Eat The Love

Marbled Pound Cake

This beautiful marbled pound cake use cream cheese to give it a classic pound cake crumb that everyone loves.

I adore my classic cream cheese pound cake for the velvety tight crumb that it has. But when I want something that’s even more impressive, I make this marbled version. After all, I did write the cookbook Marbled, Swirled, and Layered! How could I resist making a chocolate and vanilla pound cake, aka the marbled version of my favorite pound cake? With swirls of chocolate batter in it, each slice of the pound cake looks beautiful when you slice into it. The recipe isn’t much different than my cream cheese pound cake but you do need to do the extra step of turning half the batter into a chocolate batter to mix in. Don’t worry though, it’s a pretty easy step!

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Strawberry Rhubarb Slab Pie with Pistachio Crumb Topping [Sponsored Post]

This Strawberry Rhubarb Slab Pie has a crunchy pistachio topping made with olive oil which adds a peppery fruity dimension to the topping.

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A slice of strawberry rhubarb slab pie with pistachio crumb topping on a plate. with the remaining pie and a mug of tea behind it.

Last month I had the pleasure of visiting San Luis Obispo, otherwise known as SLO, with my friends at California Grown. I’ve collaborated with California Grown for years, going on farm tours and visiting local producers across the golden state of California. Last year was one of my favorite tours ever, as we had a chance to visit a rhubarb farm and I’m OBSESSED with rhubarb, as evident by my strawberry rhubarb pie, strawberry rhubarb cobbler, strawberry rhubarb buckle cake, strawberry rhubarb galette, strawberry rhubarb syrup, blueberry rhubarb pie, cherry rhubarb crisp, and so many more recipes.

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Olive Oil Brownies with Sea Salt

These olive oil brownies have a generous sprinkling of sea salt on top. The olive oil gives the brownies a fudgy, truffle-like texture.

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A small plate of olive oil brownies stacked on top of each other. There is a glass of milk and more brownies behind the plate.

Olive oil is one of those of those under-appreciated baking ingredients. Though it’s one of my favorite things to reach for with cooking, it lends a lovely dimension and texture to baked goods as well, like the extra virgin olive oil chocolate chip cookies or these peach and basil olive oil cake. These olive oil brownies get a fantastic flavor from the peppery and fruity extra virgin olive that I use, as well as a rich fudgy, almost truffle-like texture that you can’t quite get with butter. Though I adore my easy fudge brownies and have a nostalgic soft spot for my one bowl cakey brownies, these salted olive oil brownies are quickly becoming a favorite in our household as well!

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Tunnel of Fudge Cake

This updated version of the Tunnel of Fudge Cake is take on the classic nostalgic vintage cake that popularized the bundt pan. It features a creamy dark chocolate filling with nuts and cacao nibs!

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A slice of tunnel of fudge cake on a plate, with the remaining cake behind it on a cake stand.

Lately I’ve been obsessed over nostalgic American vintage recipes like my version of the black bottom cupcakes and secret ingredient peanut butter blossoms. Next on my list was the classic Tunnel of Fudge cake that won Ella Helfrich second place in the 1966 Pillsbury Bake Off. What’s remarkable is that it not only came in second place (the first-place winner, Mari Petrelli’s Golden Gate Snack Bread is largely a footnote in the Bake Off history) but that it popularized Nordic Ware’s bundt pan (<- affiliate link).

Nordic Ware started out in 1950 making bundt pans, but sales were slow until the Tunnel of Fudge cake recipe exploded in popularity. Soon, Nordic Ware had to run their factory 24/7 to keep up with demands of their pan, cranking out 30,000 pans per day during the peak period. And once Pillsbury discontinued the key ingredient, Double Dutch Frosting Mix, bakers around the US complained so much that Pillsbury, brought back the mix temporarily, then eventually permanently discontinued it, finally posting a recipe for the cake that could be made without the frosting mix. Variations of the recipe have popped up here and there but the version that I ended up adapting was developed by Shirley Corriher, author of Bakewise (<-affiliate link), an excellent book that dives into the science of baking.

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Chocolate Peppermint Kisses Cookies

This chocolate peppermint kisses cookies have a holiday flair with the peppermint kiss and sprinkles and they’re super easy to make!

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Chocolate peppermint cookies rolled in sprinkles with a peppermint kisses on top of each cookie sitting on a wire cooling rack. A hand is reaching for one of them.

Though my secret ingredient Peanut Butter Blossoms are a classic holiday cookie in our household, they’re also a year-round treat for us. The classic combination of peanut butter and chocolate make them something that we can enjoy all the time. But peppermint kisses are a seasonal item, only popping up at the store during the holiday season. And when I see them, I can’t help but grab a bag! And that means I make these chocolate peppermint kisses cookies!

Like the peanut butter blossoms, these cookies have a chocolate kiss in the center of them, but with a festive red and white striped peppermint white kiss instead of the original chocolate! And since the kisses are peppermint flavored and the combination of mint and chocolate is a classic one (which I adore as evident by my peppermint striped cookie, mint chocolate chip cookie, white chocolate peppermint cookies with sea salt, and peppermint Texas sheet cake) I added a touch of peppermint extract in the chocolate cookie dough, as well as a roll in red and green sprinkles before you bake them, make these holiday cookies even more joyful to make and serve.

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