake. I made this recipe sometime last week and, clearly, was so unimpressed with it that it took me this long to post about it. (And then, only do a cursory review.) Cake Pros:Ridiculously easy to makeVeganEasily adaptable (I threw in mini chocolate chips and replaced the water with strong brewed coffee Silly Name […]