Rhubarb-Almond Cake

If you’re looking for a summer dessert this is it. I love rhubarb & have traditionally enjoyed it most in a strawberry rhubarb pie (mmmm). My aunt is allergic to strawberries so when deciding on what to bring for (Easter) dessert at my Grandma’s house I opted for this Rhubarb-Almond Cake. It’s light but moist. It’s sweet, but not too sweet. The rhubarb offers the right amount of tartness to make you want seconds.

6 Easter Menu Ideas

quiche | home fries | salad | madeleines | raspberry ricotta cake | homemade cream eggs

When I was a little girl the Easter Bunny would bring us dried fruit, maybe some m&ms & a small toy. Rarely did we have the novel chocolate bunnies waiting for us in our baskets. My mom got a nutrition degree from Cornell so I’m pretty sure she laid down the law with the Easter Bunny about what could & couldn’t make the basket. That said there was always plenty of dessert around in the form of baked goods at Easter that were sugary but usually more fruity or Italian cheese cakey, I suppose to compensate for the lack of chocolate bunnies.  That is probably why half of the recipes I pulled for this post are desserts (he he). Grab the links for those 6 recipes here:

1. quiche 
2. home fries 
3. salad 
4. madeleines 
5. raspberry ricotta cake 
6. homemade cream eggs

Easter’s one those holidays that can start early, like breakfast. So why not make some brunchy type foods for your family? We’ll be spending Easter with family & I’ll be bringing deserts. I’ll probably make this or maybe something new. I haven’t yet decided. What are you making?

Happy Easter y'all :)

P.S.: If you're looking for decorating inspiration check out how my mother-in-law decorates here. She never disappoints. It's always festive & tasteful!

P.P.S. Happy Passover, too!

Banana Chocolate Chip Pancakes with Toasted Almonds

Growing up my mom would always make a ‘special Easter breakfast’ that usually consisted of strawberries & cream. It was super simple but rich & memorable & we loved it. Now that Easter is almost here I think these pancakes with bananas, chocolate chips & toasted almonds would make for a memorable tradition or you can make them on any weekend morning that you want to make special.

What do you make on Easter morning? Is it something traditional or something new each year?

3rd Blog Birthday + Raspberry-Ricotta Cake

It’s March 12th again, how can that be? That means HeatherOMade is three!!! Sometimes I can’t imagine my life without this blog & you guys my loyal readers who check in to see what I’m making or posting on the daily (or maybe not so daily). I’m still trying to find the balance between blogging, my full time job, being a wife, a sister, a daughter, an aunt, a grand daughter & a friend but thanks for letting me be me & allowing me to focus on whatever it is I choose to be each day.

To celebrate I made this cake I found in the pages of this month’s Bon Appetit. It’s super moist (even if you don’t like that word it is!) & flavorful. The raspberries are the perfect balance of sweet & tart. I even ate a piece for breakfast because why not it’s my blog birthday :) (Yes, sometimes I eat cake for breakfast even though my Instagram feed would make you believe I only eat smoothie bowls)

I think this would be a great cake to make for Easter or just this spring in general, or just breakfast.
Super huge thanks again for reading these past three years! Cheers to you all (especially my biggest fan,  best friend, main taste-tester, oh & best husband, Chris)! xx Heather

Homemade Twix Chocolate Bars

Happy Halloween! I hope you’re doing your fair share of trick & lots of treating today.

I’ll be dressing up for work today & posting on instagram so be sure to check that out here. Halloween, Easter & Valentine’s Day are probably the top three holidays that I associate with candy.  It seemed only fitting to pair up with the folks at Chocoley to bring you this post for homemade twix. Once I figured out what I was doing I had a lot of fun making these (& eating the leftover chocolate out of the bowl!). Plus, I got to try out Chocoley’s Caramel which is pretty much the best way (in my opinion to make caramel - because it’s already made!) & it’s super easy to work with. There was no sugar burnt in my kitchen attempting to make caramel because this stuff is perfect right out of the container. I made my cookies from scratch using Ina Garten’s Shortbread Cookie Recipe but I think if you wanted to use graham crackers or villa wafers as your cookie they would work great too - your twix just might be a little bit bigger or a different shape (round!).  All worth giving a shot.

I think I may love these little wrappers Chocoley sent me the most. They make me feel like I made some legit candy bars. 

Have a spooktacularly sweet day!

Homemade Chocolate Covered Easter Cream Eggs

Last Friday I came home to a package sent by the sweet people at Chocoley full of fun ingredients for this Easter project - homemade Chocolate Covred Easter Cream Eggs - so you have them to thank for this festive post (thanks Chocoley!).

When the Chocoley team first contacted me I figuratively & literally felt like a kid in the candy store.  They asked me to come up with something I'd like to make using their awesome ingredients! What would I make? So many options to choose from!

My decision became more clear with Easter on the horizon. I knew what I wanted to make & the Chocoley team was on board to advise me of which ingredients would make my Easter creation come to fruition. Chocoley truly has everything you need for creating beautiful & tasty treats.

While I was making these eggs I couldn’t help but remember the story my mom always tells of when I would make cookies as a kid. They would start out small & uniform but then as I continued & the initial excitement of making them wore off the cookies would grow in size. You could look at the assortment of sizes as a timeline of the cookies - the smallest were the earliest & the largest were the last to be baked. It’s a funny memory & my mom laughs every time she tells it - which makes me laugh. This is how I felt making these eggs. If you are going to make them at home - smaller is better - trust me. Mine grew in size - while still delicious they were a bit sloppier & wouldn’t stand on the lollipop stick, instead I had to rest them on their sides making them not completely round - but I covered them with edible confetti, silver sprinkles (like magic from a disco ball!) & pretty pink foils so you’d never know.

PS: Happy birthday to my dear friend Hely! I love you Hey Hey :)

Olive Oil Bundt Cake

We decided last night at Easter dinner that I will make the desserts for all family dinners at my grandma's house (with the addition of the 7 fishes on Christmas Eve where Chris will make his crab stuffed mushrooms & I'll make the honey balls). So desserts are my thing since my grandmother & aunt have the dinner down to feed a few small country instead of pint-sized family members. 

This Easter I made some new desserts which is always a risk but I think they went well.  The first of the two desserts I made was an olive oil cake. I've had olive oil cake at La Columbe & it was delish so I searched the internet for a recipe that spoke to me. I found Gina DePalma's recipe for an almond olive oil cake by way of Lottie + Doof's blog.

I know what you're probably thinking - olive oil cake - that's a little weird. And no this is not an April Fools joke (although, happy april fools!).  But honestly if you like pound cake, almonds & a buttery glaze - there is really nothing you won't love about this cake. It's pretty easy to make. Sure there's a few steps but it's not all that bad. Plus if you're making it for a holiday party that you don't have to cook an entire dinner for your family why not spend that time baking up this cake. I used our bundt pan because it gives the cake in interesting shape but you can definitely use a spring form pan or just a regular cake pan too, it'll still be delish.

Easter Decoration Inspiration

I've always been surrounded by creative people in my life. Growing up we always had a craft room and it's been tradition for mothers and grandmothers to make the wedding dresses in my family (more on that later).  It just so happens that I married into creativity too.  Yes I'm that lucky.

These are pics I snapped from Easter at my talented mother-in-law's house.  Her sense of style and decor is a force to be reckoned with and would give Martha a run for her money.

I aspire to one day have chic seasonal decorations like her and to dress a table with every last detail being truly classy and never cheesy.  ( I also aspire to have a place to store these things too!)

"Peep" more pics after the jump!