It's obviously not perfect!
I've never attempted any cake decoration before, or anything beyond a simple one-layer cake, and there are definitely numerous things I would do differently for next time, but I'm quite proud of how it turned out and it was really delicious!

From bottom to top, all made at home from well-loved recipes (except the ice cream which was store bought):
Chocolate chip cake
Caramel drizzle
Fudgy brownie
Vanilla bean ice cream
Caramel drizzle
Chocolate chip cake
Vanilla buttercream
Chocolate ganache drip
Choc chip cookie crumbles
Caramel drizzle

I was going to wait until tomorrow to post these with the rest of my lineup but I just had to post these squish video. They’re a fudgy brownie topped with a thick layer of homemade marshmallow and topped with pink sweetened coconut.

Snowball Brownies:

Brownies:
-1 1/4 cups salted butter
-8oz semi-sweet chocolate chips
-1/4 cup + 1/2 cup cocoa powder, divided
-1 tbsp instant coffee powder
-6 eggs
-2 cups sugar
-1/2 cup brown sugar
-1 tsp vanilla
-2 tsp salt
-1 cup all purpose flour

Marshmallow:
-2/3 cup water + 4 packs unflavored gelatin
-2/3 cup water
-1 1/2 cups sugar
-1 cup light corn syrup
-1/2 tsp salt
-1 tsp vanilla extract

Toppings:
-1/2 bag sweetened shredded coconut
-Pink food dye (optional)

1.) Preheat the oven to 350°.

2.) Place the chocolate, butter, instant coffee powder, and 1/4 cup of the cocoa powder into a microwave safe bowl and microwave in 30 second increments until everything is melted and combined. Set to the side to allow to cool a little.

3.) While that’s cooling, mix together the sugars, eggs and vanilla until light and frothy (this makes the top crusty). Then slowly pour in the chocolate mixture until combined. Mix in the dry ingredients until just combined.

4.) Pour the batter into a parchment lined, 9x13 baking pan and bake until the center has set and a toothpick comes out clean (30-40 minutes). Allow to cool completely and set aside while prepping the marshmallow.

5.) For the marshmallow layer, first, add to your mixing bowl (I recommend using a stand mixer or hand mixer for this section) the 2/3 cup water and gelatin and allow that to set. While that’s setting up, in a small pot over medium heat, heat together the remaining water, sugar, and corn syrup until it reaches soft ball or 240° on a candy thermometer.

6.) Once it reaches 240°, pour over the gelatin mixture and start to whip until stiff peaks form (takes 10-15 minutes). While it’s whipping, take the coconut and put it in a ziplock bag with a few drops of pink food coloring and massage it all together.

7.) Once the marshmallow has reached stiff peaks, add in the vanilla and salt and mix a little more, and then, spread it over top of the cooled brownie and top with the coconut. Cover and refrigerate for 2-4 hours before slicing and serving!

Recipe:

7 apples

S'more tarts with chocolate mousse filling and swiss meringue topping

First time making a tart so I thought it would not be that difficult to make but I used a different kind of butter than usual butter (I think it had a lower melting point and more water content, it also was more yellow than the usual butter) so when following the recipe, the dough was sticky even when left in the fridge or freezer for 2+ hours so I added more flour and left it in the fridge for the next day, it was very soft but manageable

Also first time trying to make the chocolate mousse and the swiss meringue,

They were tasty and so good but definitely there's room for improvement ☺️

I wanted to take a photo for all of them torched up but not all my family members want to have dessert at the same time😆

Tart Ingredients:

210 g cake flour (but added more of AP flour about 4 tbsp)

120 g butter softened

60 g of powdered sugar

1 egg

Tea spoon of Vanilla extract

Pinch of salt

Chocolate mousse Ingredients:

180 g of dark chocolate

200 ml of whipping cream (80 ml hot + 120 cold whipped cream)

Swiss meringue Ingredients:

