Hi! I’m Rebecca Firth, the food writer, photographer and creator of the desserts-focused blog, DisplacedHousewife and author of The Cookie Book and The Cake Book. I love to create dessert recipes that are delicious AND beautiful (and sometimes easy and quick). Think of this blog as a collection of your favorite homemade dessert recipes with some jazz hands and flair thrown in to keep things interesting.

I’ve been working in food for almost a decade now: first with some catering, then slinging scones and specialty items for a local bakery (helllooo Solvang Bakery!) to now creating recipes for my blog, cookbooks and favorite brands.

My most favorite flavors vary by the seasons, but generally you’ll find:

• A healthy dose of chocolate (like these Mega Vanilla Chocolate Chip Cookies),
• Brown butter (this Spiced Apple Cake with Brown Butter Buttercream is trending on Pinterest + Instagram right now!),
• Salted Caramel (Salted Caramel S’mores Tarts),
• Espresso everything (stop what you’re doing and bake these Espresso Chocolate Chip Cookies STAT),
• And of course, BOURBON (you must try this Pumpkin Bourbon Cake!!)

CURRENT TOP TEN FAVORITE RECIPES

My ten current favorite recipes are very indicative of 2020: comforting, not too fussy and completely delicious!

Sourdough Bagels

The time has come for you to make your own sourdough bagels!! Whip the dough up the night before and shape, boil + bake the next morning. SO GOOD.

Everyday Banana Bread

Banana bread isn’t dead my friends. Why everyone got miffed that this was the year of banana bread is beyond me — this beauty deserves its day in the sun. This one has a particularly crunchy and fabulous lid. You’ll die.

Granny Pete’s Chocolate Cake With Marshmallow Frosting

My grandmother, Granny Pete, aka Dolores Marshall, passed away at the beginning of 2020. We shared a deep love of everything sweet and chocolate-y and I made this cake in her honor. I talk a lot about what a wonderful person she was in this post — go read it!!!

Espresso Chocolate Chip Cookies

Chocolate chip cookies + intense espresso flavor — I don’t know what else you want out of life?! Go get it!

GF Vegan Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

You don’t have to be GF, DF or Vegan to like this cookie…I am none of these things and this cookies is FABULOUS. It’s my one and only copycat recipe on the blog and it’s a recreated version of Ererwhon market’s GF DF Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie. Don’t overthink this one, just make it!

Chocolate Coconut Cake

Mounds bar in cake form. Done. 

Fresh Lemon Cake

A choose-your-own-adventure citrus party. This one is made with lemon, but I also tested with orange, blood orange and lime and LET ME TELL YOU, the lime is the sleeper hit of the century. 

Favorite Blueberry Muffins

I love a classic. And here she is. Blueberries, lots of lemon zest and a sugary crust in all her glory. Breakfast sorted.

Apple Cinnamon Roll Pull-Apart Bread

This little number is new to the lineup and she’s causing quite a stir. Think about all of the deliciousness of cinnamon rolls, with half the fuss and a dough and glaze that can be made ahead of time. I mean, stop already.

Cherry Jam Streusel Muffins

Quick cherry jam and a heady lid of streusel. You too could be living your best life.

 

 

 

BOOKS + STUFF

The Cookie Book

My first cookbook, The Cookie Book, was released in 2018 and I was overjoyed with the response (so thank you to everyone that owns and loves it!). Food & Wine Magazine named The Cookie Book one of the top baking cookbooks to own (YAY!).

The Cake Book

My second book, The Cake Book, is out now and is loaded with classic cakes, casual cakes, breakfast cakes…basically all of the cakes I want to bake and eat, all of the time! I love it so much!!!

Casual Brags

I was a finalist of the 2017 Saveur Blog Awards (Baking & Sweets category; you can read about it a bit here). And my work has appeared in Tasting Table, Sunset Magazine, Buzzfeed, Teen Vogue, Saveur Magazine, Food & Wine and The Washington Post—just to name a few! I have a full list of press you can find here.

KEEP IN TOUCH

Could this be the start of a beautiful relationship? Idk, I hope! You can find me here, at my blog DisplacedHousewife. I update the site with new recipes 1-2 times per week, during what I like to call my busy season (who doesn’t like to bake obsessively from September through January?!?). During the rest of the year, I post once per week except for special occasions…sometimes I have a lot I want to say and share!

Newsletter

My newsletter subscribers get first notice of new recipes and book news, as well as subscriber-only giveaways (this is new, so if you’re a long-term subscriber, stay tuned). You can subscribe to my blog here. I love my blog subscribers, so thank you! And I will never sell your information, period.

