Chocolate-Raspberry Linzer Cookies

A close-up of host Zoe Francois' Chocolate-Raspberry Linzer Cookies.

My next cookbook, Zoë Bakes Cookies, will feature about 100 recipes and I test my recipes over and over until they’re perfect. Enlisting my sons, Henri and Charlie, to be taste testers and incorporating their feedback makes my books even better. In season 3 episode 9 of Zoë Bakes on Magnolia Network Henri and Charlie join me in the kitchen to test a few of my cookie recipes and variations. You must tune in to see how it goes! In this episode I also visit a beautiful hazelnut farm and gather local nuts to try in my recipe. To learn more about Minnesota hazelnuts, visit the Organic Compound.

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Paris Brest from Zoë Bakes on Magnolia Network

A close up of the finished Raspberry Paris Brest.

Here in Minneapolis we have several lakes right in the city, along with miles and miles of gorgeous bike trails. Seeing everyone out and about had my wheels turning about making one of my all-time favorites — a raspberry Paris Brest. It’s a wheel-shaped dessert based on a French bicycle race between the cities of Paris and Brest, but you don’t have to be French or know how to ride a bike to enjoy this special treat!

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Valentine’s Day Cinnamon Rolls

Valentine's Day Cinnamon Rolls | ZoeBakes photo by Zoë François

There is really nothing more loving or romantic than baking for the ones you love. And, if it happens to be Valentine’s Day Cinnamon Rolls in the shape of a heart, they are the perfect holiday treat for everyone. These buns are based on our most popular, super easy and fast cinnamon roll recipe from Holiday and Celebration Bread in Five Minutes a Day, which is the perfect way to celebrate just about any day, no special occasion necessary. I added crushed fresh raspberries to the cream cheese icing to add a bit of pink and sweeten the deal even more. 

Happy Galentine’s and Valentine’s Day to you all! 

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Raspberry Paris Brest

Raspberry Paris Brest on a cake stand

This Raspberry Paris Brest is a beautifully nontraditional take on a very traditional French pastry. The name, Paris Brest, comes from a bicycle race that happens in France between (you guessed it) Paris and the town of Brest. According to Larousse Gastronomique, a pastry-cook, whose shop was along the route of the race, got it in his head to make a pastry shaped like the wheel of a bike from choux paste (the same pastry used for eclairs and profiteroles). He filled it with a butter-rich, praline flavored pastry cream.

My take on this classic involves lots of Driscoll’s Raspberries to lighten up the dessert and make it even more beautiful. Instead of stirring praline into the pastry cream, I made an easy raspberry quick jam out of fresh berries and then mixed it in. The result is fresh and light, which will be a welcome end to your holiday dinner. What makes Driscoll’s Organic Raspberries the perfect choice for this is that Driscoll’s has spent years carefully breeding Raspberries, and with thousands of berry varieties they select the top 1% to sell under the Driscoll’s name.

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