2 egg whites

85 g of sugar

Tea spoon of vanilla extract

Chocolate mousse and the meringue was enough for 8 pcs of the tart

Tart dough yielded about 11 tarts (each one 8 cm in diameter), the extra 3 ones I filled it with custard and raspberry jam

Edited for full recipe (I'm not a chef and this was my first time making them so I'm open to any advises, I'm also open to any questions if my recipe writing was confusing in some parts for clarification since I dont know how write a recipe well😭)

Tart recipe
Leave butter at room temperature to soften up, after softened place in a bowl and add the powdered sugar and mix them really well, in a separate bowl whisk the egg, then add your whisked egg on 3 different times to your mixture while mixing it well each time, mix untill smooth and coherent, add tea spoon of vanilla extract, mix it in, and lastly add sifted flour to the mixture and mix till a dough forms, the dough should have little to no stickiness (if it's too sticky then you should add more flour (like I did😅)), place the dough in a plastic wrap and leave in the freezer for half an hour or the fridge for at least an hour, or I recommend placing the dough between two parchment papers and roll it out then put it in the fridge/freezer so it can already be ready for the mold/rings
* after the dough is taken out of the fridge don't roll it out immediately or it well crack, same thing with shaping it into the tart molds/rings, I recommend leaving it a bit on the bench or warm it up with your hands for a tiny bit untill it loses it's rigidity and you feel it would be easy to roll or shape
* I recommend in each step you handle the dough you place it back again in the fridge, as in, if you placed it in a plastic wrap in the fridge and it was taken out to roll after rolling it should be placed back in the fridge

shape the dough into the molds or rings and trim off the excess with a knife (movement of the knife should be from inward to outwards) and leave the tarts in the fridge for at least two hours or 1 hour in the freezer (to minimize shrinking)
Preheat oven to 180°c (350° F)
Take the tarts out of the fridge and make tiny holes with a fork into the tart, if using parchment paper, cut down pieces of a tin foil and fill them up with a dry ingredient like rice/walnuts/whatever's available and place it inside the tart to hold it down and prevent it from rising, a perforated sheet is a plus so I guess there would be no need to use something to hold it down (but I dont have that yet so definitely keep an eye watch on the tart incase it rose)
Place the tarts in the oven and leave it for 13-15 minutes (if used tin foils to hold them down, remove tin foils at the 11 or 12 minute so it goldens up, or use only upper heat to golden it)

For the chocolate mousse
Break/chop your chocolate into small pieces, and place them in a bowl, heat 80ml of heavy whipping cream and pour it over the chocolate and mix it really well, if small chunks are still not melted, microwave it for 10 seconds and mix again untill no chunks appear,
In a separate bowl, pour 120 ml of cold heavy whipping cream and whisk it untill thick, foamy and soft peaks (be careful not to whisk it to firm peaks),
Add the whipped cream little by little into the chocolate mixture and mix softly with a spatula in between untill all of it is mixed together and pour it into the tarts and leave it in the fridge

For the Swiss meringue
Place your egg whites and sugar in a bowl and mix, place your bowl in a double boiler and whisk untill you feel there's no sugar grains left in the mixture by feeling it between your fingers, remove the bowl from the heat and whisk it untill peaks form, add vanilla extract and whip it for a tiny bit, place the meringue in piping bags and get your tarts out of the fridge and pipe the meringue into your preferred design, torch it up when served or leave the tarts in the fridge and torch it when desired

These were made for my wife last year for her birthday. I will never do doughnuts again but we request challenging things for each other’s birthday desserts and this is what she chose. They turned out great but definitely not a ton of work.

