Joy Wilson's Blog, page 85

Browned Butter Carrot Loaf Cake

I don’t need much convincing when it comes to carrot cake.  I’ll have it any which way you’re making it.  Is it more coconut than carrot?  Chocked full of walnuts and dried cranberries and pineapple and raisins?  I’m here for it. Mostly, I’m here for the cream cheese frosting so…. whatever is underneath gets a hearty thumbs up from me.  

If you have my first cookbook, there’s a Carrot Bundt Cake, kitchen-sink-style, in that in has every dang thing in it.

Continue reading Browned Butter Carrot Loaf Cake at Joy the Baker.

Let It Be Sunday, 164!

Hello sweet friends! 

Are you well?  I hope you’re well.  

I’ve spent the weekend quietly in Austin Texas at a small blog conference keeping to myself.  My Dad asked me if I was here to network and I answered him with silence because I was eating my second plate of tacos on my airbnb bed…. aka networking very hard.  

I’m teaching myself how to make video content for my site.

Continue reading Let It Be Sunday, 164! at Joy the Baker.

Chocolate Sprinkle Crinkle Cookies

I’ve needed a heavy dose of chocolate from my kitchen the past few days.  No negotiations.  

There are all sorts of ways to get chocolate into my system, the most recent being this mushroom hot chocolate I’ve enjoyed every night for a week.  We drink mushroom now.  Did you know?  I think it’s been all the rage for awhile but, well… I’m tardy but I’m here for it. 

Of course one of the finest homemade chocolate iterations is that magical space between a brownie and a cookie.  Fudgy and chewy, crispy around the edges and crusted across the top.  This version is pleasingly chewy (even a few days after baking!) and covered in lightly crunchy chocolate jimmies.

Continue reading Chocolate Sprinkle Crinkle Cookies at Joy the Baker.

Let It Be Sunday, 163!

Hello dearhearts! 

I hope today you can do one strong thing that gives you peace.  Keep it small.  I want to moisturize and get to a yoga class.  Let’s just keep today’s goals simple.  

Be well today.  Feel rested. Have a dang bagel.  Hang out here to read my offering of links for reading: 

•  Isn’t it incredible we shared the world with this human?  Stephen Hawking; his mind roamed the cosmos (The New York Times)

•  STAY VOTING.  See:  Conor Lamb.

Continue reading Let It Be Sunday, 163! at Joy the Baker.

Spicy Fried Shrimp Po’Boys

If I were to offer you any unsolicited advice worth taking it would be:  live in a city with a sandwich.  

Now if you’re smart… you’ll live in a city with multiple sandwiches.  Top of mind that means that the most successful living takes place in both New Orleans (for its po’boys and bless-ed muffulettas) and Philadelphia (for its cheesesteaks, truly important roast pork sandwiches, and for the way people in Philly pronounce hoagie more than a hoagie itself… ya feel me?).

Continue reading Spicy Fried Shrimp Po’Boys at Joy the Baker.

Let It Be Sunday, 162!

Hello my dears,  

I’m often surprised at how often I have to redefine what balance looks like to me.  This week was no different. Sometimes balance requires more yoga, sometimes less… way less.  Sometimes balance involves more Oreo cookies, less time with the computer, and more walks along the river.

Speaking of the river, our great Mississippi: It’s been high this week – reminding us, as though we’ve forgotten, that she’s in charge.

Continue reading Let It Be Sunday, 162! at Joy the Baker.

Peanut Butter and Jelly Petit Fours

Oooh oooh, all the ways we’ve come to enjoy cake.  

We can stack it high and chocolate frost it.  We can top it with candles and light it on fire.  We can slice it large and eat it greedily.  Heck… we can bake it in a paper cups and still call it a cake.  Bundt it?  That’s as fine an idea as any. 

What’s so deeply glorious about cake is that it signifies an occasion, grand or otherwise.

Continue reading Peanut Butter and Jelly Petit Fours at Joy the Baker.

Let It Be Sunday, 161!

Hello sweet friends and welcome to Sunday!

The Japanese magnolias are in bloom in New Orleans, making the city even that much more magical!  I love these blooms.  

I managed to tick every task off my to-do list this week and I’m rewarding myself with some very chill and restorative crafting this Sunday afternoon.  I’m thinking something along the lines of this jean embroidery from Honestly WTF. 

I’ve been thinking about those of you in that monster snow storm and I hope today finds you with light and heat and all the coffee and hot breakfast you need. 

My Sunday offering follows:

•  We all have our blind spots but you can trust me when I tell you that I am very very smart and very very creative.

Continue reading Let It Be Sunday, 161! at Joy the Baker.

Brûléed Earl Grey Rice Pudding

There’s a short list of things that I can eat by the gallon full and I’m here to swing my arms in the air and tell you this is iiiittt!  Rice pudding.  Hello, sweet lover. 

There is divinity in the simplicity of this dessert.  It’s rice – double cooked with sweetened milk, stirred to thickened, stirred until you’ve worked yourself in a trance.  Spooned into generous portions and chilled with patience.

Continue reading Brûléed Earl Grey Rice Pudding at Joy the Baker.

Let It Be Sunday, 160!

Hello dearhearts,  

It’s been a wallop of a week for me between exciting work projects, trying relationships, and deeply sad family loss.   I’m hoping that this Sunday offers a settling of heart, mind and body for me and… while I’m making wishes for myself, I have the same hopes for you.  Essentially, I hope we all can just sit down and close our eyes for a spell.  

Putting this post together is one of my favorite tasks in a week.

Continue reading Let It Be Sunday, 160! at Joy the Baker.