All posts filed under: Sweets

Baked Cake Donuts

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Donuts have to be in the top 10 when it comes to desserts. Doesn’t matter what the flavor is, they are always delicious. I’ve had a love/hate relationship when it comes to baking donuts. For the past two years, I’ve attempted to make sufganiyot, also known as fried jelly donuts, during Hanukkah. Let’s just say they never come out as planned. They never rise fully, always fry up weirdly, and are super dense. Because of this, I was super skeptical about making donuts. They’ve just never worked out for me. Luckily, that is all about to change thanks to these baked cake donuts. I know, I know they aren’t technically the same as a fried donut so it doesn’t count. However, these cake donuts are just as good and pretty simple to make. These baked cake donuts are the perfect base for pretty much any flavor and topping. I went with some sprinkles for the first time around but cannot wait to try out some different flavor combos. Just like the donuts, the glaze was …

Apple Cinnamon Babka

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Babka is always a good idea, especially when it is filled with cinnamon and apples. Whenever I make babka, I am always thinking of the different flavor combinations. S’mores, chocolate peanut butter, or even something savory. That’s when I got the idea for apple cinnamon babka. Rosh Hashanah seemed like the perfect occasion to try out this idea. Apples are always severed for the holiday with honey for a sweet new year. While this babka doesn’t have any honey, it is certainly VERY sweet. I made the cinnamon apple babka using my classic babka recipe. The dough is a standard yeasted dough and pretty simple to make. The hardest part is being patient while it is rising for a few hours. Let’s talk about the apples. I chose to use Granny Smith because they have a good balance of sweet and tart. They also bake very well and hold up great in desserts. In order to make sure the apple flavor was spread throughout the babka, I chopped them into very fine pieces and spread …

Fig Cake

Cast Iron Skillet Fig Cake

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Let’s talk about fig season! One of the only silver linings of the weather cooling down is fig season! When I saw those fresh containers of figs lining the shelves of Whole Foods I was instantly excited. I was a little disappointed that it meant summer was winding down, but all the possibilities of different recipes with figs brought my mood back up! Figs are great because they are SO versatile. They can be sweet, savory, eaten raw, or cooked. You pretty much can’t go wrong with figs. The only downside to fresh figs is that they have a pretty short shelf life. Because of this, you’ve got to use them fast! Since I did not expect to see them in the store, they were definitely an impulse buy. I didn’t really think it through as to what I would put them in. All I knew is that I wanted to bake them into something. With some quick thinking and a quick scroll on Instagram for some inspiration, an idea was quickly reached. I decided …

SmoresBabka

S’mores Babka

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First things first, nothing is wrong with classic babka, especially chocolate babka. However, every time I am eating chocolate babka I am brainstorming other possible flavor combinations. Finally this summer, I went ahead with the s’mores babka that has been brewing in my mind. I normally stick to the classics when making babka. Since it is a little bit of a process it always seems easier to keep it simple. Chocolate and cinnamon are also pretty crowd-pleasing, so they seem to be the go-to flavor.

Toffee Chocolate Chip Cookies

Toffee Chocolate Chip Cookies

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Toffee chocolate chip cookies are a classic, yet underrated combination. The two ingredients are never my go-to combo, but whenever I have them together my first thought is that I should have this more often. I’ve been on a roll making some pretty giant cookies. I’ve kept it classic with some plain chocolate chip but also experimented with some seasonal flavors. The cookie dough is pretty standard and can be used as a vehicle for pretty much any topping. The recipe for these toffee chocolate chip cookies is pretty simple. The one thing that I love about this recipe is that it makes GIANT cookies. Like they are huge, I mean just look at this one. I’ve attempted to make normal-sized cookies with this dough and unfortunately, it just doesn’t turn out great. They were stiff and didn’t sit well after they came out of the oven. This recipe is truly meant for giant cookies, and giant cookies only. Once these cookies were hot out of the oven, I knew the flavor choice was a …

Key Lime Pie Bars

Key Lime Pie Bars

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Key Lime Pie is all about the layers. A layer of crust, a layer of lime curd, and a heaping layer of whipped cream.  What more could you want? Well, all of the right ingredients first. Back in April when groceries were still sparse, I attempted to make a key lime pie for my brother’s birthday. What sounded like an easy task turned out to be a curdled mess. I didn’t have all of the ingredients and tried my best to make some substitutions. Turns out that swapping evaporated milk for sweetened condensed milk isn’t the same thing, even when following a recipe about the right subs to make. After a curdled mess, I put the pie on hold until I could get the proper ingredients. Fast forward a few months later, I had all of the proper ingredients to give the dessert another shot. This time around, nothing was curdled, and the layers were all pretty irresistible. After the pie debacle, I opted to make key lime pie bars. Even though I ditched the …

Strawberry Shortcake

Classic Strawberry Shortcake

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It doesn’t get more classic than strawberry shortcake. Fresh strawberries, layered biscuits, and homemade whipped cream. Are you drooling yet?! Growing up strawberry shortcake was one of my brother’s favorite desserts. However, the version I remember at family celebrations or birthday parties included more of a sponge cake or angel food cake rather than a flakey biscuit.

Summer Peach and Thyme Galette

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You pretty much can’t go wrong with stone fruit in the summer. The only thing better than a simple piece of stone fruit in the summer? Stone fruit in a dessert, specifically this peach and thyme galette. I know what you’re thinking, thyme in a dessert? Hear me out on this one. Peaches and thyme are a great combination. The thyme brings out the sweetness of the peaches but also gives the entire galette a subtle flavor.