Made my first apple pie of 2026! Picked the apples (Crispin), and then made the pie crust from scratch. 😊

Apple Filling:
🍎Crispin apples peeled and chopped into chunks

Then in pan heat together over medium heat for 6 mins:
🍏1/3 cup sugar
🍎1 tsp cinnamon
🍏2 tbsp butter
🍎4 apples
Let cool for a bit before setting in pie crust. (Also tasted delicious as an ice cream topper🍨)

Pie Crust:
🥧1/2 cup vegetable shortening
🥧1 1/2 cups All Purpose Flour
🥧1/2 tsp salt
🥧1 cup ice cold water to use as needed for dough consistency
🥧made leaf pattern with cookie cutter
🥧Bake at 400 degrees for 30-45mins

Got stood up on a potential date. Dating after 40 is the worst. Anyway, decided to make a cake to console myself lol Went with the tried and true [Preppy Kitchen[(https://preppykitchen.com/triple-layer-chocolate-raspberry-cake/https://preppykitchen.com/triple-layer-chocolate-raspberry-cake/) with slight modification of making a raspberry buttercream instead of chocolate.

Ingredients For the Cake:

2½ cups all-purpose flour (240g)
2 cups granulated sugar (400g)
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
¾ cup Dutch-process cocoa powder (75g)
1 cup whole or low-fat buttermilk (240ml)
⅔ cup vegetable oil (180ml)
3 large eggs room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup hot coffee or boiling water (240ml)

Raspberry Filling:

12 ounces fresh raspberries (340g)
¼ cup granulated sugar (50g)
3 tablespoons water or chambord liqueur divided
1 ½ tablespoons cornstarch

For the Frosting:

2 cups unsalted butter room temperature (452g)
¾ teaspoon salt
3 tbsp raspberry puree
6-8 cups powdered sugar (720-960g)

Instructions

Position two oven racks towards the center of the oven, and preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease three 8-inch round baking pans with baking spray and line the bottoms with parchment paper. If you have them, wrap water-soaked fabric cake strips around the pans.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt and set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla. Add the buttermilk mixture to the flour mixture and whisk until no streaks of flour remain. Slowly pour in the hot coffee while whisking until fully combined.

Divide the batter evenly among the prepared cake pans. Bake for 20 minutes then carefully rotate the pans between oven racks, and continue baking for an additional 6 minutes or until the centers feel springy when gently pressed and the sides of the cakes start to pull away from the pan. Let the cakes cool in the pans for 20 minutes, then carefully invert them onto cooling racks to cool completely.

Make the Filling:

While the cakes are baking, combine the raspberries, sugar, and 1 tablespoon of water or chambord in a small saucepan. Set over medium heat, and cook, stirring frequently and gently mash the raspberries a few times, until the berries turn juicy and start to simmer. Simmer for 5 minutes, stirring often.

In a small bowl, stir together the cornstarch and remaining 2 tablespoons of water or chambord. Stir the cornstarch slurry into the raspberries, and cook, stirring constantly until the mixture thickens and no longer looks cloudy, 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and set aside to cool. Set aside 3tbsp of puree for the buttercream.

Make the Frosting:

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and salt on medium speed until soft and creamy, about 2 minutes. Add the raspberry puree Stop and scrape down the bowl.

While mixing on low speed, gradually add in the powdered sugar.

Once all of the sugar is added, scrape down the bowl and beat on medium-low speed until light, fluffy, and easily spreadable, about 1 minute. Place 1 cup (250g) of frosting in a piping bag and snip off about ½” opening at the end.

Assemble the Cake:

Place one cooled cake layer on a cake stand and spread ¼ cup (62g) of frosting in a thin layer on top of the cake. Using the reserved 1 cup of frosting, pipe a thin border around the edge of the cake to form a dam to hold in the raspberry filling. Add half of the raspberry filling inside the border and spread it into an even layer.

Place another cake layer on top and repeat with more frosting and the rest of the filling. Place the final cake layer on top, bottom side up so the cake top is level. Spread the remaining frosting all over the outside of the cake. Top with remaining raspberry puree and fresh raspberries. Chill for 1 hour.

Snickerdoodles have always been one of my favorite cookies, but I will be the first to admit that they're kinda... plain?

There's just no spice to them outside of the little bit in the cinnamon sugar coating. And while that's probably why they make a good cookie platter cookie, sometimes I wish there was a little more oomph to them.

