Last Minute Valentine's Day Dessert

We all know Valentine's Day is a Hallmark holiday. But it's also a great excuse to indulge in a sweet treat, so why not celebrate? If you get in the Valentine's mood at the eleventh hour, here's a last-minute dessert idea that is just special enough to impress your sweetheart.

Ice Cream Sandwiches

First, bake up some sugar cookies (there's a great recipe here). Cut the dough using a heart-shaped cookie cutter. Or, if you're short on time, buy medium to large-sized round cookies, such as peanut butter or chocolate chip. Pair the cookie with an appropriate ice cream, or go wild and come up with a crazy combination (peanut butter and Ben & Jerry's Chunky Monkey?). Scoop a large round of ice cream in the middle of a cookie then place a second cookie on top to make a sandwich. Wrap each ice cream sandwich with parchment paper and store in the freezer until you're ready for dessert.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Exploring Cocoa in Ghana

I just returned from an amazing trip to Ghana, where I visited cocoa plantations, toured cocoa factories and met with the people who make up fair trade cooperatives. Cissé, my new business venture, is what prompted this journey. Instead of buying cocoa powder from an intermediary, we are buying directly from the source. Which means I had the opportunity to meet the families that grow the cocoa beans at Aponoapo Cooperative, and negotiate with the people who process those beans into cocoa powder.

Cocoa is not just an exotic luxury product. It is the lifeblood of the community I visited, as Ghana is the world's second largest cocoa bean-producing country. Here, profits from cocoa beans result in new schools, roads, and improved healthcare. This trip gave me a deeper understanding of how special cocoa beans really are. And how meaningful it is to have a personal connection to your food source. The next bite I take out of a chocolate bar is going to be completely different!

Cookbook Photo Shoot: Behind the Scenes

Last week I drove into the wilds of the upper Delaware River for my third cookbook photo shoot. My photographer, Pernille Pedersen, graciously offered her gorgeous modern home in the woods as our location. Ever wonder what goes on behind the scenes? A lot.

It all starts with a concrete plan of what to photograph. During this session, we produced specific "how-to" shots, such as assembling peach hand pies and piping meringue for individual Baked Alaskas. We also created a spectacular table, fit for a swanky soiree, featuring several desserts from my book.

Almost a week before the shoot, I started prepping like a madwoman. With my oven cranked and a fridge full of an obscene amount of ingredients, I took each recipe as far as I could. The key to prepping for a shoot is to prepare as much as possible in advance. And to make extra portions, in case anything should go wrong on-site. Other important details:

Timing

The biggest challenge of this shoot was the timing. Midwinter daylight is fleeting, so we hit the ground running the moment we arrived at Pernille's. With nine shots and just eight hours of natural light, we had to work fast.

Props

What's a cake without a gorgeous cake stand? What's an assortment of truffles without the perfect plate to display them? It may not be the first thing you notice, but a prop can make or break a photo. Thanks to my prop stylist, Michelle Wong, my desserts looked perfectly delectable.

Food Styling

For every delicious-looking dish, there is a food stylist behind the scenes preparing the food and ensuring it looks it's photo-ready best. For this shoot, I received tremendous styling help from Junita Bognanni and Amy Wilkinson.

Personality

Unlike our previous shoots that focused solely on the food, this session featured me! There were four sets of "how-to" shots, one for each seasonal chapter in the book. With the help of Amy Wilkinson, who is also a make-up artist extraordinaire, I looked appropriately wintry, spring-like, summery, or ready for fall.

Behind any beautiful photograph you see in a cookbook, there's a skilled team of photographers and stylists. I'm lucky that my team is not only talented, but a lot of fun. Three shoots down; two more to go!

Best Professional Baking Tools

Let me share a little secret: you don't need a kitchen full of gadgets in order to be a successful baker. The truth is, just a few inexpensive tools make baking at home easier and a whole lot more fun. We're talking $15 or less! 

