by B.L. Unkel | Dec 18, 2021 | Baking
Fairy floss. A magical name for a delightful, wispy spun-sugar delicacy. As early as the fifteenth century, chefs in Italy made spun-sugar desserts. But being a very labor-intensive process, the sweet wasn’t cheap and so could only be enjoyed by the rich. It wasn’t...
by B.L. Unkel | Oct 23, 2021 | Baking
As we approach Halloween, I thought I’d share historical myths and superstitions involving blackberries. There are more than you might imagine. Blackberries and the Devil The most well-known superstition is: Don’t eat fresh blackberries after “Michaelmas day.”...
by B.L. Unkel | Oct 16, 2021 | Baking
What, you ask, was chocolate cake if it wasn’t chocolate cake? Answer: In the late 1800s, the first chocolate cakes were usually yellow cakes with chocolate frosting. Cooks didn’t have smooth-melting chocolate like we have today. Until 1890-1900, the extent of...
by B.L. Unkel | Oct 9, 2021 | Baking
Tomorrow, October 10, is National Angel Food Cake Day. I discovered this nugget of information when I began researching how the cake got its name. I never learned exactly where the name came from, other than what else would you call such a tasty, cloudlike treat? This...
by B.L. Unkel | Jul 24, 2021 | Baking
Writing last week’s DYK made me think of the tomato chow-chow recipe I use and the story behind it . . . How It Began Several years ago, an older friend gave me a jar of her cousin’s tomato chow-chow. (More like a sweet tomato relish, really.) After tasting it,...
by B.L. Unkel | Jul 17, 2021 | Baking
Now that we’re well into summer, I hope you’re enjoying the benefits of a vegetable garden. There’s nothing tastier than a BLT with fresh-out-of-the-garden tomatoes. (Of course, with the high cost of bacon, maybe it’s just a fresh out-the-garden tomato sandwich.) How...
