Hi, everyone!! Welcome back to the 6th installment of my 2026 Astrology Cake series! If you did not see the earlier months’ Aries Cake, Taurus Cake, Gemini Cake, Cancer Cake, and Leo Cake here are some links to catch you up! Earlier this year, I decided to revamp my previous version of this series, expanding upon my 2024-2025 Astrology Cakes. This entire endeavor began with a single commission for a Taurus birthday cake in May 2024, which quickly turned into a passion project and an extremely playful creative outlet for me. I feel so grateful for the love this series received a few years ago, and now, with 2 years more experience and confidence in the kitchen, I felt an overhaul was warranted. I’ve made it my mission to push myself a bit more inventively this go around. I’m so excited for you to join me!

The flavors of my Astrology Cakes are not random. In classical astrology, each sign has a list of something called “correspondences.” This refers to the symbolic earthly elements (plants, animals, crystals, herbs, places, body parts, colors, planets, etc) that energetically connect to each astrological sign. I base my cake flavors on any associations that I feel could be applicable in edible form. For Virgo, I chose to focus on carrots, hazelnuts, dill, fennel, and dark brown.

The base of this cake is the Carrot Cake Recipe I developed last year. This is a perfect carrot cake: moist, tender, and full of fresh, earthy carrot flavor. I’ve added ground fennel to this carrot cake for more Virgo-themed goodness and a richer autumnal profile. I normally include a cake soak in all of my cake recipes, but this carrot cake is already so moist, it renders a cake soak obsolete!

For the filling, I went with a maple praline, a go-to for me when I am seeking something rich, sweet, and comforting. Made of sugared nuts in many forms, praline and its iterations are classic pastry staples! Instead of keeping the nuts whole or chopped, I’ve opted to blend them into a butter for a smoother mouthfeel, but feel free to use the praline to add more crunch. Honey or even cane sugar would work as the sugar component here, but maple syrup is my preference. I always use grade A dark syrup, which adds a woodsy, toasted note that plays well off the carrots and fennel.

I know this sounds a little out there, but trust me on the dill Swiss meringue buttercream! Minced fresh dill is whipped into my basic vanilla bean Swiss meringue buttercream, adding a grassy and licorice-y finish. Because the other components of this cake lean rich, sweet, and autumnal, the dill reminds us this is Virgo season, not Scorpio, and lingering summer needs a whisper of brightness.

Because we are celebrating Virgo, an earth sign and bringer of the harvest, I knew I wanted this cake to feel of nature. I find tree stump style cakes to be so charming, not to mention the perfect way to tie in the Virgo color “dark brown.” To accomplish this, I made a simple chocolate ganache that enveloped the crumb-coated cake before decorating with meringue mushrooms, chocolate tree bark, and seasonal florals.

I had so much fun developing, constructing, and eating this cake! I can’t wait to show you what I have in store for the rest of this series. As always, I’d love to hear from you with any questions, comments, concerns, and especially photos of your creations! Happy Virgo season and happy baking!!

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Hi everyone! Today is the beginning of Virgo season (Astrology Cake coming shortly), which (to me) signals the genesis of fall. I am well aware that the Autumn Equinox (September 22nd this year) is the actual beginning of fall, but considering summer is a profoundly miserable time for me, a delusionally early turn of the seasons is imperative to keep me sane. This also gives you some time to prepare in advance for all the delicious things you’re going to bake as the “-ber” months arrive!

There are a few classic fall bakes I rework every year. These include chocolate chip cookies, apple pie, banana bread, and cinnamon rolls. Last year, I made Zucchini Bread Cinnamon Rolls with Apple Butter Filling; this year, I went in a bit of a different direction.

“Sticky rolls” or “sticky buns” are essentially cinnamon rolls baked upside down in a gooey, warm caramel. This method of baking yields a sticky, sweet roll with no need for any sort of frosting. Traditionally, sticky rolls are loaded with chopped pecans as the nut of choice. For these rolls, I added a layer of sliced figs. The figs roast in the oven, melting into that beautiful maple caramel to create a layer of fruit adorning the tops of the rolls. Fig and pistachio are a beautiful autumnal combination, so unfortunately the pecans had to be left behind in this recipe. In addition to the fig topping, the filling for these rolls is a delicious fig, brown sugar, and cinnamon butter. Figs are at their best right now, and it would be an absolute shame not to capitalize on their unique, floral flavors before they’re gone!

The dough itself is a bit different than the previous cinnamon roll doughs I’ve posted before. Usually, a cinnamon roll dough is a form of brioche, or a butter-enriched yeasted dough. This is not. The dough in this recipe is loosely based on Japanese milk bread: a soft, pillowy, sweet bread popular in Japanese bakeries. Traditionally, milk bread uses the tangzhong technique; this iteration does not, as I did not feel it was necessary for the result to be what I wanted.

The dough itself is infused with the Garden Party blend from Rishi Tea. I am lucky enough to be a Tastemaker for Rishi, meaning I can offer you a discount of 15% on any order with my code CEILIDH95200. I selected this tea specifically, as it melds delicate summer essences (chamomile, hibiscus, strawberry, and orange) with classic flavors of early autumn (fennel seed, apple, and honeybush). In other words, this tea perfectly bridges the gap between summer and fall. If you cannot find Garden Party, any tea you love would be beautiful here.

I had so much fun developing, constructing, and eating these rolls! As always, I’d love to hear from you with any questions, comments, concerns, and especially photos of your creations! Happy fall(ish) and baking!!

