August 26, 2007

Paralyzed By Too Many Decisions


I understand it must be hard for some of you to select a single Dorie recipe to make when they’re all so amazing. I’ve already given you over 50 to choose from and today I’m giving you five more. In the face of so many possibilities, it’s easy to become paralyzed by choice. Do you start with an ice cream? A cake? A tart or pie? It’s simply too hard to choose. All decisions come with positives and negatives, (although in the case of choosing one Dorie recipe over another, even the negatives aren’t actually bad) but which one will make you the happiest? And how do you go about weighing the options? Do you take a baking approach and measure everything out exactly, weighing each detail to the decimal point? Or do you take a more free form cooking approach where you can add and subtract values like spices.

A few days ago I posted a story about a girl who has a terrible time making decisions. That same girl has an even more difficult time making decisions when too many of them come at her at once. Making a chart and comparing one option to another isn’t so bad, but once you get up to five or six options you practically have to be an engineer to figure out how everything works. It gets even more difficult when certain decisions are dependent on factors that are out of your control. It really does become a math equation. Unfortunately, my decisions are quality and not quantity based so there’s no exact resolution to my problem, er, I mean, that other girls’ problem. I couldn’t possibly be talking about me… If your only problem is choosing which Dorie recipe to make, I’m happy to tell you, you won’t be disappointed with any of them. Close your eyes, open the book and make the first thing you see. Maybe it will be one of these:

Berry Surprise Cake pg. 273 Of course, if you go and decorate the cake with berries like I did, than it’s really not much of a surprise cake, now is it? It does hide my shaky icing job though.

Creamiest Lemon Cream Meringue Pie pg. 337 This page actually has the recipe for a lime meringue pie, but I’ve already made it once with limes, so I opted for lemon this time around. The creaminess makes it unlike your ordinary, run of the mill lemon meringue pie, and a million times better.


Fluted Polenta and Ricotta Cake pg. 200 I bought a case of figs and had no clue what to do with them. Ordinarily I probably wouldn’t have bought them, but they seem to be in the ‘in’ thing right now, so I hoped on that bandwagon, (they’re not in the title, but they’re in this cake, in case you were wondering). I’ve since also made fig brownies and I highly recommend it, you should also add a little balsamic vinegar, it adds a nice depth.



Crunchy and Custardy Peach Tart pg. 346 Why isn’t there a quaint country saying like “They go together like almonds and peaches”? Cause there should be. They’re a fabulous combination.


Blueberry Crumb Cake pg. 192 I had a pint of blueberries that needed to be used or frozen, so I opened up the book and scanned for blueberry recipes, this was the first one I found. I love the crunchy crumb topping.



Unlike myself, Valli of More Than Burnt Toast and Jaden of Steamy Kitchen are able to make decisions, they handed out Droolworthy and Thinking Blogger Awards respectively and I was the lucky recipient of one of each. Thank you girls! Now if you could solve my other problems, that would be great…




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18 comments:

Deborah said...

I love that if there is a Dorie recipe that sounds good to me and there isn't a picture, I can most likely come to your blog and find a picture of it!!

Lydia (The Perfect Pantry) said...

This is almost like having a live-action cookbook; I read the recipes in Dorie's book, and then you bake them, and then I read more, and then you bake more. Now, if I could only get my husband, the resident baker, to do more baking....

Peabody said...

You've gone Dorie crazy again!

K and S said...

Definitely droolworthy blog! :) I think you should change your name to Brilynn Greenspan ;)

Valerie Harrison (bellini) said...

I say have a "Dessert Buffet" and make them all..then there will be no decisions that need to be made. Your friends and family will love you!!!!All of these recipes look "droolworthy"!!!!

Joe said...

I've made that blueberry cake 3 times now... it always turns out well and gets fantastic reviews. Good stuff!

Cynthia said...

As I clicked and saw the heading for this post I thought, oh boy, she's done it again... can't make up her mind what to make and guess what, I was not at all surprised that it would have something to do with Dorie ;)

MyKitchenInHalfCups said...

Yes, yes!! My goodness you are a Dorie nut case, thank goodness!
The almond & peaches are a perfect pair and the figs are fantastic!

Anonymous said...

I agree it is always hard to decide on which Dorie recipe to make! I love her blueberry cake and I want to try the peach tart, that is on my list...with all of her recipes:) I did make her honey peach ice cream yesterday! It is a winner!!

Anonymous said...

My blueberry bush is bursting with berries, so I'm going with the blueberry crumb cake. But they all look wonderful. You and Dorie are such an amazing combination!

Patricia Scarpin said...

This is a delicious Dorie storm, sweetie! :)

Kelly-Jane said...

I love seeing Dorie's recipes coming alive when you cook them =)

I haven't cook a Dorie recipe for 2 or 3 weeks, my fingers are getting a bit itchy for Baking...

All your pics look great, but I'm especailly drawn to the blueberry cake. Do you think it'd be good for breakfast?

Sara said...

That meringue pie looks amazing! WHO are the lucky recipients of all your treats??? They must worship at your feet.

Dee Light said...

I am so hungry now!!! Those pictures are Yummy!!!

Siew Kam Onn said...

The online decision maker and this How
to Become a Creative Genius
article at lifehack.org might give you some inspirations for your predicament.
Nice cakes.

Helene said...

All looks absolutely fabulous! I made the lemon pie, blueverry cake and polenta one already and we can't get eough of them. NExt on my list is the tart!

test it comm said...

That Blueberry Crumb Cake looks amazing! Blueberries are still around. I will have to try making this.

leslie @ definitely not martha said...

You are a crazy lady! I could never bake that much and not balloon!

It all looks SO good!