Dainty pink sparkly cookies are for fairies, princesses and charming people who love pretty, petite treats. These pink shortbread hearts are as cute as a button and so tender and delicious. They’re very simple to make and go perfectly with tea or lemonade. They also make a nice gift for Mother’s Day, baby showers, and especially for Valentine’s Day and Galentine celebrations.
Dainty Pink Shortbread Hearts
by Mari Vasseur
Tender, buttery mini shortbread cookies with sparkling sugar
In a medium-sized bowl, whisk the flour and powdered sugar together until well blended.
In a large bowl, beat the butter, with an electric mixer on medium speed, until pale and fluffy. Beat in the extracts until well combined. Add the flour mixture and beat just until incorporated. The dough may seem crumbly at first, but it will come together.
Divide the dough into 2 portions. Roll the dough between 2 sheets of parchment paper to 1/4-inch thickness. Place the parchment-covered dough onto trays and chill in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour or up to overnight.
Preheat the oven to 350ºF (180ºC). Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.
Cut out 36 heart shapes with a 1 1/2-inch cookie cutter. Place the hearts about 2 inches apart onto the cookie sheets. Sprinkle the cookies with sparkling sugar. Bake until the edges start to turn light golden brown, about 8-9 minutes. Transfer the cookies to a cooling rack.
Spring is here and it’s the season to eat carrot cake! Many people have strong opinions about which add-ins are best to use in carrot cake. Some popular ones, besides the carrots themselves, include nuts, pineapple, raisins, and even coconut. My Blueberry Carrot Cake came about when I was thinking about making a breakfast carrot cake. I replaced the typical add-ins with blueberries and the results were so delicious. I originally made this cake with a maple-butter glaze which was perfect for a breakfast cake. For Easter brunch, I opted to dress up the cake with Blueberry Cream Cheese Frosting, fresh blueberries and lilacs. This combination is magical.
Blueberry Carrot Cake
Moist, subtly spiced carrot cake studded with blueberries and topped with blueberry cream cheese icing by Brownie Mischief
1 ¼cups (159g)all purpose flour, siftedplus 1 teaspoon for the blueberries
1teaspoonbaking powder
¼teaspoonbaking soda
1teaspooncinnamon
½teaspoonfine sea salt
¼teaspoonground ginger
¼teaspoon ground nutmeg
½cup (100g)granulated sugar
½cup (100g)packed brown sugar
â…”cup (148ml)avocado oil or neutral oil of your choice
2largeeggs
1teaspoon pure vanilla extract
¾cup (80g)finely shredded carrots
1cup (142g)blueberriesplus extra for the top of the cake
Blueberry Cream Cheese Frosting
3ounces (85g)cream cheese, room temperature
6tablespoons (85g)unsalted butter, room temperature
1 ¼cups (150g)powdered sugar, sifted
½teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1pinchfine sea salt
2tablespoons (14g)frozen defrosted blueberries, with the liquidTo use fresh blueberries instead of frozen, see notes below.
1tablespoon (15ml)whole milk or half & half, room temperature
Food-safe or edible pesticide free flowersoptional
Instructions
Blueberry Carrot Cake
Preheat the oven to 350ºF (180ºC). Line the bottom of an 8-inch round cake pan with parchment paper. Grease and flour the insides.
In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, ginger and nutmeg until well blended.
In a large bowl, beat the granulated sugar, brown sugar and oil together until well blended. Beat in the eggs and vanilla, with an electric mixer at medium speed, until smooth and well incorporated. Stir in the carrots. Add the flour mixture and stir just until combined.
In a small bowl, toss the blueberries with 1 teaspoon of flour. Fold the blueberries into the batter. Transfer the batter to the cake pan. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, about 37-43 minutes. Let the cake cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn the cake out onto a cooling rack.
Blueberry Cream Cheese Frosting
Smash the blueberries with a fork and press through a sieve into a small bowl.
In a medium-sized bowl, stir the cream cheese with a spatula until smooth. Add the butter and beat, with an electric mixer on low speed, until smooth.
Gradually mix in the powdered sugar. Add the vanilla, salt and 1 tablespoon (15 ml) of the smashed blueberries and beat until smooth. Add milk, if needed, until the desired consistency is reached. Stir with a spatula to smooth out any bubbles.
Notes
To use fresh blueberries for the frosting, place the blueberries in a small saucepan with a teaspoon of sugar and 1/2 teaspoon of lemon juice or water. Cook over medium-low heat until the sugar is dissolved and the blueberries start to soften. Smash the blueberries with a potato masher. Press this mixture through a sieve into a small bowl and let cool to room temperature.
