Chocolate cake, swirled with cranberries and topped with a soft cream cheese cranberry icing. Decorate with candied cranberries if you like — I used this tutorial.  (more…)

Cherry season is short, so I try to make the most of it.

Baking with cherries is often a process, because you have to take the time to pit each fruit. They sell cherry/olive pitters in stores, but I try to get creative with the tools I have. (more…)

This cake is amazing in the morning next to some coffee or tea! It’s a light cake with just enough lemon and a hint of almond. 

The icing perfectly compliments the cake, making it just sweet enough!  (more…)

This is a fluffy white cake, filled with whipped cream and fresh strawberries, and topped with a rich chocolate ganache. 

The cake is soft and spongey, reminiscent of angel food cake. Because of its light texture and refreshing strawberries, this makes for an amazing cake for the summer! (more…)

When it comes to cake, it really is no question that chocolate wins as the best flavor ever. Plus, there are so many different varieties and options when it comes to chocolate that it is impossible for a person not to find something they love.

For me, just about any well-prepared chocolate recipe will do, but I think this one deserves a special place in my kitchen. To make this recipe, the eggs were whipped an extra amount, leaving the cake super light and spongy. The chocolate ganache adds richness to the cake, and the coconut adds another layer of flavor.

The recipe was adapted from a book called fika by Anna Brones and Johanna Kindvall. “Fika” is the Swedish coffee break and this book is full of recipes that will go great with an afternoon cup. (more…)

Technically, summer doesn’t end until September 22nd, and summer berries are still at the grocery stores, so I’d say that now is as good a time as ever to take advantage.

And if you decide to make this cake after berries have long gone out of season, don’t worry! This can be served with any of your favorite fruits, or you could even make a berry syrup from frozen berries.

But really, the fruit is just a side note. This cake here is the star of the show. It’s soft and spongy, due to a generous serving of yogurt in its batter. It’s also got a sweet, buttery, citrusy flavor to it. Basically, it’s a perfect coffee cake to have on any occasion. (more…)

Cheesecakes in our house are always a special treat. Because they’re so rich and dense, they’re not really the type of dessert that you can have every night — they’re something that should be savored and eaten slowly. When made well, the cream practically melts in your mouth. And the graham cracker crust adds a nice crunchy contrast of texture. And, with this recipe, a light and milky topping perfectly completes the dessert.

Cheesecakes are commitments. Not only does making one require some patience, but eating one does too. Even when you just buy one, you’re committing you and your family to eating the whole thing (not that that’s a scary commitment to make ;).  (more…)

I have only eaten tres leches cake a handful of times, and to be completely honest, I have never actually tried a good one. Maybe I did when I was little, before I had a true appreciation for good desserts, but in my recent years all the ones I have tried have either been bad or just mediocre. 

That being said, I can assure you that this recipe is so different from the cakes I have tried before. These tres leches cupcakes are made with a whipped egg-white batter that gives them a spongy texture. The sponge cupcakes are then filled with milk. The milk sets over a few hours and is able to suffuse throughout the entire cake. 

Instead of icing, these cupcakes are topped with a homemade whipped cream, perfectly complementing the light and fluffy cake.

For a tutorial on how to make these, continue reading.  (more…)

I have two great things for you today: an amazing (and healthy!) almond cake recipe along with a review of the cookbook, Vibrant Food by Kimberely Hasselbrink. 

First, let’s talk about this almond cake: it’s a dense cake made with pure almond flour (so it’s gluten-free), lightly sweetened with honey, and made with olive oil. Thought it’s a dense cake, it’s far from heavy; this would still be considered a light dessert. I can assure you that this was an amazing cake because it was finished in my house before the end of breakfast – this only happens when true perfection has been created! Scroll down for the full recipe. 

Onto the book review: 

If you haven’t heard of Vibrant Food, it’s cookbook showcasing the various fruits and vegetables of each season. The book has four main sections, one for each season. Recipes coordinate with the vegetables and fruits that tend to grow during those seasons.  (more…)

Maybe some of you have noticed, but I don’t have too many layer cake recipes on this site, and it’s mostly because I don’t make layered cakes all that often at my house. Layered cakes tend to be too big and rich for my family to finish them very quickly, so they’re often saved for special occasions, or for when we have dinner guests. 

A couple weeks ago, I decided to make this cake and it transformed our Sunday night dinner into a special occasion! It is made with a fudgy, perfectly moist cake base, layers of Oreo whipped cream in the center, and coated with a rich, fudge-like frosting. Plus, it’s four layers  

This cake was a huge hit because, even though it was a bit rich, I made sure to cut down on the sugar so that it wouldn’t be overwhelming. A lot of times I feel that when I try store-bought cakes they’re just sugar bombs with tons of icing! Even though this is rich, it’s nothing like that. You can enjoy each of the chocolate components without your mouth burning from sugar overload!  (more…)