My mom first made these cookies at Christmas time when I was little. They are a simple butter cookie recipe that you roll into balls and put your thumbprint into, and fill with jam. We use any jam we have in the fridge, like raspberry, strawberry, apricot, or blackberry. One time I came home from…

In the summer when I have more free time, it becomes big-time baking time for me. My parents were going to house church, so I decided to make a dessert for it. I made pâte sucrée from the Miette cookbook for the crust, a chocolate pastry cream for the inside, and fresh fruit on top….

Near Christmas time in 2018 I went to a natural store and saw this strange citrus fruit. It had multiple tendrils and a yellow body and was called Buddha’s hand. Of course, I bought it. When I went home I cut off one of the fingers to taste it, but there was no fruit inside….

Homemade cinnamon rolls are a Christmas tradition at my house. My mom wakes up early Christmas morning to have these ready for us for breakfast. The problem is, we are usually on vacation somewhere with my family on Christmas break. I thought, why not learn to make these myself so I can have them anytime…

I was 11 years old the first time I made a pie all on my own. I love fresh peaches, and it was summertime in Utah when the farmer’s market is full of fresh local peaches. We have all of these leaf cookie cutters, and I decided to use them instead of making a solid…

I was wondering if there was a vegan alternative to meringues since egg whites are the main component. Doing a little research, I saw that vegan meringues did exist, using chickpea liquid from canned chickpeas (garbanzo beans)! This was astonishing to me at first, but when you think about it, it makes sense. Egg whites…

One of my favorite artists is Forest Ceramic Co who makes colorful carved ceramics. This cake was inspired by this artist. I made a chocolate cake and frosted it with different colored buttercream layers (white, turquoise, and purple). I first frosted it with turquoise, then froze the layers for 30-60 minutes. Then I added the…

My dog Cookie’s birthday is May 21st, and we always have a party for him with my friends who have dogs. Last year I baked this cake for the humans (Cookie had a steak “cake” instead). This was a lemon poppyseed cake with raspberry cream cheese filling, vanilla bean meringue frosting, decorated with edible flowers…

After a trip to the Yucatan Peninsula where we had the best churros I’d ever eaten from a simple street vendor, I had been on a hunt for good churros in Salt Lake City. We didn’t have much luck finding good ones, so I thought I’d try to make some at home. These turned out…

This cake is SO good. I made it for myself for my birthday this past year. I had first learned about coconut cake reading “A Series of Unfortunate Events: the Reptile Room” when uncle Monty gave it to the Baudelaire kids. Reading the description of the coconut cream cake made me drool, so I thought…