I have never liked blueberry pie. In fact, I would even go beyond that—I’ve always thought it was disgusting. I am not the biggest fan of fresh blueberries, either, but lately I have started to like them more and more.

Despite all of this, last week I could not stop thinking about how I really wanted to make a blueberry pie. Why did I think this… why? I have no idea. I am still unable to explain it. But I suspect it was divine intervention, because the resulting blueberry pie was THE BEST THING I HAVE EVER EATEN.

The recipe is dunce-free (not that CC readers are dunces, of course) and uses fresh berries, which I suspect is the real reason for my enthusiasm behind this pie. All previous blueberry pies that were set in front of me were either a) made from cans of blueberry pie filling or b) things that I refused to eat because I was under the impression that I hated blueberry pie. Read More »

Here’s a simple Q&A to get this party started.

Q: What’s better than ice cream?
A: Ice cream cake, of course.

Q: What’s better than ice cream cake?
A: Ice cream cake that’s not very bad for you—low-guilt ice cream cake, if you will.

Q: How are you going to impress your friends and family on the 4th of July?
A: By making them this beautiful, low-guilt ice cream cake!

Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, roll up your sleeves and get ready, because this is the simplest ice cream cake EVER. It has four ingredients: Read More »

The quintessential dessert of summer is the strawberry shortcake, and for good reason. There’s even a licensed character named after the dessert, for crying out loud. So when you make one, you want to make it good—and no, that does not involve picking up a four-pack of preservative-loaded, Twinkie-like “shortcakes” from Walmart.

What, you’ve never made your own shortcake before? Then you, my friend, are seriously missing out. Allow me to be your guide for your first foray into the world of better-tasting shortcakes—once you’ve entered, you’ll never look back.

For two nice-sized shortcakes (a little bigger than those store-bought lumps), you need:

• 2/3 cup flour
• a generous sprinkle (about 1/8 tsp) salt
• ½ tsp baking powder
• 1 ½ tablespoons sugar Read More »

This happens to me all the time: I want to eat a nice, healthy salad, I really do—but I crave sugar instead. Usually, I end up eating a square of chocolate instead of a bowl of Romaine.

But now I’ve found the perfect solution: sweet spinach salad!

This takes less than five minutes to make, and it’s DELICIOUS. I feel like I am eating a dessert salad whenever I make it, no joke. All you need is some spinach, a few strawberries, a dab of honey, and a squirt of lemon juice.

Easy process: slice the strawberries and cut off the tops. Rinse the spinach and chop or tear it into smaller pieces. Toss the spinach and the strawberries in a bowl, and poke them for a few seconds to combine them.

Now for the fun part: squirt the lemon juice (I use about half a teaspoon) over the salad, then drizzle the honey over it. Mix everything up with your fork, and that’s IT! Dig in and enjoy… it’s the perfect side for a warm, summery day.

So, I set out the other night to make a crostata, but let’s just say I don’t seem to be at that level in my baking prowess yet. In my understanding, a crostata is supposed to have a nice, firm, flaky, golden brown crust… and, well, mine didn’t.

In good news, though, it tasted great. And it ended up looking exactly like something else I like a lot—pizza.

So if you too want to try dessert pizza, here’s all you need: about 1 cup sliced fresh strawberries, 1 small sliced apple (optional), 1 tablespoon sugar, 1 ½ teaspoons cornstarch, 1 tablespoon water, enough pie dough for 1 small pie (use your discretion), 1-2 tablespoons chocolate chips, 1 tablespoon milk, and a little bit (not more than a tablespoon) of brown sugar, oats, and flour. Read More »