Cafe Liz

This pudding could have been ice cream. In fact, if it hadn’t been for an issue with my ice cream maker, it would have been ice cream. The two desserts are more similar than they may seem at first — take flavored cream and freeze it, and you have ice cream. Add a gelling agent, and you have pudding. The recipe is essentially my basic chocolate coconut sorbet. One time, I tried to make it when the ice cream maker [...]

These biscotti have a tendency to vanish. Biscotti are twice-baked cookies, once into a loaf, and the second time after being sliced, and until crunchy. Something about the denseness means they don’t lose much — if anything — from being made with matzo meal instead of flour, and thus kosher for Passover. I got the recipe from my mother, who explained to me that she never bakes the full batch at once, because however much you bake, it immediately disappears. [...]

I started making these because they’re the ubiquitous dessert in restaurants around here, and we really enjoyed finishing our meals with a steaming burst of molten chocolate. Who wouldn’t? In any case, I’ve never seen any reason to leave all good things to restaurants; I’d much rather enjoy them here at my house. This allows me to correct what would be the restaurant souffle’s most common fault: way too much solid cake and way too little liquid inside. While I [...]

UPDATE DECEMBER 2010: This has become one of our favorite homemade ice creams. As with everything that passes through our kitchen, the recipe has been modified over time. Here’s the new version. For about 1 liter ice cream: 1 cup water 3/4 cup cocoa powder 1/2 cup sugar 2 cups coconut cream (200 grams/1 can) Refrigerate the coconut cream in advance. Mix the water with the cocoa and the sugar; heating the water may help the sugar dissolve. Cool the [...]

This Saturday brunch included a personal-sized baked spinach shakshuka, an Italian-style chopped salad, chocolate chip cookies made with the New York Times’ recipe, and more. Brunch is always a pleasure.

One of my favorite dessert recipes is Martha Stewart’s chocolate gingerbread cake.