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Hi everyone! Here it is: my final recipe for the summer season! I’ve already started planning my fall (and even some winter) content, so if you have anything you especially want to see my take on, please feel free to comment on this post or DM me here, on Instagram, or TikTok!

Today’s salad is a fun play on the Italian holiday dish, “insalata di mare.” While traditionally eaten around Christmas time, seafood, especially cold seafood, codes summer to me. When paired with fresh summer produce, a light, tangy dressing, and a crusty baguette, I can’t think of a more perfect beachside lunch. This is one of those dishes that is best prepared ahead of time so the seafood can marinate in all that delicious fresh flavor!

I’d like to thank Natural Harvest for gifting me the beautiful yellow dates featured in today’s recipe! Please check out their website if you are looking to purchase some yellow dates or other hyper-seasonal produce from a sustainable, small, family farm. Please use the code “Special30” for a discount on your order if you choose to place one!

I had so much fun developing, constructing, and eating this salad! As always, I’d love to hear from you with any questions, comments, concerns, and especially photos of your creations! Happy cooking!!

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Hi, everyone!!! Mid-August is here, and with that comes the close of my summer recipes for 2026. The summer is a difficult time for me. I feel largely unmotivated, uninspired, and unfulfilled, so I am greatly looking forward to feeling more like myself again as the days shorten! Today’s offering is 1 of 2 remaining summer recipes I will be publishing before transitioning to fall content. This lasagna is vibrant, fresh, and effortlessly light, not the typical extremely indulgent lasagna you’re used to!

The base of this lasagna is fresh spinach pasta. I made this pasta myself using a pasta machine attachment for my stand mixer, but feel free to use any lasagna pasta (homemade or store-bought) you love! I do recommend sticking with spinach pasta for this recipe, as the subtle earthy flavor and bright green color really make this dish something special.

There are 2 reasons why you will not find béchamel sauce in this recipe: 1) I wanted this lasagna to feel light, fresh, and summery, and 2) I do not like béchamel. Believe me, sacrilege aside, you will not miss it one bit. The fresh cheese and zucchini release moisture as they bake, preventing the lasagna from drying out, while the absence of the very indulgent béchamel keeps this dish on the lighter side.

The remaining fillings are as follows: herby ricotta, fresh mozzarella, sliced yellow peaches, prosciutto, lightly sautéed zucchini, fresh basil, and loads of grated Parmesan. You can organize these fillings in whatever order you see fit; the below recipe is, of course, my recommendation based on ingredient weight, cooking times, moisture, etc. My preferred lasagna is smaller and taller, but if you are using a wider pan or wish to have fewer layers, feel free to consolidate the fillings to your heart’s desire!

The top of this lasagna is finished with a layer of prosciutto, a few chunks of fresh mozzarella, and a flurry of Parmesan. The prosciutto crisps in the oven, giving the top of the lasagna a salty, crackly crust. Internally, we have a serenade of richness from the cheeses, sweetness from the peach, salt from the prosciutto, creaminess from the zucchini, and an herby freshness that ties everything together in the perfect estival bow.

I hope you love this lasagna as much as I do! I had so much fun developing, constructing, and eating this lasagna. As always, I’d love to hear from you with any questions, comments, concerns, and especially photos of your creations! Happy cooking!!

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Hi everyone, and happy August! This proves to be one of the most challenging times of the year for me as a sufferer of what I like to call “Reverse Seasonal Affective Disorder,” so I apologize for my gap of inactivity! I have 3 recipes for you this week to hopefully make up for my small leave of absence.

The first recipe is today’s cobbler: an easy summer staple that leans on quality ingredients, as opposed to techniques, to create something delicious. Today’s cobbler has an abundance of flavor-packed components: brambleberries, lime, dried porcini powder, and buckwheat.

“Brambleberries” refer to a variety of wild blackberry or raspberry that grows on tangled hedges in the summertime. Essentially, “brambleberry” is an umbrella term that can refer to any shrubbery berry, in this case blackberries. These are hyper seasonal, delicious, and can absolutely be replaced 1:1 with blackberries if you’re unable to find them near you! To add brightness, I went with lime, but if you have a particular proclivity for lemon, I encourage you to substitute!

Now, about the ingredient I’m sure you are most interested to hear about: the dried porcini powder. When developing confections, I always try to focus on adding something offbeat, usually in the salt or umami family. This can be miso, smoked salt, Parmesan, black garlic…not a central ingredient that you can see and name, but more so a rich undercurrent that complements the other components and leaves you wondering what exactly it was that made that bake so delicious. A few teaspoons of dried ground porcini satisfy this requirement in this cobbler.

The biscuits are a very simple mix-and-scoop style recipe, using all-purpose flour for structure and buckwheat for a delicious hearty flavor. About 2/3 through the baking process, the cobbler is removed from the oven and slathered in melted honey butter and turbinado sugar, which caramelizes during the remaining cooking time for a golden-brown sugar crust. This step (like every step, really) is optional, but highly, highly recommended.

This cobbler is best served warm with a generous scoop of vanilla bean ice cream or chantilly. The cobbler will keep refrigerated for about 3 days and reheats beautifully in the oven (350 for 20 minutes) or microwave.

I had so much fun developing, constructing, and eating this cobbler! As always, I’d love to hear from you with any questions, comments, concerns, and especially photos of your creations! Happy baking!!

