Dessert Recipes & Other Sweet Treats

It’s no secret that I love sweets. But not just any sweets…really good homemade ones, none of that store-bought nonsense for me. So I have a huge arsenal of the best dessert recipes across a wide spectrum—from more traditional cakes, pies, puddings, and cookies, to slightly more exotic babkas, biscotti, pavlovas, and choux.

I’ve got some great family secret recipes (like my mom’s amazing molasses cookies), a bunch of great gluten-free desserts if you need them, and desserts that are perfect for holiday gatherings.

Not sure where to start?? Here are a few of my faves:

You can browse my full recipe index or a more visual index here, or explore the archives below…

Peanut Butter Cake with Chocolate Ganache & Peanut Butter Frosting

May 7, 2021

I have allllllll the peanut butter for you today! It is one of my favorite flavors in desserts, and today we have a one-two punch of peanut butter with a chocolate surprise in the middle.

This peanut butter cake with chocolate ganache and peanut butter frosting is indulgent and packed with flavor, but NOT too sweet. It’s perfect for any occasion, and somewhat strangely I’ve now made it for two separate baby showers.

Peanut Butter Cake with Chocolate Ganache & Peanut Butter Frosting | This delicious peanut butter chocolate cake is perfect for any occasion. Fluffy peanut butter cake recipe with a salted dark chocolate ganache filling, and then slathered with super peanut butter-y frosting! Maybe the best cake ever! #peanutbutter #cake #ganache

It starts with an easy and super moist, fluffy peanut butter cake. Then we whip up a dark chocolate ganache (which like, sounds fancy, but is seriously the easiest thing in the world) and sandwich that in the middle.

Top that all off with my most amazing peanut butter frosting ever, and you’ve got a winner!

For me, this is everything I want in a cake. And that moistness is a big part of it…I just find so many cakes dry and unappetizing. But between using oil (instead of butter), the peanut butter, and buttermilk, everything about this peanut butter cake recipe ticks my boxes.

You could even experiment with other fillings and frostings (I have plans for my salted honey custard…). A chocolate glaze would be delicious, or maybe a Chambord-flavored icing??

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Tahini Pistachio Biscotti with Dark Chocolate & Sea Salt

April 6, 2021

I kind of forget about biscotti a lot of the time. In fact it’s been almost three years since I last posted a new biscotti recipe. But that accidental streak breaks here and now…because these tahini pistachio biscotti are the BOMB.

Add a drizzle of dark chocolate and a sprinkle of sea salt, and you’ve got a winner.

The thing about making biscotti is that, while the overall time from start to finish can look daunting, the actual hands-on time is pretty minimal.

The dough comes together in just a few minutes, you make dough logs (nothing fancy!), then some slicing. Chocolate dipping if you like. Bing bang boom.

Biscotti dough can sometimes be a little temperamental from a texture standpoint, and in this case I had to add an extra egg to the original recipe (and that’s reflected in my recipe below).

You don’t want your dough too wet, but you DO need it to hold together in your dough logs. But obviously that extra egg (plus the tahini in the recipe) makes these a little more moist even after the second bake.

So you won’t get these tahini pistachio biscotti truly dried out and crunchy like some biscotti recipes, but that doesn’t matter—they’re delicious.

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Mini Pavlovas with Grapefruit Curd & Berries

April 2, 2021

For whatever reason, pavlovas feel super fancy, and I always have to remind myself that they’re actually really simple. And these mini pavlovas piled high with tart grapefruit curd, berries, and pillowy whipped cream are sheer heaven no matter the occasion.

So whether you want an easy make-ahead dessert for a dinner party, or just want to treat yourself, you need these in your life.

What’s pretty great is that they’re also naturally gluten-free, dairy-free (though you’d need to top them with something else), and unleavened. WHAT’S NOT TO LOVE???

