"cookbook 411" news and stories

This is a big photo for such a little dessert. Those delectable cakelets are Apricot Mini Cakes, made by L at Cookbook 411. In addition to providing the reader with the recipe, she also nicely demonstrates how a great shot is framed. She used a solid-colored background and placed the cakes so that the viewer would get a lovely sense of perspective as s/he looks at the shot. As for the cakes themselves, they are moist, tender and oh-so-summery with their use of fresh apricots. As L put it, the apricots look like "little caramelized suns" - and the perfect way to bring some sunlight to your table without eating outside in the heat.

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I have been disappointed with the strawberries I've had this season, which were adversely affected some rather unpleasant weather patterns and a tremendous amount of rain here in California. Consequently, I've been looking for ways to use up the less-than-satisfying berries when I buy them in a fit of optimism. Cooked into cakes or muffins, they actually taste much better than fresh, due to the support from additional sugar. Next time I have some around, I'm definitely going to try the Baked Strawberry Pudding from Cookbook 411. It looks like a light, delicious pudding cake with strawberry puree as the base. Summery, simple and elegant - sign me up! You can get the recipe here.

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I know, it seems like only days ago that I posted about Michael Ray's food photography blog. Well, today I came across Still Life with..., a food photography blog started by L of cookbook 411. Although she's incredibly modest, her food photos are wonderful and the insights that come along with them are great both for their plain language and focus on the home photographer. Just browsing over the recent entries I came across very useful discussions of HDR food photography, workflow, and a big list of other online resources for food photographers. It looks like Still Life with... is just shy of two months old. With any luck, L will keep going with it. I look forward to seeing what else it brings.