These Oreo Cheesecake Brownies are made with four layers of Oreo cookie crust, dark cocoa brownie batter, a creamy cheesecake layer, and crushed Oreo cookies. They’re the black tie, red-carpet-ready version of Oreos, if Oreo cookies had dreams of Hollywood glamor. Read on to learn all about baking with your favorite cookie and the tips…
Once you’ve mastered the basics of baking, you’re probably looking to try new things in new ways. Learning a few baking ratios is all you need to free yourself from recipes and bake like a pro. There’s no magic here. Using these baking ratios to create your own cakes and cookies is about knowing what…
This Tiramisu Cake recipe makes a decadent yellow layer cake inspired by the classic Italian dessert. Cake layers are soaked in coffee-flavored syrup and filled with coffee cream cheese frosting and chopped chocolate. It’s the perfect tiramisu birthday cake for the tiramisu lover in your life! Traditionally, tiramisu is a no-bake dessert made with espresso-soaked…
These Blackberry Cheesecake Brownies are made with a homemade blackberry syrup swirled into a cheesecake layer that floats atop a fudgy brownie. Add a scoop of ice cream, and you have a decadent dessert that’s not hard to make. Do you love brownies and cheesecake and want a dessert to impress your friends without a…
This Coffee and Walnut Loaf Cake recipe is an easy, everyday coffee and walnut cake. It’s a cake to make when you have an hour and want a slice of cake with your cup of coffee or when neighbors show up on your doorstep. Read on to follow step-by-step and learn the secret to making…
This 1-2-3-4 Heart Shaped Cake with Rose Buttercream is a single layer, classic butter cake baked in a heart-shaped pan and frosted with an easy, rose-flavored American buttercream. Love is complicated enough. Cake doesn’t have to be. So read on to learn all about this 1-2-3-4 cake, other baking ratios, and the detailed tips and…
This chocolate chip loaf cake recipe is for anyone who’s a fan of both pound cake and chocolate chips. And who isn’t? The recipe makes the softest chocolate chip pound cake using pantry staples in the classic baking ratio of equal amounts of butter, sugar, eggs, and flour. It’s perfect for a simple dessert, an…
Warning: while there may be a recipe for a juniper lime drizzle cake included with this post, I can’t recommend that you make it. You see, I created this loaf cake with dried juniper berries for the reddit 52 week baking challenge (Week 31: unusual ingredients). But it has provided me more with lessons about…
This summer Raspberry Cake recipe is bursting with raspberries to give you a lush floral-smelling loaf that’s moist and sweet and a lovely shade of pale pink. It’s a simple cake recipe for an informal dessert with friends or a decadent treat with your morning coffee or tea. Except for those mischievous raspberry seeds, making…
This Maple Donut Cake recipe won’t fool you into thinking that you’re eating a fried donut. But this donut cake will satisfy even your strongest of cravings for maple old-fashioned donuts. Read on for all the detailed recipe tips and tricks, or just grab your buttermilk and hit that Jump to Recipe button. And don’t…
This Sourdough Apple Cake is fragrant, moist, and densely packed with apples, pecans, and raisins. It’s easy to make. And it is a great illustration of the Ugly Duckling Bakery motto that my recipes taste delicious but look homemade. Because it is very very ugly. So read on to learn all the tips and tricks…
This chocolate orange cake recipe with fudgy chocolate layers and chocolate orange ganache was created for the reddit 52 week baking challenge: week 21 – birthday party! It’s a celebration of the 100th uglyducklingbakery blog post!
When life gives a Jewish girl purple sweet potatoes, what does she do? She makes purple sweet potato pancakes and homemade applesauce.
