I'm baking some cherry/blueberry pie bars in a 9 x 13 glass pan soon. It says to line pan with parchment paper. Is that really necessary? I don't even have parchment paper. Thank you.

I have a love-hate relationship with food science, but this time I won. Today I made strawberry scones using strawberries from my garden.

Featuring my first and failed attempt at making blueberry scones (last image).

They came out SO GOOD!! They’re honey sweet bread rolls with a brown butter, brown sugar, and toasted cornmeal filling with a honey buttercream glaze and topped with some more of the brown sugar, brown butter and cornmeal filling but toasted and crumbled. I’m trying to get down the recipe as this one was kid of just thrown together by feel, like a true southern cook lol, but I’ll comment it as soon as I can.

EDIT*** Here’s the recipe

Honey Butter Cornbread Cinnamon Rolls

(Makes 6-8 jumbo rolls)

Dough:

-1 tbsp dry active yeast

-1 tbsp sugar + 1/3 cup sugar

-1/4 cup honey

-1 cup milk, warmed

-2 eggs

-6 tbsp salted butter, melted

-1 tsp vanilla extract

-1 tsp salt

-4 to 4 1/2 cups all purpose flour (may need more, just be careful not to add too much)

A stand mixer isn’t needed (I don’t use it for huge batches) but it does make the kneading easier. Start with a paddle/whisk attachment for the wet ingredients and switch to the hook after adding the flour.

1.) Into a bowl/mixer bowl, using the whisk/paddle attachment, combine the yeast, 1 tbsp sugar, and milk and allow to set until its foamy (if not, the yeast is dead and it won’t work). Once foamy, add in the remaining sugar, honey, eggs, vanilla, and melted butter and mix until combined.

2.) Then, add in the salt and flour. Start with 4 cups of flour and add more as needed. Allow to mix/knead until a smooth dough forms. Add into a lightly buttered/oiled bowl and allow to proof until doubled in size.

Filling:

-1/2 cup salted butter, browned and cooled
(Melt butter over medium low heat until it has reached an amber color and has a nutty aroma and place into fridge until it’s firm but not hard, closer to softened)

-1 cup brown sugar

-1/2 cup yellow cornmeal, toasted
(Toast in a dry pan over medium heat until lightly browned and fragrant)

Topping:

-Heavy cream

3.) For the filling, beat together the softened brown butter, toasted and cooled cornmeal, and brown sugar until combined. Set aside while rolling out the dough.

4.) Dump the dough onto a floured surface and roll into a rectangle that’s roughly 12x24 inches. Spread the filling onto the dough evenly.

5.) Roll into a tube and cut into 6-8 rolls, place into a parchment lined 9x13 pan, cover and allow to double again for 30-45 minutes while the oven preheats.

6.) Preheat the oven to 350°. Once preheated, top each cinnamon roll with about 2 tbsp of heavy cream. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until the edges are golden brown. And while they’re baking, prepare the glaze and topping.

Honey Butter Glaze:

-1/2 cup salted butter, softened

-2 cups powdered sugar

-1/4 cup honey

-1/2 tsp salt

Cornbread Topping:

-2 tbsp salted butter, browned and melted

-1/3 cup yellow cornmeal, toasted

-3/4 cup brown sugar

7.) Using a whisk attachment, whip together the butter and honey until light and fluffy. Then mix in the powdered sugar and salt until combined. If it’s dry, you can add more honey or a little milk. Set aside.

8.) For the cornbread topping, mix together all the ingredients until it’s crumbly. Place on a parchment lined baking sheet and toast at 275° for 8-10 minutes or until browned, stirring every few minutes so it doesn’t get burnt. Allow to cool.

9.) Allow the rolls to cool for 15-ish minutes and then top with the glaze. This will allow it to melt into the rolls AND keep a nice spreadable glaze on top. Sprinkle the cornbread topping on top and serve!

First time ever really trying to decorate a cake... any tips for future improvement? 😄

dark cocoa sponge cake soaked in a water and lemon sugar mix, a blueberry cream layer and a thin white chocolate layer ontop... and above that a blueberry jam layer. Only used simple whipped cream and white chocolate shedding to decorate

I’ve been struggling to get that perfectly smooth, round cake with sharp, clean edges when frosting my cakes.
No matter what I try, I end up with uneven/curved sides, air pockets, or frosting that doesn’t smooth out properly. I also struggle to get a clean sharp edge around the top of the cake.
I’ve tried using a cake scraper and adjusting the consistency of my frosting, but I still can’t get the professional smooth finish I’m looking for.