Instagram

My love of Instagram knows no bounds, you can find my @DisplacedHousewife Instagram here. I post in the morning and it’s where you’ll hear from me the most frequently. You’ll also see behind-the-scenes photos of what I’m baking (not always that glamorous), what’s upcoming and what people in the DisplacedHousewife community are baking (I love reposting your DH recipes so always tag me @displacedhousewife #displacedhousewife on Instagram so I won’t miss them!).

Pinterest

How can you not love food AND Pinterest – so go follow me and let’s look at beautiful things together!! I’m obsessed with Pinterest and have boards for:

• Cookies
• Chocolate 
• Savory Eats

I also have boards for:

• Doors (from around the world…I love them),
• Garden * Outside * Happiness (gardening! chicken coops!),
• Home (from floor boards, to battered hardwood, white kitchens, farmhouse sinks, wraparound porches (I die), bunk rooms, mud rooms…)

and other fun stuff. Let’s dream together, shall we?

Facebook

I’m also hanging out over on Facebook; you can find me by clicking here! I’d love for you to follow my page, show me what you’re baking…let’s just generally chat about it!

MY PHILOSOPHY

Baking should be fun, PERIOD. I try to make every blog post + recipe…

DELICIOUS

I want the photos to scream out: you must bake this RIGHT NOW!! And then I want the finished baked treat to be so delicious that you can’t wait to bake it again.

CLEAR

I strive for mega clarity in my recipes. What does it look and smell like at the various stages? How long will you be stirring? What should the final product look and taste like?

INFORMATIVE

I want you to leave with some new knowledge, but not in a teacher/student kinda way. More like I’m standing in the kitchen with you, perhaps we have some champagne and we’re chatting about the process every step of the way. I recently posted two very info heavy posts that I still think are fun and beautiful and hella useful: How To Make Your Own Vanilla Extract and How To Make A Sourdough Starter. Both belong on your weekend to-do list!

FUN

Are we laughing yet? Are you relaxed? This shouldn’t be stressful. If it is, let’s chat about it…

ACCESSIBLE

I’m here for you! I try to be quick in responding to baking questions, whether it be here on the blog or via Instagram. FYI I prefer the blog because it helps other people reference your feedback while they’re baking the same thing!

WANNA WORK TOGETHER?

I have the good fortune of working with the awesome people at Smith & Saint. Please reach out to Kaila McWilliams ([email protected]) for rates regarding collaborative social media + blog posts, brand retreats, appearances, photography and recipe development.

I use this blog as a way to chronicle my favorite eats + sweets, but I also want to make your life easier. I want you to have a little laugh, relax and make something delicious for you and your friends and family. If you have anything you’d like to see on DisplacedHousewife, just email me [email protected]. I try my hardest to respond to each and every email…if you need a quick reply, please resend, comment on the blog or slide into my DMs on Instagram. 

We’ll talk soon!
Rebecca Firth
xoxo

Representation
Business Inquiries: Kaila McWilliams, [email protected]
Literary Agent: Liz Parker, [email protected]

Ten Fast Facts

1. Favorite cocktail: a fistfight between a Bone Dry Gin Martini (made with Hendricks) and a Negroni (also made with Hendricks).
2. I have lived most of my life in California with time spent living in Hawaii (Hanalei, Kauai and Kameula, Hawaii) and Beijing, China. I chat about living in Beijing here. 
3. I have two kids, Stella and Gavin…they are pretty fab 99.8% of the time. Their cute little kids hands are in lots of the older blog posts and throughout the pages of The Cookie Book. 
4. I have my BA and MA in English Lit and it’s only by chance that I didn’t end up going on to my Ph.D…I still think if I’d choosen that path I would be deliciously happy. I love books and words and writing and the whole lot of it.
5. Love love LOVE to make pizza. Join me on this gluttonous journey, won’t you?
6. I’m a city girl living in a rural-ish part of California (Santa Ynez Valley). My favorite local things are: access to amazing fresh produce, wineries at every turn and parking less than 50 feet from the front of the grocery store. 
7. If I live in another foreign city I would pick Hong Kong, Barcelona or London. Maybe all three?
8. I love exclamation points, hyperbole, alliteration and all caps. I’m not yelling, just excited to talk about it. 
9. I would perish without my electric stand mixer.
10. My favorite two vacations ever were Argentina and Vietnam — if you get the chance, go!

If you’re feeling it, tell me about yourself in the comments below!!! Much love! xo