Irish Cream Pound Cake
March 16, 2010 by Andrea 
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Filed under Dessert, Featured, Holidays
It’s that time of year, time for me to dust off my Irish genes—which are mingled with Scottish, a bit of Cherokee Indian, as well as a few others that I’m not sure about—and enjoy a bit of my family heritage. We’ll have some Irish stew, Irish soda bread, and at least one dessert with some of our favorite Irish flavors: Irish cream and Guinness. Read more
Toby Train Birthday Cake
March 3, 2010 by Andrea Print This Post
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My husband Michael, the engineer (aerospace, not trains), is the designer for all our sons’ birthday cakes. He’s a big fan of Duff Goldman and watches Ace of Cakes often trying to pick up any tips he can. We only tackle cakes like this three times a year and we are definitely not pros. I bake the cakes and whip up the frosting and fondant and he does all the assembly and decorative work. Here’s his story on how we made the Toby train birthday cake. Read more
Mini Chocolate Whoopie Pies with Nutella
February 5, 2010 by Andrea Print This Post
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Nutella lovers around the world, it’s time to celebrate World Nutella Day! The brainchild of Sara Sara from Ms. Adventures in Italy and Michelle from Bleeding Espresso, World Nutella Day started in 2007 and gave fans of the delicious chocolate hazelnut concoction a chance to share their devotion in whatever form seemed fit, whether spread on toast, crepes, rice crispy treats, put it in a king cake, or just licked off a spoon (my personal favorite). Read more
Eggnog Gelato
December 16, 2009 by Andrea Print This Post
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One of our holiday traditions was dashed this year when we couldn’t find Turkey Hill Eggnog Ice Cream. We always buy eggnog ice cream in December and Michael was quite dejected when I came home without the prize, so I set out to help him recover from his eggnog ice cream funk. I promised him an eggnog gelato and set off to create a recipe. Read more
Bourbon Pumpkin Marble Cheesecake
December 11, 2009 by Andrea Print This Post
Filed under Dessert, Holidays
Pumpkin cheesecake is one of my favorite holiday desserts and marbling the pumpkin filling with a bourbon vanilla filling takes it over the top for me. The recipe is my riff on the classic pumpkin marble cheesecake from the Philadelphia Cream Cheese Cheesecakes book published in 1989. I found a wire bound copy years ago at a yard sale for 50 cents and picked it right up. The recipes aren’t fussy, just simple and good, with a mix of baked and no-bake cheesecakes. I’ve made a number of cheesecakes from the book over the years and we enjoyed them all. Read more
Gingerbread Christmas Tree
December 4, 2009 by Andrea Print This Post
Filed under Dessert, Holidays
Making gingerbread houses is a father-son event in our home, with the boys crowded around the table as Michael assembles the house, a task that is not always easy. Some years the walls fall over and we’ve even resorted to using a glue gun to make the walls stand up. Each boy has a mini muffin tin filled with little candies in each cup that they put on the house. Some years the boys cooperate and the effort is pretty organized, but certainly not every year. Someone usually bumps into the house or spills the candy decorations or sticks their fingers where they don’t belong, but in the end that’s all part of the fun. Read more
