ZoëBakes | eat dessert first | eat dessert first

Strawberry Passion Fruit Sheet Cake

May 8, 2021May 8, 2021 zoe Leave a comment

Strawberry Passion Fruit Sheet Cake! A sheet cake may be the simplest of cakes, but done right, it can be perfectly elegant. A special occasion doesn’t always require a piping bag (although that’s really fun too)! This classic, white cake is made Mother’s Day worthy with a big messy pile of perfect strawberries resting on passion fruit buttercream. It is super easy to put together but looks like sunshine and happiness, so no one will care that you didn’t have to work that hard. It will make the perfect dessert to bring to a party or just make you happy as you stand at the counter with a fork (which I can attest to because that’s exactly what happened right after these photos were taken). I baked the white cake from Zoë Bakes Cakes in a 9×13″ pan (instead of the layers I make in the book), covered it with my Swiss Meringue Buttercream that I mixed with fresh passion fruit (you can go with any flavor you love), and then tossed the fresh strawberries with lime zest, a touch of sugar and mint. Sometimes slathering together delicious, but simple flavors are all it takes to create something gorgeous.

Recipes found in Zoë Bakes Cakes, which is a wonderful Mother’s Day Gift IMHO, along with some flowers and maybe a blowtorch!

Blueberry Galette

April 28, 2021April 29, 2021 zoe 1 Comment

Blueberry Galette! This is really a rustic blueberry pie, made without a tin and given a more romantic name. It’s simple, delicious, easy and contains little more than plump, sweet-tart blueberries. A galette need not be complicated, you can use fresh and/or frozen blueberries (which I always have in my freezer) with just a touch of sweetener (you decide how sweet you like it). The galette goes together fast with my perfect pie dough that holds in the berries. The blueberries have a deep purple color when they are baked, which is just the natural drama I like in a dessert. It’s beautiful enough to serve at a party with a scoop of ice cream. But, don’t forget, blueberries have vitamin C, fiber and are heart-healthy, so this is also the best breakfast pastry ever! The pie dough makes two disks, so you can freeze one for later or make two galettes and double the filling. My boys were home when I made this and they ate the first one in a sitting, so I quickly made a second.

You can watch me make the galette in my instagram highlight video. This recipe is also posted on the Blueberries website, here, along with many other blueberry recipes for you to gather inspiration from. Read More

Mother’s Day Desserts

April 21, 2021May 8, 2021 zoe 4 Comments

How do you choose the perfect Mother’s Day dessert? You need to know what mom loves, of course, but I think you also need something beautiful and sophisticated. For me, something with meringue is perfect, but every mom loves something a little different. I’ve put together a list of some of my favorite Mother’s Day desserts, which hit all kinds of flavor profiles with the beauty and sophistication moms deserve in recipes that are pretty simple to make.

And if your mom loves to bake, cakes in particular, you could always give her the gift of baking together with my new book, Zoë Bakes Cakes, where I dive deep on everything cake—loaves, layers, bundts, and everything that goes with them.

Zoë Bakes Cakes Sweepstakes

April 15, 2021April 18, 2021 zoe 59 Comments

Want a copy of Zoë Bakes Cakes? I’ve teamed up with some of my favorite brands to create a delicious Zoë Bakes Cakes Sweepstakes! Five people will win a signed copy of my book, plus all the supplies and ingredients to make one of my favorite cakes—Best-Ever Chocolate-Zucchini Bundt Cake.

Best Stand Mixers for Baking

April 8, 2021April 27, 2021 zoe 1 Comment

I often get asked about my go-to baking equipment and one of the things people ask the most is what I think is the best stand mixer. A good mixer is the workhorse of a baker’s kitchen—it does so much of the work for you. In fact, I have three!

Strawberry Fool

April 7, 2021April 8, 2021 zoe 3 Comments

Fool! That’s the name of this creamy fruit-filled dessert.

What is a fool? It’s a British dessert that includes fruit folded into a custard. The original version was most often made with gooseberries, but it evolved over the years to include different fruits, and some have simplified it by using whipped cream with the fruit.