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Hi, everyone!! Welcome back to the fifth installment of my 2026 Astrology Cake series! I’m sorry I’m a bit tardy posting this; vacation put me off my schedule! If you did not see the earlier months’ Aries Cake, Taurus Cake, Gemini Cake, and Cancer Cake, here are some links to catch you up! Earlier this year, I decided to revamp my previous version of this series, expanding upon my 2024-2025 Astrology Cakes. This entire endeavor began with a single commission for a Taurus birthday cake in May 2024, which quickly turned into a passion project and an extremely playful creative outlet for me. I feel so grateful for the love this series received a few years ago, and now, with 2 years more experience and confidence in the kitchen, I felt an overhaul was warranted. I’ve made it my mission to push myself a bit more inventively this go around. I’m so excited for you to join me!

The flavors of my Astrology Cakes are not random. In classical astrology, each sign has a list of something called “correspondences.” This refers to the symbolic earthly elements (plants, animals, crystals, herbs, places, body parts, colors, planets, etc) that energetically connect to each astrological sign. I base my cake flavors on any associations that I feel could be applicable in edible form. For Leo, I chose to focus on golden yellow, saffron, olives, and fire.

The base of this cake is a saffron sponge made with extra virgin olive oil. This is not an olive oil cake per se, but by swapping neutral oil for extra virgin olive oil, the sponge is imbued with a touch more richness and fruity depth. To incorporate the saffron, I first bloom it in a bit of hot water. “Blooming” refers to the practice of mixing a dry ingredient with a hot liquid of some sort, enhancing the flavor. The bloomed saffron is then mixed with the milk element of the cake, ensuring full incorporation. The recipe below makes 1 6-inch triple-tier cake plus 1 4-inch triple-tier cake. If you only want to make the 6-inch cake, subtract 1/3 of all the recipe ingredients.

The filling of this cake is very fun: yellow peach and golden tomato! Despite tomato’s usual appearance in savory preparations, this recipe will show you exactly why it is technically a fruit. Sugar easily cancels out the excess acidity, and the peaches brighten the overall jam. Because the tomato flavor is quite strong, I chose to reinforce the peach note with the cake soak.

I have not been this excited about a buttercream in some time, and I am absolutely peeved I didn’t come up with this sooner! Olive brine is the perfect salty, sharp, and savory ingredient that can stand up effortlessly against the butter-laden SMBC. A few tablespoons are all you need for a briny punch that plays off the tomato and balances the sugar of the cake. Totally addictive and totally perfect for summer baking. It has to be kismet that Italy is a Leo correspondence, considering my incorporation of extra virgin olive oil, tomatoes, and olives in this cake!

To decorate, I piped a bit of French meringue (2 egg whites with 133g granulated sugar sprinkled in while whipping until stiff and glossy) around the cake, using a blow torch to incorporate the fire element so synonymous with Leo. I garnished with tomatoes, olives, and florals.

I had so much fun developing, constructing, and eating this cake! I can’t wait to show you what I have in store for the rest of this series. As always, I’d love to hear from you with any questions, comments, concerns, and especially photos of your creations! Happy Leo season and happy baking!!

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Hi, everyone!! I apologize for my small leave of absence; I was on vacation! I spent the past few weeks visiting family on the East Coast before immediately flying to the Pacific Northwest for a week of hiking in Olympic National Park. I’ve posted a few pictures here, as well as on Instagram, TikTok, and X-Formerly-Known-As-Twitter.

Now onto today’s recipe…

Firstly, I would like to address why the title of this bake is "white chocolate brownies” and not “blondies.” A “blondie” is a thick, rectangular cookie-adjacent bake, whereas white chocolate brownies are simply a brownie made with white chocolate in place of semi-sweet. This distinction is important as the recipes, chemistry, and flavors of white chocolate brownies vs blondies could not be more different! These white chocolate brownies are fudgy and sweet, with that signature brownie crackle top.

“Golden wheat” refers to a whole wheat flour milled from white wheat, as opposed to the usual red wheat. White wheat is softer and milder than red wheat, making this flour perfect for deepening the brownies’ flavor without being bitter or overpowering. The brownies are dotted with coins of caramelized banana before being baked to chewy perfection.

To finish, the brownies are topped with Parmesan rind-infused whipped cream. I know, this sounds a little wacky, but walk with me here! The heavy cream is baked low and slow with a Parmesan rind that gently infuses salt and umami richness. The infused cream is then whipped with vanilla, powdered sugar, and molasses to create the most delicious salty-sweet topping.

I had so much fun developing, constructing, and eating these brownies! As always, I’d love to hear from you with any questions, comments, concerns, and especially photos of your creations! Happy baking!!

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Hi, everyone! I have a very fun bake to share with you today that has been rolling around my head for a few weeks now! I don’t typically do realism cakes as I find them sometimes gauche or tacky, but I made an exception to bring this vision to life.

A “fairy circle” or “fairy ring” is a naturally occurring circle of mushrooms found in wooded or grassy areas during the spring and summer. Dozens of mushroom species grow in this peculiar way, and even after much research, there is no definitive reason as to how or why this happens. The most widely accepted scientific explanation is that each fairy circle is a singular subterranean fungal colony.

Due to the unusual, whimsical appearance and lack of explanation sans the scientific method, fairy circles have a longstanding place in the folklore of Western Europe. Some believe them to be portals, meeting places for fae or nymphs, or even the handiwork of witchcraft and sorcery. Inspired by the charming shape, I of course had to cake-ify one.