That's why I made these chai cookies with approximately 4x the spices! They still have the crispy edges and soft centers of snickerdoodles, but they don't use cream of tartar, so they bake up a little flatter and chewier, and with a lot more flavor :)

If you also want to ask more of your snickerdoodle: https://floralapron.com/chai-cookies/

made for my bff's birthday. it was so hard to get to the ribbon stage lol

Birthday cake.. thoughts on decoration? 😬

Triple Berry Entremet

Notes: 

***This will be a multi-day process, as the mousse layer needs to freeze overnight.

You will need a round silicone entremet mold for this recipe. This recipe is for a 7.5 x 2 inch round mold. I bought one from Amazon for $8.99 - HYQO Entremet Mold Silicone, 7.5 x 2 In Round. You could also make this in a spring form pan, however you will need to line it quite a bit with plastic wrap and you will need to adjust the size of the layers according to the size of the pan. I have never tried it that way and can't vouch for it.

Here are the layers you will be making, in the order they will appear in the cake, from bottom up:

Chocolate graham cracker crunch

Chocolate ganache

Vanilla joconde sponge

Roasted raspberry cremeux

Raspberry gelée

Light raspberry mousse

White chocolate and almond mirror glaze

Chocolate Graham Cracker Crunch:

55 g milk chocolate, finely chopped

35 g feuilletine - recipe for this is all the way at the bottom

30 g graham cracker crumbs

25 g almond praline paste - recipe for this is all the way at the bottom

1 small pinch of salt

1. Crush the graham cracker into fine crumbs.

2. Break the feuilletine into smaller pieces but not tiny crumbs.

3. Melt the milk chocolate until it is smooth, then add the almond praline paste and salt and mix together.

4. Fold in the graham crumbs and feuilletine. It will get quite thick and chunky.

5. Line a 6-inch pan with cling wrap. Press the mixture into the pan and compact it down tightly (you can use the bottom of a glass to press it down). Try to get it as pressed and thin as possible.

6. Freeze for at least a few hours.

Vanilla Joconde Sponge:

1 large egg (about 50 g)

30 g almond flour

30 g powdered sugar

12 g all-purpose flour

1 large egg white (about 30 g)

8 g granulated sugar

10 g unsalted butter, melted and cooled

1 tsp vanilla bean paste, or ¾ tsp vanilla extract

Pinch of salt

1. Heat oven to 400°F (200°C).

2. Line the bottom of a 6-inch pan with a round of parchment paper.

3. Whisk the whole egg, almond flour, powdered sugar, vanilla, and salt for about 2–3 minutes, until noticeably lighter and slightly foamy.

4. Sift in the all-purpose flour and gently incorporate it.

5. Whip the egg white until foamy. Gradually add the 8 g granulated sugar.

6. Continue whipping until you have glossy medium-firm peaks. Don't take it all the way to a very stiff meringue.

7. Fold about ⅓ of the whipped egg white into the egg mixture to lighten it. Fold in another ⅓, then the final ⅓, being gentle so you don't lose too much air.

8. Take a small spoonful of the batter and mix it thoroughly into the melted butter. Fold that butter mixture back into the batter.

9. Spread the batter evenly in the 6-inch pan and bake for 6-8 minutes, until the top is just barely golden and springy to the touch.

10. Cool completely, then wrap tightly in plastic and freeze for a few hours.

11. Once frozen, unwrap the sponge and shave down either the top or bottom so that the layer is very thin - no more than 1/2 inch tall. You can do this right before attaching it to the crunch layer.

