Good Things by David

One of my favorite cake molds from the former  Martha by Mail  catalog happens to be in the shape of a chicken.  This two-part mold made of heavy cast-aluminum provides great detail with which to decorate & embellish a most charming cake.  Although every cake mold that was offered through the catalog was supplied with a recipe & decorating card, any number of cake batters can easily be used to create a memorable dessert.  Chickens are a very popular motif for the home and are therefore appropriate all year long.  One doesn't have to wait for spring or the Easter holiday to partake of a chicken cake, at least in my opinion.  Why not delight a few guests for an intimate luncheon with one of these cakes?  You can pipe various-sized feathers tinted in a number of hues using the lightest of buttercreams or you can use a rich ganache made from high quality chocolate to glaze the cake with great success.  Making one of these c...

We all like cakes that are beautifully iced for special celebrations throughout the year.  Many of us enjoy decorating them for our friends and family with tinted buttercream, piped with exact proportions and sometimes we even add a bit of whimsy to make them unique.  Many years ago when Martha by Mail was available, the product developers provided us with a wonderful cake decorating kit which had every tool needed to create lovely cakes.  With this kit came a small decorating booklet.  The booklet is now a collector's item and I'd like to share it with you if you haven't seen it before. The cakes, tips and decorating instructions found here were taken from previous Martha Stewart Living publications and were collected in a very informative 12 page booklet.  A few classic recipes from  marthastewart.com  were included, such as the ever-popular royal icing and buttercream recipes, plus a typical yellow cake recipe.  I did not include them in t...

I thought it was time to bake a cookie that was tender, soft, sweet and full of coconut flavor.  As much as I like having coconut cupcakes to satisfy my craving for that flavor, it isn't often I come across a coconut cookie that meets such a need.  Yes, we do have coconut macaroons that are very popular with a lot of people (plain or dunked in chocolate), but why not have a coconut cookie that's more like a soft sugar cookie topped with some icing?  I'm all for trying out a new recipe in the kitchen to make something that is suited to one's tastes.     The iced coconut cookies that I came up with are just the thing to make on the days when only coconut will do.  What's nice about this recipe, other than the flavor and texture of the baked cookie, is the coconut-flavored icing that drips down so beautifully on each cookie.  I've always been captivated by icing on baked goods, whether it's a dark chocolate ganache, a colored frosting or a pris...

My Coconut Cupcakes are the last word on coconut.  The cake base is flavored with delicious coconut milk, a bit of coconut extract and some finely shredded sweetened coconut flakes to make them ultra tasty and out of this world.  Instead of seven minute frosting that most recipes call for in a coconut cupcake recipe, I use a simple coconut buttercream frosting that is absolutely addictive.  Each cupcake is crowned with more sweetened flaked coconut for all to enjoy.  Make no mistake, you’re going to be tempted to eat one as soon as you start decorating them because they will beckon you to. Ultimate Coconut Cupcakes One good thing about cupcakes is that, not only are they very easy to make and assemble, they’re super quick to bake in the oven.  Twenty minutes at most and you have the most inviting and tempting little coconut cupcakes eagerly awaiting a bit of frosting as soon as they’ve cooled.  Make an giant batch of them for the Easter holiday ...

Going through my archives of recipes, photographs and thoughts every single month gives me a chance to pause and take note of what I managed to capture and what I didn't.  It helps put things into perspective for me.  I like to outline on paper ahead of time the subjects I want to cover for a particular month, all the while taking notes, adding things or removing them.  It's how I blog.  The items I don't get to cover always get pushed back for a later date & I make sure not to forget what it is I wanted to say, capture or express; everything gets jotted down.  The subject of Good Things is boundless in my opinion, which is why I initially thought of using those words for my blog title.  The month was certainly filled with my favorite things, but it seemed to have been overtaken by The Good Egg .  I started with the idea of eggs, Araucana eggs to be exact, because I love using them in my kitchen for baking & cookin...