The base of this cake is my Fluffy Chocolate Sponge. This sponge is both rich and light, perfect for carrying both decadent and fruit fillings! For decadent, we have a whipped dark chocolate espresso ganache. This is a very basic chocolate ganache infused with espresso powder for a bitter, earthy punch. The ganache is then whipped to incorporate air, making it light and spreadable. For fruit, we have to showcase some of July’s best: Palisade peaches! Because this is a cake designed to look like a chunk of earth, I went with a fig leaf buttercream. This is the same buttercream used for this cake, and is an absolute showstopper: mellow, herbaceous, sweet but grounded.

There are multiple methods for making edible moss. You can make a green cake and tear it to bits, crush pistachios, or dye crumbs. Because I do hold a hard “no artificial food dye” rule in my kitchen, I turned to the obvious first choice for creating edible green: matcha.

By combining matcha and crushed Biscoff cookies (the warm brown from the Biscoff pairs perfectly to create that natural moss green shade!), we have stunning, delicious edible moss. I used the Barista Matcha from Rishi as my matcha powder of choice for this task. I am an organic supporter of this brand, but, in the spirit of full transparency, I am also a Rishi Tastemaker! So, if you’d like to purchase anything from Rishi, please use my code CEILIDH95200 for 15% off any order.

This would not be a fairy circle cake without the fairy circle of meringue mushrooms! These meringue mushrooms use a Swiss meringue and are coated in cocoa powder to soften their natural stark white appearance. But, of course, always decorate how you see fit!

I had so much fun developing, constructing, and eating this cake! As always, I’d love to hear from you with any questions, comments, concerns, and especially photos of your creations! Happy baking!!

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Hi, everyone! I hope my American friends are having a restful holiday weekend and everyone in the Northern Hemisphere is staying cool! I have a delicious, summery pasta salad for you today!

Seafood, specifically lobster rolls and crab cakes, are some of my most anticipated summer indulgences. This recipe was first a crab cake sandwich, but quickly transformed, thanks to the immense amount of pasta salad videos on my social media feed! Why not take 2 of the most delicious summer meals and create something even better? Enter: crab cake pasta salad.

The base of this pasta salad is, of course, pasta. You can use any pasta that you like, but I’d recommend a shorter cut shape. I chose shells to keep with the seafood theme. Next we have the crab cakes. These are very basic Maryland-style crab cakes with lump crabmeat, fresh herbs, lemon zest, and Old Bay seasoning. I very rarely include branded ingredients in my recipes, but there is no way to make a Maryland crab cake without Old Bay! There are multiple homemade Old Bay mix recipes online, but I really do suggest saving yourself the time and investing the $4 for a proper can. These crab cakes aren’t shaped and fried as normal, but instead formed into flatter discs before frying. Basically, we cook the entirety of the mixture to replicate the outside crust of a crab cake!

Aside from the pasta and crab cakes, I chose to include chopped cucumber, castelfranco radicchio, and charred lemon. Of course, you can use whatever vegetables or other toppings you’d like, but this combination provides great texture, flavor, and color. I do suggest giving these a shot before customizing from there, ingredient allergies/hatreds exempt.

The dressing for this salad is a charred pineapple remoulade, a lighter riff on the classic tartar sauce that traditionally accompanies crab cakes. It’s smoky, sweet, and not too rich, despite being mayonnaise-based. To finish, we have one of my favorite salad and pasta toppings: fried caper prangrattato. Pangrattato is a toasted breadcrumb with as many applications as there are variations! To make a basic pangrattato, simply fry breadcrumbs of your choice in a generous glug of extra virgin olive oil until golden and fragrant. From there, you can add herbs, garlic, sun-dried tomatoes, parmesan, etc, for any flavor your heart desires! Here, I incorporated fried capers for a briny, salty hit.

This salad is best served chilled. Over time, the pangrattato, crab cakes, and vegetables will lose their crunch and saturate from the dressing, so I suggest enjoying this pasta salad as soon as it’s made for the best eating experience! If you’d like to prepare this pasta salad in advance, I’d suggest storing each component individually and mixing just before serving.

I had so much fun developing, constructing, and eating this pasta salad! As always, I’d love to hear from you with any questions, comments, concerns, and especially photos of your creations! Happy cooking!!

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Hi, everyone, and happy July! As a proud summer hater, I can only hope the next few months fly by at the same rate June did, but while I am stuck hiding in my apartment from the interminable sun, I may as well bake something festive.

S’mores are a beloved American treat created by a Girl Scout troop leader, Loretta Scott, in the 1920s. The original recipe is identical to the one eaten today: graham crackers, chocolate, and marshmallows, smashed together in a messy, sugar amalgamation that loosely resembles a sandwich. Despite development for the fireside on Girl Scout camping trips, the simplicity, crowd-pleasing flavors, and kid-friendly tactile experience solidified s’mores as an enduring American cultural treat. While I have many a fond childhood memory of summertime s’mores, today’s recipe is more for the grown-ups.

The base of this pie is the Original-flavored tortilla chips from Masa, which have been dressed up with ground cinnamon, honey, and vanilla, à la graham cracker. If you are unfamiliar with Masa Chips, this brand makes a variety of simple-ingredient (just corn, salt, and beef tallow!), wholesome tortilla chips with a lovely thick texture and impeccable crunch. Masa Chips was kind enough to send me their products to try before inviting me to be a brand affiliate! If you are interested in purchasing some Masa Chips for yourself, please use my discount code CLOVE for 20% off online, or find them in the chip aisle at Target, Walmart, and Sprouts! If you do not have access to Masa Chips, do not fear! This recipe will still be delicious using another good-quality corn tortilla chip.