Chocolate Ganache:

***Don't make this layer until the sponge layer and the crunch layer are fully frozen and ready for assembly.

25 g dark chocolate, about 60–65%, finely chopped

15 g heavy cream

4 g glucose syrup or light corn syrup

2 g unsalted butter

1/2 tsp vanilla paste

Tiny pinch of salt

1. Put the chopped chocolate in a small bowl.

2. Heat the heavy cream and glucose until steaming hot but not boiling.

3. Pour over the chocolate and let sit for about 1 minute.

4. Stir slowly from the center outward until completely smooth and glossy.

5. Stir in the butter, salt, and vanilla.

6. Let it cool until it thickens to a soft, spreadable consistency.

Assemble the crunch and sponge layers:

Keep the crunch layer in it's pan. Spread the chocolate ganache evenly over the crunch layer. Lay the sponge layer on top of the ganache and press down firmly and evenly on the sponge layer, so that it fully sticks to the ganache and crunch layer. Don't be afraid to evenly squish down the sponge layer a little (but don't make it lumpy). You should now have a crunch layer, ganache layer, and sponge layer all in one pan. Tightly wrap the pan and freeze.

Roasted Raspberry Crèmeux:

***Make this layer before the gelee layer, as you will be pouring the gelee onto the frozen crèmeux layer.

150 g raspberries — fresh or frozen

15 g pure maple syrup

5 g lemon juice

1 large egg yolk — about 18 g

20 g granulated sugar

2 g powdered gelatin

10 g cold water, for blooming the gelatin

35 g heavy cream

25 g unsalted butter, softened

Tiny pinch of salt

½ tsp vanilla bean paste

Red food coloring

1. Heat your oven to 350°F (175°C).

2. Put raspberries in a small oven-safe dish and drizzle with the maple syrup.

3. Roast for approximately 20–30 minutes, stirring once or twice. You want the raspberries to collapse and become darker and more concentrated.

4. Cool roasted raspberries, then blend. Pass the purée through fine-mesh sieve to remove the seeds.

5. Stir lemon juice into the purée.

6. Sprinkle the 2 g powdered gelatin over the 10 g cold water. Let it sit for 5–10 minutes.

7. Whisk together the egg yolk, sugar, roasted raspberry purée, and cream.

8. Pour into a saucepan and cook over low to medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until it reaches approximately 180°F (82°C). Don't let it boil!

9. Once thickened to a custard, remove from heat. If need be, strain out any chunks.

10. Add the bloomed gelatin until fully dissolved.

11. Add softened butter, vanilla, and salt. Blend with an immersion blender until completely smooth and glossy. Try to keep immersion blender submerged to avoid making bubbles. Add a few drops of the red food coloring.

12. Pour into a 6-inch pan lined with cling wrap.

13. Wrap the pan and freeze until completely solid, usually a few hours.

Raspberry Gelée:

***Make this layer only after the crèmeux is fully frozen.

130 g raspberries, preferably frozen

15 g granulated sugar

5 g fresh lemon juice

2 g powdered gelatin

10 g cold water, for blooming the gelatin

1. Thaw raspberries.

2. Blend raspberries and push purée through fine-mesh sieve to remove seeds.

3. Sprinkle 2 g gelatin over 10 g cold water. Let it sit for 5–10 minutes.

4. Put the raspberry purée and 15 g sugar in a small saucepan.

5. Warm gently until the sugar dissolves and the mixture reaches about 140–160°F. Don't boil.

6. Remove from the heat and stir in the bloomed gelatin until completely dissolved.

7. Stir in lemon juice.

8. Allow to cool, but no enough to solidify. It needs to be pourable.

Assemble gelée and crèmeux layers:

Keep the frozen crèmeux layer in it's pan and gently score the top by making very shallow cut marks. The idea is to rough up the surface a bit so that when you pour on the gelée, it is better able to "grab" onto the crèmeux surface. Once you have scored the top surface, pour the liquid gelée onto the crèmeux layer that is inside the pan. You might need to tilt the pan back and forth a bit to get the gelée to settle evenly. You should now have the crèmeux layer with the gelée on top, all in the same pan. Wrap the pan and freeze until the gelée has completely solidified. Make sure the pan is on a level surface as it freezes.

Light Raspberry Mousse:

340 g fresh raspberries

88 g granulated sugar

10 g powdered gelatin

50 g cold water, for blooming the gelatin

340 g heavy cream

1. Place the fresh raspberries in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Cook gently until they soften and release their juices.

