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 summer parties or 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…

How To Make Caramelized White Chocolate (“Blonde Chocolate”)

October 17, 2021

I hate white chocolate. HATE. It sits on a throne of lies because it is not even chocolate. I feel like that’s a confession I have to make at the outset of this journey together, because when I heard about this whole caramelized white chocolate trend (also known as “blonde chocolate”), I’ll admit I was intrigued.

(side note, apparently I’m incorrect on it not being chocolate but I stand by my hatred)

As the white chocolate slowly caramelizes, it loses some of its sickly sweet flavor (blech) and begins to give off some much more complex notes of toffee, butterscotch, and caramel…there’s a bit more acidity or bitterness that offsets the cloying nature of white chocolate.

Some people describe the tastes and smells as also having nutty notes (like toasted nuts) or almost shortbread-like scents, and I can definitely see how you get both of those as well.

And it’s SO easy! Plus, the overall process of the color changing and deepening is super pretty and kind of mesmerizing.

The colors in my photos below are all over the place due to lighting, but it shifts from the original cream to such a gorgeous butterscotch-like color. DREAMY.

The most important thing to know is that you MUST use high-quality eating (not baking) white chocolate. I used Valrhona 35% white chocolate (Valrhona actually invented this technique) and it was perfection. Some other good brands are Green & Black’s, Lindt, Cacao Barry, Fruition, and Guittard. Do not use white chocolate chips or baking white chocolate.

Yes, the Valrhona is a little pricey (though I bought 2 pounds and didn’t use nearly that much for my blonde chocolate adventures so have a ton left), but it’s worth it.

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Sweet Corn Cake with Tart Lemon Glaze

September 3, 2021

Somehow I’ve gone all summer without making a recipe using fresh sweet corn. And that is a travesty. To be fair, it’s been a strange summer with foot surgery laying me up the last six weeks (and thereby no baking), but my corn-less summer can’t stand. So when I got an email from Bill Clark about his sweet corn cake, I was intrigued.

This recipe was from his A Piece of Cake newsletter #36, but Clark recommends—and in fact it’s the main reason for the recipe, I think—a Crisco and Country Time lemonade powder frosting. I don’t keep Crisco on hand (or lemonade powder), and it didn’t feel up my alley as much.

I’m really not a frosting person in general, and “grease icing” doesn’t make me go MMMM! But I liked the idea of some tart lemon (citric acid) to play a balancing role between the rich, moist, lightly sweet corn flavor, so whipped up a super easy lemon glaze.

I also made one other big change to the original recipe, subbing in oil for half of the butter. I don’t tend to favor butter cakes as much, as they’re denser and drier, and in this case I was really craving a moist, lightly sweet cake that would be an afternoon snack with a cup of tea.

While the recipe already called for a tiny bit of oil, I wanted to up that quite a bit, but still maintain some butter for flavor. The result is a perfect balance of flavorful and moist, with the subtle sweetness of the fresh corn shining through.

I was tempted to add an herbal note to either the batter or a bit to the lemon glaze, such as a little basil, rosemary, thyme, or tarragon. I ended up deciding not to mess with the recipe more in my first time making it, but would definitely play around with that in the glaze the next time.

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Easy Bourbon Cherry Jam (With or Without Pectin)

July 13, 2021

I look forward to cherry season all year. For a month or so I buy as many dark sweet cherries as I can get my hands on, and absolutely gorge myself. But sometimes I go a bit overboard and have to figure out what to do with the rest of my bounty. Enter…delicious bourbon cherry jam!

The great thing about this recipe is that if you’re looking for a cherry jam without pectin, this one has got you covered…but if you’ve got pectin on hand and you’re looking for a thicker, more “set” jam then this recipe is perfect as well.

As with most jam recipes, this one is really forgiving on quantities. Basically, you want roughly a 2:1 fruit-to-sugar ratio, so a kitchen scale will be helpful.

So for this batch I had 570g (a little over half a pound) of dark sweet cherries, and so used around 280g of sugar (I backed off just a tiny bit because my cherries were quite sweet).

