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Category: Box-free Baking

Happy 80th Birthday Mom 🌸

A very special birthday means a very special cake I was tasked to do… my Mother is turning 80. I busted out the silicone numbers for the cake Starting the piping All done! I am pleased with how it turned out. I actually bought a cake sheet and box from Read more…


Marble Cupcake Break

My guy’s son’s birthday is here, so I’d need to make his classroom cupcakes before heading to celebrate yet another awesome Pisces, my Mom! When I asked him what kind of cupcakes he wanted, he was torn between vanilla and chocolate… so it was marble cupcakes for the win. A Read more…


Black Velvet Cupcakes

Black cocoa calls to me from the pantry, and so a deep, dark chocolate cupcake would be today’s plan. This recipe would be my guide, though I was skeptical my cakes would be as black because of the prevalence of enhanced photos on blogs. But this batter had real potential… Read more…


💘Valentine’s Day Photo Dump💘

Though Valentine’s Day is a bit, you know, trite, I am of the philosophy of the 1994 Built to Spill album “There’s Nothing Wrong With Love.” So some of the red happenings of Love’s official holiday. Red Velvet cupcake again, because it is mind-blowing Sugar cookies mostly for the kids. Read more…


⚜️ It’s Fat Tuesday! ⚜️

I woke up with an urge to use the leftover dough from the Valentine’s Day monkey bread for a mini King Cake! Because it is Fat Tuesday 💚💛💜 Since it was in the fridge for a couple of days it was very easy to work with! A little bit of Read more…


💘Valentine’s Day Baking, Part 4💘
You Are My Everything Bagels

For this next installment, some savory to contrast the sweet. Being a New Yorker, the love of a good bagel has been instilled in me as is the love of tiny crumbs of flavor coating said bagels. I made my own heart-shaped bagels for this holiday of love. Once again, Read more…


💘Valentine’s Day Baking, Part 3💘
Red Velvet Layer Cake

What can I say about this cake? It is one of the best cakes to make: it’s strikingly gorgeous and is taste perfection (not too sweet, slightly cocoa-y with a tang in the frosting)… and it’s a must on Valentine’s Day because of that gorgeous hue. The batter all ready Read more…


Happy Lunar New Year 🧧🐲
Year of the Dragon

When I made the snowskin mooncakes a few weeks back, I knew that I would make another batch again soon. And so I did even sooner than I thought! I made a batch for my old landlord and friend in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn–a sweet Chinese woman who I had grown Read more…


💘Valentine’s Day Baking, Part 2💘
Mini Heart Tarts

For the second installment of Valentine’s Day treats, something a bit more healthy! Starting with a date and nut crust. Hands up if Medjool dates remind you of water bugs from a previous Brooklyn apartment? Ew. Quickly soak and grind them with whatever nuts you have lying around to change Read more…


💘Valentine’s Day Baking, Part 1💘
Monkey Bread Heart

Valentine’s Day is my second favorite holiday to bake for! So to follow will be my heart-shaped endeavors over the span of 4 posts. The first installment: a heart shaped Monkey Bread. Though I have made Monkey Bread several times, I had a holiday version in my head since Halloween, Read more…


My Brother’s Birthday Cake

In the mad dash of awesome Aquarius celebrations is my brother’s and the reason for my visit to Long Island. I had two, count em, two birthday cakes chilling in my trunk on the 5.5 hour drive back. The cold chocolate ganache was made this layer cake very durable and Read more…


Birthday Fun in Riverhead

It was my good friend’s birthday (and my brother’s birthday) that had me driving back to Long Island at the start of February! This cake has become a tradition. And rightfully so. It is so dreamy! I used butterfly pea flower powder to color the frosting as it is my Read more…


The Big 5-0

My guy just turned 50 and I suppose I will be soon-ish too! It is very surreal to me; the passage of time seems to pass in modules–chunks of years spent in specific mindset, followed by the next evolution of your perceptions. It is why I cannot remember my age Read more…


