Recipes

Spiced Pumpkin and Walnut Praline French Macarons

Spiced Pumpkin French Macarons and Walnut Praline French Macarons. These are thanksgiving inspired macarons, with a walnut praline swiss meringue buttercream and a spiced pumpkin Swiss meringue buttercream, these easy, no-fail French macarons are a perfect addition to your holiday dessert table.

Spiced Pumpkin and Walnut Praline macarons. These are thanksgiving inspired macarons, with a walnut praline swiss meringue buttercream and a spiced pumpkin swiss meringue buttercream, these easy, no-fail french macarons are a perfect addition to your holiday dessert table.

Spiced Pumpkin Macarons and Walnut Praline Macarons

Hi hi! Happy Monday! I just wanted to pop on and share my latest collab with Jase - these Spiced Pumpkin and Walnut Praline Macarons! These are the perfect buffer between Thanksgiving and Christmas - a little bit of spice, and a little bit of sparkle.

We decided that instead of a monthly recipe like we used to do, we would instead switch to seasonally relevant recipes as the holidays and seasons come around. We started the macaron a month to really try and hone our skills and nail these tricky little things, and I think that it is safe to say that we achieved that!

Walnut Praline Swiss Meringue Buttercream

We experimented with a new component which I think has firmly cemented itself into our repertoires - walnut praline Swiss Meringue Buttercream. We made a praline (which is basically just caramelising the nuts and then blending them into a paste), and mixed it through some buttercream, which made the most amazing toasty flavoured walnut buttercream.

Spiced Pumpkin Macaron Filling - Swiss Meringue Buttercream

For the second flavour we stirred a little reduced pumpkin puree through the buttercream along with some pumpkin spice, which made a beautifully subtle pumpkin flavoured buttercream, which is seasonal AF! These pumpkin Macarons are so good and super super easy. Both of these would be perfect on your holiday table or in your christmas treat line up!

A few wee tips for Spiced Pumpkin Macarons and Walnut Praline Macarons

I have included recipes for both types of macarons - each recipe will make about 24 macarons.
The macs have the same base shell recipe - we added some ‘warm brown’ for the walnut praline flavour.
We cooked down the pumpkin puree just slightly to help concentrate the flavour. This is an optional step but works well to help drive through the pumpkin flavour in the buttercream. This is an optional step but helps to remove the moisture a little too to help keep the consistency of the buttercream.
All my macaron tips and tricks are in this post!

For more Macaron recipes, Check out:

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Answers to your baking questions

Over the years, many of you have asked me questions about:

I've curated and answered them all for your easy reference in this frequently asked questions post!

Apple Snack Cake with Ombre Walnut Praline Swiss Meringue Buttercream

This apple snack cake itself is dairy free, and is made with whole wheat and all-purpose flour, which gives it a lovely sturdiness. It comes together super easily, and is studded with chunks of apple. The crumb is tender thanks to the oil in the mixture, and the walnut praline gives the perfect little boost to the Swiss meringue buttercream.

Happy, happy Saturday! I hope that you are keeping warm and snuggly (or nice and cool if you’re in NZ - my family is at the beach right now).

We are still in full swing of apple season here, so I wanted to share this apple cake that has been in my family for as long as I can remember! The recipe is loosely based on one from a tattered old book at home that I don’t know the name of (will update as soon as I can) that is bookmarked with bulldog clips and cake batter (the best sort of books), and is for an apple and raisin cake. I tweaked and tweaked the recipe, playing around with the ratios until I was happy with it, and then I went ahead and fancied the whole thing up with an ombre walnut praline buttercream.

The cake would be amazing finished with just a simple dusting of powdered sugar, but I wanted to add in this buttercream after we made a walnut praline last week and realised just how delicious it is. The process is a little complicated, but the end product is so worth it. Praline is made by caramelising nuts (it is often done with hazelnuts), and then processing them in the food processor until you form a paste. I then stirred that through a Swiss Meringue Buttercream, and added some cinnamon to some of the buttercream to give a nice ombre effect which was perfect for piping onto the cake. If you like, you can skip the ombre step and just give the cake a coating of the praline buttercream - either way is delicious.

I see this as a choose your own adventure situation - the cake alone is so delicious just as is, or you can fancy this up for a perfect holiday dessert that is great for using up those apples that you have hanging around in the back of your fridge after you accidentally ended up with too many last time.

A few wee tips:

There are a couple of options for you here, depending on how involved you want to get.
Make just the cake, dust with powdered sugar (v delicious option)
Make the cake, give it a plain Swiss Meringue Buttercream frosting by leaving out the praline. (Also v delicious, slightly more involved)
Make the cake, make the walnut praline, skip the ombre piping step and just spread the buttercream onto the cake and sprinkle with some cinnamon.
Go all out and do an ombre piping situation with the buttercream.
The cake is super moist from the oil and the apples so can be made the day before and stored in the tin until you are ready to go.
The walnut praline recipe makes more than you will need in the buttercream, but it is super, super delicious and you will use it up, I promise
The process of the praline looks a little scary but I promise it isn’t. You make a sugar syrup, then add in the walnuts and mix it until the sugar forms back into a golden caramel. It does take a bit of stirring, but it will happen!
I found it the easiest by far to do the praline in a stainless steel frying pan - a cast iron skillet should work too, you just want something wide enough so that you have as much contact as possible between the nuts and the surface of the pan
To get the ombre effect, I made the buttercream and removed some so it stayed white. I then added in the praline, mixed it through, then removed half and added cinnamon to the rest so that I had three shades.
I used a wilton #104 tip and three Ateco #862 tips for the star bloops!

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Answers to your baking questions

Over the years, many of you have asked me questions about:

I've curated and answered them all for your easy reference in this frequently asked questions post!

Apple and Cranberry Pie with Spiced Pie Crust

Hi hi! Happy Thursday! I think we are setting a record for the amount of times I’ve posted on here in a row - but I have so many things that I want to share with you before thanksgiving! I smushed all my work into the start of the week this week, because I’ve been sneaking onto the set of my good friend Erin’s pie recipe book shoot! It’s going to be called “the book on pie” and it is going to be so, so amazing once it is done. I’m so proud already - Erin and her team are working so hard, and I feel so lucky to be allowed to go on set and see how it is all done! Erin has taught me so many amazing things about pie, and turned me into a much more confident baker. She really is just the best.

I just wanted to pop on and share this Cranberry and Apple pie with you! My only experience with fresh cranberries before I moved to the states (we don’t really have thanksgiving in NZ and all our cranberry sauce comes in a jar) was tiny little tart berries that my great uncle grew in his garden. North American cranberries are much different - they are much bigger, and I love the tart flavour that they add to baking. They pair perfectly with an apple pie filling - I gave this one a spiced crust, and a little spice in the filling too to help round everything out.

I finished this guy off with a cut-out lattice using a little star cutter, but feel free to do any finish that you like - a lattice or a plain top crust would look great. If you are cutting out, just make sure that your top crust is chilled nicely first!

I’m off to eat more pie! x

A few wee tips:

A pie dough trick I learnt from my friend Erin that is now firmly in my repertoire : After you mix the dough and shape it into discs, rest it in the fridge for about an hour, and then roll it out on a floured surface into a rectangle, fold it in thirds like a letter, then roll again and repeat the folding. Then you shape it into a disc by folding the edges under, rewrap tightly in plastic, and rest for at least two hours before using. What this step does is make the dough homogenous and therefore easy to work with, but also adds layers through the rolling and folding - the same way puff pastry is laminated. It is definitely an optional step but from my experience it makes the world of difference when it comes to rolling out the dough and getting a nice even crimp or lattice work.
The cranberries are a little tart but I love how they pop through the sweetness. Feel free to up the sugar a touch if you like.
I made a cut-out top crust with tiny star cutters, but a plain lattice would work great on this too.
The quantities here are enough for a double crust pie - if you are doing a lattice and you would like there to be a little more dough to work with, you can make these quantites of dough (it’s 1.5 times the recipe)

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Answers to your baking questions

Over the years, many of you have asked me questions about:

I've curated and answered them all for your easy reference in this frequently asked questions post!

Brown Butter Oatmeal Pie

This is basically a pecan pie but without the pecans, which makes it the perfect pie for those who can't have nuts but still want the pecan pie experience. Toasted oats are mixed with brown butter and golden syrup for a chewy, perfect pie.

Hi hi! Happy Wednesday! We continue our week of late to the party pie posts with this beauty - a Brown Butter Oatmeal Pie. I found it when I was flicking through one of my favourite books of all time, The Four and Twenty Blackbirds Pie Book. It is written by two sisters who have a pie shop here in Brooklyn, and it’s one of my most turned to when I’m looking for pie inspiration or exciting flavour combinations.

This recipe for Brown Butter Oatmeal Pie has some serious pecan pie vibes. Because I’m not from America, I didn’t grow up eating Pecan Pie, but I love the concept of it so much - toasty nuts in a sweet, custardy filling. This pie follows that same route - Oats are toasted, and then stirred into a sweet custard situation. I only made a few tweaks by browning the butter that goes into the pie, and subbing corn syrup for golden syrup (I love the taste so much), and I was amazed at how easy it comes together. This would be a great option if you are using a pre-purchased pie crust too - all you have to do is toast up the Oats and then stir everything together and bake it off.

Brown Butter Oatmeal Pie - Pecan Pie without the Pecans!

The top of the pie is slightly crispy, and the interior is custardy, with beautiful chew from the oats, and sweetness from the filling. I love it as an alternative to a Pecan Pie (it would be perfect if you are in a nut free home), or even as an alongside if there are people who don’t like pecan pie. The original recipe has a black bottom, so a layer of bittersweet ganache on the bottom, which I am absolutely going to try next time I made this!

A few wee tips for Brown Butter Oatmeal Pie

Because this pie bakes at quite a low temperature, you are going to want to blind bake it a little more than a regular blind baked pie to ensure that the pastry cooks completely. I neglected this step a little this time around, and learnt from my mistake - don’t make the same mistake that I did!
This needs a few hours to cool before you cut into it to ensure that it is cooked. It would do well made the day before and stored at room temperature overnight
If you don’t have golden syrup, use corn syrup, or this would be so good with honey too.
The pie dough recipe makes a double crust - so enough for two pies. You might as well make the extra while you are at it in my opinion - pie dough freezes well, tightly wrapped, for at least a few months, or lasts a few days in the fridge. Defrost overnight if using from frozen.
A pie dough trick I learnt from my friend Erin that is now firmly in my repertoire : After you mix the dough and shape it into discs, rest it in the fridge for about an hour, and then roll it out on a floured surface into a rectangle, fold it in thirds like a letter, then roll again and repeat the folding. Then you shape it into a disc by folding the edges under, rewrap tightly in plastic, and rest for at least two hours before using. What this step does is make the dough homogenous and therefore easy to work with, but also adds layers through the rolling and folding - the same way puff pastry is laminated. It is definitely an optional step but from my experience it makes the world of difference when it comes to rolling out the dough and getting a nice even crimp or lattice work.
When you are par baking your pie crust, chill your crust in the fridge rather than the freezer if you can - a longer chill in the fridge is preferable to a short chill in the freezer
I have 115g butter written in the recipe - the actual recipe uses 75g butter (I have noted it in the method) but I have you start with 115 to account for the loss in volume when you brown the butter.

I know that making brown butter can be intimidating. Don't be scared, I will hold your hand the whole way through in my post and you'll be nailing it in no time: Brown Butter 101: The Ultimate Guide

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Answers to your baking questions

Over the years, many of you have asked me questions about:

I've curated and answered them all for your easy reference in this frequently asked questions post!

Pear Pie with Ginger Caramel and Spelt Crust

Turkey day is just around the corner - but as far as I’m considered, it’s the most exciting day of pie season! I’m probably well behind in pumping out the Thanksgiving content, but there’s a pie coming at you almost every day this week (and one day next week I think), just in case you need some last minute ideas or a wee switcharoo. I won’t tell anyone.

I wanted to have a bunch of ‘alternative’ recipes for Thanksgiving - there’s already an apple pie here on the site (it’s really good), and a bunch of other more traditional pies too, so I wanted to post a couple of fun riffs on classics, starting with this Pear Pie with a Ginger Caramel and a Spelt Crust!

This is basically just a riff on a pear and caramel pie, except that I infused the cream used in the caramel with some freshly grated ginger, which gives it the most beautiful flavour. Fresh ginger is more subtle than its ground up friend, and I love how the flavour comes through in the pie.

I recently got a grain mill from my friend Jase, who won it in an IG contest and very, very kindly gifted it to me, as he knew I was DYING for one! I’ve been using it a bunch, and finally got around to adding a little freshly milled grain into my pie crust, and there’s no looking back. Your flour doesn’t have to be freshly milled, but adding a little spelt flour into the dough (30% of the flour weight I replaced with spelt) adds the most amazing depth of flavour, and the dough still behaves like a dream. I just made a pie with a rye crust this morning, and I think i’m hooked.

Here’s to a week ish worth of pies - I hope you give this pear and caramel dude a try! It’s so good with a giant scoop of ice cream. x

A few wee tips:

Adding freshly milled grains into my pie dough is new to me, and is an instant favourite method. It adds another depth of flavor to the crust, which is so, so delicious. I went with 30% per my friend Ruth’s recommendation. You may need to adjust the hydration a little in the dough - just have a play and see how you go.
Give your pie dough an overnight rest if you can.
If you want to leave out the ginger and just make this a pear and caramel pie, go ahead, it will be so good!
Here is a recipe for ‘regular’ pie dough if you don’t want to add in the spelt. You should be able to get spelt flour from your local supermarket or farmer’s market, or online. I have a grain mill so I milled mine fresh!
You want pears that are just ripe for this recipe. Too soft and they will end up mushy.
I like using a wee tip that my friend Erin taught me to make the pie dough nice and smooth and easy to work with. I make the dough, shape it into two rectangles, rest it in the fridge wrapped for about an hour, then remove it and roll it out into a rectangle on a lightly floured surface. I then give it a letter fold (as you would a letter), roll out to a rectangle, letter fold again, then roll out slightly, and shape into a disc. I then re-wrap it, and leave it to rest overnight. This makes the dough more homogenous without compromising the flaky texture that you want in the pie dough, and it makes it a total dream to work with. For me, it’s a game changer.
I like to divide the pie dough into ⅓ and ⅔ - shape the smaller one into a disc as it will be your bottom crust, and shape the top into a rectangle so it’s the right shape when it comes to cutting out lattices.
Give your caramel time to cool - I made mine the night before.
I did a fancy lattice on the top which definitely isn’t necessary, but it looks super pretty. I used pie stamps to cut out the shapes for the edge of the pie - I have collected a whole bunch over the years - I have this set and this set of leaves, and then this set is where the flowers are from. I think I also have this set!

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Answers to your baking questions

Over the years, many of you have asked me questions about:

I've curated and answered them all for your easy reference in this frequently asked questions post!

Apple Cider Layer Cake with Spiced Salted Caramel Swiss Meringue Buttercream

Apple Cider Layer Cake with Spiced Caramel Swiss Meringue Buttercream. This layer cake has reduced apple cider added to the batter, giving it a delicate apple flavour. It is finished with spiced salted caramel swiss meringue buttercream with an ombre finish. #applecidercake #caramelbuttercream #swissmeringue

Happy Friday! I made six different types of pie dough today, and will be a busy wee bee working on pie for you over the weekend just in case you need some last minute pie ideas! I’m kinda going for twists on classics rather than standard pie recipes, and I am well aware I am VERY late to the game, but we are going to run with it anyway, k?

Today’s recipe is a super fun one because I made it as a collaboration with my friend Mike! I invited him over to my house to make cake, which, as Rich said, is a very good way to quickly get to know me quickly, and turns out it was! Mike and I have been IG friends for a while and finally decided it was really stupid that we live in the same city and haven’t met up before, and I am so glad that we remedied that!

We got a little bit fancy, and made this apple cider layer cake with a spiced salted caramel swiss meringue buttercream, and an ombre finish. To make the cake, we subbed boiled down apple cider for the milk in one of my favourite layer cake recipes, and it came out amazingly. I would almost describe the taste as ‘juicy’? So, so good. We paired it with a Spiced salted caramel Swiss Meringue buttercream, which is basically a Swiss Meringue buttercream with a whole lot of spiced caramel stirred into it. The caramel gets its spice from warming spices such as cinnamon, cardamom and ginger, and worked so perfectly with the apple cake. The caramel alone would be a great addition into your holiday baking, as it is a nice spicy twist on a traditional salted caramel sauce. Amazing on ice cream.

We finished the cake off with an ombre finish, which we achieved by mixing some of the buttercream with some cooled melted chocolate. This is a super easy way to get an ombre, and gave a really delicious variation in flavour. If you don’t want to do the ombre and just leave this as an apple cider cake with a spiced caramel buttercream that would work just fine too!

