Blackberry Butter Cake

Tender and buttery and bursting with pockets of ripe summer berries, this blackberry butter cake is what I’d call an ideal snack cake—a snackberry cake, if you will—that’s easy to prepare and even easier to eat.

Sometimes simple is best, and this blackberry cake is proof in its perfection, no fancy frostings or fillings needed! It comes together quickly with minimal time and effort (remembering to get your ingredients out ahead of time is probably the hardest part), and the result is a casual yet impressive muffin-like cake that’s a perfect way to use up those summer berries.

The recipe is loosely based on my trusty sour cream coffee cake recipe, with slightly different proportions to accommodate the berries in an 8-inch square pan. And hey, if you want to call it a coffee cake and eat it for breakfast, I’m not going to judge you (it’s basically a muffin masquerading as a cake).

Using sour cream is really my favorite way to get a moist and flavorful butter cake; the fat adds moisture and flavor, and the acidity balances out the sugar. (Psst, sour cream also makes for an awesome chocolate cake too).

The dusting of granulated sugar on top makes for a delightfully crispy finish, without the need for a separate crumb mixture (as much as I love a crumb topping, I don’t love the extra dishes it creates). In fact, this cake can practically be prepared in a single bowl, either the bowl of a stand mixer or a large mixing bowl with an electric mixer.

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Strawberry Elderflower Tiramisu (with Eggless Mascarpone Cream)

A cross between classic tiramisu and a springy strawberry shortcake, this strawberry tiramisu has a dreamy eggless mascarpone cream and a splash of elderflower flavor to bring out the fragrant, floral notes of the berries.

The mascarpone whipped cream is eggless, meaning no concerns about raw eggs nor fussy tempering custards! It’s simply whipped cream stabilized with mascarpone, making for a fluffy, cloud-like cream in between layers of softened ladyfinger cookies and jammy strawberries. (Note that ladyfinger cookies DO contain eggs, so this recipe isn’t completely egg-free, just the cream part is).

The tiramisu renaissance is upon us. Sure there will always be the sticklers that insist that it’s not really tiramisu unless it’s got espresso, mascarpone cream and cocoa powder, but I like to take a looser interpretation. Really, anything that involves ladyfinger cookies layered with mascarpone cream can be called a tiramisu in my opinion.

In the past I’ve made an orange marmalade variation on the classic, swapping the coffee for orange juice, marmalade, and Grand Marnier liqueur (spoiler alert: it’s wonderful).

But here I wanted something a bit more… springy.

And what’s more springy than ripe spring strawberries, picked straight from the field?

This strawberry tiramisu features the layers of ladyfinger cookies and mascarpone cream like the classic version (though this mascarpone is lighter and made without eggs), but that’s where the similarities end.

Instead of espresso, we’re using a loose strawberry jam that’s been spiked with a bit of St. Germain elderflower liqueur, and an extra brush of elderflower syrup for added flavor and moisture.

The classic dusting of cocoa powder? It’s now a vibrant flurry of freeze dried strawberry powder dusting the tops of the mascarpone mountains.

What you get is part tiramisu, part strawberry shortcake: an elegant dessert that’s entirely delectable. It’s impressive but surprisingly easy to throw together, and throw together well ahead of your dinner party to free up your time for other tasks (and in fact, the make-ahead nature of tiramisu is not a can, rather a must—allowing at least 3-4 hours or more for the layers to soften and meld is non-negotiable, overnight is even better).

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Strawberry Passionfruit Jam

Boring strawberry jam? No way! This jammy mashup of strawberry and passionfruit has a bright, tangy, and strawberry-forward flavor and a gorgeous ruby red color.

This recipe is written for water-bath canning methods for shelf-stable storage, however it can also be stored in the fridge for up to 2 weeks or in the freezer for up to 6 months!

Another year, another strawberry season, another day dragging my husband outside to pick berries. He’s a good sport about it though, and, despite the fact the actual picking is not his favorite activity, he certainly appreciates the fruits of our labors (literally).

This year’s strawberry jam (in addition to making a batch of my favorite classic strawberry jam for year-round PB&Js) brings together two fruits that I love individually—strawberry and passionfruit—and love even more together. Case in point: last year’s strawberry passionfruit lemonade which was what inspired this lively flavor combination to begin with.

Unique combo fruit jams are… well, my jam. From mango raspberry to strawberry guava, I say why use one fruit when two would be better (or hey, what about three! Or four! In fact, there’s a fabulous triple berry jam, and a ridiculously named FROG jam—fig, raspberry, orange, and ginger—in my book, and they are definitely some of my favorites).

When it comes to kinds of fruit, the more the merrier I say!

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Grapefruit Olive Oil Bundt Cake (with Greek Yogurt)

How much grapefruit is too much grapefruit? Asking for a friend (hi, it’s me, I’m the friend). Because this flavor-packed bundt uses two entire grapefruits, including the zest and the juice as well as grapefruit extract in the cake itself, which is then soaked with a flavor-packed grapefruit cordial and drizzled with a grapefruit glaze to top it all off.

Made with olive oil and greek yogurt for flavor, moisture and tang, with a plush, pound cake-like texture and subtle notes of extra virgin olive oil that perfectly compliment the bright grapefruit flavor, it’s the perfect springtime bake to mark the transition from winter to spring! And did I mention that since it’s an oil-based cake, you don’t even need an electric mixer to make it? That’s what I call winning.

Let’s pack as much grapefruit flavor as humanly possible into a bundt pan (not an easy undertaking, as grapefruit is a tricky flavor to get to come through in baked goods). To achieve maximum grapefruit flavor, I ended up using grapefruit zest, fresh-squeezed juice, and grapefruit extract in the cake itself, then soaked the warm cake with a bright and tangy grapefruit cordial (which is basically like a sugar syrup, just uncooked so the grapefruit flavor stays super bright), and finally glazed it with an elegant drizzle of pastel pink grapefruit glaze.

