eat dessert first
Nearly two years ago my friends at General Mills challenged me to do something fun and a little out of the box (sorry, couldn’t resist that one) with their cereals. I came up with a cake layered with all the flavors of Trix and decorated the outside with a mosaic […]
This year I added a little extra flavor power to classic chocolate caramel matzo. I made a triple batch to make sure I could send gift bags home after the seder. All the toppings were a hit, but the toasted sesame seeds with the milk or dark chocolate is my […]
Flourless chocolate torte is a long standing tradition on Passover. This chocolate almond version is also dairy free and topped with a gorgeous layer of blackberries. Flourless chocolate torte is a long-standing tradition on Passover. I have made several variations, but this one is far and away the most popular. It is […]
Up until very recently my father has been a beekeeper. He had bee hives at our home in Vermont and then drove them, full of bees to Minnesota. Due to a city ordinance he was not allowed to keep bees in his Edina yard and had to set them up at […]
This Devil’s Food Cake from Zoë Bakes Cakes is the best chocolate cake recipe I have ever tried and believe me, over the past 20+ years, I’ve tried them all. It is perfect for devil’s food cupcakes with cream cheese icing. Want a Devil’s Food Cake fit for a celebration? Try my […]
I love pie—all pies—but this blueberry pie stands above the rest. I’m not even a huge blueberry fan, but when they are baked up in a pie shell, with just a bit of lemon, some sugar and pats of butter, I could eat the whole thing. Blueberry Pie Tips and Tricks
I have a bunch of classes on Craftsy, including “Show-Stopping Cheesecakes!” To find any of my classes on the platform, just type Zoe Francois in to the search bar and you will find all three of my courses. I’ve done an “Artisan Bread in Minutes” baking class based on the Master recipe […]
There is something so perfect and ageless about shortbread. Nothing trendy or hipster about it, just the most basic, easy recipe and yet it feels sophisticated and posh. There are only three ingredients in shortbread; butter, sugar and flour. I dolled these up to make lemon lavender shortbread, because that is […]
Pistachio is my absolute favorite flavor of ice cream. When I traveled with my family to Italy, we did a whole lot of “research” on gelato. It was an informal, albeit thorough, study consisting of my sons trying every single flavor made in the country, while I stuck to a […]
There are a few basic recipes you can try in a cookbook to get a sense of the quality of the book. I always go for the banana bread, pound cakes or a classic Bundt. I know they sound too simple to give any indication of a chef’s worth, but […]
It just takes a tweet to get a company like General Mills to realize they’ve made a big mistake. Ok, the tweet has to come from Katy Perry and then be backed up by the frosting evangelist, Benjamin Johnson, who started a change.org campaign and got 7,000 Rainbow Chip Frosting fans […]
This is a mashup of a classic Mexican cake and the Vietnamese ice coffee I am so addicted to. The connection is the sweetened condensed milk that is the foundation for both. Tres Leches (three milks) is a cake soaked with cream, evaporated milk and sweetened condensed milk. Vietnamese ice […]
I'm Zoë François, Emmy-nominated host of Zoë Bakes on HBO and a New York Times best-selling author sharing bakery-quality recipes that are doable for everyone! More...
