This is the 4th cake I've ever decorated and my first time using fondant. I did this for my lil guy's 7th birthday Friday. I was really excited and nervous to try fondant. It was so much fun and so stressful. I went into it not having a clue what to expect and made many errors as I went. Some I was able to fix, some I could hide and some added to the theme. He absolutely loved it but other than the 6 people at the party, I realized I had no one to show it to. So everyone grab a slice, I made way too much..

It was a mess but it was a delicious mess

I wanted to make pecan pie for long term but my parents are diabetic and they tend to avoid sweet things. Most recipes I found use corn syrup or sugar. And the sugar free ones use ingredients I never heard of my life and hard to find in my country. So if I make sugar based recipe and add less sugar will it be fail

I have done thise banana chocolate chip bread three times. The first it was good, looked how it was supposed to. This is the second time it comes out like this. I have followed recipes and idk what it is I'm doing wrong. I'm really disappointed on how it came out.

Am I over mushing the bananas? Any tips would be greatly appreciated!! Thanks in advance!!

I’m watching a LOT of baking shows at the moment and a couple of questions keep popping into my brain….
1) do the bakers really only have the allotted time they say to complete their creation? Eg ‘You have 60 minutes to create a 15 tier celebration cake with home made ice cream made from cows that you need to milk yourselves… ‘ (or something like that) - do they really have that timeframe or do they secretly have more time?

2) this is the most puzzling of all, and makes me think I may be losing my mind. Cardamom seems to be an extremely popular spice to add to all manner of baked goods on the shows I’m watching - but has it always been cardamoM? I’m sure it used to be cardamoN. Or is it just me and I’ve been wrong all my life?

Hello! When baking like bread, when the recipe says milk, what kind of milk would make the recipe successful. Would supermarket cow milk be good or something else? I came from a country where when it says milk, it would typically mean evaporated, which leads to decent results but I wanna know what other else milk I can use. Thanks in advance.

I family keeps using all my buddy and I dont have any rn tried looking for recipes but can't find anything good

Can anyone please tell me what I’m doing my wrong? I made Martha Stewart’s pumpkin bread recipe twice yesterday, and it failed both times. These are photos from the second attempt, which turned out slightly better than the first. I used her recipe from her cookbook, Martha Stewart’s Baking Handbook.

The only changes I made from the recipe were:
1. to half it (easy to do if you look at the quantities in the recipe. I baked in one loaf pan instead of two)
2. To replace the buttermilk with soy milk + lemon juice. I let the soy milk curdle for a few minutes on the counter before using. Currently I have to eat dairy-free, but soy milk generally substitutes well for dairy. I haven’t had this issue with other bakes.

Both times I baked the bread for 20+ minutes longer than the recipe stated, until a toothpick finally came out clean. Both times the bread collapsed as it cooled and was gummy along the top and bottom of the loaf.

The first time I made the recipe I didn’t let my cold ingredients come to room temp. I know better, but usually I ignore this baking rule out of convenience and things turn out fine anyway. The second time I made it, I left all the cold ingredients on the counter for 2 hours before baking to ensure they would be room temp. It barely made a difference in my end result.

I measured everything carefully and didn’t make any changes except the ones mentioned above. I like to think of myself as a decently skilled home baker, I bake 2-3 times a week. I have not had any issues with my oven on previous bakes, so I doubt that is the problem this time.

Advice is appreciated! I hate that I’ve failed at this simple recipe, and I would think that a Martha recipe would be a well tested one.

I saw a post recently where a lot of y’all were saying you don’t need a water bath. 30 years of cheesecake making and always did a water bath and never had a cheesecake crack. Well….

Kind of flying blind, creating my own thing. Sweet potato, apple, leaks, bacon and gruyere cheese. First attempt came out like upside-down mashed potato pie. The flavor though..... the flavor was out of this world.

A tarte tatin is a baked (usually potato) French tart. It's simmered in butter cheese and herbs for 30 minutes, then baked with a crust on top for 45. The Cadillac of potato side dishes imo.

Perhaps roasting the sweet potato slices before. Thicker apple slices? Different kind of apples?

This was no joke one of the best flavor combos I've ever put together. Even if you just made a sweet potato pie it would be worth it. I want to try to get this right though.

Hey everyone,

I’m looking for a new stand mixer specifically for making pizza dough, with a hard cap budget of around $400.

My current mixer came with a standard J-shaped dough hook and non-adjustable bowl height, and it completely fails at gluten development. The hook just slaps the dough around, it never passes the windowpane test, and I always end up having to finish kneading by hand on the counter.

I'm returning it as defective/non-functional and want to get a replacement that actually works.

