Wait, We Should Put *What* in Our Chocolate Cake?

This article is a part of Mayo Week—seven days celebrating all things mayonnaise—presented in partnership by our friends at Primal Kitchen.

Confession: This cake involved some subterfuge. After baking it and enjoying a slice, I knew I’d hit upon an …

This article is a part of Mayo Week—seven days celebrating all things mayonnaise—presented in partnership by our friends at Primal Kitchen.


Confession: This cake involved some subterfuge. After baking it and enjoying a slice, I knew I'd hit upon an exceptionally good recipe. I've always struggled with chocolate cakes, finding the batter too liquidy and the resulting cakes far too moist to frost easily. Classic chocolate cake recipes never taste truly rich enough for me. This recipe from the back of the cocoa box was my top contender until now.

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These Pumpkin Spice Muffins Are Hiding a Sweet, Maple-y Secret

Winter holidays get billed as the biggest baking season, but let me encourage you to rethink this. Fall—which is right around the corner—is the finest time to turn on your ovens, not just for the warmth it spreads through your kitchen, but to make the …

Winter holidays get billed as the biggest baking season, but let me encourage you to rethink this. Fall—which is right around the corner—is the finest time to turn on your ovens, not just for the warmth it spreads through your kitchen, but to make the most of the bountiful produce and big fall flavors. Autumnal ingredients are the coziest ones; it feels like being wrapped in a big hug every time I bite into a warm muffin spiced with cinnamon, or a sugary apple cider doughnut.

Photo by Julia Gartland

The queen of all fall flavors is, of course, pumpkin spice. And my new favorite way to pay tribute to the queen? These tender-crumbed muffins filled with a sweet cream cheese maple frosting and topped with a crunchy cinnamon streusel. Before you scoff at yet another pumpkin spice recipe, wearily shaking your head at its omnipresence, let me assure you that this recipe will leave you thinking, "Oh! So that’s why pumpkin spice got so popular!”

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How to Turn Any Vegetable Into a Creamy, Cozy Soup

We’ve teamed up with our friends at All-Clad to bring you Pans With a Plan—a series sharing smart techniques, tasty recipe ideas, and all sorts of handy tips for cooking novices and seasoned pros alike. Here, food writer and recipe developer Posie Brie…

We’ve teamed up with our friends at All-Clad to bring you Pans With a Plan—a series sharing smart techniques, tasty recipe ideas, and all sorts of handy tips for cooking novices and seasoned pros alike. Here, food writer and recipe developer Posie Brien shows us a riff-able template for creamy, kid-friendly soups using All-Clad’s FUSIONTEC™ 4-Quart Soup Pot.


On busy days, there’s nothing more useful (and comforting) than having an easy, satisfying dinner in your back pocket. I’m talking about recipes that, once you make them a few times, become simple enough to put together without too much thought, advance planning, or effort. When the lazy days of summer wane and fall hits—bringing cooler back-to-school days and more structured, packed schedules—I turn to soup.

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It’s Summer Jam Season—Here’s How to Make the Most of It

We’ve teamed up with our friends at All-Clad to bring you Pans With a Plan—a series sharing smart techniques, tasty recipe ideas, and all sorts of handy tips for cooking novices and seasoned pros alike. Here, food writer and recipe developer Posie Brie…

We’ve teamed up with our friends at All-Clad to bring you Pans With a Plan—a series sharing smart techniques, tasty recipe ideas, and all sorts of handy tips for cooking novices and seasoned pros alike. Here, food writer and recipe developer Posie Brien shares her top tips for making summer jams, with a little help from All-Clad’s D3® Stainless 8-Quart Stockpot.


If you ask me, produce—specifically, fruit—is the real star of summer. I wait all year long for ripe peaches and crimson cherries at the farmer’s market, their juice dribbling down my fingers with each bite. I'll buy as many nectarines and plums as I can carry home without bruising any, and I eat blackberries, raspberries, and strawberries by the handful. But what I most look forward to are summer jams.

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9 Sundae (Funday) Sauces for Even Better Ice Cream

We’ve teamed up with our friends at All-Clad to bring you Pans With a Plan—a series sharing smart techniques, tasty recipe ideas, and all sorts of handy tips for cooking novices and seasoned pros alike. Here, food writer and recipe developer Posie Brie…

We’ve teamed up with our friends at All-Clad to bring you Pans With a Plan—a series sharing smart techniques, tasty recipe ideas, and all sorts of handy tips for cooking novices and seasoned pros alike. Here, food writer and recipe developer Posie Brien shows us how to level up our summer dessert spreads with homemade ice cream sauces (all of ‘em come together like a dream in All-Clad’s D3® Stainless Sauce Pan).


I can feel summer’s heat beckoning from just around the corner. The days are already warm enough for T-shirts, and my kitchen is taking a cue from the weather. As soon as spring starts its gentle turn toward the hot, syrupy days of summer, my meals—and my cooking—begin to follow suit. As a nearly fanatic lover of ice cream, the time has come for frozen desserts.

