Sesame-Kinako-Chocolate: a Petit Gateau

This recipe came about because I was craving something kinako-flavored. Kinako is a toasted soybean flour, which is 100% gluten-free! It kind of tastes like peanut butter, in that it is nutty and warming. I personally love using it with flavors like sesame, which is where the inspiration to pair the two came into play…

Strawberry Shortcake Chiffon Sandwiches

I can’t tell if I am late to the whole chiffon cake sandwich craze or not, but I can tell you that I am pretty obsessed with the concept! Aa chiffon cake is traditionally baked in a round cake pan with a little chimney running through it – the chimney allows for even air and…

Chinese Bakery Strawberry Cake

My friend Ann would tell me time and time again about her favorite cake being a Chinese Bakery Strawberry Cake. Personally, I grew up on Taiwanese Bakery Black Forest Cake, but that’s an entire recipe for another time! I wanted to try my hand at a super soft and light spongecake with whipped cream and…

Lil Chickie Mango Puddings

I have an awkward confession: I hated mango as a child. Something about fruits with a scratchy, fibrous texture that just did not agree with me back then – 8 year old Fred was looking at you too, pineapple. Because of that, I never really understood was mangos tasted like until I was maybe around…

Vanilla Bean Boston Cream Pie

When I think about Boston Cream Pie, I just think about college. Going to school in a city full of history like Boston, I cannot help but think of that aforementioned classic American dessert. Layers of fluffy vanilla cake, a vanilla pastry cream, and chocolate ganache. Depending on the rendition, there are also almonds encrusting…

Hazelnut baumkuchen with whipped nama chocolate

Whenever Christmas rolls around, I feel like the typical cakes you would see are the yule logs or roll cakes with the meringue mushrooms on top. Or some kind of cake with lots of powdered sugar on it, and some sort of Santa-themed decoration. Not trying to rag on those kinds of cakes, as I…

Black cacao tiramisu: a petit gateau

The first time I ever worked with black cacao was actually at Milkbar, when I had some downtime to test whatever I wanted. I stumbled upon a small container of black cacao powder, and I was really curious. I opened it, sniffed it a little, and it had this earthy, but fragrant aroma. It was…

Gateau Opera

So Gateau Opera is one of those desserts that I have read a lot about, but never really bothered to try making on my own. I have made the sponge, jaconde, before, and obviously, I have made ganache before. But the other filling, which is a coffee infused French buttercream, not so much. For those…

Thai tea-black sesame mousse cake

I really just made this dessert because I wanted to. It was such a perfect dessert for Halloween too, just because of the color scheme, but it can also represent the fall as well, I guess? I went with black sesame jaconde sponge, Thai tea syrup, black sesame mousse, Thai tea Bavarian cream, and black…

Citron Othello: black and white lemon mousse cake

The idea behind this cake came from a very unusual silicon mold I purchased from Amazon. I knew that just from the triangular prism shape of the final cake, that each slice would be a little tear drop-triangle-chestnut-looking thing. I thought it would be cute if I made some mousse cakes that were visual plays…