The following recipe comes from my mother's home economics class in Louisiana back in the 1940's. I hope your readers enjoy the muffins as much as I do.
Using a culinary torch is the best way to caramelize the sugar into a candy shell, but you can also make this old-school breakfast treat using your broiler.
This is called a meringue buttercream because its foundation is egg whites, not the more traditional yolks. That makes it very light, satiny, and easy to spread-a plus if you're making a many-layered cake...
Mâche is sold in different ways - sometimes it comes in a package with soil plugs attached and sometimes you can find it loose, like mesclun. If you're buying it with plugs attached, you'll need 1 1/2...
Expect a line to form when you unveil this stunning dessert. It's swirled throughout with tangy lemon curd, which amplifies the richness of the surrounding cheesecake.
For this particular recipe, it's important to use canned almond paste - the type sold in tubes is too crumbly and doesn't give the cookies the right consistency.
The recipe and introductory text below are excerpted from Mai Pham's book The Best of Vietnamese and Thai Cooking. Pham also shared some helpful cooking tips exclusively with Epicurious, which we've added...
"My boyfriend and I were vacationing in Boulder, Colorado, when we discovered Dot's Diner, a cozy place that serves wonderful breakfasts," writes Kimberly McClain of Harris, Iowa. "The biscuit that came...