Category: Cakes

No. 536Recipe Card Posted on by — Leave a comment

Rosemary & Olive Oil Bundt Cake 

Rosemary & Olive Oil Bundt Cake | Bijouxs Little Jewels from the Kitchen

 

All recipe roads lead me back to Chez Pannise, and to the incredible recipes from chefs born out of this legendary restaurant-Italian Rosemary Cake–No. 539 from the Membership Collection.

CHEZ PANISSE CHEFS

 

Rosemary & Olive Oil Bundt Cake | Bijouxs Little Jewels from the Kitchen

 

Besides the founder & lead chef Alice Waters, so many incredible chefs did a stint at the classic Berkely Restaurant. Alice Waters really did change the California food scene with the lasting legency of farm to table cooking.
The list of alums reads like a star list of chefs including Andy Baraghani, Dan Barber, Paul Bertolli, April Bloomfield, Suzanne Goin, Joyce Goldstein, David Lebovitz, Deborah Madison, Mark Peel, Jeremiah Tower and Jonathan Waxman, to drop a few names. I am truly blessed to have eaten at all of the chefs restaurants. I was living in LA and connected Hollywood/food scene.

ITALIAN ROSEMARY CAKE

 

 

Rosemary & Olive Oil Bundt Cake 

Rosemary & Olive Oil Bundt Cake 

 

This recipe was originated from Paul Bertolli, from Cooking by Hand, 2003 then adapted by Tamar Alder in The Everlasting Meal, 2012, both available on Amazon. i love this cake it is easy, not too sweet and it keeps well (if it will stick around for long!
Reheat in warmed oven and serve with a scoop of gelato-delish.
Savor Italian Rosemary Cake, another Little Jewel from the Recipe Membership Collection. Note: I love this cake so much I posted it

 

No. 537Recipe Card Posted on by — Leave a comment

Simple Strawberry Tiramisu

Simple Strawberry Tiramisu | Bijouxs Little Jewels

Strawberry season is finally upon us. The berries are beginning to show up at the roadside farm stands along the Central Coast. I always pull over and grab some berries, early season or not, they are still sweet. Simple Strawberry Tiramisu is my go-to for an easy, light true Little Jewel from the Kitchen.

STRAWBERRY SEASON

Just as the berries burst on the scene, so does the California Strawberry Festival. 2024 is looking to be a better year for the berries. The festival is being held at the Ventura Country Fairgrounds. The festival is sponsored by major companies and best of all money raised is donated to charities.

SIMPLE STRAWBERRY TIRAMISU

This recipe was inspired from the great Chef Ottolenghi’s Strawberry Tiramisu Cake. Roasting the berries produces a sweet syrup to layer with the Ladyfingers. My changes included sizing down the recipe, making one 5×8 inch loaf. To further simplify, the filling consists of thick Greek yogurt lightened with whipped cream, vanilla and a shot of Grand Marnier. So good. I also used supermarket Ladyfingers, they are usually right next to the strawberries. All the ingredients are easy to find in local supermarkets.

Simple Strawberry Tiramisu |Bijouxs Little Jewels

SEASONAL SWEETS

Along with my classic Strawberry Shortcake that is from my From the Garden Cookbook.

 

Simple Strawberry Tiramisu | Bijouxs Little Jewels

Finally, there is a chance the rain will stop here and the sun will once again shine along this magic shore. Happy Spring to everyone.

 

No. 511Recipe Card Posted on by — Leave a comment

Marsala Olive Oil Cake

Marsala Olive oil Cake Bijouxs Little Jewels

Bijouxs has lots of love for Olive Oil cakes. Baking got me through the days of cooking confinement. Thank goodness that is all behind us. I bring you Marsala Olive Oil Cake, another Little Jewel from the Kitchen.

OLIVE OIL CAKE

Marsala Olive Oil Cake is a version of the the now famous olive oil cake, Torta di Olio, from Maialino Restaurent in NYC. I posted my citrus take on that cake here. I love to see recipes get passed around, and changed, as happens many times with most of us who cook. Just a little more of this and less of that. I saw this cake by Chef Camilla Marcus, via Eye Swoon and adapted it. Just what I needed another olive oil cake recipe! One reason I love these sturdy olive oil cakes it that they are not a bit fussy and one-bowl wonders. I chose Marsala for the fotified wine, I feel Marsala is under utilized for baking. Marsala was a popular cooking wine back when I started my food education. 