It is always so fun shooting with another blogger to see how they do things - I had so much fun!

A few wee tips:

If you’re not from America, apple cider is basically just cloudy apple juice - it is processed with the skins on. Cloudy apple juice will work great!
Make sure you give the caramel adequate time to cool. Either make it before you make the cakes and leave to cool in something that’s shallow so that it has a lot of cooling surface area, or make it the night before. You want it just below room temperature for mixing into your buttercream.
If you don’t want to reduce down the cider, the cake is based on this vanilla cake recipe which will work great too!
This works great as a sheet cake - you will need about half the amount of buttercream, but the batter bakes up in about 45-50 minutes in a lined 9”x13” pan.
Crumb coat the cake first using the spiced salted caramel and then make your ombre colors - the dark is from mixing buttercream with melted dark chocolate, and the lighter is from mixing a little of the chocolate mix and the caramel buttercream to give a middle shade.

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Answers to your baking questions

Over the years, many of you have asked me questions about:

I've curated and answered them all for your easy reference in this frequently asked questions post!

Chocolate Buttermilk Cake with Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting and Honey Caramel Corn

Hi hi!! I have a super fun, super delicious recipe to share with you today, which comes from my Internet friend Charlotte’s new book, Just Desserts! Charlotte is an incredible baker and makes the most beautiful food, and her book is jammed full of delicious dessert recipes, accompanied by a very healthy dose of puns. Best combo ever, if you ask me. The book itself is incredibly beautiful - Charlotte has such an amazing eye for design and colour, and ties it all in so perfectly within her recipes. She has thought of everything - from the beautiful photos to the tiny illustrations, to the incredible front cover opening where she’s wearing a dress that matches CUSTOM WALLPAPER. I’m so excited to try more recipes in there! Congrats lady - I hope you are so, so proud. To the rest of you - you’re going to want to grab a copy ASAP! xx

When deciding what to make, I kind of went for a mashup of two of her ideas - the first thing that jumped out at me was a beautiful salted caramel shortbread slice, covered in a giant mound of caramel corn, which would have to be in my top 10 fave foods. I was tempted to make that, and then I flicked to the recipe for this Chocolate Buttermilk Cake with a Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting. In her book Charlotte has dotted hers with chocolate covered pretzels, but I spied an opening for some caramel corn, so here we are - Charlotte’s very perfect chocolate buttermilk cake, covered in honey caramel corn. Dream team.

The cake itself is incredibly simple - I avoided the temptation to make it more complicated than it needs to be (I was going to make a layer cake), and kept it as is, and I am so glad I did, because it is perfect. I have a tendency to go full extra on recipes, making multiple components and layers, when sometimes simple is best, and this cake is a great example of this. There’s something super beautiful about a single layer cake, with a simple layer of icing and some decoration on the top, and this cake has inspired me to hold back a little more often and keep it simple sometimes.

The recipe starts with a very dark, luscious chocolate buttermilk cake, which is moist but also fluffy, and the perfect vehicle for the chocolate cream cheese icing that it gets smothered with. Both components alone are super simple to make - the cake is a stir together situation, and then the cream cheese frosting is a ‘whip the heck out of everything’ kind of frosting. Frosting just a single layer of cake is very, VERY satisfying, just so you know. I’ll be doing it a lot more often.

I then scratched the caramel corn itch I had in my brain by making a simple honey caramel corn to go on the top. The process is the same as most caramel corns - pop some corn, make a caramel, pour it over, bake it to finish, but I included a little step which I think is a game changer in caramel - adding in some freshly popped, non caramel popcorns at a few points along the way. The first lot goes in just after you have coated the popcorn in the caramel, and the second lot after it has baked in the oven. The plain popcorn mixed in there gives a really lovely mix of plain and caramel corn, which gives variation in both taste and texture, and you get little perfect bites where a caramel piece and a plain piece have joined together to be delicious, delicious friends.

A few wee tips:

I made my own caramel corn which isn’t as hard as it looks, and is so good with the honey, but store bought would also work so perfectly in this situation too!
I made the cake two days ahead and stored it wrapped tightly in the freezer until I was ready to frost it.
I also made the caramel corn two days ahead - just make sure you store it in a super airtight container.
Charlotte uses a 22cm spring form pan for her cake, but I just greased and lined an 8” cake pan which worked great too! Make sure it has sides about 3” high though as it does rise up a little.

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Answers to your baking questions

Over the years, many of you have asked me questions about:

I've curated and answered them all for your easy reference in this frequently asked questions post!

No-Bake Peppermint Slice

No-bake peppermint slice. A coconut chocolate graham crust is topped with a peppermint icing layer, then finished with a thin, smooth layer of chocolate. This no bake take on a New Zealand classic is perfect for the holidays or any time sweet treat snacking.

No-Bake Peppermint Slice

Happy Sunday! I’ve been busting to share this recipe with you as it’s one of my favourites I’ve ever developed - it’s a No-bake Peppermint Slice! I developed this for the Holiday Cookie issue of Bake From Scratch, along with three other recipes which you should check out in the issue, but this one was maybe the simplest but most definitely my favourite.

One thing that I miss the most about home is the mint slice biscuits. I think they are technically Australian, but they were my favourite growing up, and something that still comes out when it’s cup of tea time at home. It’s a crunchy chocolate base, then a super minty filling, and a dark chocolate coating. I can eat about 10 of them in one go, and they are always on the list of things to have brought over when people come and ask if we want anything.

There’s also a bakery peppermint slice that is a NZ sweet staple, but the biscuit is absolutely my favourite, so I wanted to get that flavour profile and turn it into a slice / bar for all the Americans here. I think I managed to get the balance just right - I used a chocolate graham cracker base, with a teeny bit of coconut for some texture, then a super minty topping which is basically just a stir together situation, and then a super smooth, super satisfying smooth chocolate topping. The whole thing is no-bake, and super fuss free, which makes it perfect for anytime, but particularly for the upcoming holiday season. It keeps forever in the fridge, however judging on how many pieces I have eaten since I re-made this this week, it doesn’t last long in my house, and it won’t last long in yours either. I hope you give this guy a try if you’re in the market for a super easy chocolate peppermint slice recipe - this one is a keeper. x

no-bake peppermint slice on parchment paper

Components of No-Bake Peppermint Slice

This recipe is super easy to make, and has a few components to it. You can make it all at once or spread out your timing a little to fit your schedule. It keeps super well in the fridge in an airtight container, although I find it never lasts long around my house!

Chocolate Graham Cracker Base - I added some coconut to the chocolate crumb crust base. If you're in NZ and you can't get graham crackers, digestives or a mixture of digestives and wine biscuits would work great. The base gets made and then hangs out in the freezer while the topping is made.
Peppermint Icing - This is what gives peppermint slice the super minty flavour. A thin layer of peppermint icing, which is just a mix together situation and comes together really quickly! Powdered sugar, vanilla, a wee bit of salt and peppermint extract are mixed with boiling water to form a smooth filling which is poured over the base.
Chocolate Topping - I just make this in the microwave! It's dark chocolate mixed with just a wee bit of neutral oil, which gives it some shine and also helps to prevent cracking when you cut the slice up.

A few wee tips for No-Bake Peppermint Slice:

These don’t really need toooo many notes, but I will say - make sure that they are nice and cold before you cut them. You can wait until the chocolate is set and then throw them in the freezer for a bit if you need to, or a few hours in the fridge will do well. If you don’t wait long enough then it’s no worries at all, but they might get a little squishy as you cut them.
Start with 3 tablespoon water in the filling. It won’t seem like much, but you don’t need too too much to melt down the powdered sugar. Add in an extra teaspoon of water at a time if it’s too thick - I usually need one or two to get it to the right consistency.
If you wanted to make mega amounts of this (which would work great), then you could double the mixture and make it in a 9x13 pan. It keeps for yonks in the fridge so would be perfect for keeping on hand.

For more Bar and Slice recipes, check out:

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I would LOVE for you to leave me a review and star rating below to let me know how you liked it! Also, please make sure to tag me on Instagram!

Answers to your baking questions

Over the years, many of you have asked me questions about:

I've curated and answered them all for your easy reference in this frequently asked questions post!

Apple Frangipane Pie

Apple Frangipane Pie with Honey frangipane. This apple slab pie is a super easy variation on an apple pie, and has a frangipane filling and a shingled apple top.

Open Apple Slab Pie with Honey Vanilla Bean Frangipane. Crispy, flaky pie dough is topped with a honey and vanilla bean frangipane mixture, covered with sliced apples, and baked to golden perfection. This is the perfect alternative to an apple pie for this holiday season. #appletart #applepie #frangipane #honeyfrangipane

Apple Frangipane Pie
How to make Apple Frangipane Pie
Apples for Apple Pie
How to make Homemade Pie Crust
Tips for Apple Frangipane Pie

Apple Frangipane Pie

Hi! Happy Saturday! Popping in to share my second installment of the Weekend Baking Project series that I am doing with Taste of New Zealand of New Zealand Trade and Enterprise! You all seemed to love last month’s Brown Butter Cinnamon Roll recipe using NZ butter, and this month I am back to share some more of the amazing products wee NZ pumps out - this time apples and honey in this apple frangipane pie!

It’s nearly Thanksgiving time here in the States, which means everyone is getting ready to amp up their pie game, and I wanted to have a couple of alternative options to the traditional pies here on the site. This Open Apple Slab pie would be a perfect alternative to a regular apple pie - slab pies are great because they are super easy to make, and are so perfect for feeding a crowd. This one is particularly easy to make as I ditched the top crust in favour of a Honey Vanilla Bean Frangipane filling, topped with fanned out slices of apple. No latticing required, but still all the deliciousness of a flaky pie crust.

How to make Apple Frangipane Pie

A frangipane is basically a thick batter, made from butter, eggs, a sweetener, and almond flour. In the place of sugar, I used Taylor Pass Honey Co Creamed Clover Honey to sweeten the frangipane, which paired so perfectly with the vanilla bean and almond. I am so excited that we can finally get good creamed clover honey from NZ here in America. Lots of the marketing / NZ honey that you see is Manuka based (which Taylor Pass also creates), which is trendy and also delicious, but our wee bees also produce some other extremely delicious varieties of honey.

Creamed honey has an almost whipped texture and is much thicker than the liquid honey that you traditionally see. The Taylor Pass Honey Co honey tastes just like what I grew up on eating, and is my favourite to have in toast or to use in baking. The company prides itself on creating amazing quality, sustainably produced honey - the hives aren’t too far from my home town in New Zealand, so it feels amazing to be able to get my hands on something from so close to home.

Make the pie crust. I use my regular pie crust recipe, and make a full batch to fill a 9"x13" pan for a slab pie.
Make the frangipane layer. Assemble the honey frangipane - this is super easy and comes together just in the mixer.
Assemble the pie. This step does take a little bit of working, but take your time. Spread your pie crust with the frangipane then top with the shingled apples.
Bake. Bake the pie - the apples will sink into the frangipane pie filling a little and the pastry will brown.
Glaze. When the pie comes out of the oven, glaze it with a honey syrup to make things nice and shiny.

Apples for Apple Pie

I also included a New Zealand variety of apples in the tart - Envy Apples. Envy is a cross between a braeburn and a royal gala apple - the result is a beautiful, crisp apple, with the perfect level of sweetness, and a white flesh that doesn’t brown, making it so perfect for baking!

I hope that you give this frangipane version of an apple slab pie a go - it would be so perfect as a Thanksgiving, or any time apple and honey treat! x

How to make Homemade Pie Crust

A pie dough trick I learnt from my friend Erin that is now firmly in my repertoire : After you mix the dough and shape it into discs, rest it in the fridge for about an hour, and then roll it out on a floured surface into a rectangle, fold it in thirds like a letter, then roll again and repeat the folding. Then you shape it into a rectangle, re-wrap tightly in plastic, and rest for at least two hours before using. What this step does is make the dough homogenous and therefore easy to work with, but also adds layers through the rolling and folding - the same way puff pastry is laminated. It is definitely an optional step but from my experience it makes the world of difference when it comes to rolling out the dough and getting a nice even crimp or lattice work.

To read more about pie crust along with tips and tricks, check out my post which is all about making a perfect homemade pie crust

Tips for Apple Frangipane Pie

Fun fact about Envy apples - they don’t go brown as fast as other apples due to the higher level of vitamin c in them, which slows the browning process down. I did however brush them with a little lemon juice just as a wee insurance policy and to help balance out the honey.
This is probably one of the only recipes where I’m not going to give you a weight of the fruit. Because it’s not getting mixed in with a starch, the weight can vary - you need enough apples to be able to make enough stacks to cover the surface of the tart. I ended up with 6 rows which came from about 5 apples. You do have some wee pieces of apple left over from cutting the pieces into the right shapes - I just snacked on them!
If you don’t have a stand mixer for the frangipane, it can be done by hand with a spatula or wooden spoon and a large bowl.
Make the honey glaze just as the pie comes out of the oven, and then glaze once it has had 10 minutes to cool.
If you wanted to make this whole pie refined sugar free you can leave out the sugar in the pie crust and it will be totally sweetened by honey.

Thank you so much to Taste of New Zealand of New Zealand Trade and Enterprise for Sponsoring this post! All opinions are my own.

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Answers to your baking questions

Over the years, many of you have asked me questions about:

I've curated and answered them all for your easy reference in this frequently asked questions post!

Tahini Sheet Cake with Chocolate Fudge Frosting

Tahini Brown Sugar Sheet Cake with Chocolate Fudge Frosting. A perfectly moist stir together sheet cake, with brown sugar and tahini, is topped with a simple chocolate fudge frosting that comes together quickly in the food processor. This recipe is from Michelle Lopez's latest book, Weeknight baking.

Tahini Brown Sugar Sheet Cake

Hi! I feel like I’ve been waiting two years to write this post - my Internet / IRL friend Michelle wrote a book, and it comes out today!!! I met Michelle when we were both living in NYC - where her book journey began! It’s been amazing see the whole process from start to finish, and Michelle busted it out like an absolute champ while serving up some very honest realities of how writing a book really is (she’s doing an amazing series on it on her site at the moment), so I was so, so excited to have it arrive in my home in all its beauty!

Weeknight Baking by Michelle Lopez

Michelle’s book concept is very simple but also extremely clever - it’s all about weeknight baking! For most of her blogging career, Michelle has had a day job as WELL as running an incredible blog, making her somewhat of a time management wizard who somehow conjures up treats in little bits and pieces throughout the week to put together into an amazing recipe. The book follows this theme - the recipes are broken down into steps, making them extremely approachable and fuss free. There are so many amazing recipes in there that I can’t wait to make, and the photography is so, so beautiful, but my favourite part is the front part of each section, where Michelle drops gem after gem of essential baking knowledge - little tips and tricks that are going to make your life so easy. Make sure you pick up a copy ASAP, as it really is a must-own baking book!

Super Easy Sheet Cake - Tahini Chocolate Sheet Cake

I knew I wanted to make a sheet cake from the book, but had a really hard time deciding what to make. I knew it would be paired with Michelle’s amazing chocolate fudge frosting, which comes together super easily in the food processor, but couldn’t decide on the cake, so turned to Instagram for a hunger games style decision process - and the internet chose this tahini brown sugar cake! This cake is so amazing for a couple of reasons - not only is is incredibly flavourful and the most perfect texture, but the tahini can be subbed for peanut butter for a PB and chocolate vibe. The whole thing can actually be made without a stand mixer, making it super quick and easy to put together. I actually went back and checked my process because I was worried that I had missed a step in the recipe because it had almost been TOO easy to put together. I love a good sheet cake - they are so easy to transport and serve, and I love swirling frosting more than anything ever. Michelle includes with each cake recipe in her book steps to make each into a layer cake, sheet cake, or cupcakes, and then has a whole bunch of different frostings, meaning you can mix and match to your heart’s content.

Congrats lady - I’m so proud, and the book is just so, so beautiful! xx

A few wee tips for Tahini Sheet Cake

Michelle’s instructions in the book ask you to make the cake in the stand mixer, but the process is super simple so I did it in two bowls and it worked perfectly, no mixer required!
I also melted the chocolate in the microwave - I popped it in in 30 second increments, stirring between each, and then set it aside to cool slightly.
If the fudge frosting looks super sloppy when you finish processing, don’t worry - it will just be because the chocolate was a little warm. I just popped it in the fridge, right in the food processor bowl, for 5-10 minutes, until it was the perfect texture to work with.

For more Tahini Recipes:

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Answers to your baking questions

Over the years, many of you have asked me questions about:

I've curated and answered them all for your easy reference in this frequently asked questions post!

Olive Oil Chocolate Tart with Press In Crust

This Olive Oil chocolate tart is great for feeding a crowd and you can make it the day before and have it ready to go in the fridge. It’s super rich and luscious so you can get a load of slices out of one tart - because of how low fuss it is, it is the perfect dessert for the upcoming holiday season.