To replicate the chocolate element of the s’more, I went with a chocolate mousse. Chocolate mousse is a perfect summertime dessert to me: light, sweet, but not too rich or smothering. This specific chocolate mousse is malted, meaning I’ve added malted milk powder, paying homage to another retro American delicacy: the chocolate malted milkshake. The malted milk powder is toasty and nutty, pairing with the roasted nuttiness of the chip crust and the toasted meringue topping.

For the final element, the marshmallow, I chose to use an Italian meringue. Marshmallow fluff is usually some sort of meringue stabilized with gelatin. Since there is no need for stabilization in this recipe, a simple meringue does the trick. Italian meringue is made by streaming extremely hot sugar syrup into whipped egg whites, cooking them, and creating a glossy, satiny final product. By swapping the sugar syrup for honey, you get the same textural result but with a gorgeous honey flavor that plays to the honey in the crust. I chose to further enhance this topping by using lavender extract (I am a honey-lavender fiend) and torching the meringue multiple times for extra toastiness.

This pie is best served chilled while watching the setting summer sun. I had so much fun developing, constructing, and eating this pie! As always, I’d love to hear from you with any questions, comments, concerns, and especially photos of your creations! Happy baking!!

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Hi, everyone! It has become somewhat of a tradition for me to develop a new shortcake recipe every summer! 2 years ago, I made a peach, oregano, and cornmeal shortcake, last year was a pistachio and cherry rendition, and now we have blueberry and fennel, which, despite possible recency bias, is my favorite thus far.

I concentrated very hard on developing an ultra-flaky, layered biscuit this year (which had not been my focus while making shortcakes gone by), and I must say, I am very pleased! It took a few tries, but it seems the best way to ensure the perfect biscuit texture is by popping the dough in and out of the freezer throughout the entire preparation process. This keeps the butter chilled and intact, preventing it from fully incorporating into the dough before baking, which we need if we want defined layers. These biscuits are towering with layers of buttery goodness that tear apart effortlessly, not to mention the beautiful golden-brown sugar-crusted top.

The compote for these shortcakes is straightforward: just blueberries, sugar, and acid. For this dish specifically, keeping the blueberries intact as little bursting gems felt right, but a more broken-down, jammy compote would be just as delicious. To achieve this, increase the cooking time until you hit your desired compote consistency!

The final component is a lemon mascarpone whipped cream. I initially developed this whipped cream for this torte, but it is the perfect elevated replacement for the usual chantilly or ice cream that accompanies shortcakes. The bright lemon livens up the buttery biscuit and sticky-sweet compote, while the tang and fat from the mascarpone create the most beautiful, luxurious bite.

I chose to garnish my shortcakes with a fennel frond, but, as always, decorate as your heart desires! I had so much fun developing, constructing, and eating these shortcakes! As always, I’d love to hear from you with any questions, comments, concerns, and especially photos of your creations! Happy baking!!

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Hi, everyone!! Welcome back to the fourth installment of my 2026 Astrology Cake series! If you did not see the earlier months’ Aries Cake, Taurus Cake, and Gemini Cake, I’ll catch you up! Earlier this year, I decided to revamp my previous version of this series, expanding upon my 2024-2025 Astrology Cakes. This entire endeavor began with a single commission for a Taurus birthday cake in May 2024, which quickly turned into a passion project and an extremely playful creative outlet for me. I feel so grateful for the love this series received a few years ago, and now, with 2 years more experience and confidence in the kitchen, I felt an overhaul was warranted. I’ve made it my mission to push myself a bit more inventively this go around. I’m so excited for you to join me!

The flavors of my Astrology Cakes are not random. In classical astrology, each sign has a list of something called “correspondences.” This refers to the symbolic earthly elements (plants, animals, crystals, herbs, places, body parts, colors, planets, etc) that energetically connect to each astrological sign. I base my cake flavors on any associations that I feel could be applicable in edible form. For Cancer, I chose to focus on milk, verbena, high water content fruits, white, silver, grey, iridescence, and the moon. The decoration for this cake was based on an oil painting of the moon by @1llaxy on X.

The base of this cake is a toasted coconut sponge. This uses a coconut cake recipe I’ve previously posted, but warmly enhanced via toasted coconut and browned butter. I know, I did a (much less exciting) coconut cake base the last time I made a cake for Cancer season, but there truly is no better flavor to capture the essence of this sign or this time of year! The coconut sponge is brushed with a honey milk cake soak to incorporate the milk correspondence, as well as subtly nod towards the Summer Solstice, which commenced on the same day as the start of Cancer season this year.

I typically cook my fruit fillings for cakes, either making a jam or coulis of sorts, but to respect the importance of water content for Cancer, I chose to leave these peaches fresh and juicy. “Maceration” is fancy terminology for the extraordinarily simple technique of soaking a fresh fruit in sugar to soften and intensify the flavor. I am using a lemon verbena simple syrup as the soaking liquid here, which infuses the peaches with subtle but bright citrus.

