These Easter Egg Cupcakes are decorated for the kids (of any age), but the flavors will satisfy the adults. I was recently sent a box of fresh passion fruit, some candied mini eggs, and passion fruit-flavored white chocolate, so it just seemed obvious that I’d make the Chocolate Devil’s Food cake from Zoë Bakes Cakes and passion fruit flavored buttercream. You can go with whatever flavor combinations get you excited. The little nests are actually super simple to create and I have a video in my highlights, a link in the recipe, on how I did it. Any flavor chocolate will do. The grass is the result of a special piping tip, but otherwise, nothing extra is needed to make these.
We’ve seen the humanitarian crisis unfolding in Ukraine and I’ve decided to do a class in an effort to raise money. Please join me for a LIVE baking demonstration of this Ukrainian Honey Cake with Buttercream Sunflowers. Proceeds from this event will benefit World Central Kitchen, a non-profit organization dedicated to feeding people in the wake of humanitarian, climate, and community crises. They are on the ground feeding the refugees in Ukraine right now.
Update: We raised over $33,000 for World Central Kitchen! If you missed the class, you still have an opportunity to purchase the recording or donate. Here’s where to do it.
Thank you to everyone who sent me baking questions on Instagram! I received hundreds of questions, so I decided to compile them into a few blog posts to cover the various topics. In addition to this cake baking 101, you’ll find a post with FAQs about baking homemade bread, FAQs about meringue, vegan desserts, pie and pie crust, and baking equipment.
This hot chocolate cake from Zoë Bakes Cakes is unbelievably delicious! Combining layers of moist Devil’s Food cake and creamy, luscious chocolate frosting, the entire cake is topped with homemade toasted marshmallows. This recipe is the perfect dessert for any occasion!
Today is my best friend’s birthday and nothing short of a Buttercream Rose Cake will do. This is also the perfect cake for Easter, which is just around the corner. Creating the buttercream roses and other flowers requires a bit of special equipment and some practice, but this is just the kind of activity that relaxes me and I hope you agree. I’ll walk you through building the cake that will be the canvas for your floral top and then show you how to create the buttercream and roses.
I have some tutorials on my Instagram page, but you can find even more information on my youtube channel (links for each step below).
The magic trick of cake decorating was revealed to me 16 years ago when I attended a week long class at the Wilton School of Cake Decorating and Confectionery Art outside of Chicago. Anyone who loves cake and piping icing knows the Wilton name and reaches for their products to get the job done. I was beyond thrilled and honored when they asked me to try out their new line of products, Texturra Performance Bakeware and Versa-Tools, and create a signature dessert using them. This Cherry Blossom Cake came to me instantly, because I wanted to utilize the piping skills I learned from their classes all those years ago. I had just been on a trip to NYC and the cherry trees were in full bloom with their sweet, delicate blossoms. The inside of the cake is a spiral of sponge cake, which I baked in the new Texturra Performance baking sheet. Since they claim it is truly non-stick, I tested it by skipping the parchment paper. This is not something I would usually do, since parchment is the insurance policy, I rely on to make sure my cakes don’t glue themselves to the pan. The Wilton promise was spot on, the cake released from the unlined Texturra pan with ease, rendering the extra parchment unnecessary. For avid bakers, you know how exciting this is.
I filled the sponge cake with a simple whipped cream and cherry sauce. This is where the new multi-functional Versa-Tools came in handy. I used themto make the filling, spread it, roll the cake and even decorate the sides. They are flexible, useful and multipurpose, which is everything you want in a kitchen tool.
For the flowers I piped a simple cherry blossom with lemon royal icing and stuck them to the buttercream covered cake. There are a few steps to this Cherry Blossom Cake, but it is such a fun project and the results are stunning.