There Will Be Blood (orange cake) 🩸

I used Raspberry Oranges, one of the darkest kind of blood oranges, for this recipe by Rainbow Nourishments. It started with some juicing… This upside-down sake was sure to be a stunner with citrus like this. Because the juice was so dark, the batter took on a hue that wasn’t Read more…


Pantone 3252 Rainbow Cookies

If you have followed my blog carefully you’ll remember the many varieties I make rainbow cookies. I get enthused when I think of new color combinations to try. It was time to make a batch with a favorite color, a light teal I can say I suppose. It’s Pantone 3252. Read more…


Butterfly Pea Flower Bread 🦋

With a big bag of Butterfly Pea Flower powder at my disposal, I was on the hunt for uses right away. I found this very basic recipe to help create what we called “Butterfly Bread” — for its beautiful periwinkle hue and the shape the swirls made. But first, first Read more…


Snow Skin Mooncakes 🥮

Since I made baked mooncakes last Lunar New Year, I have wanted to try making “snowskin” mooncakes. Traditionally eaten during the Mid-Autumn Festival, these Chinese no-bake treats are also called Crystal Mooncakes or Snowy mooncakes. With the recent snow, they were on my mind… even though it is not Mid-Autumn. Read more…


One Off the Vegan Bucket List: A Baked Alaska 💕🍨🔥

Being a lover of vintage dessert cookbooks, the Baked Alaska always appealed to me. The beautiful pastel layers, the encasement of torched meringue… the cohabitation of ice cream, cake and marshmallowy meringue. So with the new year, I’d start with checking it off my to-make Bucket List. It was partly Read more…


Another Christmas, Another Bûche De Noël 🪵🌟🎄

With the motivation of making a showstopper for the big day, I embarked upon the annual challenge of assembling a vegan Bûche De Noël. And though the end result is always spectacular to look at, I have accepted that, thus far, the texture of a vegan cake rolled and compressed Read more…


Vegan Holiday Sugar Cookies With Kids

Using this fantastic recipe for cookies and their accompanying icing, the kids had a blast making their own cookie creations. It was a lot of work making and then supervising the process, but it was well worth it! I know I will soon forget the stress of this day long Read more…


This Year’s Christmas Cookie Boxes

Usually my treat holiday treat boxes go to my colleagues in teaching… ones that help add a little fun to the dysfunction. But not being in the classroom anymore, these boxes would go to my guy’s children’s teachers (Boy, I really hate double-possessives). First, the very much loved pumpkin chocolate Read more…


Mid December Outtakes
2024, Here We Come

Well we are half way through the last month of 2023. As time continues to fly, some mid-month outtakes. First, the tremendous pumpkin that the teenager picked out for Halloween, preserved nicely in the cold Western New York temperatures on the porch, would need to be processed. I needed the Read more…


Mexican Hot Chocolate Cookies

This recipe for ooey-gooey fudgey brownie-like cookies was a real crowd pleaser in my household. I snipped up some Dandies vegan marshmallows for the batter and used crunchy almond butter. The result had it all… A very thick batter Ah, they’re out! Time for all to devour… after taking a Read more…


November… Another One in the Books

Well, somehow it’s December. To follow, November’s outtakes. Trips to the playground which will likely not be a often in the winter… An amazing calzone from Create-A-Pizza… vegan ricotta, some vegan cheese and some mushroom bacon So happy to have found an amazing Indian lunch buffet: Tandoor of India Another Read more…


An All-Vegan Thanksgiving 🍽 (2023)

The big food holiday was here and I planned to make a 6-course all-vegan spread in my new kitchen! And I was surprised and pleased how easy it all went down… I even had time to do batches of dishes between prep tasks. With planning, this can be even more Read more…


⚪ 🌲💫 Happy Life Day 💫 ⚪🌲

Life Day is a holiday in the Star Wars galaxy. Detailed in the absolutely cringe-inducing Star Wars Holiday Special, a made-for-tv special made in 1978, the holiday is traditionally celebrated on November 17. Since we would not be celebrating Thanksgiving with the kids, we decided to utilize the cookbook we Read more…