This Earl Grey Lavender Cake is a dessert fit for royalty and high tea. But even if you’re not a loyal subject in a former colony who loves floral flavor, you can enjoy this simple buttermilk cake. It’s made with a blend of Earl Grey tea and culinary lavender and frosted with an easy lavender…
This Peanut Butter Chocolate Ganache Drip Cake is dessert perfection. The heavenly creation is made with three fudgy chocolate cake layers with peanut butter frosting and a chocolate peanut butter ganache drip. If you’re like me and know there’s no better flavor combination than chocolate and peanut butter, then this is the cake for you….
This purple velvet cake with white chocolate cream cheese frosting (in purple) is adapted from an Epicurious red velvet cake. I clearly remember the first time I made the red version. I brought it to a friend’s house for a potluck, and someone asked me to make the cake for their wedding. Talk about instilling…
This Triple Layer Chocolate Fudge Cake with Ganache Icing is a chocoholic’s dream come true. It has three layers of rich, velvety chocolate goodness and is filled with a fudgy chocolate ganache icing. If you’re looking for a chocolate birthday cake for the chocolate lover in your life, look no further. This three layer chocolate…
When Prue, one of the judges of the Great British Bake Off, said in Season 8 that Kate’s sticky toffee apple caramel cake was the best cake she had ever eaten, I wanted to try it. And when the list of bakes in the reddit 52 week baking challenge included GBBO, I knew that this…
I committed to the Reddit 52 week baking challenge in 2021 in order to bring some organization to my baking and to work on new skills. For week 2 (seasonal ingredients) I made the Grapefruit Olive Oil Pound Cake from the original Smitten Kitchen Cookbook. As an aside, I won’t be posting copyrighted recipes when…
These Japanese Milk Bread Rolls are made with a classic enriched white bread recipe. They’re soft and slightly sweet and perfect for serving with soups and stews, at Thanksgiving dinner, or as a sandwich bread. Read on for all the tips and tricks for making Japanese milk bread. Or grab your bread flour, hit that…
Did you ever think, “I wonder if I can turn Nutella into a Nutella sauce or a Nutella cake filling or a Nutella truffle?” Well, you can, and it’s easy, with a chocolate hazelnut ganache made from Nutella and cream. So read on for all the variations and tips and tricks how to make ganache…
Want to learn how to blanch hazelnuts to peel them in the absolutely easiest way possible? Hazelnuts are an amazing nut, whether in your Thanksgiving stuffing or a homemade chocolate hazelnut spread. But removing hazelnut skins is a horrible kitchen task. So read on to learn all the tips and tricks for this amazing kitchen…
These Nutella Thumbprint Cookies are made with a shiny Nutella ganache dolloped into a chocolate almond cookie base. They’re the thumbprint cookie for you if you love the nutty chocolate taste of Nutella. Read on to learn all the detailed tips and tricks for making this recipe. Or just grab your jar of Nutella, hit…
Do you love meatloaf and want to learn about how to make meatloaf and the Best Meatloaf Pans? Maybe you’ve got grandma’s recipe but don’t yet have the best pan for meatloaf. Crafting the perfect meatloaf involves not only the best meatloaf recipe with the right meat and spice combinations and the perfect homemade BBQ…
This Black Pepper Focaccia is adapted from a Focaccia Pugliese recipe made with potato and flavored strongly with ground black pepper. It’s the perfect snack with your favorite cheese, dipped into an Italian-inspired canned tuna dip, or sliced in half and used as sandwich bread. Read on to learn all the tips and tricks I…
This Non-Alcoholic Espresso Martini Mocktail is made with espresso, simple syrup, heavy cream, and chocolate bitters. It’s a sophisticated coffee mocktail you can make during dry January, your pregnancy, or really anytime. Read on for all the tips and tricks for making this espresso mocktail recipe. Or just grab your cocktail shaker, hit that Jump…
This Biscoff Speculoos Tiramisu is a tiramisu variation with Lotus Biscoff cookies or other speculoos cookies, Biscoff cookie butter, mascarpone, and a spiked coffee syrup. It’s an impressive Biscoff dessert but easy to make with no baking or special equipment required, making it perfect for company or a holiday get-together. Read on to learn everything…