Marsala Olive oil Cake |Bijouxs Little Jewels

RECIPE ARCHIVE

This cake is a recipe I photographed during the dark days of the confinement. I was able to get some groceries delivered so I kept calm and cooked.  Was it really two years ago? I built quite an archive during that period, with about 20 more recipes that are waiting to be shared. “Cooking can keep a person who tries sane” this truth from John Irving.

So, let’s keep cooking with Bijouxs Little Jewels from the Kitchen.

 

No. 504Recipe Card Posted on by — Leave a comment

Small Batch Coconut Cake

Small Batch Coconut Cake | Bijouxs Little Jewels

Just the two of us…and we are hungry for a little Coconut Cake (think your favorite Lemon Bread). To the rescue–Small Batch Coconut Cake, this cake is diminutive in size but big on flavor, another Little Jewel from the Bijouxs Kitchen.

BREAD OR CAKE?

OK, what is the difference between a bread and a cake? I have always been confused. Yes, there is a difference, simply put it has to do with the leavening agents used. This post on Food 52 breaks it all down. Confusingly, classic Lemon Bread is really more like a cake baked in a loaf pan. So this recipe can be either cake or bread, which ever you like.

SMALL BATCH BAKING

All that confusion aside, simple sweet loaf cakes are my favorite. Mini loaves are easy to share with friends, take to parties, and of course are just enough for the two of us. Lemon Bread is the classic that bears repeating so, enter Small Batch Coconut Cake, a tropical take on the favorite.

Small Batch Coconut Cake| Bijouxs Little Jewels

COCONUT CAKE

Simple pantry ingredients make this cake. A sweet glaze is poured into the hot cake that creates a tender, flavorful cake. This recipe makes a perfect size cake for small households.

Enjoy another Little Jewel from the Bijouxs Kitchen.

 

 

No. 501Recipe Card Posted on by — Leave a comment

Ada Boni’s Chocolate Cupcakes

Ada Boni’s Chocolate Cupcakes | Bijouxs Little Jewels

Happy Sunday! I bring you an incredible chocolate cake recipe that hits all the marks in today’s food scene: no dairy, no butter, a perfectly vegan cake; oh did I mention the recipe is from Italy in 1929? Amazing cooks, making something from nothing in hardship days-Ada Boni’s Talisman Cake, a true little jewel.

ITALIAN REGIONAL COOKING

This cake popped up on my IG feed a while back-it looked like a mistake, another flawed recipe from the internet. After research I found out that this cake, Ada Boni’s Talisman Cake, is from a 1929 cookbook that was touted at the time as a book to give new brides as a wedding gift. This peaked my interest and down the rabbit whole I went to understand the history of this recipe. Not to my knowledge, I had a copy of Italian Regional Cookbook I picked up for couple bucks at a local thrift shop, also by Ada Boni!. My cookbook collection is out of control.

CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES

Back to the cupcakes (cake) recipe. This cake recipe does read like mistake. I was skeptical, but after multiple bakings, each time  comes out fantastic, whether made as a cake or cupcakes. So, dense, so much chocolate, hard to believe recipe. The best thing is the simplicity. Dry ingredients in a bowl, add the wet and orange rind and bake, that’s all, really.

Ada Boni’s Chocolate Cupcakes | Bijouxs Little Jewels

A couple of things, do not over bake or add more than called for orange zest or cinnamon, I went a little overboard one time, not good.I frosted the cupcakes with a rich coconut milk vanilla-bean labne (thick yogurt) whip. I love the tang and it keeps things dairy-free.  Frost with your favorite vanilla frosting, or go crazy and do chocolate, you can’t lose either way.

Ada Boni’s Chocolate Cupcakes | Bijouxs Little Jewels

Ada Boni’s Chocolate Cupcakes | Bijouxs Little Jewels

 

HISTORIAL RECIPES

I can’t say enough how much cooking knowledge I have gained from reading from cook’s of the past from all over the world. My cookbook collection is a treasure. Food is universal, something that connects us all.

In creating Bijouxs Little Jewels from the Kitchen over 10 years ago, my was goal to bring you the” little jewels” a curated collection of recipes from different time periods and cultures. Now with 500 recipes on the website to search, you will find an abundant collection of eclectic recipes, something for everyone and every meal.

Stay tuned for a new chapter and format for the next ten years. Thank you for being a part of Bijouxs Little Jewels from the Kitchen.

Still Hungry?