Kochtopf kindly brought it to our attention that today is World Bread Day – surely no baker could let this day go by without a tribute to the staff of life? While I have a deep reverence for the magic that can be spun out of just flour, yeast, water, and salt, I admit I […]...
Apple Pear Crisp with Muscato Ice Cream: Ode to Autumn
Being a child of spring and of California, I have a predilection for sunshine like poured honey, flowers in burgeoning rainbows beneath scrubbed-blue skies, and berries ripe as promises, heavy with scent, tumbling through my fingers. But over the years autumn has slowly worked its smoky, dusky spell on me. Surely if I’d visited more […]...
Black and White Chocolate Cake
There are few things that denote time spent in the kitchen and special celebration better than a multi-layered, immaculately frosted cake. Next to tart dough, this was probably one of the most intimidating hurdles I faced in pastry school. The challenges in mastering this genre of dessert are manifold: to bake up nice even cake […]...
Mooncakes in Mid-Autumn
Whenever my parents come to visit from Hong Kong, I can guarantee that at least half of their suitcases will be filled with little treats and gifts for us. They’re great parents that way. When they arrived last weekend I knew that among the clothes, candies, and baked goods (yes, my mother has been known […]...
Cupcakes of Love (Sugar High Friday 23)
edited on 9/19/06: added the SHF links. I’ve always been a bit of a dreamer. As a child, I was the one with her head buried in books, lost in faraway countries and fantastical adventures, or scribbling in her notebook, making up her own stories of imaginary places. It wasn’t that I was unhappy with […]...
Anita Chu, also known as pastrygirl, is a baker, writer, and photographer with a passion for pastry. She trained at Tante Marie's Cooking School and is the author of Field Guide to Cookies, Field Guide to Candy, and Lollipop Love. Anita lives in San Francisco with her husband, daughter, and dog Max. 