The final component of this lovely cake is the osmanthus honey Italian meringue buttercream. This buttercream is silky, aromatic, and delicious, complementing the honey soak and rounding out the gentle, tender sweetness of this bake. The osmanthus flower is infused directly into the honey and strained out before whipping, so the final product remains smooth. A follower of mine on X tagged me in a stunning moon painting in April, asking if I could recreate it on a cake. I knew I had to file the inspiration away until the Cancer cake, as Cancer is ruled by the moon. I used blue spirulina, elderberry powder, ground turmeric, cherry juice, and black cocoa powder to dye my buttercream, finishing the design with edible pearls. Of course, decorate your cake however your heart desires!

I had so much fun developing, constructing, and eating this cake! I can’t wait to show you what I have in store for the rest of this series. As always, I’d love to hear from you with any questions, comments, concerns, and especially photos of your creations! Happy Cancer season and happy baking!!

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I have been receiving Instagram and Substack DM requests for a fluffier, lighter chocolate cake recipe: you ask, and you shall receive! While I do already have a recipe for a Chocolate Olive Oil Cake, this version is much more of a traditional chocolate cake: light, fluffy, and impossibly moist, with a rich, decadent but not overwhelming chocolate flavor.

This cake gets its rise and springy texture from both baking soda and whipped egg whites, while the olive oil cake relies on just leavening agents. The tender crumb of this cake can be attributed to the use of cake flour instead of all-purpose flour, one of my favorite ways to achieve a delicate mouthfeel.

Instead of my usual simple syrup-based cake soaks, I’ve opted for a milk soak here. This adds a lovely, lactonic note and reinforces the chocolate flavor. To finish, the chocolate notes are made three-fold with a cocoa powder chantilly frosting. This cake is the perfect base recipe to complement jams and fresh fruits, just in time for summer produce. I’d also recommend my Vanilla Bean Cake for your light-and-fluffy vanilla baking needs.

I had so much fun developing, constructing, and eating this cake! As always, I’d love to hear from you with any questions, comments, concerns, and especially photos of your creations! Happy baking!!

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Hi, everyone! I have a delicious cookie recipe for you today based on a pastry I enjoyed last spring in Copenhagen: the tebirkes!

Tebirkes are a classical mid-19th-century Viennese pastry from Denmark, with the “te” meaning “tea” and “birkes” meaning “poppyseeds”. How can a single pastry be from both Austria and Denmark? Great question, my dear friend! Through baker immigration, of course! During a Danish baker strike in the 1800s, skilled Austrian bakers were brought to Denmark to replace the lost labor. This resulted in Viennese pastry techniques being deeply ingrained within contemporary Danish confectionery tradition. The most famous Danish pastries are built upon a Viennese laminated dough, aptly called “wienerbrød” (Viennese bread).

Tebirkes feature flaky layers of laminated pastry dough, a sweet marzipan filling, and a crust of nutty poppyseeds. When translating this pastry to a cookie, I had a few options before me: stuffing the cookies with marzipan, adding marzipan to the dough, folding in chunks of marzipan, or omitting the cookie dough, rendering the base of the cookie marzipan itself.

Because the pastry I’m basing these cookies off of has a clear differentiation between the wienerbrød and marzipan layers, integrating marzipan homogenously into the dough was entirely out of the question for me, as a show of faith. I found the stuffed cookies to be too dense. The batter had to be quite thick to keep the marzipan suspended in the center, making the cookie doughier than desired, losing any chance of replicating the delicate layers of the pastry. The marzipan-based cooked lacked the buttery element that balances the saccharine marzipan, so that was a no from me as well! They were delicious for a marzipan cookie but not for a tebirkes one.

Finally, after 4 tests, I landed on the cookie we have today. Thin, crispy edges but a delicately chewy center, butter-forward flavor with pockets of aromatic rose water marzipan, rolled in poppyseeds and baked until golden, just like a terbirkes.

I had so much fun developing, constructing, and eating these cookies! As always, I’d love to hear from you with any questions, comments, concerns, and especially photos of your creations! Happy baking!!

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Hi, everyone!! I hope your June has been fruitful (pun) thus far! Stone fruit season is in full swing in the American West, and what better way to take full advantage than to creatively force them into every dessert you can? This treat is an easy, crowd-pleasing recipe fusing 2 dessert icons: tiramisu and Black Forest gateau (cake).

Tiramisu has been having quite the moment online the last year or so, and for good reason (here’s the Honey Lavender Tiramisu I made last summer)! This dessert is an Italian comfort classic, comes together within 30 minutes, requiring no oven (if you are using store-bought ladyfingers, that is), and can be made well in advance. As someone who takes food very seriously, I do try to stick as traditionally as possible when making variations of cultural classics, which is why you will not find heavy cream in this tiramisu, besides the optional garnish. Despite being a popular ingredient in American versions of the dessert, it is entirely inauthentic and unnecessary to achieve the desirable thick, lush cream component. Absolutely no disrespect to heavy cream-laden tiramisu lovers! Sometimes a variation or riffs need the structural integrity of a chantilly, but this is not one of those cases.

While Black Forest cake may not have as many tags on Instagram, this famed German treat needs no introduction. Chocolate sponge, spiked cherries, vanilla cream, shaved chocolate…an absolute joy! To capture the essence of both these desserts, I opted for a tiramisu structure with Black Forest flavors. Homemade chocolate savoiardi (ladyfingers) are dunked in a Kirsch, cherry juice, and espresso soak, softening and flavoring. The cookies are topped with sweet and chunky cherry compote for both texture and more cherry flavor, before being slathered in vanilla bean mascarpone cream. To finish, I blanketed this tiramisu in black cocoa powder and chocolate shavings.

