ZoëBakes

Chocolate croissants (pain au chocolat) cooling on a wire rack

Chocolate Croissant (Pain au Chocolat)

The only thing better than a buttery croissant, is one stuffed with chocolate. These are made with the same dough as the plain croissants, but are rolled differently. You will find my video on how to make them and the dough on Instagram.

Homemade croissants on a wire cooling rack

Croissants 101

There are very few things as satisfying as a perfect croissant. Flaky, tender, just the right amount of pull and give, and BUTTERY. Have you ever made one? Probably not, because they’re labor intensive and require a bit of skill to “laminate” the dough. This is an industry term for […]

Chocolate Mousse with Toasted Meringue

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 […]

Chocolate Heart Cake | ZoëBakes | Photo by Zoë François

Valentine’s Day Chocolate Cake!

This chocolate Valentine’s Day heart cake was designed by my 9-year old son (who is now an adult!). He even instructed me on how I should put it together. His plan was to bake a sheet of cake and cut the layers with a heart shaped cookie cutter. Then stack […]

A scoop of pink sorbet in a bowl with a spoon.

How to Make Sorbet

One of the reasons I went to culinary school, after working in professional kitchens for a few years, was to have an understanding of why my recipes didn’t always work. Things would succeed if I followed the recipe to the letter, but if I played or strayed at all they […]

Banana Bread Roll from Smitten Kitchen’s New Book

There’s nothing more satisfying than cutting into a rolled cake to reveal the swirl in the middle. It’s just fun. This banana bread roll is filled with a cream cheese frosting and it is delicious. The recipe is from one of my favorite bloggers and cookbook authors, Deb Perelman from the […]

Easy Chocolate Fudge

Addiction warning, I cannot stop eating this chocolate fudge! I’ve been giving away bags of it to anyone I meet, just to keep from eating the whole batch because it’s so crazy good. I like chocolate fudge with all kinds of stuff in it, especially nuts, but my boys are […]

Outrageous Mocha Buttercream!

This mocha buttercream may be the most delicious buttercream I’ve ever made. I wish I could take all of the credit for it, but it is from Carol Bloom’s The Essential Baker. As many of you know I have been baking through the book for the past month or so. […]

Easy Macarons Recipe

I love Macrons because they are gorgeous little treats that feel special and class. They are also surprisingly easy to make and come in endless flavor combinations. How I Discovered Macarons The first time I had a true French macaron was while sitting at the now shuttered WD50 in New […]

Pear Almond Tart

I think tarts are an under appreciated art form. The sweet, tender crust is the perfect frame for just about any filling. This pear almond tart features poached pears laying in a bed of almond cream and surrounded by toasted almonds. The flavor combination is classically French and looks sophisticated […]

Burnt Sugar Soufflé with Chocolate Sauce

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 […]

Cheese Blintzes

When I was a kid, in the 70s, my mom, my uncle, Jay, and I would go to a tiny Ukrainian restaurant on 2nd Ave in NYC called the Kiev. Finding a table was nearly impossible; I remember it being so crowded that we’d climb over people to get to our seats. Once […]