If you search loaf cakes on the internet, you’ll find an abundance of “copycat” recipes. For some reason, everyone is trying to copy a loaf cake from a popular coffee shop. Maybe it’s just me, but I’m not a fan of the rubbery neon slice. I’d rather have a slice of soft, fluffy cake with a burst of fresh citrus flavor and buttery frosting. If that sounds good to you too, you’ll love this recipe. I used the reverse creaming method to make this cake, which produces a soft, velvety crumb. Brushing the cake with orange simple syrup keeps it moist and flavorful. This recipe is for an orange-vanilla bean cake but it can also be made into a lemon version. See the notes below.
Orange Vanilla Bean Loaf Cake
Soft, fluffy vanilla bean and orange scented loaf cake topped with silky vanilla cream cheese frosting by Brownie Mischief
½cup (113g)unsalted butter cubed, room temperature
¼cup (57g)sour cream, room temperature
¼cup (59ml)whole milk, room temperature
3largeeggs, room temperature
1teaspoon vanilla bean paste
½teaspoonpure orange extract
Vanilla Bean Cream Cheese Frosting
2tablespoons (28g)cream cheese, room temperature
2tablespoons (28g)unsalted butter, room temperature
1 ½cups (180g)powered sugar, sifted
1pinchfine sea salt
½teaspoonvanilla bean paste
1-3tablespoons (15-45ml)whole milk or half & half, room temperature
Instructions
Orange Simple Syrup
Combine the orange juice, lemon juice and sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir occasionally until the sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and set aside.
Orange Vanilla Bean Loaf Cake
Preheat the oven to 350ºF (180ºC). Line the bottom of an 8 x 4-inch loaf pan with parchment paper. Grease and flour the insides.
In a medium-size bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt until well combined.
In a large bowl, mix the sugar and orange zest, with an electric mixer or by hand, until incorporated. Add the flour mixture and beat until well combined. On low speed, beat in the butter until the mixture looks like sand.
In a separate medium-size bowl, whisk together the sour cream, milk, eggs, vanilla bean paste and orange extract together until smooth and well combined. On low speed, gradually beat this mixture into the sugar mixture until incorporated. Beat at medium speed until smooth, about 1 minute. Do not over mix.
Transfer the batter to the loaf pan. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, about 45-50 minutes. Do not over bake. Let the cake cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn the cake out onto a cooling rack. Brush the warm cake all over with orange simple syrup. Let the cake cool completely, then frost with Vanilla Bean Cream Cheese Frosting.
Vanilla Bean Cream Cheese Frosting
In a medium-size bowl, stir the cream cheese with a spatula until smooth. Add the butter and beat, with an electric mixer on low speed, until smooth.
Gradually mix in the powdered sugar. Add the vanilla, salt and 1 tablespoon (15 ml) of milk and beat until smooth. Add additional milk, if needed, until the desired consistency is reached. Stir with a spatula to smooth out any bubbles.
Notes
To find an 8 x 4-inch loaf pan, click hereTo make a lemon version of this cake, replace the orange zest with lemon zest. Replace the vanilla bean paste with 1/2 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract and replace the orange extract with 1 teaspoon of pure lemon extract. For the simple syrup, replace the orange juice with lemon juice.
Have you seen those cute Teddy bear cookies on social media with the bear holding an almond or a heart? I’m not sure where they originated but they’re sometimes called Pinterest cookies because so many people have found them there. I had an idea to have the Teddy bears hold baby bear cookies instead of nuts and I was going to save them for Mother’s Day. But then I thought they would also be so cute for Valentine’s Day. I made them in three different flavors and I just know that you’ll love them beary much!
Teddy Bear Sugar Cookies
Teddy bear cookies with baby bear cookies in vanilla, cinnamon and chocolate variations by Brownie Mischief
¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons (85g)cream cheese, softened
½cup (100g)granulated sugar
¼cup (50g)packed brown sugar
½teaspoonfine sea salt
1largeegg
1 ½teaspoons pure vanilla extract
¼teaspoonpure almond extract
3cups (383g)all purpose flour, sifted
½teaspooncinnamon
1tablespoonunsweetened cocoa powder
Black gel food coloring
Pink edible luster dust
Small candy hearts
Icing or melted chocolate
Instructions
In a large bowl, beat the butter and cream cheese together, with an electric mixer on low speed, until smooth. Add both sugars and the salt and beat on medium speed until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg until well combined then beat in the extracts. On low speed, beat in the flour just until combined.