Olive Oil Chocolate Tart with Olive Oil Chocolate Press In Crust. This Olive oil tart has a super easy press in cookie crust made with olive oil, and is filled with a silky chocolate olive oil filling. The olive oil adds a beautiful depth of flavour, and the chocolate tart is finished with flaky sea salt. This is a perfect make ahead chocolate dessert that is great for feeding a crowd! #chocolatetart #chocolateoliveoiltart #pressincrust

This tart is super simple to make! The crust is an olive oil chocolate press-in crust, so there’s no rolling out of dough required, just some play-doh style pressing it into the bottom and sides of a loose bottomed tart pan (I use this one and it is great). The crust comes together super easily, and after a quick hangout in the freezer, it is blind baked, brushed with a layer of egg wash, and allowed to cool. That’s basically all the hard work done at that point - the filling is extremely easy to make. Hot cream is poured over chopped chocolate and a little more olive oil, and then stirred together to form a super silky, smooth filling, which is poured into the tart crust and left to set. After that the choice is yours how you finish it - I chose to go the flaky sea salt and crispy pearl route, but this would also be so, so good served with a simple dollop of whipped cream.

A few wee tips:

I used a mixture of milk and dark chocolate in the filling - it’s pretty rich, so feel free to up the milk chocolate content if you would like.
Make sure that you chop up your chocolate even if it is already in callets or wafers - I find that it really helps to melt it evenly to give you as smooth of a finish as possible.
The raw tart shell can be done the night before and frozen overnight if you like.
Leave the tart to stand for 15-20 minutes before you cut and serve, just to let the filling soften a tiny bit.

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I would LOVE for you to leave me a review and star rating below to let me know how you liked it! Also, please make sure to tag me on Instagram!

Answers to your baking questions

Over the years, many of you have asked me questions about:

I've curated and answered them all for your easy reference in this frequently asked questions post!

Chocolate Strawberry Cake

Super delicious chocolate strawberry cake. Layers of homemade chocolate cake are stacked with strawberry jam and are finished with a silky strawberry frosting.

Chocolate Layer Cake with Jam Filling and Strawberry Swiss Meringue Buttercream from Amanda Faber's book, Cake Portfolio. Layers of Rich chocolate cake are layered up with mixed berry jam, and then the cake is finished with a strawberry swiss meringue buttercream made with freeze dried strawberry powder. This is the perfect birthday or celebration cake for anyone who loves strawberry or chocolate. #strawberryswissmeringuebuttercream #chocolatelayercake #layercake

Hi! Happy Happy Sunday! I am just popping on here to share a super fun new recipe from a very talented friend of mine, Amanda, who just wrote a book!! I’ve never actually met Amanda IRL but we’ve chatted loads on the internet and I’ve been a guest on her podcast, so I’m pretty sure that counts as being real friends.

Amanda’s book is called Cake Portfolio, and the concept is simple and very genius - there are basically a whole bunch of base recipes, and then loads of different combinations and decorating suggestions where you can combine the techniques, recipes, and finishing methods to your heart’s content. It’s such a good idea - so often I make a ‘new’ recipe by combining a couple of my base recipes, and this is exactly the purpose of the book. There are 26 cake designs with flavour suggestions and combinations, but Amanda encourages you to combine things and go a little rogue and see what happens - which is exactly what I did with this cake!

I took the concept of her ‘Surprise Party’ cake, which is 6 layers of Vanilla Cake, sandwiched with Strawberry Swiss Meringue Buttercream and Strawberry Jam, and riffed on it slightly, swapping out the vanilla cake for Amanda’s Chocolate cake (which is amazing, super easy to make and bakes up like a dream with the most perfect texture), then filled it with a mixed berry jam (we didn’t have any strawberry and I didn’t want to leave the house so here we are), and then finished it with Amanda’s STRAWBERRY SWISS MERINGUE BUTTERCREAM which is so good that it’s absolutely worth yelling about. It’s basically a vanilla SMBC, but transformed into the most dreamy strawberry frosting using Freeze-dried strawberries. I ate some of it with a spoon, and kept sneaking into the fridge to get little bites of it once the cake was finished, because it’s so good. It’s like the stuff of your childhood dreams, but if your childhood dreams knew that SMBC existed (mine did not).

I couldn’t decide on all the amazing finishing techniques in the book, so I went for a pretty simple but very pretty pattern on the side, which you basically make by holding an offset spatula to the side of the cake and then spinning the turn table, making all these amazing spiral swirly patterns on the side. It’s super simple to make, and a lot of fun, and takes some of the stress of getting a very smooth side out of the decorating process. I then finished off the top with a quick line of ‘shell’ piping, and that was all it needed!

Amanda’s book is so inspiring and full of endless combinations of cakes to make. I will absolutely be turning to it again and again when I need a little bit of inspo, or just a really good base recipe. Congrats lady - I can’t wait to make everything! x

A few wee tips:

Make the cakes ahead of time if you can - I levelled mine off and wrapped them tightly in plastic wrap, then froze them overnight and frosted them frozen.
I cheated just a little here and used my Swiss meringue buttercream recipe, because it’s what i’m used to (very very similar to Amanda’s), and then followed her instructions to make it strawberry flavoured. I also increased the amount slightly because I like to have more buttercream between the layers, and I like having a little as back up in case I end up doing a fancy design or the outside coat ends up a bit thicker.
I used Fresh As freeze dried strawberry powder, but you can also use ground up freeze dried strawberries!
Make sure you get your wee butt over to Amanda’s site to buy a copy of this book!!

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I would LOVE for you to leave me a review and star rating below to let me know how you liked it! Also, please make sure to tag me on Instagram!

Answers to your baking questions

Over the years, many of you have asked me questions about:

I've curated and answered them all for your easy reference in this frequently asked questions post!

Basic Apple Pie

Basic Apple Pie - Sweet and tart apples are finely sliced, tossed with some flour and vanilla bean paste, then nestled inside a super easy homemade pie crust and topped with a lattice and baked to perfection. This is the perfect fall pie, with a pie crust that is very quick and very easy to make - it is basically foolproof.

Basic Apple Pie recipe
Easy Homemade Pie Crust
The Best Apples to use for Apple Pie
How to lattice an apple pie
The importance of a good bake for a pie
For more recipes with Apples, Check out:

Basic Apple Pie recipe

Hi hi! Just popping in to share this recipe for a 'basic' apple pie. There are a fair few fun and fancy apple pie recipes on Cloudy Kitchen but this is basic one that I go back to time and time again. It has an easy homemade pie crust recipe, and is filled with slices of fresh apple. It's basic, but a classic, and I just love it so much. There really is nothing better than a good homemade apple pie.

I made this when Nz Chef Josh Emett and his lovely wife Helen were in NYC, promoting Josh’s new book, ‘The Recipe’. It’s a collection of recipes from top chefs around the world - all the recipes look incredible, and the photography is so, so beautiful. Josh has some amazing restaurants back home in NZ, and does an incredible cooking segment on his IG stories, so we decided to join forces and make something together - an epic apple pie! My teeny NYC kitchen is a far cry from Josh’s insane kitchen back in Auckland, but we made it work!

Easy Homemade Pie Crust

I use a little tip that my baking bestie Erin Mcdowell taught me - to laminate my pie dough after making it but before rolling it out for use. What this does it pops a few layers within the pie dough. This makes it homogenous and easy to work with but also still nice and flaky. So you get the best of both worlds - flaky AF pie dough which is super easy to work with. Here's how you do this:

Make your pie dough - For this recipe I make the dough then form it into a rectangle. Then I wrap tightly in plastic and chill for only an hour. This gives the butter time to chill down enough that it won't melt everywhere when you roll it out.
Roll out and perform turn 1 - Roll the dough into a large rectangle on a lightly floured surface. Then brush off any excess flour and perform a letter fold - where you fold it like a business letter.
Perform turns 2 and 3 - Repeat the process again two more times. Your dough should be super homogenous at this point!
Divide and shape - At this point I split the dough in two and shape each into a disc rather than roll out and laminate each piece individually. Works much better. If you're using it for a lattice top, shape into a rectangle. Starting with the shape you are wanting to achieve makes rolling out much easier! I like to divide the pie dough into ⅓ and ⅔ - shape the smaller one into a disc as it will be your bottom crust, and shape the top into a rectangle so it’s the right shape when it comes to cutting out lattices.
Chill again - Either chill your dough for at least 2 hours or overnight, or freeze for another time.

The Best Apples to use for Apple Pie

I love to use a mixture of apples to make apple pie. We used three - Mutsu, Honeycrisp and another green variety. The variation in flavour and texture makes for a super delicious pie - go for something a little sweeter, and something a little more tart. If you’re in NZ, a mixture of Braeburn and Gala would be great. Braeburn hold their shape nicely in the oven and provide the tartness, and gala is more sweet.

You want to ‘shingle’ in the apples when you are adding them to the pie, in order to have as few gaps as possible. Apples cook down in the oven, so layering them tightly ensures that they bake evenly.

How to lattice an apple pie

It is no surprise that I am a touch extra when it comes to finishing pies. I love making a really beautiful, fancy lattice, and spending time making cut outs and things to add to the top. The quantity of dough in the recipe accounts for that - if you do not want to do a fancy topping and want to keep it simple, you can make a regular batch of dough such as the one in this recipe.

We used pie stamps to cut out the shapes for the edge of the pie - I have collected a whole bunch over the years - I have this set and this set of leaves, and then this set is where the flowers are from. I think I also have this set! I also love a plain lattice made with a pastry cutter and a ruler - you do you here and do whatever you like!

The importance of a good bake for a pie

Often people worry about getting a soggy bottom on their apple pie and lots of the time it is because the pie is not baked well enough. Pies, particularly double crusted pies such as this apple pie that does not have a par bake, require a really good bake to ensure that they are properly done.

Don't be afraid to bake this pie until it is deep golden brown. If you are worried about the crust looking too done, you can tent it with foil while the filling finishes off. You want to be able to see the filling bubbling through to know that it is done.

For more recipes with Apples, Check out:

❤️ Made this recipe and love it? ❤️

I would LOVE for you to leave me a review and star rating below to let me know how you liked it! Also, please make sure to tag me on Instagram!

Answers to your baking questions

Over the years, many of you have asked me questions about:

I've curated and answered them all for your easy reference in this frequently asked questions post!

Brown Butter Cinnamon Rolls

Brown Butter Cinnamon Rolls with Brown Butter Cream Cheese Frosting. Fluffy Brioche is filled with a spiced brown sugar and brown butter cinnamon filing, then rolled up and formed into perfect rolls. The rolls are then baked to perfection, and slathered in a brown butter cream cheese frosting, loaded up with specks of vanilla bean and brown butter. These are the perfect take on a cinnamon roll - the extra effort is well worth it!

Brown Butter Cinnamon Rolls

Hi hi! Happy Saturday! I am SO EXCITED to share this post and to make a wee announcement about a year long special project I am going to be working on - I’ve been busting at the seams to tell you all this and now it’s FINALLY TIME!!

I started this blog about four years ago as a way to combat homesickness in the big, scary city that is New York. I moved here only knowing rich, and we started our design business shortly after, which was (and still is), a huge amount of work, so I didn’t have a huge amount of time to go out and about and do things, or much time to socialise and make new friends. Turns out making new friends is really hard and scary as an adult, moving to a new city when you don’t really know anyone is really hard, winter in NYC sucks, and all of those things are a recipe for a solid dose of homesickness. I started baking recipes from home as a way to overcome the homesickness. Spoiler alert - it didn’t really work and I was still homesick, but along the way I managed to carve out my own wee corner of the internet that I love so much and am so lucky to have to call mine.

Where I am going with this is that as much as making recipes from home helped to alleviate the homesickness a little bit, it just wasn’t the same without the ingredients from home. I’ve spoken lots before on here about how amazing New Zealand ingredients are - the quality is great and the companies behind them are often amazing. Every time I went home I would come back with a suitcase jammed full of ingredients to work with - little jars of things, peanut butter, good vanilla, etc.

Slowly the rest of the world has realised how amazing these ingredients are too, and they have slowly started to creep their way into the American Market. Which brings me to my wee announcement - I am teaming up with Taste of New Zealand of New Zealand Trade and Enterprise to bring you a monthly baking segment, showcasing some of the amazing, amazing products that New Zealand has to offer. This still seems like some sort of dream to me - I get to bake with all the things that I miss about home, AND I get to include everyone along the way! Each month there will be a new baking project showcasing a New Zealand ingredient, and I honestly CANNOT WAIT to bring you along on the ride with me and show you all the amazing things that my country has to offer.

We decided to frame it as each month there would be a weekend baking project, and our first one is Brown Butter Cinnamon Rolls with a Brown Butter Cream Cheese Frosting. These are so, so delicious, and made SO much better by the use of an incredible butter from Lewis Road Creamery. I don’t think that I have enough words to explain just how excited that Lewis Road is starting to be available here in the States - there’s nothing like New Zealand butter, and Lewis Road makes some of the most delicious butter. The cream comes from Grass Fed cows, and is the most beautiful yellow colour, and tastes so, so amazing. I used the butter to make a silky, puffy brioche, and then amped it up a notch by browning a bunch to use in the filling and also in the Cream Cheese Frosting. If you haven’t had browned New Zealand butter before, you are in for a treat. Lewis Road is available in selected retailers throughout the States, and will hopefully be showing up in other groceries soon! If you see it in your local, make sure you grab some, because you’re in for a full amazing butter experience. I used Unsalted Lewis Road butter in these rolls, but their Salted is so, so amazing on bread, or for use in savoury applications. You’re going to love it - promise.

close up shot of brown butter cinnamon rolls ready for the oven

Why Browning the Butter makes these the best cinnamon rolls

These are cinnamon rolls, but taken up a notch. Adding in the browned butter to the filling adds a huge dimension of flavour which plays off against the cinnamon so well. I cooled the butter to a spreadable temperature and then mixed it with some cinnamon, dark brown sugar and vanilla bean paste, then slathered it all over the dough before rolling it up in to a tight spiral and cutting it into perfect swirly buns.

I then doubled up on the brown butter flavour with a brown butter cream cheese frosting, which is the sleeper hit in my opinion - brown butter and cream cheese is the most perfect combo, and is so, so amazing spread all over the brown butter cinnamon rolls. Browning the butter is a teeny bit more work, but you get a huge amount of pay off for just a little more effort.

Corner shot brown butter cinnamon rolls ready to bake

How to make Brown Butter Cinnamon Rolls

These are super easy to make, and just so, so good. The steps are below:

Make the dough - The base of these Brown Butter Cinnamon Rolls is a super squishy brioche dough which comes together pretty quickly in the mixer. It is my go-to dough I use for almost everything!
Rise the Brioche - You can either do this in the fridge for a minimum of 3 hours, or up to overnight, or you can rise the brioche at room temperature. Both work great.
Brown the Butter - There's brown butter in both the filling and the frosting of these, so you do it all at once to save dishes. The butter is browned then transferred to the freezer and chilled until spreadable. You can pop it in the fridge too if you've got the time, the freezer is just quick and efficient. Make sure you stir it a few times while it's chilling so that all the brown parts get mixed in while it's chilling. If you don't they all set on the bottom, which is fine, it's just a little annoying to stir up.
Make the Filling - The brown butter gets mixed up with some brown sugar, cinnamon, and a wee bit of salt, and then is mixed until a paste forms.
Roll out the dough and assemble the rolls - The dough is rolled out into a rectangle and spread with the filling, then rolled up tightly again and cut into rolls.
Do a second rise - The rolls hang out until puffy and ready for the oven. This usually takes about 45 minutes to an hour, but can be done overnight if needed! (See tips for making cinnamon rolls ahead of time)
Bake the rolls - Bake them until beautiful and golden brown.
Make the frosting and finish the rolls - While the rolls are finishing baking, make the frosting. The rest of the brown butter goes into the mixer with some cream cheese, and then powdered sugar, vanilla, and a wee bit of salt are added. The frosting is mixed up until fluffy, then spread over the slightly cooled rolls. Just the best.

Tips for making Cinnamon Rolls ahead of time

There are a few options for making these ahead of time. Personally, I will usually do the first rise overnight in the fridge and brown the butter the night before, then assemble the morning of. However I know some people love to do as much prep as possible, which is totally understandable. If you're making these for Christmas morning, it is so helpful to be able to just pop them into the oven and have them ready. Here are a few options for making these ahead of time:

Do the first rise overnight and assemble on the morning you are baking. For this option, the first rise is done in the fridge overnight, then the rolls assembled and given their second rise and baked the same day as serving.
Do the first rise and assembly the day before. This works great too - you can do the first rise then assemble your rolls, and do the second rise overnight, so that when you are ready to bake the next morning, the rolls are all ready to go. Pull them out of the fridge and leave to sit on the counter while the oven preheats.
Partially bake the rolls and then freeze. Disclaimer: I haven't tried this method, but I have heard from a few places that it works. You make the rolls as directed, then bake them just until they are puffed and are starting to set, about 15-20 minutes, then pull from the oven and leave to cool, then wrap and freeze. You then can either let them defrost in the fridge overnight and finish off the baking, or bake straight from frozen. Please be careful with the type of pan you use if you plan on freezing as glass and ceramic do not like going from frozen to a hot oven. Use a metal pan.

