"CulinaryInTheDesert" news and stories

There is no reason why foods like pancakes and waffles should be saved for Sunday brunch, especially when they look as delicious as the Banana-Oatmeal Hot Cakes that Joe, at Culinary in the Desert, made recently. The pancakes are hearty, and include cooked oatmeal, which gives them a satisfying denseness that will fill you up at least until lunchtime. The best part about this breakfast was probably the spiced maple syrup that was served to top the cakes. It was made by steeping cinnamon and whole cloves in pure, buttery maple syrup, which was poured (while still warm) over the fresh stack of pancakes. Who wouldn't want to start their morning that way? The only way that these pancakes could look better is if they were sitting in front of me right now.

Source

Easter is just about my favorite holiday. I know this is the holiest week out of the Catholic year and that I should be reflecting and doing some serious soul searching, but in all honesty I'm thinking about food and decorations. I can't help it. I am giddy with Easter fever. So imagine my delight when I recently ran across a recipe for Easter Biscotti that uses jelly beans. What a beautiful union of colors to dip in my caffeine.

I found it on a site devoted almost entirely to recipes and food experimentation. The author, Joe, has had a lifelong love of food exploration and has created Culinary in the Desert to his wanderings and discoveries. Joe mentions that he had to somewhat modify his typical biscotti recipe to accommodate the jelly beans. He used butter, which made the recipe somewhat more sticky than usual, but by wetting his hands he was able to easily shape the loaf. He also states that the loaf must cool somewhat after baking so that the jelly beans can harden to prevent any sticking when cutting the bicottie pieces. I very much appreciate his tips about the stickiness because the sticky factor is what typically prevents my forays into cooking and baking endeavors. Biscotti is one of the few recipes I have successfully created in my kitchen so I am definitely going to give this one a try.

Source

Source

Angel food cakes are considered by some to be diet food. They are, after all, fat free. On the other hand, they're loaded with sugar, which keeps the cakes moist and fluffy after baking. Sugar and fat always seem to be a tradeoff when it comes to "healthier" desserts, and I , for one, will take the sugar every time.

A good angel food cake should be moist, not overly sweet and very tender, not to mention that it must have a good flavor. Culinary in the Desert's Mocha Angel Food Cake has all these properties,  in addition to being a beautiful chocolate color and having both cocoa and coffee in the cake.

Source