Divide the dough into 3 equal portions, using a kitchen scale for accuracy. Mix the cinnamon into one portion of dough. Mix the cocoa powder into another portion of dough. Form the dough portions into disks, wrap them with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or up to overnight.
Line 2 large cookie sheets with parchment paper. Roll the dough to a scant 1/4-inch thickness. Cut out 24 bears using a 3 1/2-inch cookie cutter* and 24 mini bears using a 1 3/4-inch or smaller cookie cutter.** (Re-roll the dough scraps as needed, letting the dough rest in the refrigerator until chilled before cutting again.) Place the bears onto the cookie sheets about 2 inches apart. Top each one with a mini bear. Fold over one or both arms of each bear. Chill in the refrigerator until firm, about 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350ºF (180ºC). Bake the cookies until set and the edges barely start to brown, about 9-11 minutes. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 2-3 minutes then transfer them to a cooling rack.
Using food coloring and a toothpick, draw the bears faces. With a small food safe paintbrush apply luster dust to make rosy cheeks. Use a dab of icing or melted chocolate to apply the candy hearts.
Notes
*To find the bear cookie cutter I used, click here.**To find mini bear cookie cutters click here.
These cheerful Pink Lemonade Cookie Bars are sweet, summery and nostalgic. They remind me of the pink lemonade cake my elderly neighbor used to make. She shared her recipe when I was about 10 years old. It was so easy and it was one of the first things I baked on my own. These cookie bars have that same delicious, vibrant flavor, but in the form of a soft, tender cookie and they’re just as easy to make.
Pink Lemonade Cookie Bars
Soft, lemony cookie bars topped with silky, smooth pink lemonade frosting and pink sprinkles
1tiny droppink gel food coloringI used Americolor deep pink*
Pink confetti sprinkles
Instructions
Cookie Bars
Preheat the oven to 350ºF (180ºC). Line an 8-inch square baking pan with parchment paper, leaving a couple of inches of overhang.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cornstarch and salt.
In a large bowl, beat the butter, sugar and lemon zest until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg until incorporated, then beat in the extracts. Beat in the flour mixture just until combined. Do not over mix.
Spread the batter into the prepared pan. Smooth the top with a spatula. Bake until the top is set and the edges start to turn light golden brown, about 18-20 minutes. Let cool in the pan.
Once cooled, remove the bars from the pan using the parchment paper as handles. Frost and add sprinkles. Cut into squares.
Frosting
In a medium bowl, beat the butter and cream cheese together just until smooth and combined. Add the powdered sugar, lemon juice, cherry extract and salt. Beat until smooth. Mix in the food coloring a little at a time, with the tip of a toothpick, until your desired shade of pink is achieved.
Notes
*To find the pink gel food coloring I used, click here.
This soft, incredibly moist cake is a happy experiment that successfully combines my favorite strawberry cake with cinnamon roll cake. Instead of cinnamon sugar, it has a swirl of strawberry sugar. It’s bursting with fresh strawberry flavor and it’s so good it doesn’t even need frosting. But of course, I added strawberry cream cheese icing, in the tradition of cinnamon roll cake, which takes it over the top.
Strawberry Swirl Cake
Fresh strawberry cake with a strawberry sugar swirl and strawberry cream cheese icing
¼cup (55ml)vegetable oil or neutral oil of your choice
1largeegg
1largeegg white
½teaspoonpure vanilla extract
½teaspoonpure strawberry extract
1droppink gel food coloringOptional
â…“cup (75g)sour cream
Strawberry Cream Cheese Icing
2tablespoons (28g)cream cheese, softened
1tablespoon (14g)unsalted butter, softened
½cup (60g)powdered sugar, sifted
2teaspoonsstrawberry reductionReserved from cake recipe
1tablespoon (15ml)buttermilk or whole milk
Instructions
Strawberry Swirl
In a small food processor or a clean spice grinder, pulse the freeze dried strawberries to break them up a bit. Add the sugar and process to a fine consistency. Strain the sugar mixture through a sieve into a bowl. Mix in the flour, melted butter, salt and lemon juice until well combined.
Transfer the mixture to a piping bag fitted with a medium round tip. I used an Ateco #12 tip.** Alternately, you can snip the corner off a disposable piping bag or food storage bag, creating a 3/8-inch wide opening.