How to get a super neat cut on cinnamon rolls

I don't know about you, but it's always nice to have a super neat cut on cinnamon rolls to expose the spiral. There are a few ways of doing this to make sure that you get a nice cut

Use Dental Floss - People use unflavoured dental floss to cut the cinnamon rolls, which gives a really neat cut on them. However, I do find it a little harder to get the floss in the exact spot that I want, which can lead to unevenly sized rolls.
Use a Bread Knife - This is my preferred method. I use a sharp serrated knife, which gives super clean cuts and is especially helpful for if your rolls have a filling in them with nuts or fruit that dental floss cannot slice cleanly through.
Chill your log of dough - Chilling down your log of dough also helps to give super clean cuts. There is more about this in the recipe card.
Trim your ends if you want - After I have rolled up the dough, I often trim the ends off just so there's a flat surface for the roll to sit on. You don't have to do this!
Don't stress, rising fixes everything - Even if your rolls come out a bit wonky, don't worry. As they rise the dough will puff up and they will look so much better than they did before rising. Trust me on this one. Also, who cares if they are wonky, they are going to be SO GOOD.

A few wee tips for Brown Butter Cinnamon Rolls:

To get the flavour of the brown butter into the rolls but still have the structure of softened butter, I browned the butter, then poured it into a bowl and froze it to solidify it. I then brought it back to room temperature, stirring often, until it was soft and spreadable for using in the filling of the rolls and again for the frosting. Make sure you allow time for this - I would brown the butter before you start making the dough just to make sure there’s enough time to chill. This can also be done ahead of time - store the brown butter in a container in the fridge and bring to room temperature when you need.
I’m going to get you to brown all of the butter at once and then it can just easily be divided up for the filling and the frosting. Saves browning two sets of butter.
The brioche can have the first rise done overnight in the fridge if you like - this splits up the task a little and also makes it a little easier to roll out.
If you roll up your dough and then cut the rolls and some are a little fatter than others, don't worry. To help make sure the rolls rise evenly, mix up where you put them in the baking pan - so put some big ones by small ones so that they all have space to expand.
The quantity of the brown butter called for in the recipe for is less than the quantity of butter called for making the brown butter. This is because the butter browning process cooks moisture off from the butter, so it therefore reduces in quantity. I have accounted for this in the recipe, so you will see 500g butter called for to make the butter, but only 350g worth of brown butter used in the filling and the frosting. This is not an error - I just accounted for moisture loss when calculating the initial quantity.

side on shot brown butter cinnamon rolls

Check out my other Cinnamon Roll Recipes:

Thank you so much to Taste of New Zealand of New Zealand Trade and Enterprise for Sponsoring this post! All opinions are my own.

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Banoffee Doughnuts - Brioche Doughnuts with Banana Salted Caramel Ganache and Honeycomb

Hi! Happy happy Friday! Just popping by with a quick doughnut recipe which I made earlier this week - a take on a banoffee pie, but as a doughnut. Banoffee pie gets its name from “banana toffee” - it was my favourite thing to make when I was younger using a can of caramel condensed milk and some crushed biscuits and cream. We used to make it in the halls of residence when I was at university because it was no bake situation and we could put it together in a tin foil baking dish. Definitely very rustic, but so, so good.

I stuck with my regular brioche fried doughnuts, then I played up the banoffee vibe by making a banana salted caramel ganache to fill the doughnuts. The recipe came from my friend Lisa, who suggested that rather than making a caramel and then also stuffing in the banana, I incorporate the banana right into the caramel itself. It wasn’t a concept I had heard of before, but I gave it a go, and oh my, I love how it came out. Incorporating in the banana means that the banana flavour is super strong, and also helps cut through the sweetness of the caramel. I poured the finished caramel over some white chocolate to form a ganache and to help add some thickness, and it makes the most perfect doughnut filling - all the flavour of banana and caramel and no having to deal with slimy bananas.

I finished these off with a chunk of my favourite candy to make - honeycomb, or hokey pokey as we call it in New Zealand. It’s sugar and golden syrup cooked together, and then baking soda is added at the very last second to make it foamy and delicious. It’s super fun and easy to make, and so, so delicious. I just popped a chunk on the top of each doughnut to give a little textural element. It’s totally an optional step, but a fun and delicious one. Happy Doughnutting!

A few wee tips:

The honeycomb is super humidity sensitive, so make sure you store it in an airtight container as soon as it is set. I usually make it on a sheet pan but this time I poured the hot honeycomb into a loaf pan which gave me huge bubbles and much thicker pieces.
The Ganache needs a while to set - I like to make it the night before and leave it to chill overnight in the fridge. Don’t worry if it looks really runny, it will set up!
An immersion / stick blender will be your good friend when making the caramel and then when incorporating in the chocolate.
Because of the bananas in the caramel, the ganache does have a bit more of a ‘slimy’ texture than a regular salted caramel ganache. It’s super delicious, I just wanted to note!
If you wanted other filling options, I have a bunch more here on the site - Roasted Strawberry and custard, Salted Caramel Milk Chocolate Ganache, and a Passionfruit filling. All so, so good!

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Laminated Brioche Pesto Buns with Lemon, Parmesan, and Walnut

Hi there! Happy Saturday! I have a wee weekend baking project for you if you need a little something to make tomorrow - these Laminated Brioche Pesto Buns with Lemon, Parmesan, and Walnut! I’m eating one as I type this, getting pretzel salt on the keyboard, and can confirm, still amazing two days after baking.

I have been wanted to make a savoury laminated brioche bun for a while now, since I made these peach dudes a while back. I love the concept of a laminated brioche - it’s really only a couple of extra steps, one extra roll out and a little bit more of the filling, but it makes a huge difference to the end result, giving you a beautifully flaky layered dough.

I stuck with my regular brioche recipe, and spiked the dough with a little lemon zest and black pepper, then rolled it out and laminated it with the pesto, and some freshly grated parmesan cheese, mixed with some more lemon zest and black pepper. The whole thing then gets folded up like a letter, locking in the first layer of filling, and then rolled out again, spread with more pesto and cheese, and this time sprinkled with a layer of walnuts before being rolled up into a fat sausage. After a quick spin in the freezer (this step is totally optional but I love how it gives you a clean cut), the dough sausage is cut into thin buns before being risen for a second time, then baked to golden brown perfection. The multiple layers in the bread from the lamination create layers in the bread, which not only look incredibly fancy but makes them really fun to unwind and eat. These are so, so amazing just out of the oven, but almost as good a couple of days later zapped in the microwave and served warm.

A few wee tips:

Usually I would roll these guys to about 26”x16” but I got a little excited on the rolling and rolled them to more 28”x13”, which meant I got a fatter sausage and fewer, larger buns (10 rather than 12). Use your judgement as you are rolling out, because sometimes your ratios end up a little off. I cut each bun to 1bout 1.3” (3.3cm) thick, so measure your sausage of dough (I like to trim the ends first), and work out how many you can get from there.
I shot these on a smaller tray - ideally you want to bake them on two larger sheet pans.
You can also have them all joined together like these buns - just place them close when you cut them rather than have them individual.
I like to do the first proof in the fridge - and have recently been experimenting with dough times. If you are fridge proofing, about 5 hours works too if you don’t want to do it overnight. This makes it great to do in one day but still get the benefit of slightly chilled dough, which I find is easier to roll out. This way you can make the dough in the morning (or night before), then roll out as soon as a few hours later. Winner winner.
I didn’t eggwash these before I baked them (because I wanted to have the salt on the top for the photos), but you absolutely could and probably should to help them go nice and golden.

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Paris Brest with Brown Butter Streusel, Custard Mousseline Cream and Spiced Apples

Hi hi! So sorry for the quietness around here, I have been working my little butt off on a really fun project which I’m super excited about - a little ebook for Heilala vanilla! They just launched their new range of flavoured extracts, and so I’m doing a wee recipe for each one, along with four vanilla centered recipes. I’m super jazzed about it, but oh man it’s been busy. They will be selling the recipe book on their site, so I will be sure to share once it is available.

I just wanted to pop on here and share this recipe which I worked on a week or so ago - Paris Brest with a Brown Butter Streusel, Custard Mousseline Cream, and Spiced Apples. I had some brown butter streusel and spiced apples that needed using up, and i’ve been eyeing up a few Paris Brest recipes for a while, so here we are. Paris Brest is basically a circle of choux - what you would get if you baked a cruller instead of frying it. It’s tradituonally filled with a praline Mousseline, but I riffed a little on the filling. I topped the unbaked circles of choux with the brown butter streusel and some swedish pearl sugar, baked them off, and then filled them with the spiced apple mix and a custard mousseline cream, which is essentially a German buttercream but with a much higher pastry cream to butter ratio than German, which has lots more butter than pastry cream. I used custard powder for the super nostalgic taste - if you can’t find it in your supermarket you can get it online, but corn starch works great too. We always used to have baked apples for dessert with custard made with custard powder, so this is a slightly fancied up version of those I guess.

This probably seems like a whole load of steps. I promise it’s not - I like to make the pastry cream, streusel and spiced apple the day before, then the next day all you have to do is soften your butter for the mousseline, whip it up, bake off the choux, and assemble the whole thing. It probably seems daunting but lots of it is very easy to make ahead! You could even make the choux ahead of time too if you wanted - they freeze great in an airtight container in the freezer, just take them out 10 minutes or so before you need to fill them. Make sure that they are room temp before you slice them, so they don’t crumble. Happy Choux-ing!

A few wee tips:

This makes a lot. Like, 10 Paris Brest a lot. Good news though - everything halves perfectly. But also if you’re going to go to the work of making the choux you might as well use it. If you don’t want to make 10 paris brest, pipe out some cream puffs or something, freeze on the tray, and then store them in an airtight bag. You can bake them directly from the freezer. Baked choux freezes really well too in an airtight container.
The Brown Butter Streusel is totally optional - I just love how it gives a little additional crunch texture wise. It lasts a really long time so you can always make more and keep it in an airtight container in your cupboard. It has made it’s way onto so many things already on here - I keep making more to use in recipes, then make a recipe to use it up, etc etc.
The mousseline will keep in the fridge once you’ve whipped butter into it, but you might need to re-whip when you bring it back to room temp to get it the right texture. I often get it close to the right temp and then whip it in the mixer and blow torch the side of the bowl. PLEASE be careful if you do this and only do it if you have a metal bowl. Blow torch at your own risk.
The swedish sugar isn't necessary, but if you can get your hands on it, it's hugely worthwhile! I just sprinkled a little on the top.
I have included an extra 'just in case' egg in the ingredients for the choux. The reason that this is in there, is that sometimes you need to add extra egg to the pastry if necessary. You want the mixture to be at a consistency where if you dip in the beater of the mixer, the batter will form a 'v' shape and eventually break off. If it is too stiff, and breaks off very quickly, you may need to add another beaten egg, and mix again, before performing the test.
I bake two trays of Paris Brest at a time, but if your oven can only handle one, save the egg wash and sprinkling step until just before you bake them.

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Spiced Brown Sugar Cake with Cinnamon Apple Filling and Maple Caramel German Buttercream

Thank you so much to ALDI for sponsoring this post! All opinions are my own - thank you for supporting the businesses that keep Cloudy Kitchen going!

Hi hi! Today is the first day that it finally, finally feels like autumn here in NYC. It’s been gross and hot for the longest time. I finally spied some fallen leaves yesterday, and our CSA pickups have been full of apples, so I think it’s just around the corner.

That of course means that it’s time to kick off autumn inspired baking! I’ve teamed up with my friends at ALDI to bring you this epic autumn inspired cake. ALDI is my go-to for baking staples - they are not only great quality, but extremely well priced, and they always have everything that I need. I got all the ingredients I needed for this cake - ALDI delivers on Instacart (if it’s your first time you can use the code ALDICK to get $10 off your first three orders of $35 or more), so it all showed up at my house just when I needed it! Not having to leave the house for groceries is the best thing ever.

I wanted to inject as much autumn as possible into this cake. There’s a few layers of a spiced brown sugar cake, with all the usual suspects - cinnamon, ginger, cloves, allspice, nutmeg, all the cozy warming spices. The cake is made using the reverse creaming method, which is not only super easy, but also makes a cake that is the perfect texture for stacking. I snuck a little sour cream in there too, just to help up the moisture a teeny bit - this cake is perfectly fluffy, and I love the spices in there so much.

I went all out autumn with the filling and buttercream too - using Gala apples, cooked down with a little brown sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla, until nice and tender, and paired with a maple caramel buttercream, which might be my new favourite thing ever. I made a caramel by cooking down some maple syrup, then cutting it with butter and cream, the way a traditional caramel is made. The caramel is a little looser than a sugar based caramel, but has the most amazing maple flavour. I doubled up on the maple in the buttercream by making a pastry cream base using the maple, which I turned into a German Buttercream, and then whipped in some of the cooled maple caramel to make a super silky, smooth, maple caramel buttercream, that complimented the warm spices in the cake and the spiced apple filling so perfectly.

A few wee tips:

I finished this two different ways, just to give some options and variations! The first I finished with a caramel drip using some of the leftover maple caramel before I put the blobs on the top of the cake. The caramel is a little more runny than a traditional caramel because it is made with maple rather than regular sugar, so it will be a little drippy. Make sure that your cake is super super cold before you do the drips so that they do not run too much - I was shooting a stop motion when I added my drips so had to do it all in one go and put the drips directly onto a warm cake - they still looked great, but they ran down the sides a little more than most drip cakes.
The second way I finished it was just with a quick dust of cinnamon. I left the drip off - there’s maple caramel in the buttercream so the drip is just for a little fancy finish if you like. I just wanted to show you a couple of options!
Ideally you can make your pastry cream and maple caramel (and maybe even the apple filling) the day before so that it all has time to cool down and allow the caramel and the pastry cream to thicken up. If I can, I like to make all my components ahead of time (including the cake), so that the day I assemble is easy and there isn’t too much waiting around for things to cool down.
I like to divide the batter between the pans by weight. To do this, you zero the scales with one of the empty cake pans on it, then once you have eyeballed your dividing of the batter, you can weigh each pan to ensure that they have the same weight of batter in them. Note that this only works if your cake pans are identical.
I developed this recipe in grams, so if you can, use a scale to make it! It increases the accuracy of the recipe, and saves so much time washing dishes!

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Cardamom Sour Cream Bundt Cake with Cardamom Syrup Glaze

Cardamom Bundt Cake with Cardamom Syrup glaze - this super versatile cardamom sour cream cake is full of warming cardamom spices, both from within the cake and from the simple cardamom bundt syrup glaze that is brushed on top. You can leave the cardamom out for a perfect vanilla sour cream bundt cake, or leave it in there for a cozy, warming bundt cake. #bundtcake #bundtrecipe #cardamombuntcake

Hi hi! Just popping on here today to share this quick and easy bundt cake recipe - a cardamom bundt cake with a cardamom syrup glaze. This is essentially just a slightly gussied up version of a vanilla sour cream bundt cake with a simple glaze, which I love because of how versatile it is. This is a great base vanilla bundt cake recipe, which you can basically add whatever you like to to make it your own!

In this situation I just added a whole bunch of cardamom, both to the cake and to the syrup that I brushed on while the cake was still warm. The base is a cardamom sour cream bundt cake, which gets its moisture from the sour cream, and the slightly spicy warm flavour from the cardamom in the batter. This cake keeps super well, and is actually better the day after you make it, which makes it ideal for preparing ahead if you know you are going to need something quick and easy to please a crowd! You can really do your own thing here with the flavour, as it is a super easy base recipe - add in some lemon zest and make it a lemon glaze for a vanilla lemon cake (or make this lemon cake because it’s really really good), or you could probably add in some chocolate chips if you wanted (i’ll try it and report back, watch this space), and you could even serve it with a super simple raspberry sauce, fresh fruit, and whipped cream if you wanted to make it a bit more fancy and serve it as a dessert. This cake is an easy one, it’s a new favourite of mine, and I promise that it will be a new favourite of yours soon too. Happy Bundting!

A few wee tips:

I used this bundt pan for this cake, but any 10 cup bundt pan will work! Make sure that you really spray it well with baking spray - ideally use one that has flour in it if you can!
This tastes good the day it is made, but it gets better as time goes on too and the cardamom flavour develops.
Don’t skip the syrup part, it really really helps with the moisture of the cake. I like to make the syrup just toward the end of the baking process, so that it is ready to brush onto the cake as soon as it is out of the pan.

