eat dessert first
At a super young age I discovered baking brings me joy and feeds my soul. What I’ve learned from a career in professional kitchens is that I love teaching other people how to bake even more! Now I get to do both, on TV. Joanna and Chip Gaines have given me a series on their new Magnolia Network where I can bake, teach and be inspired by some phenomenally talented bakers (and chefs, farmers, bee keepers and more …) in my Minnesota community.
Gluten free desserts can be delicious, even if you don’t follow a gluten-free diet. With the right recipes and ingredients, you can make tasty cookies, cakes and pastries of all kinds. I put together a collection of some of my favorite gluten free desserts to satisfy whatever you are craving. […]
It is with delight that I share with you the desserts I created for the current Anthropologie Catalog, which you can find in the stores and on their website. They invited me to Philadelphia to bake and style the desserts and I had an absolute blast. It is a funny […]
These churros with chocolate sauce are a wonderful homemade treat. You can make the recipe as is, or switch up the flavors by making a vanilla sauce or simply dusting the top in a cinnamon-sugar mixture. It’s a wonderful recipe for Cinco de Mayo or in place of (or alongside!) […]
I love this crème brûlée with lavender, but it’s optional! If you’d rather, you can leave it out and it will be a delicious vanilla crème brûlée. Enjoy! Crème Brûlée was the first French dessert I’d ever had in a restaurant. When I was in junior high school, I’d take […]
This ethereal crown of meringue, filled with cream and berries is a Pavlova. The name comes from Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova, who was performing around the world in 1926 and made a stop in the land down under. From there the details get a little fuzzy and no one is […]
These fluted confections are the official dessert of the Bordeaux region of France. The interior of canelés is like a lovely, creamy custard that is rich with both vanilla and rum. The trick to success, IMHO, with making canelés is using Copper Molds lined with beeswax and butter. That’s how you […]
I developed this butterscotch pot de crème recipe for Tilia‘s dessert menu. Steven Brown, the chef/owner wanted a turbo charged version of the butterscotch pudding from his childhood. We went with a Pot de crème, which is essentially as decadent as creme brulee, without the crack of caramel resting on […]
This simple flan recipe is beloved by my son, and I hope your family loves it just as much. It’s a great dessert for Cinco de Mayo, and simple enough to whip together any time. A Family Favorite Flan is one of my youngest son’s favorite desserts. He orders it […]
How do you elevate this simple chocolate mousse recipe? Add toasted meringue! Yes, you get to use my favorite kitchen tool, the blow torch, for the beautiful, toasted brown top. And the chocolate mousse is rich and delicious. For another mousse recipe, try this popular triple chocolate mousse cake! My […]
This burnt sugar soufflé is such an elegant dessert, that is quite easy to make, but takes some timing to get it into the oven and puffed properly. Once you take it from the oven it will slowly start to deflate, so get it to the table as soon as […]