gluten-free - Half-Size Bakes

Unsecret Garden

The story of Garden of Eden seems endlessly fascinating, for people of many faiths as well as those of no particular faith at all. Some critics read it as an allegory of the agricultural revolution, where Adam and Eve are given dominion over the

cake

Heart's Desire

Here at Half-Size Bakes, there are certain holidays we always celebrate at home: New Year's Eve, Mother's Day, and Valentine's Day. Even when restaurant dining was a regular part of our lives, we avoided restaurants on those days, which we thought of as the

apple crisp

Uncomplicated

I don't have a favorite movie; there are just too many to choose from. Lately I've been thinking a lot about Bull Durham, one of the many movies I love. It's richly evocative of a time and place, the on-screen chemistry among the cast

cake

Winterlog

Part of the Pandemic Baking Adventure for me has been about trying new things. Back in former days, I would think about trying a new recipe, but I was busy with a lot of other things and just didn't have the mental energy to

gingerbread

Better yet

I made gingerbread a while back, and posted the recipe. We all enjoyed it. I was particularly pleased because my previous foray into gingerbread had been a fairly complicated gluten-free recipe developed by America's Test Kitchens, and it was pretty disappointing. More recently, I

cake

Hail and farewell

Remember back in March? The joke going around then was that we should send the year back and ask for a refund, before the warranty expired. I keep remembering that now, and wondering if we should have tried harder. Just like everyone else, I've

dessert

Little black cake

If I were doing a keyword search for dessert these days, I'd probably be looking for "rich" and "warm". And "easy". In the aftermath of Thanksgiving, with Christmas baking yet to come, "easy" is definitely high on my list. Hence this pudding cake, which

clafoutis

And now for something completely selfish

It's a reflection of the life we live these days that I often feel lonely, but also never alone. I imagine new parents must feel this way often: I miss my old life! And seeing my friends! And having a minute to myself! When

bread

What goes around

A year ago, it seemed that eating bread had become rather passe. What with paleo diets and keto diets and gluten-free diets, the bread basket as a dining room staple seemed to be going the way of the dodo. I myself grew up in

gingerbread

Once upon a chilly evening

At this time of year, I find my thoughts turning to gingerbread. The scent of gingerbread, for many of us, evokes the whole holiday season: gingerbread cookies, gingerbread houses, even gingerbread-spice lattes. Gingerbread has been associated with winter celebrations since the Middle Ages, and

cake

Perfect Noir

"Because it's so perfectly dark." That's what I said when a friend of mine asked me why I liked The Maltese Falcon. And I stand by that: it is dark. And perfect. And funny in spots. And tragic, and confused. You know. Like a

cake

A Hallowed Dessert

Host: Welcome to another exciting installment of "Things that go with chocolate"! Today's episode features an intriguing new contestant – a zesty fruit-forward little number that's both a color and a flavor – let's give it up for our guest star: Orange! Orange, tell us a

dessert

Boston cream pie

I don't know what it is about Boston. They seem to have an aversion there to calling things by their right names. I remember my disappointment as a child, when I found out what the "Boston Tea Party" really was. I mean, what kind

muffins

In a supporting role

It's a truism in life that not everyone can be in the limelight all the time, and the same thing is true of foods. In composing a meal, it's a good idea to think about one or two dishes that will be stars of

dessert

A back number

I have an irrational fascination for old recipes. I love to read them and try to puzzle out what the original authors had in mind. I can spend a lot of time wondering what they might taste like. But often I don't actually try

cheesecake

A fine pairing

Pairing: Two things, people, or organizations that work together – Cambridge English DictionaryI have written before about flavor combinations: there are many I find irresistible, but top of my list is raspberry paired with white chocolate. This can take many forms: raspberry sorbet swirled with

biscuits

From Scratch

Someday I'll write a post comparing English and American foods of the same name: biscuit vs biscuit, muffin vs muffin, pudding vs pudding, pancake vs pancake. This is not that post. This is a post about American biscuits, pure and simple ... and wonderful. Today

cookies

Perfectly Plain

It may be that no author in the English language has inspired such a long-standing and devoted following as Jane Austen. She only wrote half a dozen novels, all portraying quiet scenes of everyday life in early 19th century society. But each of those

cake

Round like a lemon

Lemon tree very pretty and the lemon flower is sweet But the fruit of the poor lemon is impossible to eat. – from the folk song "Lemon Tree" by Will HoltWhen I was a kid (a very literal-minded kid, I guess), this lyric used to

pound cake

Quarter-pounder for the king

Sean I'd say the best one came from Tupelo Mississippi – The ProclaimersPound cake has a long and venerable history in America, originally brought to the country by colonists from England. Cookbooks were by no means unheard-of, but were far less commonly available than today;

dessert

By any other name

I grew up calling them "butterscotch brownies". They are also called "blond brownies", or "blondies". If you do an Internet search for them, you'll find a dizzying variety of recipes, and not a lot of agreement on what they should be like. I'll put

cake

Joyous

Ever since I was a small child, I have been convinced that chocolate cake is hard to beat. If I'm ever wondering what would make a nice dessert, chocolate cake immediately springs to mind. This cake has the added bonus of a mocha icing:

scones

A little refined

When The Resident Food Critic was about 8 years old, I took her out to a "fancy" restaurant that served afternoon teas. She was absolutely enchanted: the waiter brought her her very own pot of tea, showed her how to dissolve a sugar cube

muffins

A little rustic

When I bring up muffins in conversation, the reaction is often lukewarm. (Yeah, I talk about food a lot.) Muffins these days are a coffee-shop staple, but I would argue that if you've only had muffins from coffee shops, you really haven't had muffins

cake

Harvest Time

I asked Tech Support what dessert he would like for Father's Day, and he asked for spice cake. He's like that: very fond of old-fashioned bakes like spice cake and peanut-butter cookies. He is a great admirer of the basics, done to perfection. What