That’s two whole grapefruits in there in one form or another.

Even with what seems like an excessive amount of grapefruit, the flavor is actually quite mellow (it’s not going to punch you in the face), but still prominently and pleasantly grapefruit from the very first bite.

By the second bite, you’ll begin tasting the the grassy, peppery notes of the olive oil, which plays beautifully with the almost floral grapefruit, and just the right amount of sugar to offset any bitterness that might result from having so much grapefruit packed in to a single cake.

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Homemade Pistachio Drink Syrup (that actually tastes like pistachios!)

This bright green syrup tastes just like pistachios, with a bright green color and bold, nutty flavor that’s perfect in caffeinated beverages, cocktails and mocktails, or drizzled over ice cream, waffles or pancakes.

Most pistachio syrup recipes out there call for simply steeping pistachios in a sugar syrup, but that just gives you a faintly nutty sugar syrup that barely tastes like pistachio at all. Instead, my recipe calls for blending the nuts with the sugar syrup and then straining it, resulting in a luscious, thick green syrup that actually tastes like real pistachios (no extract needed!)

I know, I know. I’ve gone a little pistachio crazy lately, it’s bordering on obsession (at what point do I need to change the blog name to Love & Pistachios?)

Since we’ve already tackled homemade pistachio butter, I really wanted to figure out a homemade pistachio syrup next. Because, let’s face it, most commercially available brands of pistachio syrup just aren’t very good. I thought finding a good pistachio extract was hard, but pistachio syrup is even more elusive. Most of the ones I’ve tried taste too chemically, even bordering on cherry cough syrup-like flavor more than pistachio. It’s really disappointing if we’re being honest here.

I figured, how hard could it be to make my own?

I tested a number of different versions of this recipe, with the ultimate aim to maximize the natural pistachio flavor as much as possible, and a secondary goal of a gorgeous green color.

When I compared a steeped and blended syrup to a syrup that was just steeped with pistachios, the difference was like night and day. The blended syrup actually tastes like pistachios. The steeped syrup… doesn’t. Like, at all. It tastes like a plain old sugar syrup that briefly dated a pistachio in their teenage years (lol).

Anyway. Blending the syrup is the key here, and you really can’t get away with skipping this step (though see my note at the very bottom for a blender-free version in a pinch).

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Sweet & Spicy Sesame Snack Mix

When you’re craving intense flavor and satisfying crunch, something salty and sweet with just a hint of heat, this sesame-forward snack mix hits all the right notes, with the perfect variety of crunchy bits and a flavor-packed glaze featuring soy sauce, sesame oil, honey and spices.

Because of the honey in the glaze (which is prone to burning), this snack mix bakes at a lower temperature for a longer time, resulting in a perfectly crisp texture every time. And while the longer baking time might test your patience, the favor-packed results are well worth the wait. Might I suggest making an extra large batch (because it surely won’t last long!)

Taylor is a snack fanatic, always crunching on something even if we just finished dinner, going through bags of various snack mixes at an alarming rate (at this point he should probably just change his last name from Hackbarth to Snackbarth).

Lately, however, he’s gotten a bit bored of the same generic snack mix, and was hankering for something bolder with more spice and a more unique flavor profile. So he set out to make his own flavor-packed snack mix.

If you’ve ever searched the internet for homemade snack mix recipes, you’ve probably noticed that almost every snack mix recipe out there is some variation on the same thing (basically the original Chex Mix recipe right from the box). A little Worcestershire, a sprinkle of garlic and onion powder, butter and salt and that’s it. How boring.

Instead, let’s turn that generic flavor up a notch with a gut-punch of sesame (both oil and seeds in addition to the sesame sticks within the snack mix itself), plus soy sauce for saltiness and umami, honey for sweetness, and Korean gochugaru pepper flakes for smokey heat.

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Meyer Lemon Cheesecake Bars with Lemon Curd Swirl

Creamy, dreamy, lemon-packed cheesecake bars with a crispy lemon cookie crust and a swirl of bright and tangy Meyer lemon curd… like a cross between a lemon bar and a classic cheesecake, it’s the perfect bite for springtime!

A cheesecake bar is a quicker, easier way to satisfy your cheesecake craving, without having to deal with the hassle of waterbaths or leaky springform pans. Instead, bake a thinner layer of cheesecake (swirled with Meyer lemon curd) in a standard square baking pan and then cut them into perfectly layered squares.

I’ve had a lemon cheesecake on my to-make list for some time now, and when a box of Meyer lemons showed up in the mail from my aunt in California (thanks, Sally!) I knew it was the first thing I wanted to make. (I still have a whole bunch left even after testing this one multiple times so… send your recipe ideas and requests, please!)

Anyway. Cheesecake! I knew I wanted lemon cheesecake, and I also wanted to do easier cheesecake bars rather than a full sized cheesecake.

I debated back and forth how best to make a mashup of cheesecake and lemon bars. I tested both this swirly version (loosely based on my peach cheesecake bar recipe), and a version that was basically like my favorite Meyer lemon bars with an extra layer of cheesecake in between, with a shortbread crust and a solid layer of lemon curd on top.

And while the lemon bar version was good, ultimately the lemony swirls were just too pretty to pass up (yes, I fully admit to judging a dessert by its cover, but in this case the taste certainly measured up to the appearance). With a perfectly proportioned layer of creamy cheesecake, a swirl of Meyer-lemon curd, and a crisp lemon-scented cookie crust, the final recipe is definitely one you’ll want to save and share.

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