The Four Pies of Christmas

Blackboard showing list of pies

This fall, I made it my personal mission to really up my game on pie. I’ve long struggled with par-baked crust and found myself in a rut with making the same basic fruit pies over and over again (not that those aren’t delicious). Last year, I had gotten a new pie cookbook for Christmas: The … Read more

Is This The Secret to the Perfect Par-Baked Pie Crust?

A slightly browned par-baked pie crust

Hello friends. After being deeply displeased with the roasted strawberry pie I baked yesterday, I felt the need to redeem myself. Since I couldn’t be convinced to spend another $24 on fresh strawberries from the farmer’s market, I settled for a par-baked pie crust practice session. Let’s cut to the chase – my pie crust … Read more

Back for the Summer: Roasted Strawberry Pie

red berries in roasted strawberry pie in a white ceramic pie dish on a granite countertop

After a long hiatus, I am back in the kitchen making pies again. I love June in Ohio for all the local produce available, like fresh strawberries and rhubarb. Oddly enough, I actually had never made a pie with locally grown strawberries before this year, using only grocery store varieties for a strawberry rhubarb pie … Read more

Macaron of the Month: Salted Caramel 2 Ways

hand grabbing a salted caramel macaron off a small white plate with four cookies

For my December Macaron of the Month I wanted to try a salted caramel filling. Not far into my recipe search, I realized there are a bunch of different ways to do salted caramel macarons out there in the world. Therefore, I decided to try making two different salted caramel macaron filling variations so I … Read more

The Week in Baking: Christmas 2023

Ginger snap cookie being held in front of Christmas tree

Welcome to my new weekly (or maybe bi-weekly) column called “The Week in Baking”. This is simply a way to share what recipes I’ve been trying out, as well as adaptations I’ve made to old favorites. This week was particularly active for me because it was Christmas week. I’m super excited because I received two … Read more

I Finally Made 2 Successful Par-Baked Pie Crusts. Now Why Can’t I Replicate Them?

Par-baked pie crust with golden edges and blond bottom but some butter bubbling out

Ever since I began watching the British Bake Off on Netflix, I’ve slowly become self conscious of baking pies with the dreaded “soggy bottom”. While I’d always made decidedly delicious, crowd pleasing pies, I couldn’t say they’d pass Paul Hollywood’s discerning eye. Thus, I decided to up my pie game by learning to make a … Read more

Macaron of the Month: Pumpkin Spice

Small white plate of 5 pumpkin spice macarons covered in white round sprinkles

Meet my new monthly baking column: Macaron of the Month! It’s my chance to play around with different flavors and learn some new techniques for this tricky sandwich cookie. I made these pumpkin spice macarons for Thanksgiving this year, using a combination of two different recipes. For my macaron base, I used the Italian merengue … Read more