Stella Parks's Blog, page 14

What to Do With Leftover Vanilla Bean Pods

Given that vanilla beans cost more than ever these days, it's all the more important to make the most of every pod. Leftover vanilla can be a great source of flavor and aroma for your favorite recipes, but only if you use methods aimed at extracting the pods' water-soluble compounds. Here are some of our favorite uses.
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The Skillet Cookie: Yet Another Reason to Love Cast Iron

For fans of crisp and chewy chocolate chip cookies, baking the dough in a cast iron skillet is the way to go. The edge turns extra crisp while the middle stays soft and chewy, with a semi-molten core like what you find in the best brownies.
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Key Lime Meets Lemon Meringue in This Citrusy Cream Pie

This pie relies on the killer combo of citrus and dairy (think Creamsicle) for a mellow, sweet, and sour dessert. The crispy whole wheat crust underscores the zippy custard with its graham-like flavor, while fluffy peaks of toasted meringue recall those of a classic lemon meringue pie. It all comes together in a pie that tastes both familiar and distinctive at the same time.
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Roast Your Strawberries for a Taste of Summer in Winter

Out of season strawberries don't come close to truly ripe, in-season versions of the fruit. Don't fret, though: With these roasting and flavor-enhancing tricks, even the saddest strawberries can explode with intense berry flavor.
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The Sneaky Ways Winter Weather Ruins Your Baking

When "room temperature" falls below 70°F (21°C), pie and cookie doughs can end up dry and crumbly, layer cakes can dome and turn out riddled with tunnels and holes, buttercreams can curdle, and breads can refuse to rise. Fortunately, you can sidestep these problems altogether if you know which techniques they're likely to affect.
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Stella's Favorite Recipes of 2017

The best part of working at Serious Eats has to be the near-constant parade of recipes that sound so awesome I can't help but run to the kitchen and try them for myself. That means I don't have to spend too much time wondering what dinner will be, only whether it should come from Daniel, Kenji, or Sohla.
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Become a More Inventive Cook With The Flavor Thesaurus

A guide to relationships—how one flavor can amplify or underscore another to produce a more satisfying composition.
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Cranberry Trifle: A Blueprint for the Perfect Holiday Dessert

A blueprint for making a festive trifle out of whatever you have on hand.
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How to Make Chocolate Mousse Without Eggs or Gelatin

Made from Dutch cocoa with a reduction of milk and cream, this unusual stovetop mousse is everything you love about traditional recipes—minus the eggs. This gives the mousse a bold chocolate flavor like no other, for an intense finale to any meal.
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7 Aromatic Vanilla Extracts to Step Up Your Dessert Game

Bakers, it's time to break up with supermarket vanilla! Step up your game with these next-level vanilla extracts.
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