Apricot tart with frangipane. Because stone fruit season is short. So is life.
Elizabeth and Lena Alvarez, Recipe Tester
A list of all the recipes Elizabeth and Lena Alvarez has tested.
Lena Alvarez was about the age of eight when she and her mum, Elizabeth, joined the Leite’s Recipe Testing community. Both Lena and Elizabeth are whole-heartedly grateful for the hundreds of tastes, tests, triumphs, and not-so-triumphant culinary moments (from their own learning curve!) afforded by David Leite and the Community of Leite’s Culinaria. Lena still is a devoted taster of great food, even as she studies ballet full-time in northern California. Elizabeth lives and works in Santa Barbara.
Peach Berry Sonker
That’s right. Sonker. And it’s the simple yet unforgettable fruit dessert—sorta like pie meets cobbler—that you’ve been missing your entire life.
Spicy Hot Fudge Pudding Cake
If your family is anything like ours, then you’ll be fighting over the last spoonful of this rich, gooey chocolate pudding cake.
Caramelized Strawberries with Ricotta
If you’ve never experienced caramelized strawberries, grab a carton and get cooking. This easy 15-minute dessert features sweet cooked strawberries piled atop creamy ricotta cheese, and topped with fresh mint.
White Pizza
We find this lovely, albeit subtly flavored, little number to be one of the simpler pleasures in life. We think you’ll concur.
Roasted Pear with Honey and Rosemary
A lovely combination of sweet honeyed pears, salty feta, and earthy rosemary makes an unforgettable starter. Or just a brilliant little snack to perk you up.
Braised Chicken with Olives and Orange
This simple one-dish braised chicken recipe is making lots of folks really quite happy. Perhaps you should see what all the fuss is about.
Keto Chicken Coconut Soup
An Asian flavored soup that’s also pretty healthy and incredibly tasty. What else could you ask for? Dairy-free and full of mushrooms? It’s all here.
Vegan Walnut Fig Bars
A quick, healthy, vegan, fruit and nut-filled snack. Not too sweet but still good when you’re craving something less granola and more like dessert.
Zucchini with Ricotta, Mint, and Basil
Another suggestion for all that zucchini stashed everywhere–layer golden zucchini with salty, melty cheese. It’ll make you thankful for the bounty.
Beet Hummus
Extraordinary looking. Extraordinary tasting. Extraordinarily healthy. And super simple to toss together.
Plum Sorbet
This plum sorbet is going to change your late-summer fruit strategy. And you don’t even need an ice cream maker. Now that’s easy and elegant.
Dairy-Free Ice Cream Bars
A homemade, dairy-free version of the commercial ice-cream pop with the grandiose name and gold foil-lined package. Sorta the same. Sorta reimagined.
Turkish Coffee Ice Cream
Folks are saying this is the simplest ice cream recipe they’ve ever made. They’re also calling it the most satisfying.
Lemon Ice
We love ice cream, but sometimes it’s too darn hot and humid for anything sweet and sticky. Enter the lemon ice, a bracingly crisp and tart refresher. The best part—no ice cream maker required!
Mint Pesto
A novel take on the classic. Mint leaves, Parmesan, lemon, garlic, and peanuts (yes, peanuts), are blitzed in a food processor. It’s great on lamb, chicken, salmon, and pasta.
Pasta Grattugiata
A frugal Italian staple that’s crazy satiating yet made in minutes from mere flour, eggs, bread crumbs, and cheese.
Peanut Butter and Jelly Smoothie
Perhaps the sneakiest way ever to get kids–of all ages–to slurp something relatively nutritious for breakfast.
How To Make Natural Food Coloring
At last, after literally years of searching, we have the perfect DIY natural food coloring recipe. No preservatives. No artificial coloring. No monumental price tag.
Blueberry Clafouti
Clafouti came into creation, we suspect, when angels got a little indulgent while making breakfast and ended up with something that veered into the realm of dessert. Our sorta divine intervention.