RECIPE: Valentine Brownies

Want to bring something fun to work or school for Valentine’s Day? These strawberry brownies from Kevin Lynch of Closet Cooking can be made for any occasion. But we especially like the heart-shaped effect of halved strawberries for “love” occasions: Mother’s, Father’s, Valentine’s, anniversaries, etc. You can adapt the idea to your favorite brownie, or…
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TIP OF THE DAY: Practice Your Frosting Roses (& Maybe A Party?)

Since childhood, our favorite part of a birthday cake has been the buttercream roses. No matter whose cake it was, we had to have a slice with a rose. You too? Then Valentine’s Day is your opportunity to practice piping frosting roses. Do we have to mention, you get to eat all the “learning mistakes?”…
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RECIPE: Super-Easy Brownie Cheesecake

[1] Top any cheesecake with brownie cubes and drizzle with caramel sauce (photo © iGourmet). [2] Want cake without all the chocolate? Go for blondies instead (photo © Valrhona Chocolate). [3] Key lime or lemon bars also do the trick, although are more jiggly than brownies and blondies (photo © Baking Obsession).   If you…
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TIP OF THE DAY: 3-D Animal Crackers

If you like to bake cookies, try your hand at something different: 3-D cookies. They’re sold by a British novelty products company called Suck UK (why ask why?), and available on Amazon. The zoo animal cookie cutter set contains a mother and baby. Each set has four cutters: two bodies and two pairs of legs,…
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TIP OF THE DAY: Turn Your Favorite Cake Into Mini Cupcakes

A new book, The Case Against Sugar, is pretty; scary. For a synopsis, read the review in The New York Times. The one-sentence message: Beyond our diabetes and obesity epidemics (had these been infectious diseases, according to the book, sugar is probably related to heart disease, hypertension, many common cancers and Alzheimer’s. But we’re not…
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