Berry Nice

The first food blog I ever read was Orangette. I was still on my quest for the elusive chocolate covered macaroon and I googled it. One of the hits was this Orangette post. It wasn’t exactly what I was looking for, but her amazing description of the macaroons made me want to try them, even though no one in my family but me will eat coconut.

I was such a foodie newbie at the time that I didn’t know what ganache was, other than it sounded fancy. Molly’s macaroons introduced me to ganache and opened up new food vistas to me.


I had a question about the cooking process of the macaroons and I wrote to her with my question. She wrote back, warmly and personably, answering my question and encouraging me. I was so impressed that she’d take the time to do that. I was hooked. On Molly, her food, and her blog. She was what inspired me to start my own blog. Writing stories, cooking, and sharing recipes. I wanted to do that!

As a nod to Molly and her new book, A Homemade Life, I made her Summer Berry Poundcake. The recipe is in her book as well as on her blog. It embodies all the qualities I love about Molly’s stories and recipes - simple, unpretentious, approachable, and most of all, delicious.


This cake is like a big hug from mamma on a plate. It’s got blueberries and raspberries wrapped up in a delicate, buttery pound cake, moist and tender. If the berries are homegrown, like mine, even better. And, according to Molly, you can wrap it tightly and freeze it to pull out and enjoy after the berry season is over and savor the flavor of summer past.