Preheat the oven to 350ºF (180ºC). Line the bottom of an 8-inch round cake pan*** with parchment paper. Grease and flour the inside.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
In a large bowl, beat the sugar, oil, egg, egg white, and extracts, with an electric mixer at medium speed, until smooth. Alternately, you can whisk the mixture together by hand until smooth. Stir in 1/3 cup of the cooled strawberry reduction and the food coloring. (Reserve the remaining strawberry reduction for the icing.)
Stir the flour mixture into the batter, in 2 additions, alternating with the sour cream. Mix just until combined. Transfer the batter to the cake pan.
Pipe the strawberry swirl mixture onto the batter in a spiral pattern. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, about 25-30 minutes.
Let the cake cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then transfer it to a cooling rack.
Strawberry Cream Cheese Icing
In a small bowl, beat the cream cheese and butter together until smooth. Add the powdered sugar and strawberry reduction and beat until smooth and well combined. Whisk in the buttermilk a little at a time until your desired consistency is reached. Drizzle over the cooled cake.
These Mini Baklava Cheesecakes are so cute and incredibly delicious that they actually made me mad! I’d been thinking about making them for awhile, so I was mad at myself for not making them sooner. They’re much quicker and easier to make than a full size cheesecake. I par-baked the buttered phyllo dough, then topped it with a nut mixture. I used a combination of pistachios and almonds, but you can use any combination of pistachios, almonds or walnuts of your choice. After I baked the cheesecakes, I soaked the phyllo shells with honey syrup.Yum!
I topped them with little nests made of kataifi, which are so cute and perfect for Easter. Kataifi is thinly shredded phyllo pastry. You can find it in the freezer section of supermarkets and international markets. Toasted coconut makes a good substitute if you can’t find kataifi. These cute cheesecakes are also pretty topped with edible flowers or rose petals, which would be perfect for Mother’s Day or any springtime celebration.
Mini Baklava Cheesecakes
Mini cheesecakes with a baklava base, topped with kataifi nests
½cup (57g)finely chopped toasted pistachios, almonds or walnuts or a combination of nuts of your choice(I used pistachios and almonds.)
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
8ounces (227g)cream cheese, softened
1cup (200g)granulated sugar, divided
1teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1largeegg, room temperature
2tablespoons (30ml)heavy whipping cream, room temperature
Kataifi Nests
116 ounce (454g) packagekataifi phyllo pastry, thawedYou'll need about 1/4 of the package.
¼cup (57g)unsalted butter, melted
18-24candy eggsI used Cadbury Mini Eggs.
Instructions
Honey Syrup
In a medium saucepan over medium heat, cook the sugar, water, honey and lemon juice, stirring occasionally until the sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla extract.
Mini Cheesecakes
Preheat the oven to 350ºF (180ºC). Brush the insides of a 12-serving muffin pan with melted butter.
Place a sheet of phyllo dough on your work surface. Brush it lightly with melted butter. Place another sheet of phyllo dough on top of the first one and brush it lightly with melted butter. Repeat this process until you have 5 sheets. Using a pastry wheel or a sharp knife, cut the phyllo into 6 squares, measuring about 4 1/2 x 4 1/2 inches each. Repeat this process with the five remaining phyllo sheets. Make sure to keep your unused phyllo sheets covered while you work to prevent them from drying out.
Place the phyllo squares into the cups of the muffin pan. Press them in with a pastry tamper or with the flat bottom of a small shot glass. Prick the bottoms of the phyllo with a fork. Bake until light golden brown, about 14-17 minutes.
Meanwhile, combine the nuts, 2 tablespoons of sugar, 2 tablespoons of melted butter and the cinnamon in a small bowl. Mix until well combined.
Turn the oven heat down to 325ºF (165ºF). Place about a tablespoon of the nut mixture into the baked pyllo shells and press lightly with the back of a spoon.
To make the cheesecake filling, in a large bowl, beat the cream cheese with an electric mixer on low speed, until smooth. Add the remaining 6 tablespoons of sugar, the egg, heavy cream and vanilla extract. Beat until smooth and well combined, but do not over beat.
Ladle the cheesecake mixture into the phyllo shells over the nuts. Fill them almost to the top. Bake until the cheesecakes are set, but still slightly jiggly in the centers, about 13-15 minutes.