If you’re wondering how the chemistry works in this mini pavlova recipe, here are a few things to know about it:

The vinegar (or some recipes use lemon juice, cream of tartar, some kind of acid) helps stabilize the egg white foam, and interferes with clumping; it helps prevent the effects of “overbeating” as well, usually where the egg whites collapse and weep (boy, don’t we all). Ultimately, it helps make the meringue a little chewy.
Adding cornstarch to the egg white foam interferes with the egg proteins and provides a buffer to prevent overcooking. But too much cornstarch can make it almost chalky and too chewy, so don’t overdo it.
The cornstarch and vinegar both act as stabilizers and help create that soft marshmallow-y center that the pavlova is known for.

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Most Amazing Peanut Butter Frosting Ever

March 28, 2021

I’ve found it, guys. A frosting that I adore…I guess I shouldn’t be surprised it’s peanut butter.

I really hate frosting. I actually had a co-worker at my last job that was my perfect match—whenever there was cake around, she’d eat the frosting and I’d eat the cake. But this peanut butter frosting is one of the best things I’ve ever eaten. Crazy peanut butter-y, some good saltiness, not too sweet.

I could eat it by itself with a spoon. Until I look at the calorie count, but still…

It’s packed with flavor and a little goes a long way. If you’re wanting to frost a cake more traditionally (which takes a LOT of frosting) then this may not be quite the right frosting…a truly traditional buttercream or cream cheese frosting might be better.

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Paul Hollywood’s Chocolate Cherry Bread

March 20, 2021

I’m obsessed with this pink, shaggy mess! Ever since seeing Paul Hollywood make his chocolate cherry bread with Mary Berry on Great British Bake-Off Masterclass, I knew I needed it in my life.

I *have* thrown in the towel on trying to make my loaf look beautiful and neat, though. That shaggy mess becomes this golden, messy monster, and despite making it like 10 times at this point, nothing I do changes that.

But it is DELICIOUS and so its “informal” nature (to use a Mary Berry term) can be forgiven.

What elevates this from a basic loaf of bread is the incorporation of dark sweet cherries and a lot of dark and white chocolate.

The dark chocolate and cherries pair wonderfully, and the white chocolate ends up kind of melting away into gooey sweet pockets of sweet that burst in your mouth. I’M OBSESSED.

I have always started this in my stand mixer, but have tried mixing in the chocolate and cherries both in the mixer and kneading in by hand. Personally the mixer is way better and less messy, so I recommend going that way.

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Traditional Sticky Toffee Pudding (Cake)

February 21, 2021

Despite being a massive Great British Bake Off superfan, I often find myself underwhelmed with a lot of Brit desserts (as they’re often a bit less moist than I prefer myself). But as I discovered on a trip to Scotland several years ago, sticky toffee pudding does NOT fall into that category.

In fact, I’m obsessed. This has a very “fall” feel to it (and that’s when I first made it), but this is true cold weather comfort food all winter long.

The thing is, I don’t like “toffee” at all, so I’d never paid this dessert any attention. I was excited to find that it doesn’t actually include any toffee, and instead is a moist treacly cake doused with buttery, sugary sauce.

(And even describing it like that would make me think I wouldn’t like it…BUT I DO. The world is a mystery.)

So is it a pudding or a cake?? Yes. British people call desserts “pudding”, which is baffling, and it’s definitely a cake. And if I understand correctly, it’s considered a “pudding” due to being more moist and having a sauce, rather than being super cake-like??

Brits, hit me up in the comments and help me understand…I’m reading between the lines of GBBO episode critiques.

As I’m one person and didn’t want to gain 32 pounds just from this recipe, I halved the recipe and it made 4 small ramekins. Halving is tricky with some of the amounts, but for any time I need to half a “3/4” amount, I shoot for halfway between 1/3 and 1/2.

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How To Make a Cute (& Easy) Onesie Cake For a Baby Shower

January 30, 2021

I am known for many things, but my cake decorating skills (or generally making desserts that are aesthetically pleasing) is NOT one of those things. I make delicious things, but they’re not always pretty and that’s okay. When I try cake decorating, it looks like a two-year-old did it.