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Cookies and Cream Cookies

These Cookies and Cream Cookies are the perfect black cocoa cookie. They have a black cocoa base and chunks of white chocolate and caramelised white chocolate. They are chewy in the centre and the perfect treat.

Hi hi! I am just popping on here to share a quick recipe with you - these Cookies and Cream Cookies from the newest gem from Brian Hart Hoffman and the team from Bake From Scratch - The Cookie Collection! The book is a compilation of all their cookie recipes from their magazines (which are amazing and you need to subscribe to if you don’t already get), and is divided into chapters to help you easily find the perfect cookie to fulfill your cookie cravings! I have a couple of recipes in the book, but wanted to share this one with you today as I made them yesterday, and OH MY.

There is a chapter in the book called FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) Cookies, which is a term I came up with a few years ago to describe the internet’s fascination with particular cookie recipes. Although this particular recipe isn’t in the FOMO section of the book, it absolutely should be. So, as chairwoman of the FOMO council, I’m claiming is as an honorary FOMO cookie, because you’re going to need to stop what you are doing, and make these right now.

These Cookies and Cream Cookies are everything you need in a chocolate cookie. The base is super fudgy, and is made with black cocoa, for an Oreo flavour, and it is jam packed with white chocolate chunks. The cookie is soft and chewy (with the option to bake it a little more for a crispy situation), and the white chocolate and black cocoa is the best combo ever. I used two types of white chocolate (see notes) just to make it a little bit exciting, and I can happily say that these have made their way directly into the cookie rotation. They would be amazing with different types of chocolate (milk would be so good), and the dough is soft and versatile, meaning that it would be perfect to add in some mix-ins, just in case you’re a pretzel or caramel or nuts in a cookie type of person too.

A few wee tips:

I used a 2 tablespoon cookie scoop here - they suggest a 3 tablespoon in the book, but I don’t have one, and a 2 tablespoon worked great. I fitted 8 2 tablespoon scoop cookies per baking sheet - a row of 3, then a row of 2, then a row of 3 again.
There’s something about mixing fancy chocolate with not as fancy chocolate and I’m all about it. I used 300g Valrhona Orely’s which have vanilla and muscovado sugar in them, and made up the rest of the weight with white chocolate drops. I love using different chocolates in cookies, as it makes each bite different. Bake from Scratch suggests using Valrhona Ovoire 35% baking bars, or Guittard Choc au Lait Baking chips.
I like holding back some of the chocolate to pop on the top about 3 minutes before the cookies are finished baking to give some surface chocolate.
The dough will be super soft when you finish mixing it - it firms up nicely after an hour or two in the fridge!
If you can’t find black cocoa, extra dutched cocoa will work great too.

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Cardamom Macarons

Golden Sugar Macarons with Cardamom Cream Cheese Filling. These French macarons are made with golden sugar, sprinkled with the sugar to give them a sparkly top, and filled with a smooth cardamom cream cheese filling. These are an easy gluten free treat, and this is a great go-to macaron recipe, filled with tips and tricks to help you master french macarons! #frenchmacarons #goldensugar #cardamomcreamcheese

Hi hi! I am back sharing another recipe with my friends at Domino® Sugar today with these Golden Sugar Macarons with a Cardamom Cream Cheese Filling! These guys have a sweet, warming cream cheese filling, and the shells are sprinkled with extra Golden Sugar to give them a little extra sparkle and crunch on the outside of the shells. If you’ve been following along at home, (and by at home I mean on Instagram), I recently got a new oven, which has been a game changer for multiple reasons, the main one being that I can now see into the oven (!!), but another massive perk from my shiny new friend is that I can bake two trays of macarons at once! Very, very exciting.

I’ve been playing around with Domino® Golden Sugar in my kitchen for the last few weeks, and I’ve been loving how it performs. If you haven’t tried new Domino® Golden Sugar yet, it is a less processed alternative to white sugar that still works cup for cup in baking! It has the most beautiful golden colour, and a slight molasses hint in the flavouring. I’ve thrown it at a lot of things recently, including a couple of recipes which can be a little finicky, and they have come out amazingly! I started with these Salted Caramel Cream Puffs, but this week I put it to the ultimate test, with one of the more finicky recipes I know - French Macarons.

Macarons are known to be tricky wee things - make one change and the whole batch can turn wonky on you, so I figured that this would be a great test for the Golden Sugar, and it performed perfectly! The Golden Sugar gave the macaron shells a super pretty golden hue, and I sprinkled a little extra sugar on the top - the slightly coarser texture of cane sugar is perfect for giving the shells a sparkly finish. I just also love anything sugar coated.

I kept things pretty simple filling wise and went with one of my faves - a cream cheese buttercream. I added a teeny hint of cardamom just to give it a little warmth, and some vanilla bean, because that goes into everything I make. You can absolutely leave out the cardamom, but I loved how it tasted against the slightly tangy cream cheese and sweet crunchy shells.

A few wee tips:

All of my best macaron tips (there’s loads of them - I add to the doc every time I discover a new one) are in this post
You may be able to bake two sheets of macs at once - depending on your oven. My old one wouldn’t let me, but I just got a new oven and I did two trays at once no worries - just make sure you rotate them half way through. If you bake two, make sure you you use a spare sheet pan under each.
You can fill these with anything that you like! The Domino® Golden Sugar shells are essentially just ‘plain’ vanilla bean shells, so they would be perfect for pairing with almost any filling.

Thank you so much to Domino Sugar for Sponsoring this post! All opinions are my own.

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Peanut Butter Ripple Philadelphia Style Ice Cream with Peanut Brittle and Pretzels

Hi hi! Happy Friday! I’ve been working loads this week on some really fun projects I’m excited to share with you! All of them will be live in the next month or so, and I just sent the last thing off for approval - it’s a kind of weird feeling because I’ve shot about five things this week, but it feels like I have nothing to show for it because none of them are posted yet. Instead I’ll share this with you - it’s a Peanut Butter Ripple Philadelphia Style Ice Cream with Peanut Brittle and Pretzels. And it’s a massive mouthful, but in the best way possible.

This ice cream isn’t really something that you can scoop. It’s basically all kinds of yum stuff, held together by a philadelphia ice cream base. We’ve talked about Philadelphia style ice cream here before - it’s egg free, so it’s easy to make, and super super yum. You do need an ice cream machine to make it, but as far as preparing the base goes, it’s a super easy from scratch ice cream base. You should definitely try it.

As far as the yum stuff goes, there’s a whole lot of peanutty, sweet, salty, goodness. I really wanted to make a peanut butter ice cream, but when it came to churning it, things got weird and the mixture came out a super strange texture - likely from all of the oil in the peanut butter. A quick workaround was to ditch the peanut butter ice cream base, and replace it with a peanut butter swirl throughout the ice cream. I also added in a couple more things - some peanut brittle, which is sweet, and salty, and super delicious even on its own, and a healthy dose of salty, crunchy pretzels. This is super chunky ice cream. But it’s also super delicious ice cream. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

A few wee tips:

You want to stay away from Natural peanut butter in this recipe as it will separate and freeze weirdly. Go for the stuff that comes out homogenous from the container. It stays smooth when you warm it and freeze it.
This is definitely more of a chunky ice cream than a smooth, scoopable one. Just bear this in mind if you make it - we ended up using a knife to cut slices and eat them with a spoon instead of trying to scoop it. The taste makes it 100% worth it, I promise!
The peanut brittle goes quickly, so you will want to have your baking soda all ready to go!

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Salted Caramel Cream Puffs

These Salted Caramel Cream puffs are super easy to make. A Choux au craquelin with a crisp craquelin top and hollow interior is filled with a salted caramel diplomat cream. Diplomat cream is salted caramel pastry cream lightened with whipped cream. These are the perfect caramel cream puffs!

Golden Sugar Choux au Craquelin - Cream Puffs with Salted Caramel Diplomat Cream. These easy cream puffs, topped with crispy craquelin, are stuffed full with a salted caramel pastry cream, which is folded into softly whipped cream to form salted caramel diplomat cream. #creampuffs #chouxaucraquelin #saltedcaramel #diplomatcream

Hi hi! I am popping on here to share a super fun recipe that I am really excited about - Golden Sugar Choux au Craquelin, aka Cream Puffs with a Salted Caramel Diplomat Cream! Cream puffs really are one of my favourite things to make. There’s something just so fascinating about putting little blobs of dough into the oven and seeing them come out as light, airy, crunchy balls of deliciousness, ready to be filled with anything that you like!

The real magic comes from the craquelin layer on the top of these wee dudes. Basically it is a simple cookie dough, that you roll out super thin, then freeze, cut into discs, and place onto the tops of the piped out choux dough. As the choux buns bake, the craquelin drapes over the bun, helping it to rise in a perfect circle (which is why they are always nice and round compared to their knobbly cream puff friends), and baking up into a crispy, crackly layer that is so hard to resist, and is the perfect textural element to go along with the crisp choux pastry and the silky filling - in this particular case, a salted caramel diplomat cream, which is essentially a pastry cream which has been lightened with whipped cream. To make a salted caramel pastry cream, you make a very liquidy caramel, and then use that in the place of the milk in a pastry cream. It’s an extra wee step, but oh my is it worth it - the pastry cream itself is out of this world, but is elevated even more when it is folded through mounds of whipped cream, to create the most perfect salted caramel cream puff filling you could ever imagine.

These wee choux au craquelin have a very special ingredient in them - the brand spanking new Domino® Golden Sugar! Golden sugar is essentially a less processed version of the sugar that we know and love. It is made from pure cane sugar, and because it is less processed, it has the most beautiful golden colour, and slight hint of molasses flavour. It can be used as a cup for cup sub in all baking applications where white sugar can be used - I used it in all of the elements of these choux au craquelin!

The Domino® Golden Sugar made the most beautiful toasty salted caramel which was the base of the salted caramel pastry cream, and I used it in the craquelin where I would usually use brown sugar, and was so amazed at the results - the delicious flavour from the sugar really shone through in the crackly tops, and the light golden colour was such a nice contrast against the golden brown choux buns, which baked up perfectly with the golden sugar added into the choux dough. I can’t wait to use it in more ways in my kitchen!

A few wee tips:

The process of making the salted caramel pastry cream is pretty similar to a regular pastry cream, except that the caramel acts as the ‘milk’ in the pastry cream - so instead of pouring warm milk into the yolk mix to make the pastry cream and temper the eggs, the caramel is used instead.
Use a bigger pot than you think you need for the caramel, as the quantity of cream and milk needed to deglaze the caramel is quite a lot, so you need the space - I learnt this the hard way!
In the ingredients, I have added in a ‘just in case’ egg. Sometimes when you are making choux dough you will need to add an extra egg to the mixture in order to get it to the right consistency - you want it to form a ‘v’ that eventually breaks off when you lift the paddle from the mixture. If it is not wet enough (ie you need to add more egg), you won’t get that nice v shape and the dough will be stiff and break off easily. I usually start with the 240g called for in the recipe, test it, then add the extra beaten egg if needed.
I just got a new oven, so I was able to bake both of these trays of choux buns at the same time - I switched the trays around half way through the first 15 minutes at 400°f, and again during the final bake at 350°f. If your oven isn’t super consistent, you can absolutely bake these off one at a time - what you want to do is to pipe out both trays of choux dough, but only top the one you are going to bake with craquelin. The ones without craquelin can be held at room temp until you are ready to bake - just add the craquelin just before you pop them into the oven. Don’t forget to increase the temperature back to 400°f before you bake the second tray.
If you can, leave the filling of the cream puffs until close to when you are planning on serving them. I like to prepare the diplomat cream, place a clip just above the piping tip of the piping bag, and then add the cream into the bag. I then give the top a quick twist, and secure with another clip - this way the cream is in the bag, ready to go, making the assembly step easy. However if you are in a pinch and need to prepare these earlier, store them in an airtight container in the fridge until ready to serve.

Thank you so much to Domino Sugar for Sponsoring this post! All opinions are my own.

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Peach and Vanilla Bean Pie with Fresh Rosemary Pie Crust

Hi hi! I wanted to just sneak in with one more peach recipe while we are still hanging onto the end of summer with this Peach and vanilla bean pie, with a fresh rosemary crust. I have a couple of peach pies hanging out here on the site - these little peach and thyme hand pies, this peach and blueberry pie, and these mini peach pies from a while back, but realised that until now, there wasn’t a recipe for just a regular old peach pie! I think peach pie, made during peach season, would have to be one of my absolute favourites.

I ramped it up a touch with this guy by adding some fresh rosemary into the pie crust. Adding fresh herbs into pie crust is one of my favourite ways to add flavour to the pie crust, and stone fruit goes so beautifully with the woody flavour of the rosemary. You can absolutely leave it out, but I love the little variation that it gives. I kept everything else pretty simple - peaches, sweetener and starch in the filling, elevated with a little vanilla bean paste. Simple, but so, so delicious. Happy peach Pie-ing!

A few wee tips:

The recipe for the pie dough I have listed here makes quite a lot - I needed almost all of it for this lattice. If you are making a less complicated top for your pie and just want a standard double crust recipe, reduce the quantities by ⅓ - so you will use 2 ½ cups flour, and 225g butter, 1 teaspoon cardamom etc.
I like using a wee tip that my friend Erin taught me to make the pie dough nice and smooth and easy to work with. I make the dough, shape it into two rectangles, rest it in the fridge wrapped for about an hour, then remove it and roll it out into a rectangle on a lightly floured surface. I then give it a letter fold (as you would a letter), roll out to a rectangle, letter fold again, then roll out slightly, and shape into a disc. I then re-wrap it, and leave it to rest overnight. This makes the dough more homogenous without compromising the flaky texture that you want in the pie dough, and it makes it a total dream to work with. For me, it’s a game changer.
When I am making a lattice pie I know I will need more dough for the top crust than the bottom, so I usually make one portion of dough bigger than the other when I initially divide it after mixing to account for this. For this dough I split it ⅓ to ⅔. I usually shape the dough for the bottom crust into a disc, and the dough for the top crust into a rectangle which makes for an easy roll-out for cutting strips for lattice.
The quantity of rosemary called for in the recipe seems like a lot, but it is just enough to give a nice subtle taste to the pie. Feel free to leave it out, or this pie would also be amazing with this cardamom crust.
I peeled my peaches for this because I prefer them unpeeled - to do this, you boil a large pot of water, and set up a large bowl with ice water. Score an x in the bottom of each peach, and boil them, 3 or 4 at a time, for 30 to 45 seconds. Remove using a slotted spoon and transfer to the ice bath. The skins should slip off. Non-peeled peaches are fine too - this process can be a bit of a pain, but I think it’s worth it (and it’s pretty satisfying!)
I finished this pie with a super easy ‘lattice’ - a bunch of braids laid across the pie, and then some cut-outs around the edge to form a border. Cut-outs are my favourite way to finish off a pie like this, as spaced out braids can be hard to neatly crimp. Pie stamps fix all your issues!

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One Bowl Chocolate Cupcakes with Dark Chocolate Sour Cream Ganache Frosting

Hi hi! I am tucked up in a little corner in the cosiest, most beautiful lodge in Tutka bay in Alaska - I am here on a baking retreat with Bake from Scratch Magazine, and just having the BEST time ever. Yesterday was my birthday, and after the most amazing day, we asked the team here if they wouldn’t mind taking Becky and I out for a sneaky wee kayak after dinner. It was one of those experiences I am going to remember forever - the water was glassy, the sun was setting, and there were so many otters. Right up there with one of the best birthdays ever.

I just wanted to pop on here and share the recipe for these super easy, super delicious one bowl chocolate cupcakes with dark chocolate sour cream ganache frosting. The cupcakes themselves are crazy easy to make - everything comes together in the one bowl. The ganache is something that I am super excited to share with you. I was so excited that it worked when I tried it a few weeks ago, and I think that it is going to be a game changer when it comes to a pipable ganache. I often have a few issues with getting a ganache that is the perfect texture for piping without having to whip it a lot, but I think I have come across a winner here. Basically what you do is melt together sour cream and dark chocolate, and the result is a beautiful, silky, easy chocolate ganache that is so perfect for piping, but also has the most amazing tang from the sour cream.

I used a dark chocolate in this ganache, but I think that it would be so, so delicious with a milk chocolate too, which would really bring out the flavour of the sour cream. I’m super pumped to put this ganache on so many more things - it’s so easy to make, comes out so beautifully silky, and sets up firm in the fridge, sour cream truffles are next on my list!

A few wee tips:

The Sour Cream ganache takes a few hours to firm up to a piping consistency, so make sure that you account for this. I like to make it first before I preheat the oven for the cupcakes, so there is enough time for it to firm up.
I used an ateco #826 piping tip for this because the ganache, while perfect for piping onto these cupcakes, can be a touch less forgiving than a buttercream for piping, so I used a tip that is really easy to make ruffles with - you just hold the tip above the cupcake and it does most of the work for you! If you are using another tip just keep this in mind, as the ganache doesn’t behave just like a buttercream does.
This recipe also bakes into a 9” square sheet cake - it takes about 35 minutes to bake.