Using a small offset spatula, gently loosen the cheesecakes from the muffin pan. Drizzle honey syrup generously along the perimeter of the outside of the cheesecakes, letting the syrup drip down the sides of the phyllo pastry. Let the cheesecakes cool in the pan. When the cheesecakes have cooled and the syrup has absorbed, transfer the cheesecakes to the refrigerator to chill for at least 1 hour.
Kataifi Nests
Turn the oven temperature up to 350ºF (180ºC). Brush an 8 x 8-inch or a 9 x 7-inch baking dish with melted butter. Roll clusters of kataifi stands into twelve 2-inch wide spiral shapes to form the nests. Place them in the baking dish. Drizzle the nests with melted butter. Gently brush more melted butter over the surface of the nests. Bake until golden brown, about 25-35 minutes. Immediately drizzle with honey syrup. Let the nests cool in the baking pan.
Place the nests onto the cheesecakes. Fill the nests with candy eggs.
Say hello to springtime in cake form. These soft, fluffy, little lemon bundt cakes are bursting with lemon flavor and topped with a beautiful, delicious blueberry cream cheese icing. The icing gets it’s natural beauty from fresh blueberries. The colors and flavors of these cakes remind me of sunshine and spring blooms. I decorated my cakes with tiny blue violas from my garden. They would also look pretty topped with fresh chamomile flowers.
I used a bundtlette pan with six 1-cup servings. To find the pan I used, click here. This recipe also works as cupcakes using a standard muffin pan. The baking time will be a bit shorter. If you’re not a fan of blueberry icing, you can glaze the cakes with lemon icing instead. To find my lemon icing recipe, click here.
Lemon Bundt Cakes with Blueberry Cream Cheese Icing
Juice of one medium lemon plus enough water to make 1/4 cup (59ml)
Lemon Bundt Cakes
1 ¼cups (142g)cake flour, sifted
1teaspoonbaking powder
½teaspoonbaking soda
½teaspoonfine sea salt
¾cup (150g)granulated sugarpreferably fine granulated sugar (not powdered sugar)
Zest of 2 medium lemons
½cup (107 ml)vegetable oil or neutral oil of your choice
2largeeggsroom temperature
½teaspoonpure vanilla extract
¼ cup (59 ml)whole milkroom temperature
¼cup (57g)sour creamroom temperature
Blueberry Cream Cheese Frosting
â…“cup (57g)blueberries
2teaspoonsgranulated sugar
1teaspoonfresh lemon juice
½cup (113g)cream cheese, softened
2tablespoons (28g)unsalted butter, softened
½teaspoonpure vanilla extract
½cup (60g)powdered sugar, sifted
2-4tablespoons (30-59 ml)whole milkroom temperature
Instructions
Lemon Simple Syrup
In a small saucepan, combine the sugar, lemon juice, and water over medium-low heat. Cook and stir gently just until the sugar is dissolved. Set aside to cool.
Lemon Bundt Cakes
Preheat the oven to 350ºF (180ºC). Grease and flour a bundtlette pan with six 1-cup servings. Make sure to thoroughly grease and flour all of the crevices. (To find the pan I used, see note below.*)
In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt until well blended.
In a large bowl whisk together the sugar and lemon zest until well combined. Add the oil, eggs, and vanilla extract and whisk until smooth and creamy.
In a small bowl, whisk together the milk and sour cream. Stir the flour mixture into the batter in 2 additions, followed by half of the milk mixture after each addition. Stir just until combined.
Fill the cake pan wells half full with the batter. (If using a standard muffin pan, fill the wells 2/3 full.) Bake until the tops are springy and a toothpick inserted in the centers of the cakes comes out clean or with a few crumbs attached, about 14-16 minutes. Check for doneness a couple of minutes early to avoid over baking. (Baking time is shorter for a standard muffin pan.) Cool the cakes in the pan for 8 minutes, then turn the cakes out onto a cooling rack. Brush the warm cakes generously with lemon simple syrup.
Blueberry Cream Cheese Icing
In a small saucepan, combine the blueberries, sugar and lemon juice. Stir occasionally over medium heat, until the blueberries start to soften and the mixture starts to bubble. Smash the blueberries with a potato masher or the back of a spoon. Let the mixture simmer gently until thickened to a jam consistency, about 2-3 minutes. Strain the cooked blueberries through a mesh sieve for a smooth consistency. You can skip this step if you prefer a chunky consistency. Set aside to cool to room temperature.
In a medium-sized bowl, beat the cream cheese and butter together until smooth. Don't over beat. Cream cheese tends to curdle if beaten too much.