I chose to pay homage to traditional Black Forest with the decor: swirls of vanilla bean chantilly and fresh dark sweet cherries. This is my first summer confronting my cherry allergy (more of an intolerance, really), and I have to say, this treat was 100% worth the headache I endured post tasting!!

I had so much fun developing, constructing, and eating this tiramisu, headache aside! As always, I’d love to hear from you with any questions, comments, concerns, and especially photos of your creations! Happy baking!!

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Hi, everyone! I have a delicious light lunch or dinner recipe to share with you today!! Crispy chicken cutlets and crunchy, fresh, summer slaw…what’s not to love?

Chicken cutlets are one of the ubiquitous, foundational, humble pillars of Italian-American cuisine that I’ve enjoyed on many an occasion. As the base of chicken Parmesan, chicken piccata, chicken Marsala, etc, or as a standalone dinner accompaniment, there is a large amount of culinary pressure these paper-thin chicken cutlets must withstand, and they do so flawlessly! While unassuming, these basic family recipes of thinly pounded, breaded, and shallow-fried chicken breast have been passed down from generation to generation, with the longevity serving as only a testament to their delicious versatility. I’m enhancing the basic chicken cutlet simply by updating its breading! By including crushed pistachios and lemon, we not only get a satisfying crunch and lovely green color, but a nutty, bright flavor profile, perfect for summer.

This slaw is very simple, consisting of only a few key ingredients: green cabbage, fennel, green almonds, and herbs. The cabbage is the bulk of our slaw, while the fennel boasts a pop of licorice. Green almonds, if you are unfamiliar, are the unripe fruits of the almond tree and a delicacy across the Mediterranean and Middle East. Prematurely harvested green almonds have a fruitier flavor than their older siblings, giving this slaw a bright component that was otherwise lacking!

The slaw is then dressed in the namesake elderflower and mustard dressing. It is high season for elderflower right now, but since I currently live somewhere devoid of elderflower blooms, I had to settle for cordial! To balance the sweet elderflower, I went with a pungent whole-grain mustard, instead of a milder ground mustard, like Dijon. I opted to use yogurt instead of mayonnaise as the base of this dressing, as the high fat content of the mayonnaise weighs down the slaw, stripping this meal of its “light lunch or dinner” title. You can, of course, use mayonnaise as the base if you would like! Because we are not relying on any sort of chemical reactions while concocting a salad dressing, feel free to experiment with the ratios of mustard to yogurt to cordial, adjusting seasonings and mouthfeel to your palate!

I’d like to thank Natural Harvest for gifting me these green almonds! Please check out their website if you are looking to purchase some sour plums, green almonds, grape leaves, or green apricots this spring from a sustainable, small, family farm. I made a delicious Sour Plum Loaf Cake last month using Natural Harvest greengages! Please use the code “Special30” for a discount on your order if you choose to place one!

I had so much fun developing, constructing, and eating this meal! As always, I’d love to hear from you with any questions, comments, concerns, and especially photos of your creations! Happy cooking!!

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Hi, everyone! I wasn’t planning on releasing this recipe as this cake was a commission piece (if you are interested in ordering a cake from me, here is my order form), but I was inundated with loads of requests, and I am nothing if not here to serve!

My client placed this order for his fiancé’s birthday, requesting matcha as a flavor component and granting me total creative freedom otherwise! I’ve not used matcha often in my kitchen (besides this Matcha Pavlova), largely due to contrarianism, but it really is such a beautiful, earthy flavor ingredient that works so harmoniously with the honeyed strawberry notes of this cake!

The matcha sponge is an adaptation of my Vanilla Bean Cake for a soft, fluffy texture. The sponge is brushed with vanilla milk cake soak that adds a creamy, sweet flavor to balance the punchy pink peppercorns. I chose to roast the strawberries, as this deeply and slowly caramelizes the sugars, adding a more complex overall flavor. The pink peppercorn brightens what the roasting softens.

The final component is the honey Italian meringue buttercream. I love, love, love this buttercream and have used it on many an occasion! The sponge, filling, and soak all erring on the sweet side, prompted me to add a bit of extra salt to help balance. Of course, salt the buttercream to your personal taste!

I decorated this cake with a bit of piping work, some fresh flowers, more strawberry filling, and a dusting of matcha powder. I would describe this cake as a honeyed strawberry matcha in solid form. Sweet, floral, and a hint of salt.

As always, I’d love to hear from you with any questions, comments, concerns, and especially photos of your creations! Happy baking!!

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Hi, everyone, and happy June! It’s been raining quite a bit here this past week (yay!), and I’ve been swamped with planning summer traveling and recipes!! Summer is a mere 20 days away, and I hope you have something to look forward to in these coming months!

Today’s recipe is a fun, funky number, inspired by leftover lemongrass and galangal I had in my refrigerator from making tom yum soup last week! Thai food is my favorite cuisine, hands down, yet not something I make often in my own home, as it is much less intuitive for me to cook. Growing up in a household that regularly cooked Italian and Slavic dishes, I have a very visceral understanding of seasonings, timings, techniques, and flavor. I can taste a borscht and know exactly what it needs, whereas when cooking Thai food, I have less of a personal relationship with the ingredients and cooking methods, which makes the fluid nature of cooking more challenging. The tom yum was almost a success, and I plan to keep working on familiarizing myself! Everything worth doing takes practice.