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The Secret Ingredient of Five Two? You, Our Community

At its heart, Food52 is a community of cooks (and eaters!)—all of us who work here included. We understand the everyday triumphs, ordinary frustrations, and daily needs of the kitchen. How many times have we cursed our potholders for not being sturdy e…

At its heart, Food52 is a community of cooks (and eaters!)—all of us who work here included. We understand the everyday triumphs, ordinary frustrations, and daily needs of the kitchen. How many times have we cursed our potholders for not being sturdy enough to withstand the heat of our Dutch ovens? Or wished for a pan with a built-in strainer so we weren’t constantly searching for ours just as the pasta timer dinged?

None of our Five Two products would exist in their current (glorious!) form without specific tips from you. Today, on our annual holiday of the line’s launch, we’re celebrating the people behind this uniquely community-powered collection of products. Five Two was born of our desire to make all of us happier at home—what better way to ensure that products actually solve problems and grant silent wishes than to ask the people who will be using them? Practical advice and input from our Food52ers is woven into the details of every product.

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15 Best Gifts for Your Favorite Bookworms

I could describe myself in many ways—mother, sister, hiker, baker, writer, and so on—but reader has remained a longstanding identity, ever since I pieced together my first words as a toddler. My family jokes about my inability to be without a book, and…

I could describe myself in many ways—mother, sister, hiker, baker, writer, and so on—but reader has remained a longstanding identity, ever since I pieced together my first words as a toddler. My family jokes about my inability to be without a book, and they’re not wrong. And because of this, I don’t think there’s any gift as powerful and transportive as a great book—since it opens your world in ways nothing else can.

As someone who considers sitting in a bookstore one of life’s great pleasures (and would happily sit reading over watching a movie any day), I’ve gotten my share of great book-related gifts over the years. If you’re looking for the perfect gift for the book lover or avid reader in your life, you’re in the right place. These are my 15 recommendations of gifts—either books or book-adjacent—that would both surprise and delight any reader.

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How to Find the Best Artwork in Unexpected Places

My favorite part of our house cost me only 25 cents. It’s a framed print, on our kitchen wall, of leeks, partially chopped and strewn on a cutting board, the colors luscious and rich: from deep sage at the ends to the delicate pale green and creamy whi…

My favorite part of our house cost me only 25 cents. It’s a framed print, on our kitchen wall, of leeks, partially chopped and strewn on a cutting board, the colors luscious and rich: from deep sage at the ends to the delicate pale green and creamy white of the root. The photographer had an eye for beauty: it captures such an ordinary cooking moment, but elevates it to art.

The print is from an old food magazine, one I bought at the used book cottage run by the local library in our little town. The front porch of the cottage holds piles and piles of donated magazines all costing a mere quarter each—dusty and dating back decades. I’ve spent hours there sifting through the stacks. I push past copies of The New Yorker and Architectural Digest and Popular Woodworking to find copies of Gourmet from the 1950s and a trove of Cook’s Illustrated, complete with pretty culinary illustrations on the backs.

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A Thanksgiving Trick for the Most Flavorful Roasted Vegetables

We teamed up with The Spice Hunter to share a very-clever trick for taking your roast vegetables up a few notches this Thanksgiving: Season them with The Spice Hunter’s Original Turkey Brine, plus the turkey’s pan drippings.

In my experience, people…

We teamed up with The Spice Hunter to share a very-clever trick for taking your roast vegetables up a few notches this Thanksgiving: Season them with The Spice Hunter's Original Turkey Brine, plus the turkey's pan drippings.


In my experience, people tend to fall into one of two camps when it comes to Thanksgiving dinner: the traditionalists and the non-traditionalists. The former prefer to stick with the exact same versions of classic dishes, year after year, even if no one eats the creamed onions or only one person likes cranberry sauce. The latter are always looking for new twists on the basic menu—whether that means deep-frying a turkey or mixing goat cheese and caramelized onions into mashed potatoes.

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Fudgy or Cakey? These Glorious Brownies Are Both

We’ve teamed up with Miele to streamline your weeknight dinner routine with smart, delicious recipes the whole family will want to dig in to. Here, food writer and recipe developer Posie (Harwood) Brien shares the secret to her favorite brownie recipe:…

We've teamed up with Miele to streamline your weeknight dinner routine with smart, delicious recipes the whole family will want to dig in to. Here, food writer and recipe developer Posie (Harwood) Brien shares the secret to her favorite brownie recipe: steam!


When it comes to my dessert cravings, I tend to gravitate toward something warm and freshly baked, like a soft, tender cake or a chewy cookie. But whipping up a dessert isn’t always in the cards—I don’t always have the time (or the foresight) to plan anything very involved, especially if I’m already prepping and making dinner.

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