Add the powdered sugar, vanilla and 2 tablespoons (30ml) of milk and beat until smooth and well blended. Stir in the cooled blueberries until combined. Stir in more milk as needed to achieve the desired consistency. Spoon or drizzle the icing onto the cooled lemon cakes.
In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, sugar , brown sugar and salt together.
Work in the butter with your fingertips until the mixture looks like wet sand. Press it together to form chunks. Set aside in the refrigerator until ready to use.
Cake
Preheat the oven to 350ºF (180ºC). Line the bottom of an 8-inch cake pan with a removable bottom or an 8-inch springform pan, with parchment paper. Grease and flour the insides or line with a strip of parchment paper.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar with an electric mixer on medium speed, until light and fluffy.
Beat the egg, egg yolk and vanilla into the butter mixture in 3 separate additions, making sure each addition is incorporated before adding the next.
In a small bowl, whisk the milk and sour cream together. On low speed, mix the flour mixture into the batter in two additions alternating with half of the milk mixture. Beat just until combined.
Transfer the batter to the prepared pan. Smooth the batter with a spatula. Place the strawberries evenly on top of the batter. Sprinkle the crumb topping over the top.
Bake until the topping is golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, about 48-55 minutes. Do not over bake. Let the cake cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then remove it from the pan and transfer it to a cooling rack.
If you like tropical flavors, you’ll love this spring dessert from my childhood. We used to call it Pineapple Coconut Snack Cake, but I would consider it more of a cake bar, so I changed the name to Pineapple Coconut Cake Bars. We would typically enjoy it on Easter or Mother’s Day because it was my mom’s favorite. It’s buttery, moist and rich. It’s also kind of addicting, because everyone always asks for seconds. You can double the recipe if you need to.
Â
Pineapple Coconut Cake Bars
by Mari Vasseur
Soft, ultra-moist pineapple cake topped with a buttery toasted coconut topping
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (142g )all purpose flour, sifted
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
¼teaspoonfine sea salt
¼cup (57g)unsalted butter, melted
1cup (200g)sugar
1largeegg
1 largeegg yolk
18 oz (227g) cancrushed pineapple in juice, undrained
½teaspoonpure vanilla extract
Topping
¼cup (57g)unsalted butter
¼cup (50g)granulated sugar
¼cup (50g)packed brown sugar
â…›teaspoonfine sea salt
â…“cup (78ml)heavy cream
1cup (75g)sweetened coconut flakes
½cup (50g)chopped toasted pecans
½teaspoonpure vanilla extract
Instructions
Cake
Preheat the oven to 350ºF (180ºC). Grease an 8-inch square baking pan.
In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt until well blended.
In a large bowl, whisk the melted butter, sugar, egg, egg yolk and vanilla until smooth & creamy. tir in the pineapple until incorporated. Stir in the flour mixture just until combined.
Transfer the batter to the prepared baking pan. Bake until the top is golden brown and a toothpick inserted into center of cake comes out clean, about 20-25 minutes.
Topping
In a medium-sized saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter with the granulated sugar, brown sugar and salt. Whisk in the heavy cream.
When the mixture starts to bubble, turn the heat down to low and simmer until thickened, about 3 minutes.
Remove from heat and stir in the coconut, pecans and vanilla. Spread over the warm cake. Let cool at least 15 minutes before cutting the cake.
One of the reasons I love baking is because of the joy it brings. In this case it’s joy and sunshine. These vibrant, lemon tarts are pure sunshine. With only four ingredients, they’re so easy to make that you’ll be surprised at how silky and delicious they are.
22vanilla sandwich cookies, finely crushed (including the filling)I used Golden Oreos.
3tablespoons melted butter
1 ½cups (12 oz or 340g)mascarpone cheese, softened
1cup (10 oz or 283g)lemon curd, homemade or store bought
whipped creamoptional
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350ºF. Place six 4-inch tart pans with removable bottoms* on a baking sheet.
In a medium bowl, mix crushed cookies with melted butter until well combined.
Press crumb mixture firmly into tart pans with the back of a spoon or the bottom of a small cup. It's important to press firmly, especially on the sides.
Bake tart shells for 8 minutes. Let cool completely.
In a medium bowl, stir mascarpone cheese with a spatula until smooth. Fold in lemon curd until well combined.
Fill cooled tart shells with mascarpone mixture. Refrigerate tarts until set, about 2 hours.
Carefully remove tarts from tart pans. Serve with a dollop of whipped cream if desired.
