Dessert Archives - Rhubarb and Cod

Preserved Lemon Poppyseed Shortbread Cookies

December 8, 2025 No Comments

It is well-documented that I don’t have much of a sweet tooth. I write about it often, like it’s interesting. It’s not. lol! I only mention it because today’s Preserved Lemon Poppyseed Shortbread Cookies are for people like me. People who can’t stomach sweet without a good dose of salty. This holiday treat features buttery shortbread flecked with diced preserved lemon and poppyseeds, topped with a tangy lemon glaze and sprinkled with sumac salt and sanding sugar. Bright, salty, tangy, and sweet, these cookies have something for everybody, regardless of your sweet tooth status.

Dessert, Frozen Desserts

Sweet Corn Blueberry Sundae

September 3, 2025 No Comments

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This recipe is part of a larger dinner party menu you can find on my Substack. The category is It’s Corn!, and it features five courses centered around the miracle that is corn! You can find the recipe booklet and a handy party prep schedule here.

Do you consider ice cream a seasonal treat? I don’t. There is certainly an uptick in my ice cream consumption during the summer months, which we are technically still in. But I can’t think why we would relegate something as delicious as ice cream to one small sliver of the year, particularly the portion that tends to blow right by. Here is a Sweet Corn Blueberry Sundae for the week that most of us return to our respective routines. While it may feel a little exuberant for buttoned-down September, I can’t think of a time when a sundae is more needed. Sure, we’re all interested in putting our best foot forward, nose to the grindstone, and all that jazz. But even the most ambitious of us need joyful reprieves to see us through. This Sweet Corn Blueberry Sundae is that joyful reprieve, so let’s make it!

Cakes, Dessert

Black Sesame Cake with Sour Cherry Glaze

July 30, 2025 No Comments

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This recipe is part of a larger dinner party menu you can find on my Substack. The category is Bowl of Cherries, and it features five Korean-inspired courses centered around cherries. You can find the recipe booklet and a handy party prep schedule here.

I love how deliciously low-maintenance loaf cakes are. How approachable, snackable, and generally unpretentious they are. Sure, they may not elicit the same ooo’s and ahh’s a layer cake would get. But I’ve never seen a single person decline a slice. And decorating a loaf cake? Well, let’s just say, it’s a lot easier than those fancy lambeth cakes. Today’s Black Sesame Cake with Sour Cherry Glaze may be a humble loaf cake, but it makes an impact when it hits the table. Between the contrast of the dark, airy cake and the hot pink sweet and sour glaze, it brings considerable style to the table. The addition of sour whipped cream dollops and maraschino cherries solidifies its retro charm. And no, you don’t need a turntable or much more than a piping bag and tip to pull this look off. So let’s jump right in!

Cookies & Squares, Dessert

Butterscotch Dipped Oatcakes

January 30, 2025 No Comments

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Growing up oatcakes were a celebrated treat, particularly the ones dipped in dark chocolate. I had no idea until I moved out of the province that oatcakes are considered an iconic Nova Scotia delicacy. I also had no idea that they were a riff on Scottish oatcakes, which are essentially the same only not as sweet. Nova Scotia oatcakes are not particularly sweet either, especially when you compare them to cookies. They have more of a salty, sweet vibe, so don’t go into this expecting oatmeal cookies. Oatcakes are more toothsome, less sugary, and far more substantial. I often describe them as breakfast cookies to the uninitiated. But because oatcakes are not quite a cookie, they do benefit from a little zhuzhing. That’s why I made these Butterscotch Dipped Oatcakes – everything delicious about the original dunked in butterscotch icing, drizzled with dark chocolate, and sprinkled with salt.