Good Things by David

I’ve shown you vanilla cupcakes , red velvet cupcakes ,  coconut cupcakes  and even lemon cupcakes , but I’ve never done a chocolate cupcake for you.  It's time.  Light as a feather, rich & chocolaty is the best way to describe my chocolate cupcakes.  In order to achieve these levels of excellence, one must use a good dutch-process cocoa powder and velvety cake flour, as well as fresh eggs, milk and butter.  Don’t forget that pure vanilla extract is essential for the best tasting cupcake.   This cupcake is for those of you who can’t get enough chocolate.  I know the feeling.  Certain days require a bit of chocolate in some form or another, and if you want a little cupcake to go with a cup of coffee or a cup of tea, my recipe is a must.  Bookmark it because it will hopefully become a go-to chocolate cupcake for a lot of you.   Cupcake & Coffee Since the recipe makes exactly one dozen standard-sized cupca...

Stenciling porcelain cups is such an easy way to make something unique for gift giving.  You can stencil one cup or mug for someone special during a holiday or birthday, but you can also stencil a whole set of them for yourself if you want.  For this particular project it’s best to buy inexpensive white porcelain cups and not use antiques or heirloom china.  Figure out what you want to put on them and how you want them to look, then visit a craft store near you and get your materials if you don’t have them already. I’ll show you how easy it is to make these nice cups to sip your coffee or tea at home (you can also take one to work for your desk).  The fun part is picking out the color(s) you want to use for the cups you happen to buy.  If you choose one color then it’s as simple as can be.  If you want to use a particular color palette, let your imagination run wild and custom color a wonderful cup.  Personally, I think there is no wrong or r...

Quite recently I was given a small catalog by my good friend, Janet , to add to my collection of Martha by Mail items.  I had not been aware that such a booklet existed, so when it arrived I was beyond thrilled.  The very early sets of copper cookie cutters had their own dedicated catalog that was sent to customers who bought them in the late 90s.  In it, iced cookies were shown with or without the cutters, along with brief descriptions of what they were.  This was an antecedent to the much larger catalog that was later to be published on a quarterly basis.  Many of these images were used throughout the years in the Martha by Mail catalog as well as in Martha Stewart Living magazine. Since the little catalog is indeed rare, if you ever come across one I encourage you to keep it in a safe place.  You can make copies of it to have in your kitchen (like Janet has done) so that you have a reference when you’re icing and decorating cookies, but keep the...

Sometimes only a blondie will do.  On the other end of the spectrum from dark, fudgy brownies, blondies have such a buttery-sweet quality to them that is so satisfying and comforting.  With the rich flavor of butterscotch to serve as a vehicle for other ingredients, what goes into them is entirely a personal matter.   Some bakers will insist on adding chocolate chips and/or walnuts to their bar cookies, while others will push the limits and add everything but the kitchen sink. For this particular version of blondies I decided to add toffee bits in order to complement the butterscotch flavor of the brown sugar, as well as flaked coconut for added texture and sweetness.  The bars that emerge from the oven are heavenly squares of tender richness which immediately beckon you to have one.  Patience!  The bar cookies need to cool completely before they're divvied up into generous portions. My Coconut Toffee Bars are rich, it's true, but they're the ty...

I was considering polishing some of my copper the other day using a different method than the one I’ve been accustomed to.  People have told me that you don’t have to use lemons & salt to polish copper, but I’ve always been hesitant to reach for commercial creams.  Apart from polishes being a bit costly (I’ve seen French ones selling for over $20), I don’t like to have that many chemicals touching the implements I use to prepare food (cleaning my silver with polish is something I do only once in a great while--even then I will use baking soda & boiling water before reaching for a polishing compound).  It’s one thing to use polishes if things are going to be kept as ornaments or be put on display, but it’s something else if you plan on cutting things with them.  After having a discussion with Michael Bonne (a superb American coppersmith) on the various ways to polish copper, I was intrigued by the information he provided.  He gave a storied ba...

I just want to remind everyone that sour cherry season is right around the corner.  I've been combing the farmers markets for these delicious fruits so that I can bake a pie very soon.  Sour cherries are here for only a very short period of time, and depending on where you live, they may be available as soon as mid-June.   Last year I was only able to get a couple of quarts of these fruits because someone beat me to the majority of the crop on the day I was at the market.  I'm determined not to let that happen this year! This is what I love this time of year.  The bright cherries look so stunning sitting here on a milk glass cake stand in my kitchen, but rest assured, they don't last for more than an afternoon. After I pit them, I mix the fruits with simple ingredients such as sugar, cinnamon & cornstarch or tapioca starch.  I make sure not waste one precious drop of juice as I'm pitting them. Cherry Pie anyone?  This pie s...