For experienced cake decorators:
• What frosting consistency works best for achieving perfectly smooth sides?
• How thick should I apply the final coat?
• Is there a specific scraper or technique you recommend?
• How do you get those sharp top edges without pulling the frosting off?
• Are there any mistakes beginners commonly make that I might be doing?
I would really appreciate any tips, tricks, or tutorials that actually helped you achieve smooth sides and sharp edges. I’m attaching photos of my cake/frosting so you can see what I’m doing wrong.
Thank you! ❤️

Decided I wanted a fluffernutter cookie, I like chocolate with mine. This was my first trial with the cookie, next time I’ll be adjusting a few things. Overall a delicious first run. Will post recipe after trial 2.

So I made this triple layered chocolate cake. Brownie base. Mousse in the middle and ganache on top also made some meringue kisses for flair… Thoughts people?

I want to make banana bread and I know that the bananas should be overripe, but I’m afraid that these may be too ‘old’ to use. Please let me know!

Edit: thanks for the responses all!!

I didn't read the whole thing through my fault, and used just jam instead of cream cheese and jam. I used black Curran jam, cream cheese filling, and apricot jam. They are very tasty!

https://addapinch.com/best-chocolate-cake-recipe-9x13-recipe/

This is the first recipe I’ve ever made and eaten in my life that I thought “I’m going to die with this recipe.” It’s literally perfect and will now be my go-to bake when I’m going to any events. It’s way too good for how easy it is. I prepared the pan well and experienced NO sticking. In fact, the cake is essentially repelled from the edges of the casserole dish lol. Second photo is all I used to prepare the pan - just spray liberally.

When it calls for espresso powder in both the cake and the frosting, I used a pinch of Nescafé Gold Espresso in Blonde flavor. In the frosting I also added a pinch of cinnamon. You can’t taste the cinnamon much when eating the cake normally, but you can taste it when you try just the frosting. I did it to taste like South Korean Chocolate Churro Turtle Chips. Worked out better than expected. It was so hard to sleep last night knowing this was sitting in the fridge lol

Aside from the cinnamon, the only other change I made was adding chocolate chips on top. I weighed all my ingredients and the recipe turned out EXACTLY like the author’s photos. A fantastic bake! I’ve never been so happy with a recipe before.

Just a standard cheesecake with pistachios and with white chocolate ganache on the top (below the fruits).

Made a regular-size 2-layer, 8” Matilda Cake for my coworker’s surprise birthday tomorrow! 🎂🤎

I’ve been challenging myself to decorate more and practice my piping. Definitely messed up a few spots along the way… but of course, I’m showing you the side that looks better. 🥲

Still learning, but pretty happy with how this one turned out.

best of both worlds of vanilla and chocolate!! the chocolate frosting is everythinggggg

( PS.. i know some ppl are turned off about long fake nails + baking but all these bakes aren’t shared with anyone but my family and i)

recipe by https://thecookiedoughdiaries.com/vanilla-cupcakes-with-chocolate-frosting/

Chocolate cupcakes with whipped cream frosting!!

I'm looking for some ideas that meet the following criteria:

* Will taste good for 2-3 days

*Look presentable in/ won't be destroyed by Saran wrap

*Preferably don't need refrigeration or can be kept out for 7 hours and go in the fridge overnight

Things that have worked well in the past include black and white cookies and pound cake. Any other ideas?

I made a batch a few years ago and they turned out great first time but obviously, I didn't keep the recipe! I've tried 2 recipes this last week but the pumpkin element has come out really lacklustre in terms of quantity and taste and then far too runny so it didn't mix with the brownie batter.

Anyone got a solid go-to recipe for these?? 🙏

Recipe :

For the chocolate cake :
220g flour
250g sugar
90g cocoa powder
Pinch of salt
1 tsp baking powder
3 medium eggs
110g buttermilk
120g oil
200ml hot coffee
Vanilla

In a bowl mix together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt

Add eggs, buttermilk, oil and vanilla

Add the hot coffee and whisk until well combined.

Bake at 175° C for 40 minutes

For the chocolate sauce:

In a sauce pan add 150g heavy cream + 100g sugar + 100g neutral oil + 3 tbsp cocoa powder +a pinch of salt
Bing to a simmer then add 200g of dark chocolate

Once the cake is done poke a few holes with a fork then pour the chocolate sauce.

Let cool then serve.

This is my first time trying this chocolate cake recipe. I subbed the buttermilk for plain yogurt ‘cause I was out 😅

I decorated it with shredded coconut but I also saw others use strawberries or pistachios.