With that all said, baking is much less intuitive and much more scientific, so I can easily incorporate Thai influences into a recipe I know I can execute. Galangal is peppery, citrusy, and sharp, the tougher, more abrasive cousin of ginger root. In addition to being a flavor base for many beloved Thai dishes, it also works beautifully in sweet preparations. In this cake, the galangal cuts through the rich dark chocolate and warm honey caramelized peaches to add spice and depth. Galangal can be found at any Asian grocer, but you can absolutely use ginger here if you are unable to find it!

The next ingredient of honor is lemongrass in our white chocolate lemongrass mousse. Lemongrass is vibrant, citrusy, and a little floral, complementing the very sweet white chocolate, the honey, and ripe white peaches well. Because of lemongrass’ fibrous structure, I went with an infusion method of incorporation.

After the cake is baked and cooled, the mousse is poured on top and left to solidify in the refrigerator overnight. When completed, there will be a fudgy layer of spiced dark chocolate galangal cake, a layer of chewy, honey-caramelized peaches, and a thick final layer of creamy, fluffy, white chocolate-lemongrass mousse. I chose to finish this cake with a dusting of cocoa powder, but feel free to garnish in any way your heart desires! This cake is best served chilled.

I had so much fun developing, constructing, and (especially) eating this cake! As always, I’d love to hear from you with any questions, comments, concerns, and especially photos of your creations! Happy baking and happy June!!

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Hi, everyone! I wasn’t able to get my hands on rhubarb until relatively late in the season this year, so I am making the absolute most of it while I can! If you are equally as enthusiastic about rhubarb, check out this year’s first rhubarb recipe! I apologize if you are not a rhubarb fan, but maybe this stunning galette could change your mind.

Galettes are a simple, rustic bake that can be made either savory (like this Purple Carrot & Rhubarb Galette) or sweet. A galette, put simply, is an open-faced, shallow pie. You roll out your pie dough in a round-ish shape, cover the center with your respective filling, then fold up the edges, neatly tucking in your mixture. Galettes are perfect for pie dough novices, or if you just don’t feel like shaping a full pie! I tend to gravitate towards galettes in the summers and full pies in the winters, perhaps for some innate biological hardwiring that impels me to reach for higher calories during the darker months. Galettes are much lighter than a typical double-crust pie, not to mention more vibrant, and bursting with whatever spring or summer produce you can get your hands on!

The star of this galette is, of course, rhubarb. This perfectly pink, sour, stalky vegetable is the star of my kitchen this time of year; its grassy, sharp flavor pairs beautifully with anything rich or fatty. Despite usual relegations to Pie and Crumble Kingdom, rhubarb has a lot more to offer than being a sidekick to strawberry! One of my favorite pairings with rhubarb is the equally pink spice: pink peppercorn. Pink peppercorn is not derived from the same plant as black or white peppercorns, but rather is the dried berry from a tree native to Brazil. This differentiation in genus leads to a vast differentiation in flavor! Pink peppercorns are fruitier, brighter, and almost citrusy, working beautifully in sweet preparations.

I chose to combine this gorgeous ruddy filling with something rich and lactonic to balance the acid and round out the flavor. Enter: custard. This custard is infused with both vanilla bean and chamomile, for gentle honeyed notes that cling to the buttery deliciousness of the crust. Working in harmony, we have a balanced galette that is not too sweet, too acidic, too decadent, or too heavy. The perfect coda to a late spring day.

I had so much fun developing, constructing, and (especially) eating this galette! As always, I’d love to hear from you with any questions, comments, concerns, and especially photos of your creations! Happy baking!!

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Hi, everyone, and happy last week of May! This has been the fastest spring in recent memory, so I am hustling to take advantage of the hyper-seasonal produce only available this time of year!

I have a very fun recipe today, namely inspired by a dessert tamal I had at a restaurant called Casa Susanna in Catskill, New York. I have not stopped raving about this restaurant since dining there in April, and I enthusiastically implore anyone within driving distance to visit it! Casa Susanna focuses on modern inventive Mexican-inspired fare, unlike anything I’ve seen before. They specialize in home-ground masa and bolster a menu showcasing it, including the desserts. After trying a sweet tamal, the idea of traditionally savory Mexican flavors in a sweet setting was something I knew I had to workshop, and so now, a month later, we have this recipe.

Today’s recipe is a Mexican-Italian fusion, combining an ancient Roman fritter and Mexican flavors, beginning with the dough itself. The zeppole dough is made with both all-purpose and blue corn masa harina, the flour providing structure and the masa adding a robust, nutty flavor and a pale blue hue. I prefer the denser texture of a ricotta zeppola over a yeasted zeppola, which worked in my favor as the ricotta helps to support the density of the masa. After frying, the zeppole are rolled in an oregano sugar for extra sweetness and an herbaceous crust.

Dulce de leche, roughly translating to “sweet milk,” is a South American confection made by inducing the Maillard reaction in a can of sweetened condensed milk, most commonly through boiling. The can is covered with water and left to boil away for hours, which slowly caramelizes the sweetened condensed milk within. After cooking, we mix ancho chile powder (a chile powder derived from poblano peppers) into the thick dulce de leche, creating a caramel sauce with equally smoky and sweet notes.

This dessert is finished with chopped champagne mango, one of my favorite spring fruits, which adds an almost luminous quality to a very earthy, decadent dish. To garnish, I arranged some fried oregano leaves. I had so much fun developing, constructing, and (especially) eating these zeppole! As always, I’d love to hear from you with any questions, comments, concerns, and especially photos of your creations! Happy baking!!

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