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November 11, 2023

Caramel Apple Cake

This cake began with me flipping through my well-loved copy of Tartine’s first cookbook and finding myself suddenly intrigued by their recipe for caramel apples. Up until then, I had never had a caramel apple. I had never wanted a caramel apple. I had never understood why anyone would want an apple dunked in sweet, sticky goo. But for whatever reason, because my brain is the way it is, I suddenly very much wanted a caramel apple. And not just any caramel apple, but Tartine’s caramel apples.

So… why not make an entire cake to go with it? Let’s break it down:

  • Cake: Lightly spiced cake studded with fresh apple chunks
  • Filling: Italian buttercream whipped with tangy sour cream and honey
  • Outer: Italian buttercream
  • Topping: Tart and buttery apple cider caramel

All together, you get a cake that just bursts with proper apple goodness.

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June 13, 2023

Chinese Hot Water Crust Pie with Fried Rice and Short Ribs

Another throwback recipe that I am only… *checks watch, then calendar* … three years overdue in posting. I have made this pie two more times since I photographed this specific one because I loved it that much! Since watching the Great British Bake Off episode where all the contestants had to make a wild game pie with hot water crust, I became obsessed with the idea of doing the same: but with a Chinese twist.

Why not fill a savory pie with my favorite Chinese mains and sides? Why not?

 

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April 13, 2023

Extra Devil’s Food Cake For the Winter

If this seems weirdly out of season, it’s because it is. If you look at the time stamps on this site, it’ll become very clear that I am erratic at best on when I post — and a lot of that has to do with my own personal incompetence, but also because I never knew why I had this site to begin with. Who is it for? What do I hope to achieve? All good questions for life and frivolous “recipe blogs”, though applying that label to hellokelinda.com is rather generous.

The long identity crisis may be finally over, though, as I find myself wishing more and more that I had some sort of archive by which to track my own favorite past creations, be it a towering cake or cozy stew. So who is this for? Me. Or more specifically, Future Me.

 

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April 11, 2023

Yellow Cake with Nutella Meringue Buttercream

I had two jars of Nutella in the pantry for some now long-forgotten project, and I came across them over the weekend while digging around looking for a sleeve of Saltine crackers. Saltine crackers were obtained and duly dispatched, but the Nutella whispered its sweet siren song from the depths of my canned and jarred goods: Ammmmmmmmmy…. Ammmmmmmmmmy……..

No good. They had to be gotten rid of.

And by what method did I decide to do this? Making an entire cake just to slather it in some deliciously fluffy Nutella meringue buttercream. And sharing it with my coworkers, of course.

 

 

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April 10, 2023

My Favorite Birthday Cake: Yellow Cake with Pastry Cream Filling

I saw this goose candle holder (from Camp Hollow) earlier this year, and how could I resist? He’s even wearing a tiny party hat! I knew the little guy had to take a starring role on my birthday cake this year, and it also gave me an excuse to get a little over-the-top with the decoration.

If you’re interested in doing something similar, you’ll need candy melts for the dramatic swishes (swipe it onto a piece of parchment like you’re a chef plating a fancy sauce), star sprinkles, two piping nozzles (I use a round and a star), and to try your hand at color-matching your frosting with food coloring.

 

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February 17, 2022

Black Forest Cake-ish

My friend Katie is celebrating her 30-mumbles birthday and her absolute favorite cake is a black forest cake.

Personal confession: I am indifferent towards black forest cake. I am, at best, lukewarm towards black forest cake, which I suppose is better than my violently-in-opposition-of feelings towards German chocolate cake and hummingbird cake. If I am being paid to create a cake for someone, I will readily put such opinions aside and do exactly what they’ve requested. But since I was baking this cake out of the goodness of my admittedly cold, unfeeling heart, I decided that it was perfectly fine to be just a little selfish. So here is black forest cake-ish: all the basic elements of black forest cake, but done how I would like it.

 

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March 30, 2020

chocolate chip cookies

If I go to a bakery and there is a chocolate chip cookie available, I must try it. It is my duty, and I will not fail. As such, I have eaten many chocolate chip cookies, and friends, they come in so many textures, densities, flavor profiles, shapes, and sizes that it’s strange they are all supposedly the same kind of cookie. I have tasted cakey versions, crispy versions, versions that are more chocolate than cookie, kinds with huge flecks of salt on top and ones made with half white and half whole wheat flour.

Through this very meticulous, science-based cookie eating research, I have come to a conclusion as to what is the best kind of chocolate chip cookie. According to me, a professional, a chewy chocolate chip cookie is best. The edges should be crispy, but give way easily to a center that is just set. The cookie itself should taste of toffee and golden butter, with generous pockets of melty bittersweet chocolate.

 

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March 25, 2019

homemade horchata

I was in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico a few weeks ago for my friend’s bachelorette party. We all ate a ton of delicious tacos, but this post is not about that. This post is about the beguilingly creamy, cinnamon-y drink we were served at two of the taco stands: horchata.

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July 30, 2018

Quick Tuna Pasta (or Friendship Tuna Pasta, if you ask Katie)

Summers are hot. Summers in a house with no air conditioning are even hotter. To keep temperatures inside from rising past Real Sweaty and straight into Living on the Sun, I try to keep my stove time as short as possible when cooking anything. So when my friend Katie found a recipe for a quick pasta dinner that incorporated two of my favorite things — (1) tinned fish and (2) not being on fire — I immediately knew this was something I’d have to break out every summer.

All the things that go into the pasta are thrown into one bowl, and get this: it is “cooked” by placing that bowl on top of the pot of water while the pasta boils. The heat from the boiling water is enough to warm everything through so that you only need to use one stove burner and the stove only needs to be on as long as it takes to cook your spaghetti.


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March 19, 2018

no-churn ice cream: fruity pebbles, mint cookies & cream

I have made ice cream approximately… *counts on fingers*… one time in my life, and that was in elementary school. We filled a bag with the ice cream mix, then put that bag inside another bag, then put that bag inside yet another bag full of ice and rock salt, and tossed it around to each other until it solidified through a combination of physics and magic. This blew Grade School Amy’s mind, but a later attempt to recreate the process at home ended in a burst-bag-salty-ice-water-all-over-the-kitchen-floor tragedy.

A mere two decades later, I finally have redemption.


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