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Chocolate Olive Oil Sheet Cake with Milk Chocolate German Buttercream

I think we’ve talked here before about how much I love sheet cakes. It’s all the flavour of a layer cake, but just way, way more laid back. They are super easy to transport (you just take the whole pan with you), are the best for loading up with sprinkles, and, I don’t know about you, but I LOVE making the swirls with my little offset spatula. I could seriously do it all day - it’s so relaxing to me.

Chocolate sheet cake with milk chocolate german buttercream. This easy, from scratch chocolate sheet cake is enhanced with the flavour of olive oil, and bakes up nice and flat, making it the perfect sheet cake for decorating. It is topped with a silky, milk chocolate german buttercream. #sheetcake #germanbuttercream #chocolateoliveoilcake

Today’s recipe is a chance for me to love on the sheet cake just a little more, with this double chocolate situation. There’s a chocolate olive oil sheet cake on the bottom - it’s rich and moist, but still has a lovely springy texture, and a depth of flavour from the olive oil in the recipe. I then topped it with a fave of mine - milk chocolate german buttercream. Chocolate has got to be one of my all time faves when it comes to German buttercream. Someone once described it as room temperature ice cream, which I think is really just the perfect description. The chocolate goes so nicely with the silky buttercream, giving you this smooth, decadent topping to the cake. This cake would go great with a load of different buttercreams - in fact, there are a heap on the site here for you, but I can’t go past a good double chocolate pairing, and sprinkles are optional but also kind of necessary.

A few wee tips:

I used a milk chocolate in the buttercream, which gave a very light taste, but if you wanted something a bit darker, sub the milk chocolate for a good quality dark chocolate.
Ideally the pastry cream for the German buttercream needs to chill down - I like leaving it for at least a few hours, or overnight if I can.
This cake is great as it comes together all in the one bowl - you end up with quite a bit of mixture, so make sure that you have a big enough bowl!

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Cereal Milk Macarons

These Cereal Milk Macarons have a Vanilla Bean French Macaron shell, and then are filled with Cereal Milk German Buttercream. There are three flavour options of cereal milk macarons - Trix, Lucky Charms, and Frosted Flakes. These taste just like a bowl of your favourite cereal!

French Macarons with Cereal Milk German Buttercream. These Easy French Macarons are filled with a cereal infused german buttercream. They are an elevated version of your favourite childhood cereal. Frosted Flakes, Lucky Charms, Trix. #frenchmacarons #easymacarons #macaronrecipe

Cereal French Macarons

Hi hi! Just popping in to share the recipe for these cereal milk macarons with you! These easy homemade macarons have a vanilla bean shell and a cereal milk german buttercream. Making French macarons at home can be fun and easy once you get the hang of it.

These french macarons have the same base shell, but we mixed up the fillings by infusing the milk used for the base of the buttercream with different cereals to make Lucky Charms Macarons, Trix Macarons, and Frosted Flakes Macarons!

Get all my tips and tricks for making perfect homemade French Macarons

What is Cereal Milk?

Cereal milk was made a thing by Christina Tosi a while back - it’s basically meant to be a nod to that milk that is left at the bottom of your cereal bowl. The original recipe uses cornflakes and brown sugar, but we took it in a different direction - infusing the milk and then using it as the base of a German buttercream, which we used to fill cereal inspired macaron shells.

Keep it easy - use the same shell base!

Here's a wee secret - I use the same shell for all of my macarons, and then just switch up the macaron filling flavour. We kept the shells pretty simple, with our standard vanilla bean shell, and then sprinkled some of them with crushed cereal once they had been piped out.

They all turned out super, super cute, and all different looking, it was so hard to choose a favourite! We actually ended up making three batches (we have it down now and can pump them out), so the recipe below shows just the quantities used for one batch - we infused all the milk separately to yield three batches of German buttercream, and followed the macaron recipe to give three batches of shells.

pulled back shot of cereal milk macarons

A few wee tips for making Cereal Milk Macarons:

All my mac tips are in this post!
We made three types of cereal macarons here. The process is essentially the same, except for varying the cereal that you use to infuse the milk, and colouring and finishing the shells depending on what flavour you are using. In the ‘flavour variations’ section of the shells part of the recipe, I have outlined what we did for each flavour.
Same goes with the German Buttercream - the recipe here is for one batch, in which you can infuse the milk with the cereal. We made three batches, one for Trix, one for Lucky Charms, and one for Frosted Flakes.
We did end up adding a tiny drop of food colouring to the lucky charms and Trix buttercreams, just because the yellow of the egg yolk and butter offset the colour of the milk a little.

Flavour / Colour Variations for Cereal Milk Macarons

For Frosted Flakes Macarons, Sprinkle the shells with crushed frosted flakes once you have piped them out and banged them.
To make Lucky Charms Macarons, colour the shells with mint green / avocado green gel food colouring
For Trix Macarons, colour the shells with deep pink gel food colour, and then sprinkle some of the piped and banged shells with crushed trix.

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Recipe for Cereal Milk Macarons

Mixed Berry and Cream Cheese Hand Pies

Hi! I am writing this to you from a cute little coffee shop up in Rhinebeck - a few friends and I have escaped for a little mid-week work holiday. For some reason getting work done while you’re tucked away in a little air bnb (we got one with a pool, it is dope) is so much more satisfying than working at home. Don’t get me wrong, I love both, but it’s real cute up here.

I made these just before we left for Canada as a way to use up a couple of things in my fridge - a brick of cream cheese, and half a jar of jam. I had some pie dough in the freezer, so I whipped up these little hand pies, and ohhhh man. I used the cream cheese to act as a bit of a dam to hold in the filling, and the combination of vanilla bean flavoured cream cheese, and sweet mixed berry jam filling is just so good. I didn’t add any additional sugar to the cream cheese, and the super flaky pie dough isn’t sweet, so the jam centre is so, so good against the slightly tangy cream cheese. These are crazy easy to make - they have serious pop tart vibes, and can very easily be scaled up to make a bunch. You could also do them as little circle hand pies rather than the rectangles, and another great thing about them is that you can freeze them ahead of time, store them in an airtight container in your freezer, and bake them off as you need.

Use whatever flavour of jam you like in these - I used mixed berry, but they would also be so, so good with a stone fruit jam or anything berry. You could also use a store bought puff pastry - this is a choose your own adventure here, you can make as many or as few components as you like.

A few wee tips:

A pie dough trick I learnt from my friend Erin that is now firmly in my repertoire : After you mix the dough and shape it into discs, rest it in the fridge for about an hour, and then roll it out on a floured surface into a rectangle, fold it in thirds like a letter, then roll again and repeat the folding. Then you shape it into a disc by folding the edges under, rewrap tightly in plastic, and rest for at least two hours before using. What this step does is make the dough homogenous and therefore easy to work with, but also adds layers through the rolling and folding - the same way puff pastry is laminated. It is definitely an optional step but from my experience it makes the world of difference when it comes to rolling out the dough and getting a nice even crimp or lattice work.
These come out of the oven HOT. Like, take skin off the inside of your mouth hot. Make sure you let them cool down before you eat it. You’ve been warned.
I used homemade jam to make these because I had it on hand, but store bought is great too!
I added a couple of flowers I cut out from some excess pie dough. To make these I like to roll out the scrap dough and freeze briefly on a baking sheet, then cut out the shapes with pastry stamps - I have these and love them!

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Roasted Strawberry Brioche Doughnuts

Roasted Strawberry Brioche Doughnuts with Vanilla Bean Pastry Cream and Strawberry Sugar. These Yeast Raised Brioche Doughnuts are fried until perfect and then tossed in a strawberry sugar. They are filled with a vanilla bean pastry cream and roasted strawberry filling.

Brioche Doughnuts with Vanilla Bean Pastry Cream and Roasted Strawberry Filling. Roasting strawberries brings out the most amazing sweet flavour, which pairs so perfectly with the smooth vanilla bean pastry cream and fluffy brioche doughnut dough which is rolled in a freeze dried strawberry sugar. #briochedoughnut #strawberrydoughnut #roastedstrawberry

Strawberry Brioche Doughnuts

How is it already August?!? Don’t get me wrong - August is my fave (I’m an August baby so it’s birthday month!), but holy moly this year has just sped past. Next week I am going on a little road trip up to Hudson for a few days which I am super excited about, and then we have a wedding in Philadelpia, and then I get to go to ALASKA with Bake from Scratch for a few days, and then, before I know it, August will be over!

I’ve been sitting on this one for a while, and decided I couldn’t possibly wait any longer to share it with you - that I had to share it while strawberries are still in their prime here in the states! Roasting up fruit is one of my favourite ways to use up that box of berries / fruit you may have in your fridge that is nearly past it’s prime - the giant flat of berries you bought with good intentions for, and haven’t quite managed to use up, or that big box of peaches you are working your way through but it’s taking forever. Just me? Surely not.

Roasted Strawberry and Vanilla Bean Pastry Cream Doughnut Filling

The recipe for these came about as we were planning on leaving for our holiday to Canada, and I had a giant box of strawberries to use up, so I roasted them off, and paired them with a vanilla bean pastry cream (classic but great combo). I then stuffed both of these things into a fluffy brioche doughnut, which I made with my go-to brioche recipe (best ever), which I tossed in a sugar and freeze dried strawberry mixture, which gave them the prettiest pink hue, and helped to drive the flavour home. Roasted fruit and pastry cream in a doughnut is a sure fire winner - the great and easy thing about it is that it is super adaptable, this recipe would work with almost any roasted fruit, or you can leave it out entirely and just go for a plain custard / pastry cream filled doughnut. You really can’t lose.

A few wee tips for Strawberry Brioche Doughnuts

I rolled these in a strawberry sugar which I made with freeze dried strawberry powder and sugar. If you don’t have freeze dried strawberry powder on hand, regular sugar is fine!
I made the brioche dough the night before, and did the first rise overnight in the fridge, which makes the process feel a little less involved. Alternatively you can make the dough the day of and do both rises in one day.
Either a thermometer or a deep fryer is needed for the frying process - I got a deep fryer recently and it is great, but if you are just frying in a pot, I like to use cast iron as it holds the heat nicely and helps keep the oil at a consistent temperature.
The strawberries are super, super delicious and are great for using up nearly past it fruit - the recipe can be easily doubled and the mixture kept in the fridge.
If strawberries aren’t in season, you can likely roast frozen strawberries! It will help to bring out the flavour a lot - I would thaw them first. Alternatively, a strawberry jam as a filling would work great too.

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Laminated Brioche Cinnamon Buns with Peach Compote and Brown Butter Streusel

These Peach Laminated Cinnamon Rolls are super easy to make. Laminated Brioche is rolled with an easy peach compote recipe and a brown butter streusel. The laminated buns are finished with a vanilla bean glaze. These Laminated brioche buns are the perfect treat!

Every now and then I’ll come across a technique that is a total game changer. Something that totally knocks my socks off, and makes me a bit mad I haven’t discovered it until now. Laminating brioche is the most recent one of these.

I have been eyeing up these beautiful buns that my internet friend Izy made for the longest time now, probably ever since she posted them. The technique is genius, and is something I am certainly going to be applying from now on - laminating brioche. Basically you take your regular brioche dough, and instead of rolling it out and filling it before rolling into a spiral, you add one more sneaky little step - you laminate it with some butter and sugar. This is a super easy step, but the results are just ridiculously good and totally worth it. Essentially you are taking buttery, soft dough, and adding a flaky element into it by way of the lamination, meaning the buns almost have strips that can be peeled away, and have a whole lot more flavour injected into them - you get double the filling you would in a regular cinnamon roll. It’s the same idea as the croissant, obviously with few less layers, but the same concept. BRB, going to laminate all my buns from now on. For realsies though, I can’t wait to apply this technique to other brioche recipes of mine - particularly babka! I love a good swirly bread.

I had some extra brown butter streusel left over from these pops, and a big bag of peaches hiding in the fridge, so I knew I wanted to do a peach streusel spin on these rolls. I kept it pretty simple, swapping out the white sugar for brown in my go-to brioche dough, and adding just a touch of cinnamon. I laminated it with an easy cinnamon and brown sugar mixture. I then made a quick compote from the peaches (highly suggest doubling this if you have extra peaches as it’s amazing on everything), which I layered into the dough along with the streusel. The sweetness of the peaches and the toastiness and crunch of the streusel is the perfect combination, and pairs so well with the flaky, spiced brioche rolls. I finished them off with a quick powdered sugar and heavy cream glaze, which is absolutely optional, but gives that bakery style glazed finish which I just can’t ever resist.

A few wee tips:

Don’t be intimidated by this! It’s just one more roll out! Nothing scary at all, promise.
I peeled my peaches, you don’t have to if you don’t want to. I use this method, where you score a cross in the bottom, briefly boil them, then plunge them into cold water.
Alongside the lamination giving layers, the extra swirlyness is achieved by rolling this up from the SHORT side. I know lots of recipes will have you do it from the long side. Don’t. Roll it from the short side.
I found it to be a little hard to work with once it was rolled up, so I lightly covered the whole dough log in plastic wrap, and then popped it in the freezer for 20 just to help it harden a little which made it a little easier to cut.
The first rise on the bread can easily be done overnight! Make sure you account for the cooling time needed for the peach compote and streusel too.

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Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Mini Tarts with Mixed Berry Jam, Chocolate Crust, and Torched Swiss Meringue

Happy August first! Today marks the start of my birthday month, and a whole lot of travel that I am so excited about! Tonight I go to Long Island to stay at my friend’s house - tomorrow we are driving to North Carolina for a little (big) road trip and I can’t wait!

I wanted to pop on and share these little tarts that I made a while back with you - I had a jar of mixed berry jam from recipe testing for this cake that I wanted to use up, and some brand new tart rings that I wanted to play with, so this was the end product! I made some chocolate sweet pastry cases, then filled them with a little bit of the mixed berry jam, then filled up the pastry case with a fave of mine - a dark chocolate peanut butter tart filling. I then topped the whole thing off with some torched Swiss meringue, which I made to use up some extra whites I had in my fridge. The meringue was a last minute addition and is totally optional, but I love the taste of the toasty meringue, and it stood up so well against the silky chocolate filling and crunchy tart crust. So, so good - I love using the little tart rings, so I can see a lot more mini tarts happening around here in the future!

These are definitely on the time consuming side of things to make, but you can absolutely take a few shortcuts and break up the workload for yourself. You can use store bought jam, and, if you like, you can make the dough ahead of time, and also bake off the pastry cases ahead of time, so you just have to assemble on the day of. With that being said, although these are time consuming, it isn’t a whole lot more work to make 12 of them than it is to make just the one, so they would make a great wee fancy dessert if you needed one to take to a dinner party or something similar.

A few wee tips:

I used these De buyer perforated tart rings, which are a total investment but absolutely worth it if you make tarts often. The way that they are made means that there is no need to use baking beans in them. I got six, so made the pastry cases in two batches of six - if you like, you can make these ahead of time and store in an airtight container.
If you don’t have the perforated cases, I would use this method for baking the shells.
I also baked them on a perforated baking mat - I used this one, which helped loads with having enough airflow underneath the pastry cases to allow them to bake evenly. Parchment works too, you will just want to dock the pastry bottom using a fork to ensure that they don’t puff up too much.
If you are making these ahead, do the meringue part just before serving!
I piped just a few blobs onto these for photos - cover the whole thing if you like! I love torched meringue so much.
I use an industrial blow torch when I am torching things - it makes things so much easier than using a tiny wee blow torch! I got mine from the hardware store
The Swiss Meringue is yum, but is a totally optional step!
If you want a peanut butter free version, a half batch of this filling will work great!

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Caramelised Onion, Goat Cheese, and Sundried Tomato Pesto Pretzel Buns

I love anything pretzel, which could be to do with my love of chewy bread, but is likely to do with my love of everything salty. If you haven’t made pretzels at home before, they are pretty easy, and super fun to make, and just so, so good.

I was initially going to attempt a stuffed pretzel for this recipe, but I tried it once and it was a stage 12 disaster, so after an SOS text to my good friend Erin, I settled on these buns, which really ended up being the best of both worlds, because you can load them up with the filling, giving you a very ideal bun to filling ratio.

I used my standard pretzel dough with a couple of tweaks, but instead of rolling it out and shaping it into a twisty pretzel, I made little rounds of dough which I then added the filling to. These wee dudes are rolled out, given a second rise uncovered to help develop a little skin, and then are given the pretzel treatment - a soak in a baking soda bath, which gives them the golden brown and chew characteristic of a pretzel. They then get given a quick egg wash and a sprinkle with pretzel salt (best stuff ever), before being filled with the most delicious filling.