Elevate your Lemon Bars with Graham Cracker Crust instead of the traditional shortbread. Just mix graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and butter to make a bottom crust, top the graham cracker cookie crust with lemon curd, and bake until firm. Read on for all the detailed tips and tricks for making the lemon curd and the…
This Turkey Pot Pie with Puff Pastry recipe is a fabulous use of leftover Thanksgiving turkey, but you can also use it with leftover rotisserie chicken, pan-roasted chicken breasts, or Dutch oven pulled chicken. It’s easy to make if you buy puff pastry or have leftover rough puff pastry in the freezer. Read on to…
This Rocket and Pear Salad is made with rocket (aka arugula), crisp pears, crunchy toasted walnuts, and shaved Parmesan. It’s a simple salad you can put together in about 15 minutes. Read on to learn all the best pears for salads and tips and tricks for this arugula salad recipe. Or just grab your pear…
These Maple Balsamic Brussels Sprouts are an easy side dish you can make in 30 minutes. Serve them tonight with perfectly cooked pan-roasted chicken breasts and some homemade cranberry sauce, or make them part of your favorite grain bowls. Read on to learn all about Brussels sprouts, maple syrup, and balsamic vinegar. Or just grab…
What is Prosecco? Prosecco is, quite simply, the sparkling wine of Italy. Made in a specific region of northeastern Italy with a specific grape, there is nothing else quite like it. Read on to learn all about Prosecco, Italian wine regions, and Prosecco classifications. Or just jump on down to find my favorite Prosecco cocktails.
This Water Lily Cocktail variation is a beautiful drink with a floral sweetness more subtle than other crème de violette cocktails. While it has the same gin, orange liqueur, crème de violette, and lemon juice, the proportions of this Water Lily are more consistent with the sour cocktail family to give better balance. It’s the…
These Salted Caramel Espresso Brownies are made with a gooey caramel layer on top of a fudgy chocolate espresso brownie. They’re easy to put together in under an hour and will reward you with the best gooey brownies ever. Read on to learn how a failed attempt at Smitten Kitchen’s salted caramel brownies became a…
This Purple Cabbage Slaw recipe makes a purple cabbage and carrot salad that will be your go-to mayo-free coleslaw for all your hot weather barbecues. It’s in its happy place piled high atop a pulled chicken or pulled pork sandwich or served alongside all the burgers and hot dogs you can eat. But if you’re…
Introducing the best Dutch Oven Pulled Chicken, a simple and versatile recipe that hinges on slowly poached boneless chicken breasts. This cooking strategy, similar to the sous vide cooking method, creates the most succulent shredded chicken for all your favorite dishes. Combine your Dutch oven pulled chicken with a homemade barbecue sauce for mouthwatering barbecue…
These Apple Pie Baked Beans take baked beans to a whole new level. Yes, you read that right – this apple pie baked bean recipe is what happens when two classic American comfort foods get together and make a delicious baby. So say goodbye to blah canned baked beans, and say hello to the new…
Introducing Indoor S’mores, the classic combination of toasted marshmallows, melted chocolate, and graham crackers that you can enjoy in under 5 minutes in the cozy confines of your own home. Whether you microwave s’mores, use your kitchen blow torch for a single serving dessert, or just bake chocolate and marshmallow cookie bars, these ideas for…
Calling all coffee lovers! These Triple Coffee Cookies, made with espresso powder, coffee liqueur, and crushed chocolate-covered espresso beans, are exactly what you need for a sweet pick-me-up. Looking to do some procrastibaking while working from home? This coffee cookie recipe is a breeze to make in under 30 minutes with no chilling time! So…
Mastering the art and science of making meatballs and meatloaf is a trick every busy cook should have up their sleeve. That’s because meatballs and meatloaf are fuss-free and guaranteed to satisfy everyone’s taste buds. Plus they work wonders for finicky eaters who cringe at the sight of traditional cuts of meat. So prepare to…
