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Cakes + Tortes

Homemade cake makes every celebration more special! Here you’ll find cakes in all kinds of delicious flavors and sizes for everyone from beginner bakers to more seasoned pros. If you’re looking for a classic layer cake recipe, carrot cake, chocolate cake, and scratch-made strawberry cake are some of the most popular recipes. But you’ll also find recipes for bundt cakes, apple-rum cakes, pound cakes, and many more!

Strawberry cheesecake dotted with homemade strawberry jam dotting the top and baked in

Easy All-Natural Strawberry Cheesecake with Biscoff Crust

This is one of the best all-natural strawberry cheesecake recipes out there — no fake red food coloring, no fake strawberry flavor (not even an all-natural strawberry extract was used). Instead, delicious strawberries (frozen or fresh) treated in the just right way do all the heavy lifting flavor-wise. Tangy cream […]

Baked and cooled strawberry cheesecake crostata di marmellata dessert

Best Ever All-Natural Strawberry Cheesecake Crostata

If you love homemade strawberry cheesecake and Italian crostata di marmellata (jam tart), this is the perfect springtime dessert to make right now. One part strawberry cheesecake and one part Italian strawberry crostata, this easy dessert is a definite crowd-pleaser. There are 3 components: “pasta frolla” which is a very […]

Golden brown dark chocolate covered banana bread after just baking in a loaf pan

How to Make the Best Ever Dark Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

This super easy homemade chocolate chip banana bread recipe is so tender it almost eats like cake. One of my most requested recipes on the blog, this is the best of both worlds — high-quality Lindt dark chocolate and my (most tender ever) classic banana bread.  If you’re looking for […]

closeup Pecan tassie cheesecake after cooling (with large pecans and crackly brown sugar tassie filling baked right on top.

Easy and Delicious Pecan Tassie Cheesecake with Biscoff Crust

Creamy vanilla bean cheesecake and pecan tassies come together to create a one-of-a-kind pecan pie-like cheesecake that any nut-lover will appreciate. Inspired by my Great Aunt Betty’s pecan tassies I recently posted, this fluffy cheesecake with sweet crunchy crackly pecan topping is baked into a 2-Ingredient Biscoff Cookie Crust. And, it’s […]

a NYC subway map with a mini black and white cookie-inspired cheesecake in the middle with matchbooks from some of nyc's iconic restaurants and bars lying around it and a red NYC notebook. The cheesecake is split right down the middle with a light white chocolate side and a dark milk chocolate side to emulate the iconic cookie.

NYC Black and White Cookie Cheesecake (Homage to a NYC Icon)

This two-toned dual-flavored mini cheesecake recipe is delicious from the crust up and pays tribute to one of NYC’s most iconic desserts — the black and white cookie.  This one-half white chocolate vanilla bean and one-half milk chocolate caramel cheesecake recipe has it all — a super smooth and creamy, […]

Torta Di Mela (Easy & Delicious Italian Apple Cake)

This simple Italian Apple cake is a perfect way to use those crisp, fall apples you picked last weekend (or any apples that happen to be in season right now). It’s sweet, super tender, buttery, and full of apple flavor in every bite. As always, I’ve included step-by-step recipe photos […]

closeup of a bluerry pumpkin muffin with toasted pumpkin seed crunch baked on top.

Bakery-Style Pumpkin Spice Blueberry Muffins (No-Mixer Needed)

Plump ripe blueberries have never tasted better than paired with delicious pumpkin spice muffins. In fact, this is now our new favorite way to eat them. This muffin recipe is based on my 97-year-old Granny’s vintage pumpkin bread recipe which is incredibly moist and delicious. And the best part — […]

4 pumpkin spice muffins with toasted chopped pumpkin seeds on top in a muffin tray

Best Bakery Style Pumpkin Spice Muffins (No-Mixer Needed)

This no-fail classic pumpkin spice muffin recipe is based on my 96-year-old Granny’s vintage pumpkin bread recipe which is super moist and delicious — and the best part is that it requires no mixer at all, just a bowl and a fork. They’re topped off with toasted pumpkin seed crunch […]

Pumpkin Spice Pumpkin Bread with walnut slices on a pink marble serving tray

Pumpkin Walnut Bread (Super Moist & No Mixer Needed)

This no-fail pumpkin walnut pumpkin bread recipe is based on my now 97-year-old Granny’s recipe which is super moist and delicious. You don’t need a mixer to make this pumpkin spiced bread — just a bowl and a fork. This bakery-style vintage pumpkin bread is perfect for fall baking including […]

Moist pumpkin bread sliced on a platter with toasted pumpkin seeds on top.

Granny’s Pumpkin Bread (One Bowl-No Mixer)

This pumpkin bread is super moist and delicious and requires no mixer at all! Passed down to my Mom from my now almost 98-year-old Granny, this easy pumpkin bread recipe is still one of my family’s all-time favorite fall and Thanksgiving pumpkin desserts to make. Not a fan of pumpkin […]

a Reese's Devil's Food Cake Cheesecake topped with Reese's Pieces and Reese's Mini Peanut Butter Cups with a border of Jumbo Reese's Pieces Cereal surrounding the perimeter

Reese’s Devil’s Food Cake Cheesecake with Oreo Cookie Crust

If you’re a fan of cheesecake, devil’s food cake, Reese’s peanut butter cups, and Reese’s Pieces candy, this is the ultimate chocolate-peanut butter cheesecake dessert. Oreo cookie crust layered with vanilla bean cheesecake, super moist Devil’s food cake, more cheesecake, and topped off with the peanut buttery goodness of Reese’s […]

pumpkin spice banana bread loaf after being baked (setting on top of a vintage venetian tray)

Moist Pumpkin Spice Banana Bread w/Toasted Pumpkin Seed Crunch

This easy moist pumpkin spice banana bread is the best of both worlds, especially for anyone who can’t wait for pumpkin spice season to start. Fragrant (overly ripe) bananas and homemade pumpkin pie spice flavor these tender loaves with just the right amount of warm spice and intense banana flavor […]

all-natural strawberry cake cupcakes in rose gold foil cupcake liners, topped with all-natural strawberry vanilla bean whipped cream sitting on top of a strawberry gelée with mini baby strawberries with stems still attached on top of the whipped cream from my garden

Best All-Natural Triple Strawberry Cake (Made 100% From Scratch)

If you love strawberry cake, but you’re looking for an all-natural alternative to the boxed cake mixes (or recipes made using strawberry Jello) this is the only all-natural strawberry cake recipe you’ll ever need– and it actually tastes like strawberries. I grew up eating artificially flavored boxed strawberry cakes (it […]

Simple and Delicious Mascarpone Apple Torte

This lightly spiced sweet golden Apple Torte is simple to make and delicious. We especially enjoy it in the summer months when we’re craving something a little bit sweet but nothing too heavy to round out a nice meal. Creamy mascarpone cheese pairs perfectly with sweet apples and shortbread cookie […]

top down view of chocolate chip banana bread on a pink marble serving tray (two pieces cut and the remaining loaf at the end)

Best Ever Milk Chocolate Chip-Coconut Banana Bread Recipe

If you’re looking for a bakery-style chocolate chip banana bread recipe this one satisfies every kind of chocolatey banana craving you might be having.  I’ve used our classic banana bread cake recipe for the base and thrown in some mini milk chocolate chips and topped it with freeze-dried coconut flakes […]