It will seem like way too much sugar, but that ratio is really important…if you cut back too much, the jam won’t set well (especially if you’re not using pectin). The sugar plays a critical role in the jam science. JAM SCIENCE!

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Best-Ever Banana Cake With Peanut Butter Frosting

July 5, 2021

It might look like I’m on a “peanut butter and banana” roll (see these cream puffs), but I actually first made this banana cake with peanut butter frosting at the very beginning of the quarantine. Yep, back in March 2020 when we thought we were having a little two-week blip.

Sighhh, those were simpler times….

This cake is perfect for using up all those overripe bananas sitting on your counter, but when you’re like UGH I cannot deal with more banana bread!

One important note, this is not the healthiest form of banana cake, but it IS maybe the best banana cake recipe out there.

And then pair that banana cake with AMAZEBALLS peanut butter frosting, and you have a total winner. Childhood, in cake form.

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Sweet & Gooey Lemon Cardamom Buns

June 26, 2021

I don’t know when and I don’t know how, but these gooey, sweet lemon cardamom buns popped into my head as a full-blown “I must make this now” idea.

This flavor combo is super interesting and not terribly common…I’m guessing that in my many MANY hours of watching Great British Bake-Off, I’ve soaked in the idea of using fresh green cardamom with lemon or orange from a few of my favorite bakers (hi, Nadiya!).

I’ve been really into citrus or fruit plus herbal or warm spice flavors lately, particularly in cocktails (like this basil gin gimlet) but a bit in baking too (helloooo orange cinnamon twist bread!).

As I was spreading on the amazing lemon-cardamom filling in this recipe, I had another brainwave and realized that lemon basil would be absolutely delicious too!

I initially tried this with a different dough, but it didn’t rise and turned out super dense…I’m not sure why since I’ve had success with that dough before (I may have killed the yeast with too-hot liquid).

So I switched to using the dough from Paul Hollywood’s chelsea buns, which is simple but I know is delightfully soft. I added a little sugar and tweaked the flavorings to infuse both fresh and dried cardamom and some lemon zest.

The result is a fascinating, addictive flavor combo and a soft, sticky, sweet, gooey breakfast-maybe-dessert bun.

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13+ Delicious Desserts For Any Summer Party

June 11, 2021

Soooo…last spring I had started a post that pulled together my best summer desserts for parties.

And then COVID hit, so the *last* thing that people were doing last summer was having large gatherings. I decided to hold off. And so here we are again, and it’s time for awesome summer get-togethers!

What makes for a good summer party dessert?? Well, to me it’s 1) amazing and addictive, 2) great for hot weather, and 3) ideally can be made pretty easily in a large quantity. This rules out anything fussy, requiring long baking times (wow, the heat!), or that can’t deal with sitting around for a while (lookin’ at you, chocolate).

Because let’s face it, when you’re at a summer gathering—be it a pool party, family gathering, picnic, whatever—those desserts sit out for a while! So without further ado, here are some of my favorite desserts for summer parties and get-togethers!

Strawberry Shortcake for a Big Group

We’ll start with my all-timer—strawberry shortcake for a big group. Strawberry shortcake is truly my ultimate summer dessert, but often harder to do for more than a few people. READ THE POST

How To Make An Easy Pouring Dark Chocolate Ganache For Cakes

May 24, 2021

Ganache. It sound so fancy, but in reality is one of the easiest and versatile weapons a baker can have in their arsenal. So I’m going to share how to make ganache—in fact, two different methods—and specifically, my favorite dark chocolate ganache.

This is the pouring ganache that I use for my epic chocolate stout cake (and the gluten-free version), and it’s become my go-to any time I need this particular consistency. The key to chocolate ganache is in the proportions…more or less chocolate will impact how solid it gets once set.

For instance, this recipe is 6 ounces to 6 tablespoons for a pouring consistency to top cakes, while I used a more chocolate-heavy ratio of 2/3 cup chocolate to 1/2 cup cream for a filling solid enough to sit between cake layers (like in this peanut butter cake). You can see more on how the ratios work here.

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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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