2. Blend raspberries and push purée through fine-mesh sieve to remove seeds.

3. Return the raspberry purée to the saucepan. Add the 88 g sugar and warm gently until the sugar has completely dissolved.

4. Remove from heat and stir in bloomed gelatin until completely dissolved.

5. Transfer mixture to a bowl and cool down to 85–95°F (30–35°C).

6. Whip the heavy cream to soft peaks.

7. Add about 1/3 of the whipped cream to the raspberry mixture and whisk gently to lighten it. Then fold in the remaining whipped cream in two additions.

Assemble the entremet:

The entremet will be assembled upside-down. Take the round entremet mold and put the bottom part (the part without a hole) on a baking sheet or some sort of flat surface that you'll be able to transfer to the freezer, so that the mold remains level as you move it. Pour enough mousse into the mold so that it covers about a 1/2 inch of the bottom. Place the mold in the freezer for no more than ten minutes, checking it frequently. You want the mousse to firm up just enough so that when you place the next layer on top, it won't sink down. Once the mousse has the consistency of slightly-loose pudding, take it out of the freezer. Take the crèmeux-gelée layer and, with the gelée side face down, gently place it into the mold, on top of the slightly-firm mousse layer. Very lightly press it down so that it snuggles into the mousse. Now connect the top part of the mold to the bottom part. You now have the enclosed entremet mold, with a hole at the top. Pour some more mousse into the mold through the hole at the top. The goal is to cover the crèmeux-gelée layer in mousse. Make sure the mousse gets all around the sides of the crèmeux-gelée layer. Pour enough mousse so that the bottom of the crèmeux-gelée layer (that is, the underside of the crèmeux layer since it is placed in the mold upside down) is completely covered, and fill the mold with mousse, leaving an inch from the top hole. Again place the mold in the freezer, this time for no more than 5 minutes. Take it out and place the crunch/sponge layer, sponge side down, through the hole and into the mousse that's in the mold. Gently press the layer into the mousse. You might have a little mousse squeeze out of the top hole as the crunch/sponge layer displaces it. Gently press the sponge/crunch layer into the mousse until the bottom of the crunch layer is flush with the mold opening. Wipe away any excess mousse that might have come out of the mold. Place the mold in the freezer and freeze at least 12 hours. After it has frozen solid, carefully remove from the mold.

White chocolate and almond mirror glaze:

50 g water

75 g granulated sugar

75 g glucose syrup or light corn syrup

100 g white chocolate, finely chopped

20–25 g heavy cream

4.5 g powdered gelatin

22 g cold water, for blooming gelatin

½ tsp vanilla extract

Tiny pinch of salt

Red food coloring

1. Sprinkle the 4.5 g powdered gelatin over the 22 g cold water. Let it sit for 5–10 minutes.

2. Put the chopped white chocolate in a tall, narrow container suitable for an immersion blender.

3. Combine the 50 g water, sugar, and glucose/corn syrup in a saucepan.

4. Heat until the sugar is completely dissolved and bring the syrup to approximately 220–225°F (104–107°C).

5. Remove from heat and stir in heavy cream.

6. Pour the hot mixture over the white chocolate and let it sit for about 1 minute.

7. Add the bloomed gelatin, vanilla, salt, and red coloring.

8. Blend with an immersion blender, keeping the blender head fully submerged to avoid incorporating air. Blend until completely smooth and glossy.

9. Pass the glaze through a fine-mesh sieve as needed.

10. Wait for the glaze to cool down to 85–90°F (30–33°C)

11. Pour the glaze over the center and let it flow naturally over the sides.

Refrigerate the entremet for 1 hour to allow the glaze to set. Defrost the entremets for at least 4 hours in the fridge, then 30 minutes outside the fridge, before serving. Otherwise you run the risk of the gelée being frozen. You can refrigerate the leftovers for a few days. Be sure to use a warm knife when slicing.

