Bites from other Blogs

Saveur Magazine is accepting nominations for their 2011 Best Food Blog Awards. If you have a moment, head over to their site and nominate Baking Bites! And then, of course, check out all of this week’s fantastic Bites from other Blogs:

• Fresh baked some Coconut Chocolate Chip Tea Cakes to celebrate the turn of the seasons, leaving behind heartier far in favor of lighter and fluffier springtime snacks. These tea cakes fit the bill as tender, snack-sized cakes that are baked in mini bundt pans. They are flavored with chopped bittersweet chocolate and shredded coconut, as well as a little bit of coconut extract to boost the coconut flavor a bit. It would be easy to put a few simple twists on this recipe, too, adding white chocolate or some finely chopped nuts to go with that coconut, as well.
• Strawberries aren’t the first ingredient that I reach for when baking cookies (although it has been known to happen), but Budding Baketress‘s Strawberry Shortcake Cookies look like a good reason to change the policy. Her cookies use fresh strawberries to produce a versatile cookie for strawberry lovers that is somewhere between cookie, scone and muffin top. The moist cookies can be used as a base for a strawberry shortcake, crumbled on top of ice cream or simply eaten on their own.
• The Potato Pie that Always with Butter made is a fantastic, savory pastry dish. The pie is filled with potato, cheese, garlic and other delicious flavors – and that filling is sandwiched between two buttery layers of puff pastry that are baked until crisp and golden. The pie looks like something you might buy at a bakery, but it is easier to make than it looks and is one of those dishes that you just might find yourself trying again and again, serving with salad as a light dinner at home or serving as a side along with a bigger meal at holidays.
• I often make granola with a variety of nuts and spices, but Chocolate and Carrots‘s Lemon Blueberry Granola has a very springy feel to it with the bright additions of dried blueberries and lots of lemon. The granola has homemade applesauce in it, which helps bind everything together until it is baked and crispy, and the applesauce is spiked with lemon zest and juice. Some additional lemon extract (or oil) is added to the granola as it is mixed together to ensure that it keeps that zesty flavor. Dried blueberries finish off the mixture, but serving it with fresh berries is a great option, too.
• The Galley Gourmet will assure you that this Italian Almond Raspberry Tart is the type of recipe that starts with simple ingredients and produces spectacular results. The filling features a light filling made of almond paste that is spread over a layer of raspberry jam. The contrast in colors and flavors – the sweet and sticky jam underneath the light and nutty almond layer – is beautiful to look at and delicious to taste. Making the pastry for the tart yourself is well worth the effort, too, as the buttery and crisp crust is the perfect backdrop for the subtle fillings within.