Claire Saffitz

“In the height of summer, a ripe cantaloupe is one of the most intoxicating pieces of produce under the sun.”

“Usually, turkey burger recipes result in something so lifeless and tasteless that drowning one in ketchup (that most perfect and delicious of condiments) doesn't help much. Part of the probl...”

“Home cooks are finding inspiration in the past, digging up centuries-old recipes more familiar to the likes of Thomas Jefferson than Thomas Keller.”

“For baked goods where lightness is a prized attribute - almost all cakes, some cookies - it's important to start with room-temperature butter.”

“I made my first Yule Log as a culinary student in Paris, complete with the traditional chestnut filling, silky chocolate buttercream, and almost-too-adorable mushrooms. Since then, I've twea...”

“For reasons that aren't quite clear I derive a weird and almost inappropriate pleasure from making a cake that looks like a decomposing log. Essentially, that's what a Buche de Noel is suppo...”

“True marshmallow - and I'm not talking about those ones from a bag - is nothing more than an Italian meringue set with gelatin.”

“My maternal grandmother, a.k.a. Nanny, wasn't much of a cook. As a kid I remember her making only a handful of things, mostly dishes with Ashkenazi Jewish origins like kasha and bowties (whi...”

“I have makeup that I can do in 15 minutes, 10 minutes, or five minutes, depending on what I'm doing that day. On a day when I'm shooting, it's 15 minutes. Five minutes is when I'm running ar...”

“Press-in crusts are a supposedly easy alternative to the rolled kind, but achieving an even, compacted layer all over isn't a no-brainer.”

“Cooking for a crowd during the holidays takes a lot of time and effort, so we understand the desire to outsource as much of the work as possible.”

“Like turning potatoes or making a bearnaise sauce by hand, forming a cornet - essentially a DIY pastry bag - from parchment paper feels like one of those things culinary students do once or...”

“When I'm desperate for spring produce but nothing has hit the farmstand yet, frozen green peas are a godsend.”

“I don't discriminate when it comes to dumplings. Give me a generous plate of pretty much anything wrapped in a starchy, doughy casing and I will dive in with pleasure. But one star in the du...”

“Why crown your own rack of pork when a butcher could do it for you? To start, it's way easier to brine two individual racks than a giant round crown (and yes, you definitely want to brine th...”

“Always bake in the center of the oven. A pan placed too close to the bottom of the oven will receive more heat radiating from the oven floor, baking it faster from the bottom. The reverse is...”

“Generally, if you're a baker who's still learning the ropes, substitutions can be risky. It's always best to make a recipe the first time as written, and only after that initial success shou...”

“Poached quince are so tender, aromatic, and rosy that you'd hardly believe the raw fruit is white, fibrous, and hard as a rock.”

“It's the ingredients you choose (Chorizo? Sure! Rye bread? Why not?) that will make your stuffing stand out.”

“Can you braid three strands? Then you can make babkallah. The very idea of babkallah came about because the recipe avoids the complicating twisting technique that gives babka its signature s...”