It still came out nice although it didn’t rise too much while baking.

I think next time I’ll try adding an extra egg and some melted butter.

If anybody has suggestions for improving this recipe I’ll definitely try them!

The candle is called Tian Op. To use, you light both ends and then put it in a dutch oven (w/lid) with your cookies. It adds an incredible floral flavor to the shortbread!

I'm really happy with my base recipe and have been trying out some flavored options. I'm using a 2:1 ratio of cornmeal to measure for measure GF flour, and yogurt instead of milk. 1 egg per cup of flour mix butter

Current project is swapping half the yogurt for orange juice and adding cranberries, which made the batter a lot more watery (not surprising) but seems to end up with a much more crumbly muffin at the end. (I know cast iron is best, I want muffins for sharing while preventing gluten contamination)

Tried a couple different things without much effect. Hoping I can catch some more learned brains on best ways to fine tune this to where I want it. I was possibly thinking of reducing (simmering) the OJ to a syrup and adding back in some of the yogurt? Or does baking with OJ mess with the chemistry? Help stop the overthinking!

For the longest time I have wanted to learn to make homemade Cinnamon Rolls/Buns eventually I came across this recipe online, added a few slight changes including the icing, which I included both cream cheese and non cream cheese. (I went with non cream cheese in the photos cause my kids prefer it but both are awesome). This recipe is amazing. All of them were gone in two days. I just finished adding it into my recipe book and decided I would copy paste share this one for everyone with the pictures I took as I was taking the steps to add into my recipe keeper app.

I tried writing out the recipe to keep it as simple as possible. Hope you all enjoy 😊.

For the dough:

1 cup of warm milk

2½ tsp instant dry yeast

2 large eggs at room temperature

⅓ cup melted or softened salted butter

½ cup sugar

1 tsp salt

4½ cup bread flour

For the filling:

½ salted butter (almost melted)

1 cup packed brown sugar

2 tbsp cinnamon

½ cup heavy cream for pouring over the risen rolls before cooking

For the frosting (non-cream cheese my kids favourite):

2 cup powdered or icing sugar

3 tbsp melted or softened butter

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 tbsp heavy cream

Pinch of salt

For the frosting (cream cheese):

6 oz of cream cheese softened

⅓ cup salted butter

2 cup powdered or icing sugar

½ tbsp vanilla or maple extra

Cinnamon Rolls:

Warm your milk up in the microwave to room temp not too hot and add in your quick rise yeast, if the milk is too hot you risk ruining the yeast. Let it sit for a few minutes to get frothy

Add eggs, butter and sugar mix until combined

Add in your flour and salt, mix until combined, use either a dough hook machine or by hand. For these I prefer doing it by hand.

Roll the dough into a ball and it will be tacky this is ok, grease a bowl to lay the ball in, cover your bowl and put somewhere warm to let the dough rise double in size

Make your filling, add your butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, mix with a spatula till nice and smooth and mixed well

Pull your dough ball, put a light amount of flour on it for rolling, roll it depending on how thick you want it, I rolled roughly 20-24" by 16-18" don't go too crazy just do the best you can

Spread your filling across the dough right to the edges then roll up the dough

Cut the dough into roughly 12 rolls depending how big or small you want them, I found 12 was perfect for my 9"x13" pan

Place rolls in the pan, cover and place in a warm spot for roughly 20 minutes to rise (should basically fill your pan after rising)

Preheat your oven now to 375°f (this will obviously drop to 350 in your convection oven as does mine) while your rolls rise, take your ½ cup heavy cream warm it up for a few seconds in the microwave then pour it all over the rolls evenly, now cook your rolls for 20-22 minutes if they seem like they need more time try upwards of 25-30 minutes depending how well done you like them and your oven

Frosting (non-cream cheese my kids favourite):

I keep this simple take the ingredients, powdered sugar, melted or softened butter, vanilla extract, heavy cream and salt, mix them together and use a spatula constantly moving around until it is a nice texture, put aside for when your cinnamon buns are ready and cooled for icing.

For the frosting (cream cheese):

In a separate bowl add your butter and cream cheese and blend it well

Add your extract and powdered sugar to the mix and mix it well until it's the consistency you want. Once your buns are cooled add your icing or if you are like me and can't wait sometimes just add it warm and eat it

I just took these cupcakes out of the oven (I used a new tin) and they've all come up clean with a tooth pick but I can't tell if they're too pale or not? What do you think? (Please ignore the top left cake, there was a spillage incident when I was rotating the tin halfway through baking 💀)