These addictive truffles were inspired by some served at the prestigious Magnolia Grill in Durham, North Carolina, a restaurant known nationwide for its innovative desserts. Whereas the chef there uses dry-roasted peanuts, I much prefer the large, toothsome, regular goobers I order routinely from Aunt Ruby's in Enfield, North Carolina (1-800-843-0105), and for even smoother and richer texture, I do add butter to the chocolate. If ever the affinity between bacon and peanut butter and/or chocolate were questioned, these truffles serve as undeniable proof. Stored in an airtight container, the truffles keep in the refrigerator up to about a week and are best served slightly chilled.
Grape pies have all the voluptuous qualities of a blackberry pie, but I've never found a commercial one, or even one from a farmers' market, that's even half as good as homemade. The filling can also be used to make individual tarts or a lattice-covered pie. It freezes well, too, which means you can have a grape tart on Thanksgiving, which I always do.
When our great-grandparents didn't want to bother with the mess and fuss of doing ice cream in hand-cranked ice cream freezers, they used ice cube trays and did this stirred version. No equipment needed and the ice cream tastes just swell.
Ingredients
This rich, crustless cheesecake studded with chestnut chunks is scented with the unbeatable combination of vanilla and dark rum. That combination brings unexpected elegance to this cake, which originated as a simple country pudding.
As plain as these cookies look, that's how surprising they are. At first glance, they have the look of little meringue buttons: their tops are pale, smooth, buff colored, and as crackly thin as parchment. Tucked beneath the crust is the cookie proper, a tidbit that is all crunch. These are cookies you might be tempted to gobble like gumdrops if it weren't for their flavor: anise, a flavor so assertive it can never be taken lightly.
Recipes from a few of the most important cookbooks exhibited at the University of Michigan.
Dandelion flowers aren't just pretty. They are also extremely nutritious food and have none of the bitterness of dandelion leaves if you cut off the green bracts at the base of the flower cluster.
Light, bumpy, nutty and completely higgledy-piggledy-shaped, these cratered meringue nuggets are just the cookies to reach for with your last coffee of the afternoon or your last spoonful of ice cream at night. They are featherweight but packed with flavor, and I love the way they disappear in your mouth — quickly, so quickly and fizzily that if they didn't have nuts, you'd think you were eating espresso Pop Rocks.
Whether you're celebrating your baby's first birthday or your great-grandfather's ninety-fifth, if you've got an audience with a yen for chocolate, here's your best-bet cake. It's classically American, with layers that are made with cocoa and buttermilk. They're tender, light and happy to be matched with just about any frosting. My favorite accompaniment for this cake is the Chocolate-Malt Buttercream, a soft, sweet chocolate frosting with just a hint of malt flavor and a slight tickle of sugar on the tongue, but you can choose from several other fill-and-frost possibilities.