For the filling I kept it pretty simple - I caramelised off some onions, added in some soft, fresh goat cheese, and then hit it with a burst of flavour by way of some tomato pesto. These Pretzel buns would make a perfect light meal, or would be incredible served alongside a soup, or for a little starter or mid day snack. I’m a huge fan, and I hope you are too! x

A few wee tips:

Some pretzel recipes will have you use lye to soak the pretzels in. Giving the pretzels a wee bath in lye (sodium hydroxide) helps to speed up the Maillard reaction, which gives the pretzels that lovely brown colour and chew. However, lye is caustic (alkaline) and you have to take a lot of safety precautions such as safety goggles, so I used something a little less alkaline but still very effective - baked baking soda. Baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) is moderately alkaline, but baking it produces sodium carbonate, which is slightly more alkaline, so therefore perfect for dipping your pretzels without having to worry about the safety risk of using Lye.
To make baked baking soda: Line a sheet pan with foil, and spread 1 cup of baking soda evenly over it. Bake at 250˚f / 121˚c for one hour, then transfer to an airtight container. This will be enough for four batches of pretzels - you use ¼ cup at a time.
I bake these on silicone mats as I find it is easiest. If you take the pretzels straight out of the water bath and put them directly onto parchment paper, it makes the paper soggy, and it sticks. There are two ways around this - either transfer them onto a wire rack to dry off slightly before you transfer them to the parchment paper, or bake on a silicone mat, in which case you can transfer straight onto the baking sheet because there isn’t a risk of sticking.
I baked these off one tray at a time because my oven can be a little finicky - if you do this too, leave the tray that aren’t baked yet in the fridge, and start the soaking and filling process while the first tray is baking. Most ovens should be fine though - just make sure that you rotate the pans half way through the cooking process.
If you want to make the dough the night before, this dough rises beautifully in the fridge.
Usually the second rise of a bread is done lightly covered - I do my second rise for the pretzels uncovered, which allows them to develop a little bit of a skin, which helps them to keep their structure in the baking soda soak. I also pop them into the fridge for about 15 minutes before I soak them, just to help them hold up nicely once they hit the warm water soak.
Making caramelised onions can kind of be a pain, but I promise that it is worth it! I like to put them on while I’m doing something else in the kitchen and just have them on low on the back of the stove - I always make more than I need as they are so good added into scrambled eggs, a quiche, scones, a dip, etc. They are super versatile and it’s not much more work to make more than you need for one recipe! If you don’t want to make them and you have access to a good store bought onion jam or jarred caramelised onions, then that will work great too.
Make the Caramelised onions with enough time to allow them to cool - I usually need at least 45 minutes to get them properly caramelised, so I like to get them going before I make the dough, and then finish them off while the dough is rising, then spread them out in a shallow container to cool before making into the filling. Alternatively you can make them a day or few days before.

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Strawberry Shortcake Macaron Philadelphia Style Ice Cream

Strawberry shortcake macaron ice cream - the makings of strawberry shortcake macarons are layered up in a creamy philadelphia style ice cream base and frozen up into the perfect treat #philadelphiastyle #icecream #macaronicecream

Hi hi! We just realised that today is #nationalicecreamday (who decides these things?!), so thought would be a perfect time to share this recipe we shot a while back! Jase and I have been meaning to throw the leftovers from our Macaron making into an ice cream for a while now, and finally got around to it! We found that we always have a lot of little bits and bobs floating around after we finish shooting - never quite enough to do anything with, but too much to throw away. Enter macaron ice cream!

This is somewhat of a non recipe recipe in that I am not going to give you specific proportions or recipes for the mix-ins. You can literally just throw whatever you have into the base, layering up mix ins with the churned ice cream. I did something similar with this S’mores ice cream last year, using up leftovers from these macarons, but we haven’t added shells to the mix before, which turned out to be a great idea, as they added a lovely chewy texture to the ice cream. We used the rest of the leftovers from these Strawberry Shortcake macarons, so layered the base up with the pink shells and the strawberry filing, along with the pie crumb to give an additional texture element. The creamy base paired perfectly with the chewy shells, crunchy crumb, and sweet strawberry ripple - I think that throwing random ingredients at an ice cream base is going to be my new go to (watch this space - there’s a peanut butter pretzel situation coming your way soon where I utilised this exact technique)

Let’s take a quick sec to talk about Philadelphia style ice cream because I get a lot of questions about it whenever I post about it! Basically, it differs to a traditional ice cream base in that it is not custard based, so doesn’t have any egg yolks, but it also doesn’t require the making of a custard. You simply dissolve the sugar into the cream, then incorporate in the milk and vanilla, and churn it up. The result is a slightly lighter ice cream, both in flavour and in colour, but it is super simple to make, and by removing the step of making and chilling the custard, which often puts people off, it is a great wee mini shortcut to take to get ice cream faster! I always use David Leibovitz’s recipe from his book - it’s a great go to and so easy to make variations of!

A few wee tips:

There aren't many ingredients in this, so for the base, if possible, use the best quality ingredients that you can.
This is absolutely a choose your own adventure situation - add whatever you like to it!
Don’t forget to freeze your ice cream bowl if your machine requires it!
This would also work great with a no-churn ice cream base! (here is a link to a base - please excuse the super old pics!)

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Mocha Cream Pie with Espresso Whipped Cream

Mocha Cream pie with espresso whipped cream - a crispy blind baked pie crust is filled with a mocha pudding filling and topped with clouds of espresso flavoured whipped cream, before being finished off with coffee beans and espresso powder. This pie is super simple to make and is a coffee lover's dream.

Mocha Cream Pie

Hi hi! Sorry it has been a wee bit quiet around here - I had big plans to post lots this week while we are on holiday on Vancouver Island, but I’ve been having too much of a good time hanging out with family, reading books, baking (there’s still rhubarb here!!), and taking things a bit slow, which is such a nice change from our regular life back in Brooklyn. It’s been so nice to catch up on sleep and to just have some days where we can relax a little. I honestly can’t remember the last time I had more than one day off in a row - I absolutely love what I do, both here and the studio, but we aren’t at all good at that work life balance thing. Maybe we will get there one day, but for now, it’s so nice to have some time off, even though I do miss my cat.

I hauled ass big time to get some stuff shot before I left so that I would have things to work on while I am here, so I will hopefully get myself a teeny bit ahead of schedule on blog content and can keep posting regularly!

The Process behind Mocha Cream Pie

The credit for this pie goes to my sweet friend Chelsea, who is an amazing baker, makes THE most incredible cakes, and is in the process of sowing the seeds for starting her very own sweet shop! We text back and forth all the time, and when I mentioned recently that I was feeling a little uninspired and didn’t have many ideas of what to bake to get some content, she sent through a big list of ideas she has had floating round in her head and goes “here, I don’t have the time for these but here’s some ideas!”. Dream friend.

One of the things on her list was a cold brew pie, which I immediately decided I had to make! I took my fave chocolate cream pie and infused the pudding with coffee, making a mocha filling, which I set into a blind baked pie crust. The whole thing then got finished off with mounds of fluffy espresso whipped cream, which pairs so nicely with the chocolate coffee filling. This one is a winner - my sister who apparently doesn’t like coffee, had two slices.

Tips for the best Pie Crust

What this step does is make the dough homogenous and therefore easy to work with, but also adds layers through the rolling and folding - the same way puff pastry is laminated. It is definitely an optional step but from my experience it makes the world of difference when it comes to rolling out the dough and getting a nice even crimp or lattice work.

The pie dough recipe makes a double crust - so enough for two pies. You might as well make the extra while you are at it in my opinion - pie dough freezes well, tightly wrapped, for at least a few months, or lasts a few days in the fridge. Defrost overnight if using from frozen.

A few wee tips for Mocha Cream Pie

There are two different quantities of milk in the recipe - 750g in the recipe, and 650g in the directions. The additional milk is to account for the absorbtion of the coffee. You will need 650g of coffee infused milk in the pie filling!
When you are par baking your pie crust, chill your crust in the fridge rather than the freezer if you can - a longer chill in the fridge is preferable to a short chill in the freezer
I like to give this at least a few hours to set up - overnight if you can, otherwise 3-4 minimum. Make sure that the pie is completely cold before you add the cream.
There is 70% dark chocolate in this, which gives you a dark chocolate pie - feel free to mix in some milk chocolate too to lighten things up a little if needed.
I like to whip the cream for things like this by hand as it gives me so much more control, as opposed to in a stand mixer - you want peaks that just hold, that will be a good piping consistency.
I use this espresso powder, but finely ground instant coffee would work too. You can always dissolve the coffee in a little bit of the cream before adding to the rest if you only have larger granules of coffee.
I would have topped this with chocolate covered espresso beans but I didn’t have any (I composted mine after one too many times of having them for a quick snack at 5pm and then staying awake half the night because they are STRONG) so I used regular coffee beans.
If you don't want to make this a mocha cream pie and just a regular chocolate cream pie, use this filling!

For more Chocolate and Coffee Recipes, Check out:

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Cherry Slab Pie with Brown Butter Oat Streusel

Hi hi! I am currently sitting in the middle of Toronto airport - my sister, Rich, and I are waiting for our connecting flight to Vancouver Island, where we will spend the next 10 days with family! I am so, so excited, and so ready for a wee break - it will also be peak fruit season, so I see a slab pie or two happening in the near future!

This Cherry Slab Pie with Brown Butter Oat Streusel is a little something that Jase and I whipped up a few weeks ago. Cherry pie is a fave of mine (I mean, I love all pie, but cherry is pretty high up there), and we amped it up a little by adding a brown butter oat streusel, which adds the most amazing crunch and texture to the edges, making it just a teeny bit more exciting than your average slab pie. I love slab pies for a whole lot of reasons - for starters they are amazing for feeding a crowd, but because they are a little shallower than your standard pie, you get the most amazing ratio of fruit filling to flaky pastry.

There’s not too many wee tips for this one - it’s a super simple pie, with the filling following the fruit, sugar, starch formula. When the fruit is good, you really don’t need much else. I can see this cherry pie happening at least a couple more times this stone fruit season!

A few wee tips:

For the pie dough, make the quantity listed twice (so make two batches of dough) rather than doing it all in one big batch. It makes it much easier to handle and greatly reduces the likelihood of over working the dough, which can give you a tough crust. You only need one quantity of water though, don’t double that.
I like using a wee tip that my friend Erin taught me to make the pie dough nice and smooth and easy to work with. I make the dough, shape it into two rectangles, rest it in the fridge wrapped for about an hour, then remove it and roll it out into a rectangle on a lightly floured surface. I then give it a letter fold (as you would a letter), roll out to a rectangle, letter fold again, then roll out slightly, and shape into a rectangle. I then re-wrap it, and leave it to rest overnight. This makes the dough more homogenous without compromising the flaky texture that you want in the pie dough, and it makes it a total dream to work with. For me, it’s a game changer.
Cherry pie can be a little wet, so you want to leave this to set up completely before you cut into it - it’s hard to wait but it is worth it, I promise!
We added the streusel onto the pie after about 20 min in the oven to ensure that it didn’t brown too much before the pie did, which would have resulted in burnt streusel and pale pie dough.
You can also leave the streusel off if you would like, and just make the cherry slab pie.

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Black Cocoa Brownie Ice Cream Sandwiches with Oreo Mint Chip Philadelphia Style Ice Cream

Black cocoa brownie ice cream sandwiches - black cocoa brownies are baked thin and fudgy, then layered up with smooth oreo mint philadelphia style ice cream. These are the perfect summer treat and great for feeding a crowd, you can't go wrong with a good brownie ice cream sandwich. #brownie #icecreamsandwich #mintchip #philadelphiaicecream

Hi hi! Same old same old around here - we go to Canada on Saturday which I am SO excited about, but I am also trying to haul ass to get as much shot before I leave so that I have some sneaky computer work to do while I am there to hopefully get a wee bit of a backlog of posts ready so that I can plan ahead a little! I also just finished shooting a whole bunch of Christmas cookies (!!) for a little project that I can tell you about in a few months, so there’s a weird mix of summer desserts and Christmas cookies kicking around in my fridge right about now.

I made these Black Cocoa Brownie Ice Cream Sandwiches a few weeks ago as sort of a procrastination situation, and OH BOY am I glad I did. I basically just mashed up two of my favourite recipes - these black cocoa brownies (which are adapted from the amazing Sarah Kieffer’s book), and a Philadelphia style ice cream, which I turned into a mint Oreo chip kind of thing, and combined them to make ice cream sandwiches! Philadelphia ice cream is made without eggs, so the process of making the base is super simple, as you don’t have to make a custard. I think there’s a place for both - I love custard based ice cream if you are serving it alone, but if you are pairing it with something else rich like these brownies, or you are after something a little lighter, Philadelphia is perfect!

Black cocoa is what is used to give Oreos their distinctive flavour, so it made sense to pair the brownies with an Oreo ice cream. Mint chip will be my forever fave ice cream flavour, so it made sense to add some peppermint extract in too. That is totally optional - these would also be amazing with a vanilla ice cream base with the Oreos added in. You could also ditch making your own ice cream all together and soften some store bought ice cream and freeze it between the brownies - you could even get super fancy and use two flavours, one on each half, for a bit of a choose your own adventure vibe.

The great thing about Brownie Ice Cream Sandwiches is that they are super simple to assemble - you just layer up the brownie and the ice cream, and freeze it, and you have a dessert that will feed loads! They are a little less involved than a cookie sandwich which you have to assemble individually - with these you can just pop them together, then all you have to do is cut them up and you are ready to go! I conveniently timed the making of these with two BBQs that we were invited to, so I took half along to each, and they were a giant hit!

A few wee tips:

This needs overnight to freeze down. I made the ice cream base, then chilled that while I baked the brownies and allowed them to cool, then churned the ice cream and assembled, before freezing overnight. If you like, you can store the brownies in the freezer or fridge until you are ready to assemble to ensure that they are cool and there is minimal melting when you add the ice cream.
You need the brownie to be fudgy when you bake it, so you want it to come out of the oven juuuuust cooked so it doesn’t go rock solid when you freeze it.
The green food colouring is totally optional - it’s only a tiny bit and I love how it looks! I know some people don’t like green mint stuff, so you do you here.
These last for so long in the freezer! They are also super rich so I would cut them up into smaller pieces to serve (I just had them in larger pieces to shoot then ended up cutting them all in half before serving)
If you don’t want to make your own ice cream, then store bought works great! You can just let a litre / quart of ice cream soften slightly, spread it onto one layer of brownie, top with the second, and freeze it down!
When I am assembling these, I like to put the top layer of brownie onto the ice cream upside down to ensure that the outside edges of the sandwiches are flat and level. This is totally aesthetic, but just thought I would mention!

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Mini Pastry Cream Filled Brioche Doughnuts

Perfectly fluffy mini brioche doughnuts are fried to perfection, rolled in sugar, and filled with flavoured pastry cream. A whole tray of mini doughnuts would be perfect for a special occasion or gathering, as they are a hit with all ages! #doughnut #briochedoughnut

Hi hi and happy Saturday! I am just popping in here to share this wee recipe with you! I got a deep fryer maybe a few months ago and went on a quest to fry literally everything in sight. It’s great for making all kinds of things, but especially great for mini doughnuts. I made these brioche cinnamon ones a while back and they seemed to be a huge hit, so I figured it was time to try my hand at mini filled doughnuts!

I took my go to brioche dough, and turned it into these super cute wee doughnuts, which I rolled in a bunch of different flavoured sugars. I filled these guys with a vanilla bean pastry cream, which I made a big batch of and split into four, and flavoured it with something a wee bit new and exciting - Heilala Vanilla’s new infused Vanilla extracts! If you’ve been round here for a while you know what a massive massive fan I am of Heilala and their products - not only is it the most amazing vanilla in which they control production from growth to product, but it is run by the most amazing people who are making such a huge effort to give back to the kingdom of Tonga where their first vanilla orchids were planted. Heilala started a kickstarter to fund their new line of extracts a few weeks back, and there is just one week to go, so if you can, pop on over and pledge - you are going to want to get your hands on some of this amazing extract, as it is a total game changer. I’m so excited to play around with it a little more!

For these dougnuts, I divided the filling once it was made, and stirred through some of Heilala’s infused extracts. I ended up going with four flavours - the cocoa extract, the coffee extract, the oak aged vanilla extract, and the pumpkin spice extract. I also made up some flavoured sugars to correspond with the filling flavour. I had a little of the oak aged vanilla extract left over so also had a little play with making a strawberry sugar using some freeze dried strawberry powder, and it was so, so so good with the vanilla filling! I finished each off with a tiny garnish - a sprinkle of the flavour of the sugar, just to help tell which was which. The flavoured pastry cream was so unique and delicious, I honestly don’t think that I can decide which one was my favourite. The infused extracts are such an easy way to add a huge depth of flavour to whatever you are making.