And I still didn’t do an *amazing* job on this adorable onesie cake, but I’m PRETTY DARN PROUD OF IT and also think the idea/technique is awesome.

For this shower, the mom-to-be had requested her favorite cake—regular yellow box cake with chocolate frosting. And what mama wants, mama gets.

HOWEVER, this hurt my baker’s soul, so I tried to figure out some way to make it special. Well, and I also made a second (delicious) cake 🙂

While sifting through baby shower cake ideas, I stumbled upon this onesie-shaped cake, and it actually looked super easy so it felt I could tackle it. It’s mainly just some simple cutting or carving of a 9×13 cake and then doing the frosting and just a bit of piping.

Mine is definitely not perfect (definitely looks wonkus in the diaper region especially), but I’ll talk about a few of the techniques I used below.

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One-Bowl Easy King Cake

January 24, 2021

I kind of have to preface this post by saying that this is not much like a traditional king cake. But it IS easier and faster. And delicious. It might make NOLA peeps upset, but sometimes you just need an easy king cake recipe that bucks tradition a bit.

An alternative king cake, if you will.

Listen, a real king cake is awesome (and I’ve got one coming your way). But it’s a lot of work to make, and a lot of store-bought ones are just NOT GREAT. I don’t celebrate Mardi Gras or know tons about it, but I’ve always loved the flavor profile and textures of a really good king cake.

So when Joy the Baker (a New Orleans-ite and king cake connoisseur herself) offered up this one-bowl easy king cake recipe that’s…actually more like a cake…I was intrigued.

And it’s delish! I think of it as a fancy coffee cake-like thing that also can claim some king cake DNA?? And you know I’m always 100% IN on coffee cake (see this, this, and this).

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“Elvis” Banana, Salted Honey, & Peanut Butter Cream Puffs + A Super Late Happy Birthday

December 25, 2020

Every year I make my own birthday cake, using it as an excuse to try something indulgent and a bit more complicated than my usual. But this year’s orange and salted honey cake was a disappointment. Just kind of meh. So about a month later I decided I deserved a re-do…and THUS these peanut butter, banana, and salted honey cream puffs were born!

This idea came out of two different things…I had wanted to to try my hand at choux pastry for quite a while. It’s an entirely new baking technique for me, and my obsession with the Great British Bake-Off had finally pushed me to needing to try it.

Secondly, the one bright spot in my sad birthday cake debacle was trying out pastry cream (custard) for the first time and falling in love with this subtle, addictive salted honey pastry cream. So I wanted that to play a role in this recipe somehow.

So then I thought, what goes with honey?? Peanut butter, of course! And if you’re a lover of the traditional “Elvis” sandwich, then banana as well. I liked that the banana brought a fresh flavor and different texture to the whole thing.

Overall, making the choux was really easy! Like, shockingly easy. Piping it was a bit tricky since I’m terrible at piping. My biggest frustration was that I didn’t have a piping tip big enough for good-size eclairs. So I mostly went with the cream puffs since those turned out awesome.

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Fresh Orange Ricotta-Mascarpone Tart with Rosemary Crust

November 22, 2020

Yeah, I know that’s a mouthful. But while this orange ricotta-mascarpone tart feels fancy, and like it should be fussy and difficult, it’s actually really simple.

While it’s not a traditional holiday dessert, I think it would be a perfect addition to Thanksgiving or other holiday meals because it’s so light…the opposite of the desserts you usually have.

The star in this ricotta-mascarpone tart is the fresh orange zest and juice giving a great citrus flavor. I add the zest of half a lemon as well though, which brings a bit more of the tart citrus through…otherwise it can be a bit sweet.

And while it’s totally optional, adding fresh rosemary in the pastry crust really elevates the entire tart, and the rosemary and orange are a match made in heavy. The herb flavor isn’t strong, just a hint that balances everything really nicely.

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