Laura Rebecca's Kitchen

When Lis, Ivonne, Fran and Shea announced this month’s Daring Baker Challenge — an opera cake sans the traditional coffee and dark chocolate flavors — I was apprehensive. What flavors should I use to make this my own? How many steps in this recipe? How many ingredients? How much will they cost? How much time […]

Several months ago, I fell in love with Peanut Butter & Co.’s Cinnamon Raisin Swirl. I can’t fully explain it, but the combination of warm cinnamon, sweet raisins and savory peanut butter drove my taste buds delirious with happiness. For many a breakfast, I’d spread some on a slice of toasted wheat bread, drizzle it […]

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 […]

As long as I’ve known Shane (coming up on six years), he’s wanted to go on a camping trip. My idea of camping is staying at a hotel that doesn’t leave a mint on the pillow. (HEY-O! I’ll be here all week!) So we’ve never been. Oh, Shane has tossed out the idea of buying […]

Last night, I had this crazy dream in which I was on Saturday Night Live. Incidentally, I was not a main cast member, but one of those comedians who get relegated to the back of a scene while an Amy Poehler-type shines. So sad. Earlier in the day, I had been on the set of […]

I picked up a copy of Joan Donogh’s recipe for rhubarb muffins with a bunch of rhubarb at the Canandaigua Farmers’ Market. I’d also picked up some strawberries so, with a couple of minor changes (can you guess the biggest one?) these became strawberry rhubarb muffins. Extremely moist and flavorful, these muffins have a sweet […]

This is a slightly adapted muffin recipe and, if I do say so myself, they came out very nicely. The flavor is gently sweet with a nice contrast between the warm, spicy cinnamon notes and the bright and fresh flavors from the raspberry jam. The crumb is tender and moist and the sugar topping even […]

This is a community recipe from the WW recipe board (“From the kitchen of JOANNA_K”) and is one of the few that doesn’t use margarine, cool whip, or instant sugar free pudding. (Margarine, cool whip, or instant sugar free pudding: sounds like a Sandra Lee recipe, doesn’t it?) The only problem was that the recipe […]

I don’t know how this bottle of dried lavender got into my cabinet, but it needed to be put to good use. And, as the snow continues to swirl, and the temperatures continue to dip, I needed to remind myself of seasons — warmer, sunnier seasons — that aren’t winter. So I found a recipe […]

Retro Recipe Challenge Deadline: Sunday, October 15 11:59 EST!!! This is another Maglieri cake. This is another cake recipe taken from Peter Kump’s Cooking School Cake Baking packet. This is another delicious cake with texture issues. The coconut flavor is lovely and brightened by hits of lemon. The frosting is very rich from its coconut […]