These doughnuts would be so perfect for something like a children’s party or event - because they are mini it gives everyone the opportunity to try all of the different flavours. They would also make amazing larger doughnuts - to do this I would follow these shaping and frying instructions.

A few wee tips:

Chilled dough is easiest to work with and cut out, so I recommend giving these an overnight rise in the fridge if you can. Alternatively you could roll it out, place it on a sheet pan (you may need to divide it in two), cover with plastic wrap, and pop in the freezer for 15-20 minutes to help firm up
I like to make both the brioche dough and the pastry cream the night before to give them time to cool.
I divided up the pastry cream after making it and then flavoured it individually. You can definitely only do one type if you want - I would go with the oak aged vanilla, as it pairs perfectly with literally anything.
I also made a whole bunch of different flavoured sugars to roll the doughnuts in! You can make these any flavour that you like - basically you just add flavour powder in whatever form (coffee, spices, freeze dried fruit powder etc) to sugar and then use that to roll the doughnuts in.

Thank you so much to Heilala Vanilla for sponsoring this post! All opinions are my own.

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Black Forest Bundt Cake (Chocolate Cherry Bundt Cake with Whipped Cream and Cherries)

Black forest bundt cake - a rich, tender, chocolate cherry bundt cake that is studded with cherries is topped with fresh softly whipped cream, fresh cherries, and chocolate curls #blackforest #chocolatecherrybundt #chocolatebundtcake

Happy Sunday! Things are same old same old around here - I’m testing holiday cookies for a fun upcoming project which feels kind of weird, but has made me stop and be a little grateful that at least this year I’m not making them all in a teeny countertop oven (we had no gas for over 3 months last year, and I made literally everything in this powerhouse)

I made this bundt cake last week and had loads of questions about the recipe, so I thought I would pop on here and share it with you today! It’s super simple - I riffed on this Nutella chocolate bundt cake from a few months back (which is adapted from the King Arthur chocolate bundt cake), playing around with quantities a little, and adding a good amount of chopped cherries into the batter. I was initially a little nervous as to how the cherries would go in the baking process, but they held up beautifully, and didn’t sink, resulting in a tender, rich chocolate cake, studded with pieces of fresh cherry. I went a little black forest inspired for the decorations, adding some softly whipped cream, fresh cherries and chocolate curls, but you could absolutely also just finish it with a dusting of powdered sugar. The whole cake comes together relatively quickly, with ingredients you likely have already, and would be perfect for a simple celebration cake, or for a slightly fancy morning or afternoon tea! I had a slice with a cup of coffee yesterday, and it was the perfect accompaniment!

I baked this guy in a bavaria bundt - this is one of my favourites I think! I love how subtle the design is, and it always releases beautifully. Because the design is a little less defined than others I do find you have to really give the pan a good bang on the counter a bunch of times before you put it in the oven, just to make sure all the batter has made it into the holes. I like to fill it up part way, then bang it a bunch, then fill again and hit it a few more times just to be sure. It released perfectly though - so so satisfying! I have popped some notes below on my tips for getting a bundt cake to release nicely, because I’ve had all kinds of disasters in the past so have a few tricks up my sleeve now!

A few wee tips:

I find that there are a few things necessary to get a bundt to release nicely. The first is the consistency of the batter - it has to be dense enough so that it won’t stick and can pull nicely from the pan.
The second is spraying the pan. You can either use baking spray and then a light dusting of flour, but if you can get your hands on some flour based baking spray (which tbh I think is kind of gross and I only use for bundts), then I like to use that for the best line of defence for greasing your ban! If I’m making a chocolate bundt I like giving it a little dust with cocoa powder.
The third is allowing it to cool just a little before you turn it out. I usually pull it out of the oven, then set the timer for 10 minutes before turning it onto a wire rack.
I used this bundt pan, but any 10 cup capacity bundt will work!
I made the chocolate curls using a block of chocolate and a potato peeler. You just shave the curls off!

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Rainbow Macarons (Vanilla Bean Macarons with Vanilla Bean Swiss Meringue Buttercream)

Rainbow macarons for pride - vanilla bean French macaron shells are filled with a vanilla bean swiss meringue buttercream, which is tinted the colours of the rainbow and piped around the shell. These are the perfect rainbow macaron for any occasion! #pride #Frenchmacarons #glutenfree #rainbowmacarons

Happy Saturday and Happy Pride! We are celebrating with these Rainbow French Macarons - basically our ultimate go to, a vanilla bean french macaron shell with a vanilla bean Swiss Meringue Buttercream. This year is 50 years since the riots at Stonewall Inn - i’ve found myself in many a rabbit hole reading about how rights have changed throughout the world. While there’s still so far to go, especially with some people’s views (we see you), on the whole the world has come a long way. I am so proud to have so many of my good friends a part of the LGBTQ community, and will forever be an ally - I’m here, standing in all the corners, standing up for all of the rights!

We certainly weren’t going to let pride go past without a rainbow macaron happening! We riffed on our fave - the basic macaron shell with a vanilla bean Swiss meringue buttercream. We divided the buttercream into seven - keeping some white for the middles, and then colouring the rest the colours of the rainbow, and piping them into the shells. I love how they turned out - such a fun and colourful riff on a classic!

A few wee tips:

All my macaron tips are here!
Because Swiss meringue buttercream has so much fat in it from the butter, it can be hard to get the colour to really take. To combat this we coloured the buttercream, then left it to sit overnight, which helped lots to brighten up the colour. My friend Chelsea says if you whip the shit out of it in your mixer after you add the colour that works well too - but I haven’t tried that out yet!
It’s hot here and pretty humid, which may affect drying time for your macs - just keep an eye on them!
Be careful when you are choosing sprinkles to use - if they are solid sugar or chocolate balls, they may get hot and melt through the shells. Go for small balls and baubles in your sprinkles mix if you can!

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One Bowl Chocolate Snack Cake

One Bowl Chocolate Sheet Cake with Vanilla Bean Swiss Meringue Buttercream. This cake is super easy to make and is filled with a quick mixed berry filling. It is finished with fluffy pink Vanilla Bean Swiss Meringue Buttercream Piping.

A super easy but delicious rich one bowl chocolate sheet cake is filled with a simple mixed berry cake filling and finished with a piped top using vanilla bean swiss meringue buttercream. This cake is baked in the new Wilton Texturra performance non-stick bakeware, and is finished with simple but beautiful piping in different shades of pink using various piping tips. This cake is simple yet elegant and is a perfect easy alternative to a layer cake. #chocolatecake #wilton #onebowlchocolatecake

One Bowl Chocolate Snack Cake

Hi hi! I am here with a recipe I’ve been excited to share with you for a while now - a one bowl chocolate snack cake, with a mixed berry filling and vanilla bean swiss meringue buttercream. I am a huge fan of snack cakes - I am sure that I’m not alone, but I find transporting and cutting layer cakes insanely stressful (mildy scarred from a mid summer cake disaster in the back of a cab a few years back), so sheet cakes are a dream. They are nice and easy to transport, are great for feeding a crowd, and in the case of this cake, can be assembled and served right in the pan that it is baked in!

I think that this chocolate snack cake might be my new favourite - there is something so relaxing about making a cake without having to drag out your mixer, and this one comes together all in the one bowl. I wanted a cake that was the perfect texture, rich with chocolate flavour, and was super versatile but also easy to make, and this one checks all the boxes. Once it was cooled, I sliced it in half, and filled it with my favorite vanilla bean Swiss meringue buttercream (which you have to use your mixer for but it is always, always worth it), and a homemade mixed berry jam filling. You can absolutely use a store bought jam in this situation, but with berries coming into their peak right about now here in NYC, I wanted to capture as much early summer flavour as I could. I finished the filled cake off with my very favourite way to decorate a cake - piped blobs! This method is super easy, but by using a range of piping tips and a range of different coloured frostings, you are able to make it look super fancy for not too much more effort. I switched it up a little this time, taking inspiration from this photo from Wilton’s Instagram page which I have had bookmarked on my phone for the longest time, and added in some rosettes and wriggles, and finished it with just a few sprinkles!

Wilton Decorating tools for Chocolate Snack Cake

I used some amazing new tools from Wilton to make this cake - their new Texturra Performance Non-Stick Bakeware line is an absolute dream to bake with. Not only is it super lightweight and the cutest colour, it is covered in a nonstick coating, which means that your cake releases perfectly every time. I was running late for a spin class last week and had Rich take the cake out of the oven for me - I had no worries whatsoever knowing that it would pop out of the pan so nicely! I used the Texturra Performance Square Pan, 9x9 inch, which was the perfect size!

I also got to have a wee play around with their new Versa-Tools, which are a line of baking tools which have multiple uses - something that is a must in a small NYC kitchen. I used the Versa-Tools Universal Spatula, which was perfect for this cake - I used the large end to to transfer the cake batter cleanly from the bowl into the cake pan, and then again to make the mixed berry filling for the cake, then used the small end to spread the buttercream onto the cake, and for transferring the coloured buttercream into the individual piping bags. It’s already become a well reached for tool in my kitchen - I love the versatility!

I also used a whole bunch of my favourites from Wilton - they have the most amazing range of piping tips. For this cake I made the blobs with the #199, #4B, and #6B tips, then added in the wriggle design with the #104 petal tip, and the rosettes with a #1M. I used couplers in my piping bags, which meant that I was able to switch up the tips between the bags, allowing me to pipe different designs in different colours super easily to give me a great range in texture and colour. I also tried out Wilton’s Icing bag ties which are great for keeping everything contained - I’m a shocker at concentrating too hard and not realising my buttercream is escaping out the back of my piping bag!

I hope that you give this one a go - it’s simple but delicious, and the new Wilton tools are a dream to use!

A few wee tips for One Bowl Chocolate Snack Cake

My favourite way to make an ombre buttercream is by using just one colour of food colouring and then tinting bowls of buttercream with different amounts of colour. I used Wilton’s Burgundy gel food colour for this and it made the most beautiful pink!
Mix it up a bit - I popped two colours of buttercream into one piping bag to give me a swirled look. I used it for both the piped wriggles and some of the blobs!
I finished the cake off with some White Nonpariels Sprinkles, and some White Sugar Pearl Sprinkles
I made the mixed berry filling for the cake, but you can absolutely use a store bought jam too. If you are making it, make sure you leave enough time for it to cool!
It seems like loads of buttercream, but you don’t want to run out, which is the worst thing. Store any leftover in the fridge or freezer for another project!
I used Wilton Bake even strips to help my cake bake up nice and flat!

For more Snack and Sheet Cakes, Check out:

Thank you so much to Wilton for sponsoring this post! All opinions are my own.

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Strawberry Shortcake Macarons

Summer is definitely here, and with that comes strawberry season! For this month’s Mac recipe, we channeled American summer classic (I think, non-American making sweeping generalisations here but from what I’ve seen I think that’s right), and made strawberry shortcake inspired macarons! As per usual, we kept the shell plain - we have learnt the hard way a few times (looking at you, blueberry shells) that unless you’re adding something like a tiny bit of cocoa to the shell, you’re best off sticking with a plain flavoured shell, and incorporating all your flavour on the inside. Macarons are already finicky enough as it is without having to worry about tweaking the recipe of the shell each time.

We then added the Strawberry shortcake element on the inside, with a super easy strawberry filling, a pie crumb, and a cream cheese German buttercream, which is a total fave of mine. The strawberry provided amazing flavour, and coupled with the creamy and slightly tangy buttercream and crunchy brown butter pie crumb, it made for, in my opinion, the perfect bite.

We did get a wee bit fancy with the styling and mixed it up a bit, making a few different colours, but these would be great done just in one colour too. I have added how we split up the mixture to colour it in the notes. We also did something a bit different this time and added all the leftovers into a churned ice cream base to make the most delicious strawberry shortcake macaron ice cream - stay tuned for the recipe!

A few wee tips:

All my mac tips are in this post!
We actually made two batches of macs for these - the first batch we did half solid pink, and the second half we painted the inside of the piping bag with a little gel food colouring so that it came out swirly. The second batch we coloured half a soft pink and left half white, and added sprinkles - I got these ones from etsy and I love them.
We also coloured some of the buttercream - you can really do anything you want here!
Make sure that you give the strawberry filling time to chill. It will be quite thick - we wanted it to be a little thicker so that it stayed inside the macs nicely.

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Chocolate Chip Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches

These Chocolate Chip Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches are the perfect treat. Thin and crispy olive oil chocolate chip cookies are sandwiched with a smooth and creamy olive oil ice cream. Cookie ice cream sandwiches are fun and easy to make and the olive oil ice cream recipe is amazing on its own.

Ice cream sandwiches are the best type of sandwiches. There’s ice cream, and then there’s cookies holding it together - two of my favourite things, all mashed together. I’ve made a few in the past - frozen yoghurt versions, and an earl grey ice cream and chocolate cookie situation, but until now, hadn’t posted the classic chocolate chip ice cream sandwich, so figured it was about time. I didn’t really grow up eating them - for some reason they aren’t really a thing in Nz (our ice cream sandwich is a slice of ice cream between two pink wafers), but I think that making them at home is way better anyway.

For this Chocolate Chip Cookie Ice Cream Sandwich, I took my very favourite cookie recipe that I developed a while ago, which draws on all my favourite elements of a cookie, and tweaked it a little.

The really fun thing about making cookies is that you can change the ratio of the ingredients to manipulate the final product. I wanted these cookies to be a little thinner than the originals, so I increased the butter and decreased the flour to help with the spread, and then also changed up the ratio of the sugar.

White sugar in a cookie gives you spread and crispiness, while brown gives you chew and thickness, so by playing around with the amounts of different types of sugars, you can control how thick your final cookie is. Yay for science right?! I also added an extra yolk just to help give the cookies some chew, and skipped the resting step with the dough to help them spread a little more. This is what I love about baking - you can tweak a few things, check the outcome, and you have a whole new recipe. The cookies are amazingly delicious on their own, and I am so excited to have a new thinner cookie recipe for when I need it, but I wanted to amp it up a little bit, so they had to be sandwiched.

I tried Olive Oil Ice Cream for the first time just after I moved to NYC, and was blown away. It makes sense really - creamy ice cream and smooth olive oil is a great match. I just used my favourite ice cream base, then once the custard was made, added in a solid amount of extra virgin olive oil. The Olive Oil Ice Cream paired perfectly with the chocolate and sweetness of the cookie - its a delicious variation on the classic vanilla and chocolate chip combo.

I then set the ice cream into a sheet pan, which meant that when it came time to assemble, I was able to just cut circles of ice cream out rather than mucking round with a scoop, which gives you the perfect ratio of cookie to ice cream, and beautiful clean sides. These keep amazingly in the freezer, which means you can make these in advance and have delicious cookie sandwiches stashed in your freezer for whenever the need strikes!The

A few wee tips:

Make sure that you remember to freeze the bowl of your ice cream maker if it needs it - at least 24 hours is ideal.
The cookie dough freezes well - just scoop it onto a wax paper lined tray, then freeze solid, and store in an airtight container or bag in the freezer. You may need to add a minute or two onto the bake time.
You want your ice cream to be pretty firm, so if you can, give it overnight to set before you assemble.

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I've curated and answered them all for your easy reference in this frequently asked questions post!

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Spiced Pumpkin Macarons and Walnut Praline Macarons

Walnut Praline Swiss Meringue Buttercream

Spiced Pumpkin Macaron Filling - Swiss Meringue Buttercream

A few wee tips for Spiced Pumpkin Macarons and Walnut Praline Macarons

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Brown Butter Oatmeal Pie - Pecan Pie without the Pecans!

A few wee tips for Brown Butter Oatmeal Pie

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No-Bake Peppermint Slice

Components of No-Bake Peppermint Slice

A few wee tips for No-Bake Peppermint Slice:

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Table of contents

Apple Frangipane Pie

How to make Apple Frangipane Pie

Apples for Apple Pie

How to make Homemade Pie Crust

Tips for Apple Frangipane Pie

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Tahini Brown Sugar Sheet Cake

Weeknight Baking by Michelle Lopez

Super Easy Sheet Cake - Tahini Chocolate Sheet Cake

A few wee tips for Tahini Sheet Cake

For more Tahini Recipes:

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Table of contents

Basic Apple Pie recipe

Easy Homemade Pie Crust

The Best Apples to use for Apple Pie

How to lattice an apple pie

The importance of a good bake for a pie

For more recipes with Apples, Check out:

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Brown Butter Cinnamon Rolls

Why Browning the Butter makes these the best cinnamon rolls

How to make Brown Butter Cinnamon Rolls

Tips for making Cinnamon Rolls ahead of time

How to get a super neat cut on cinnamon rolls

A few wee tips for Brown Butter Cinnamon Rolls:

Check out my other Cinnamon Roll Recipes:

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