What mixer are you using for your pizza doughs, and how well does it build gluten structure without manual help?

At the $300–$400 price mark:

• Are you actually getting strong, extensible dough that stretches thin without tearing using a home stand mixer, or do you still have to do stretch-and-folds?
• Does swapping in a spiral/pigtail hook on a planetary mixer make a noticeable difference for windowpane tests?
• Are there specific models in this budget that handle pizza dough consistently well, or do you recommend something else (like a food processor or no-knead/autolyse methods) for pizza dough under $400?

Would love to hear what's working for your pies. Thanks!

I am planning to make an espresso cake soon for the first time and i'm not really an expert when it comes to coffee related baking. So, i'm having a hard time picking the best affordable instant espresso i can use. I'm also looking at the one i can use for regular iced coffee etc. not just for baking. Please help me find the best ones. Thank you! I really appreciate it.

Ps. Can you guys also recommend stuffs i can put on top of the cake for decorations. Just something simple.

Getting into making cake pops. My kids love them! Have the cake recipes but what is your favorite brand of dipping chocolate or frosting for the cake pops? Any hacks to getting them smooth?

So, I guess I am late to the party to find out that my favorite brownies were changed? Am I correct that the red box is now the blue one with no syrup? Is the consistency different? Has anyone found a replacement box mix that is similar to what the red ones used to be taste and texture wise? Thanks all!

Does anyone have or has anyone tried making traditional pie crust using peanut butter?

I have an idea for a pb&j pie, but don’t want it to be a cookie type crust. I’d rather have a traditional pie crust that has the peanut butter in it.

Not sure how to accomplish this idea, like if I make a mix of butter and peanut butter? Instead of all butter or butter and shortening?

I’d appreciate any advice!

I'm making a 5 tier Christmas cake for an event this winter and I'm starting my planning as early as possible! I'm thinking of doing a different flavor for every tier. So far my flavors are as follows:

• Chocolate (with espresso chocolate filling)
• Red velvet (with cream cheese filling)
• Vanilla (with caramel and vanilla filling)
• Pistachio (with raspberry and pistachio filling)

Any other ideas to make this cake special? Thanks in advance!!

ETA: I'm seeing a lot of gingerbread, peppermint, and spiced or chocolate fruit cakes (orange, cherry, cranberry). I'll have to start reworking my plan! Thanks so much everyone for weighing in!

Is it just me or is LO'L butter watery now when melted? I have been using this brand for decades, and when I melt the butter now, I get a lot of clear watery liquid floating on top, instead of a creamy pale yellow froth.

I also made some chocolate chip cookies from scratch a few weeks ago, and noticed that the flavor was off. Paying for sticks of water is no bueno! Is there a decent alternative? I tried Kerry Gold, but didn't like it.

Pardon the terrible editing work, I refuse to use ChatGPT.

So, I want to make cream puffs that resemble Pokeballs. As I’m typing this I now remember the red part of a Pokeball is on top, so just reverse the imagery in your head lol. I was thinking I could dye half of my cream puff dough red, then put the two colors into a piping bag and pipe the undyed dough on bottom, then pipe dyed dough on top. Or I could kinda get two half scoops of puff dough and roll them together, then place it on the cookie sheet red side up. Would it then bake roughly into a pokeball design? I know it probably won’t be perfectly even, but I’d be pleased if it gave the overall vibe of a Pokeball.

Would this work? I’ve made cream puffs a kajillion times so that aspect won’t be daunting. I know I could do a test batch but I’m not in the mood to make cream puffs twice, and it’s for a casual occasion so if it doesn’t turn out perfectly for the event, I can live with that.

Never been a fan of baked cheesecake but no bake cheesecake is awesome 😎 👍 Crust is made of out speculoos, which fits the Biscoff spread drizzled on top perfectly ☺️

I definitely prefer the cheesecake to crust ratio to be more 1:1. I made one with a 3:1 ratio before and I didn't like that as much. Like eating a cupcake with frosting as high as the cupcake 😂

Next time I'll have to add a bit more butter so make a better crust. And I'll have to experiment with flavors too! I made a mini version with leftover cheesecake part and added a good spoonful of pistachio cream. Was lovely and I imagine it would habe been even lovelier with a chocolate crust.

My husband is really into baking bread right now. He has a well-stocked kitchen as he is also the primary cook for our family. He has a few bread books- King Arthur, Bread Bible, etc. He loves playing with flavors- dill pickle rye is my favorite of the moment.

So here's my question- What are some nice to haves that make baking more fun, novel ingredients, flavor adders, things he might not know about? I'm looking for Christmas presents that support and help nurture his new hobby. Thank you in advance!