Fueilletine:

56 g unsalted butter, room temperature

60 g powdered sugar, sifted

1 large egg, room temperature

60 g all purpose flour

1/4 tsp sea salt (I found this to be a bit much)

1/4 tsp baking soda

14 g molasses

1. Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C).

2. Line two half-sheet baking pans with parchment paper.

3. Cream butter with powdered sugar until smooth.

4. Add egg and beat until combined.

5. Drop 1/4 of the batter onto the prepared baking pan. Use an offset spatula or regular spatula to spread the batter as thin as possible. If you leave even the slightest thick area, it will bake doughy and that spot will be ruined.

6. Bake for 4 to 6 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through. Keep a close eye on it. It's done when there's an even golden brown across the entire surface.

7. Remove from oven and cool on baking sheet for 10-15 minutes. It will crisp up once cooled. Once cooled, break into pieces and store n airtight container.

8. Repeat with the remaining batter. For the recipe above, you only need one pan's worth.

Almond Praline Paste:

*You will need a food processor for this.

1/2 cup raw sliced almonds

1/2 cup granulate sugar

1/2 Tbsp vegetable oil

1-2 Tbsp water

1. Preheat over to 350°F (177°C).

2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

3. Spread the almond slices out on the baking sheet

4. Bake in the oven in middle rack for 1-2 minutes. Check the almonds and if they are the slightest bit golden, they are done. If not, continue baking in 30 second bursts. They will burn very quickly and easily.

5. Take the almonds out of the oven, leave on the pan and set aside to cool.

6. Place sugar in medium saucepan and add water, just enough to make all of the sugar wet but no more.

7. Set on medium-low heat and don't stir. The sugar will eventually melt, then begin to bubble. The bubbles may look a bit crusty, this is normally. Watch it closely. It will slowly darken in color. As soon as it is a deep golden amber, take it off the heat and quickly pour it over the almonds, using spatula to help it out of the pot. This melted sugar is extremely hot so be careful. Cover the almonds and let the whole thing cool.

8. Once fully cooled, break up the almonds and hardened sugar and place pieces into a food processor.

9. Add oil and blend. It will go through a few stages and different consistencies. You might need to stop and scrape the paste from the edges. After about 4 or 5 minutes, it should look like a fluid paste. If not, keep going. It will get there. You can store this in an airtight container at room temperature.

Not quite a baking fail as I hid my shame with icing (unfortunately I didn’t take a before pic)! I’ve never made cinnamon rolls before and though making them blue and galaxy inspired was a good first attempt. They’re for a Project Hail Mary movie night for my partner’s birthday - hopefully no one realises the blue ended up being green lol

I added cinnamon to the crust and used a strawberry reduction to drizzle on top. https://www.reddit.com/r/Baking/s/twaLejqqO8

Edit: I promise the drizzle is not bright red as pictured lol. The lighting plus the camera on my phone are not doing it justice🥲🥲. It’s more of a magenta color, kind of the way a strawberry smoothie would look. I gave it to my co-worker already and she was happy with it. I’ll know tomorrow if she liked the way it tasted. Also I appreciate the feedback, always willing to get better in areas I’m lacking.

Milk and white chocolate chips

Update: thank you for the ideas! I think I’ll do one chocolatey cookie and one without chocolate. It gives me a diversity of flavors to offer guests.

I knew you all would come through. THANK YOU and thank you for the kind wishes, they have encouraged me.

::

Struggling to process bad news and I need to bake something new and fresh tomorrow.

I’m begging you to send me the cookie recipe that people taste and talk about even after the occasion they tried it. I want it to be something special. I have basic pantry ingredients, and I’m happy to go to the grocery store to pick up a few extra things. If there is a specific brand of an ingredient that works best, say so. My typical chocolate chip cookie is from the Nestlé bag, my butterscotch cookie is normally from the Nestlé bag, and I have had very success with cowboy cookies. I’m interested in something more.

Thank you in advance for giving me something cheery and a distraction, and something delicious I can serve when I have people inevitably in and out of my house soon.