Blog Posts by Food52

Food52 contributor Jenny Steinhauer can't resist a batch of pillowy cupcakes filled with strawberries and cream.

- Jenny

I came to this recipe for Strawberry Shortcake Cupcakes because of the bounty of strawberries in the markets, and because I was long on eggs. This is an angel cake recipe, more or less, stuffed with some fun berries and then frosted with irresistible whipped cream.

>>RELATED: Don't want to bother with the oven? Try these No-Bake Triple Chocolate Brownies.

I am sure you are wondering what could go wrong. Well, your cakes could fall. First, if you put too little batter in the cups, they will shrink like wool sweaters in the dryer. Put too much, and you risk overflow, and they still will fall in a little bit, but my advice is to pop more batter into your cupcake papers than usual.

>>RELATED: Check out another rogue dessert: S'mores Pudding Cake.

The strawberry middles are such a great surprise, and the frosting will hide any dimples in the cupcakes' faces. They are

At Food52, we love recipes -- but do we always use them? Of course not. Because once you realize you don't always need a recipe, you'll make your favorite dishes a lot more often.

Today: Food52'er pierino shows us how to grill any steak like a pro.

Some of the best steaks I've eaten in my life were not cooked in New York, nor in Chicago but in Italy. Specifically in Tuscany off of the A1. The A1 in this context is not a steak sauce, it's the autostrada that runs through the center of Italy and through the heart of Tuscany. The most esteemed meat for the grill there is chianina beef. Domestically, the closest cut would be a double-thick porterhouse steak. For seasoning you need nothing more than coarse salt, pepper, and lemons to squeeze at the table.

What is important is that you cook this over real wood charcoal. Propane and briquettes are for sissies, okay? Gas grill? No! In Tuscany they might throw dried vine cuttings on the coals. An alternative is to add wine

Every week at Food52, a DIY expert spares us a trip to the grocery store and shows us how to make small batches of great foods at home.

Today, Lara Ferroni shows us how to make a smooth and creamy nacho cheese dip and pickled jalapenos in a flash.

While I never had a real fast food worker experience as a kid, I did work for several years at the local movie theater, where in addition to an inordinate amount of popcorn, we made a lot of movie theater nachos. You know the kind with the little plastic dish with the special cup for the nacho sauce. Trust me on this one, you don't want to know exactly what is in that cheese sauce, but I'll tell you that it does come in very large cans and is closer to plastic in texture before it's heated than anything you should eat. There was nothing nacho-y about the cheese itself -- that effect was created by pouring a bit of the pickling brine from the equally large cans of pickled jalapenos, after first scraping off some weird oily black

Everyone knows breakfast is the most important meal of the day. More often than not, that translates to eating hearty, healthy standbys like oatmeal or granola. But sometimes you just want cake for breakfast -- and we're here to tell you that's okay, too. The rule: As long as it's not frosted, it's fair game.

Every week on Food52, the team behind the popular home cooking site pools their answers to questions about food, cooking, life, and more.

Today, cooking advice for the next generation of home cooks.

Baby Mirabelle -- the newest addition to the Food52 family -- with dad, Michael, one of Food52's developers.

Many of us attribute most of our food memories to mom -- but weren't our fathers there, too, watching us in the kitchen, raving about our first batches of cookies, and maybe even teaching us a thing or two themselves?

This year, we're honoring fathers, both old and new, by rounding up our favorite kitchen advice -- so if you're a seasoned cook about to be a father, a father who wants to do more in the kitchen, or a child who wants to cook something amazing for Dad this year, we've got your back.

If you could give baby Mirabelle one piece of cooking advice, what would it be?

Lauren: My advice for Mirabelle is to make sure your parents share their lunch

This is the meat and potatoes dinner that you'll tell your friends about. Grilled, wrapped in bacon, and glazed with a Dr. Pepper-laced sauce (yes, we went there), this meatloaf delivers. Pair with a kicked-up horseradish potato salad; the combination is new and exciting, but brings back memories of grills and picnics past. A pitcher of minty lemonade or an ice cold beer is all you'll need to add.

The Menu

Grill-Roasted Meatloaf by Stefano Coppola

Serves 4-5

Roast

1 pound ground beef chuck
1 pound ground beef sirloin
6 ounces ground pork
3 slices sandwich bread
1 egg
1/4 cup cream, or milk
1 clove garlic, chopped
1/2 sweet onion, diced
1 large carrot, diced
1 small bell pepper
1/2 tablespoon fresh thyme, chopped
1/2 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
Couple dashes Tabasco
1 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon kosher salt
6-8 slices good-quality bacon
1/2 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

Glaze

1/2 cup ketchup
2 tablespoons molasses
1/4 cup

Everyone knows how to make pasta. Boil water, pour in dry pasta, follow the instructions on the back of the box, and voilà: a heaping plate of your spaghetti, penne, or farfalle. But just because pasta is simple doesn't mean it has to be boring. Here are 8 recipes to help you turn up the flavor on your basic pasta dishes. Don't just douse your pasta in butter -- add sauces, cheeses, and vegetables that will take your pasta game to a whole new level.

Every week on Food52, a DIY expert spares us a trip to the grocery store and shows us how to make small batches of great foods at home.

Today: Tara O'Brady from Seven Spoons makes homemade ranch dressing in just three simple steps: mix, shake, and stir.

Ranch

I have personal rules when it comes to summer. I heartily believe all ice cream must be served in a cone, preferably sugar or waffle. Lemonade requires some pucker; if it's too sweet, it'll give you a headache on a hot day. Meals should be eaten outside as often as possible. And ranch dressing tastes best when shaken or stirred together in a mason jar.

>>RELATED: Another summer picnic essential: Genius Fried Chicken.

Ranch is a buttermilk- and mayonnaise-based dressing named after the ranch in Hidden Valley, California where it was first served almost 60 years ago. We don't eat it year-round in our household, but it's in regular rotation every May through August. Ranch matches beautifully with summer produce: it's all