Dessert Recipes

The PTA Halloween party was in twelve hours and I’d completely forgotten. I mean, I’d remembered to buy the costume—my kid was going as a … Read more

Introduction I’m not supposed to play favorites with recipes, but here we are. My neighbor Karen, who has a standing rule against anything that requires … Read more

I swore I didn’t like Pan de Muerto. For years. The dry, crumbly versions I’d tried from bakeries always left me reaching for a glass … Read more

There used to be a tiny bakery tucked behind a vintage shop in the town where I grew up — a place called The Crooked … Read more

My neighbor Marcy wasn’t trying to impress anyone. I’d stopped by to borrow a whisk—mine had mysteriously vanished into the back of a drawer—and the … Read more

I was standing in the checkout line at the grocery store last October when a kid walked by clutching a plastic pumpkin bucket, and the … Read more

My neighbor, Mrs. Gable, watched me staring at her kitchen window one October afternoon. I wasn’t trying to be creepy—honestly, I was just mesmerized by … Read more

My nephew Leo asked why I couldn’t just use black cocoa powder in the cupcake batter instead of all that gel food coloring. I started … Read more

Last Tuesday, my neighbor across the hall, a retired pastry chef named Rosa, watched me wrestling a box of sad-looking grocery store cupcakes into my … Read more

I was standing in the baking aisle of my local grocery store last Tuesday when the smell of cheap vanilla extract hit me — and … Read more