On Sunday, I shared some of my best pastry tips on Heritage Radio's "The Main Course," with founder and host, Patrick Martins. And when the topic of tools came up, I named a couple of my favorites. But for you guys, I'll share even more! Here's my list of the top five best professional baking tools for chefs and home cooks alike (drum roll please...).

1. Mini Offset Spatula
In the world of baking, the mini offset spatula is a pastry chef's right hand.

2. Rubber Bowl Scraper
You should keep one of these in your back pocket. It is perfect for getting every last bit of batter out of a bowl.

3. Wooden Handled Mini Whisk
Choose a wooden handle to prevent heat conduction and, even worse, burnt hands.

4. Serrated Paring Knife
A serrated edge cuts cleanly through thick-skinned fruits, like persimmon or pineapple.

5. Mini Le Creuset Rubber Spatula
The narrow shape lets you get in to every nook and cranny. I especially love it for scraping fruit puree from the bottom of a blender!

Dreaming of Summer Desserts

Winter has finally arrived in New York. Sure, it's a few months late, but that doesn't make it any less painful. On cold and bitter days like today, I can't help but fantasize about summer. And of course my thoughts lead to food! Here's an image from a BBQ I was at on the North Fork of Long Island. Freshly picked raspberries, coconut layer cake, and a cherry pie... a smorgasbord of summer pleasures. Memories of this festive party, and these classic summer desserts, are almost enough to warm me up.

How are you surviving the winter? Are you dreaming of your favorite summer standbys or are you embracing the cold?

What's In Season: Citrus Fruits

Satsuma tangerines

After spending Christmas in sunny Florida, I've got citrus fruit on the brain. I'm craving bright, clean flavors after all the rich holiday food I've been eating. Are you all egg-nogged out, too? Lucky for us, citrus fruits are just coming into season. Delicious and nutritious (no, really!), there's nothing sweeter than a ripe, in-season orange. Plus, the vitamin C will give you a boost of immunity during these dark winter months.

Citrus fruits to try:

• Satsuma Tangerines
• Clementines
• Mandarin Oranges
• Cara Cara Oranges
• Grapefruit
• Kumquats
• Pomelo (like a milder grapefruit)
• Tangelo (a hybrid of the Pomelo and the Tangerine) 

What to do with them: 

Peel. Eat. Enjoy a naturally sweet treat that's completely guilt-free.

Halve the fruit, sprinkle a small amount of unrefined sugar on top (try Demerara or Turbinado), and put it under the broiler. Or you can take a crème brûlée torch to the top, if you have one. Dig in and enjoy the caramelized sugar against the bracing fruit.

Make citrus sugar! Cut the peel away from the fruit, scraping away any pith. Bury the strip in a jar of sugar, let it infuse, and you will have citrus-scented sugar in just a week or two. You can use the sugar to make Pain Perdu or to give an extra oomph to pancakes, fritters or sugar cookies.

Candy the citrus peel and dip one end in dark chocolate. In France, this treat is known as an "orangette" and it's traditionally made with orange peel. Why not make a version with grapefruit? To candy citrus peel, you must blanch it in boiling water at least twice in order to get the bitterness out. Next, cook the peel in simple syrup until it becomes translucent (To make simple syrup, bring equal parts sugar and water to a boil. Cook until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture has thickened). Dry the candied peel on a wire rack for at least an hour. To finish, melt dark chocolate in a double-boiler and dip 2/3 of the candied peel into the chocolate. Place it on a piece of parchment paper until the chocolate sets.

A Christmas Full of Cookies

I'm heading home... suitcase full of cookies from my sweets-lovers' cookie exchange at Craft. Not only did we bake up a variety, but everyone put their own creative spin on packaging as well. Nothing says love like a giant assortment of homemade cookies, right? I hope you all enjoy a peaceful holiday filled with the family, friends and sweet treats you love most.