Learning how to make new flavors on cakes, cookies and breads is quite easy once you understand the basics of baking. That is how these lovely orange cardamom tea cake cookies were developed. Look toward others for...
Jackson’s Cookbook
recipes, tips, & more
A Beginners Guide: Easily Hull a Strawberry
Has anyone taught you the basics of baking? Simple ideas like how to easily hull a strawberry? Me either. These types of things are what I wish I was taught more as a kid. But alas, when you grow up with very little, not a...
Dairy-free Chocolate Chip Cookies
We will discuss how to make dairy-free chocolate chip cookies. If you love chocolate chip cookies, but you do not eat dairy, you can still make a lot of your favorites with shortening or oil! I'll be sharing a lot of...
Weigh Ingredients for Accuracy While Baking
If you want to get serious about baking, weigh ingredients for accuracy. It will take you from amateur status to rockstar overnight. When I first started baking, I would use cups and measuring spoons. But after a while,...
The Search for a Savory Chocolate Chip Cookie
The search for a savory chocolate chip cookie started back in the 90s. I know, I'm dating myself. When I was much younger, my friend and I accidentally learned how to make a cookie cake. She and I decided to call it that...
Cranberry Banana Nut Bread Recipe
This is how to make Cranberry Banana Nut Bread and a little background if you are interested. If not, feel free to skip ahead to the recipe or photos. My mom comes over and asks for a recipe to make for her church group, but...
What is Softened or Room-Temperature Butter?
A lot of recipes fail due to calling for "softened or room-temperature butter" without taking into consideration that the room the baker is in could be anything really. In either a 65°F (18°C) or 89°F (31°C) kitchen for...
The Very Best French Macaron Troubleshooting Guide
Why is this the world's most difficult cookie? This is a French Macaron Troubleshooting Guide with photos and explanation for those trying to crack the code on the mysterious macaron. Macarons are the most difficult cookie...
Fabulous French Vanilla Sugar Cookies
French vanilla sugar cookies are scrumptious. And easy to make! Since I made french buttercream yesterday and had no use for it, I decided to make some cookies with it. After all, the ingredients for french buttercream was...
A Beginners Guide to Silky French Buttercream
Silky French buttercream is like a Swiss meringue buttercream, except it uses egg yolks instead of the whites. Basically, you are creating Pâté à Bombe and adding butter. What could be more intense in flavor than that?...
A Beginners Guide to Swiss Meringue Buttercream
Learning how to make Swiss meringue buttercream will change your life. Are you looking for a beautiful cake icing that isn't cloy like American buttercream? And isn't as bland, chemical laden and oily as the whipped icings...
Simple Angel Food Cake Recipe for Beginners
Now that you have learned the basics of meringue making, let's make what some people think is a difficult dessert: an angelic angel food cake. It really isn't difficult when you learn that most recipes steer you wrong. When...
A Beginners Guide to Swiss Meringue
This post will walk you through how to make a Swiss Meringue. You may ask yourself why do I want to make Swiss version when it is more work than French meringue? There are two main reasons: stability and food safety. By...
A Beginners Guide to French Meringue
In order to make many desserts, you'll need to learn how to whip egg whites and make french meringue. This is one instance where I highly recommend an electric beater. It doesn't have to be fancy, but hand mixing becomes...
Razzmatazz Raspberry Buttercream Frosting
Razzmatazz raspberry buttercream frosting is a mouthful both figuratively and literally. And it is so incredibly fun to say aloud. Try it. I'll wait patiently. Didn't I tell you? It's just as pleasurable to eat as it is to...
Tempering Chocolate and How to Fix Bloom
If you want to use the microwave to temper chocolate, this post that goes into depth on how to temper for each of the various chocolates. However, if you do not own a microwave, or you are having overheating issues trying...
Delicious and Fast No-Fuss Pepperoni Baked Pasta
Get ready to learn how to make no-fuss pepperoni baked pasta. Why? Because I make a variation of this meal more than any other dish for my family several times a month and I don't have any qualms about it. It's filling,...
Hearty and Rich Buttermilk Honey Wheat Bread
Buttermilk Honey Wheat Bread is yet another recipe from the game "what's left in the pantry?" However it was created, it is this soft, tender crumb with a lovely flavor of honey and wholesomeness of wheat flour. In a word,...
A Beginners Guide: Easily Kneading Dough by Hand
We will be making lots of bread recipes on this site, so learning kneading dough by hand will be an essential skill if you don't own a stand mixer. Whether you think you can't do it, have physical limitations or are a...
Tempering White Chocolate Made Easy
Tempering white chocolate doesn't have to be difficult. But exactly what is it? White chocolate is cocoa butter with milk and sugars added. Some people argue it's not chocolate at all because there is only cocoa butter, not...
Tempering Milk Chocolate Made Easy
Now that we've learned the basics on tempering chocolate, let's learn to temper milk chocolate. I like to practice with baking chips, pretzels and cereals to make a delicious candy bar that doesn't need much work. That way,...