TWD BWD Rewind: Cream Puffs with Crackle and Cream (as profiteroles)
September 29, 2026 at 5:43 pm | Posted in BWD, general pastry, groups, other sweet, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 4 CommentsTags: baking, cookies
As a group, we may be only one bake away from finishing BWD, but as a lazy member, I still have a couple more to go. I can now scratch Cream Puffs with Crackle and Cream off my list. Choux pastry is one of my favorite things to make, so I don’t know what took me so long to get to these. In fact, profiteroles have a spot on my dessert top 5, so I was happy to take Dorie’s “Playing Around” suggestion and fill my crackly puffs with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
I don’t normally go the extra mile with cream puffs and make the craquelin topping, but since it’s part of the recipe title, I felt I shouldn’t skip it. It’s easy enough, and I must admit the look is fantastic. I served my profiteroles with some strawberry sauce, and they were quite the treat.
If you don’t have the book Baking with Dorie: Sweet, Salty & Simple by Dorie Greenspan, get it and join us as we bake through it every second and fourth Tuesdays. Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll!
Tuesdays with Dorie BWD: Cheese-Swirl Babka Buns
September 22, 2026 at 8:08 pm | Posted in breakfast things, BWD, general pastry, groups, other sweet, sweet yeast breads, tuesdays with dorie | 2 CommentsTags: baking, bread
Brioche month continues, and this time Dorie’s buttery dough takes a savory spin with Cheese-Swirl Babka Buns. Think cinnamon roll, but with a spiral of cheese! Actually cheeses (plural)- a smoosh up of ricotta, cream cheese, Parmesan and cheddar. Minced shallot and scallion greens break the creaminess a bit. More cheddar appears in the streusel topping, which tastes like Cheez-Its.
As usual, this brioche is a two-day affair, the first day dedicated to making and chilling the dough, and the second day to spiraling, proofing and baking the buns. I made just four buns, and they proofed and baked nicely in my 7″-square pan (which I know is a weird size, but I cut so many recipes in half that I’ve found it comes in handy quite often). The cheese spirals got a bit lost in the centers of the buns, where the cheese seemed to absorb into the bread. That center bit is usually the prize of a sticky bun or cinnamon roll, but no matter. These are rich and savory and especially yummy warm.
This is our second-to-last recipe from the book Baking with Dorie: Sweet, Salty & Simple by Dorie Greenspan, which we have baking our way through since 2021. Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll and all the other participation deets over on Tuesdays with Dorie!
Tuesdays with Dorie BWD: Brioche
September 8, 2026 at 7:45 pm | Posted in tuesdays with dorie, groups, breakfast things, other sweet, sweet yeast breads, general pastry, BWD | 6 CommentsTags: baking, bread
I feel like we’ve made Dorie’s brioche dough a zillion times now. Just from the pages of Baking with Dorie, we’ve used it for buns (both sticky and sandwich) and we’ve used it for babka (both chocolate and cheese). What we haven’t used it for, until now, is just a plain loaf of Brioche. Is it fair to call a loaf of brioche plain, though? It’s buttery and sweet and just “plain” irresistible straight out of the oven.
This brioche is a two-day affair, the first day dedicated to making and chilling the dough, and the second day to shaping, proofing and baking the loaf. I shaped mine as a pull-apart, as per Dorie’s “Playing Around” suggestion. Tearing off a warm brioche bubble and slathering it with salty butter and jam is one of life’s true treats.
If you don’t have the book Baking with Dorie: Sweet, Salty & Simple by Dorie Greenspan, get it and join us as we bake through it every second and fourth Tuesdays. Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll and all the other participation deets over on Tuesdays with Dorie!
TWD BWD Rewind: Little Marvels
June 30, 2026 at 7:29 pm | Posted in BWD, general pastry, groups, other sweet, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 3 CommentsTags: baking, cookies
When we made our Meringue Snackers a couple of months ago, I piped some of the meringue into disks so I could assemble a couple of Little Marvels, a recipe I’d skipped when it came around last June. Little Marvels, aka Merveilleux, are light and delicate meringue and whipped cream sandwich cakes. There’s a famous French shop called Aux Merveilleux de Fred specializing in these treats with locations here in NYC, so I have had them a few times.
I know from my visits to Fred that, while chocolate shavings are the traditional Marveilleux coating, you can get pretty creative with the flavorings. I spread each meringue disk with a smear of dulce de leche, flavored my cream with some coconut extract and coated the Marvels in coconut chips. I had to be quite gentle when assembling these, but I didn’t find them too hard to make. They are indeed quite marvellous and a bit fancy.
If you don’t have the book Baking with Dorie: Sweet, Salty & Simple by Dorie Greenspan, get it and join us as we bake through it every second and fourth Tuesdays. Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll!
Tuesdays with Dorie BWD: Chocolate-Tipped Cream-Puff Pocky Sticks
June 23, 2026 at 7:12 pm | Posted in BWD, general pastry, groups, other sweet, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 4 CommentsTags: baking, choux
These Chocolate-Tipped Cream-Puff Pocky Sticks are a fun homemade take on the favorite Japanese sweet snack. Thin lengths of piped choux pastry make the sticks, which are baked and then coated in chocolate glaze. While I did actually measure my piping tip, I clearly piped my Pocky a bit on the thick side. In fact, some wise guy asked me if they were breadsticks. I tipped them with the matcha white chocolate coating and sprinkled on some tiny sugar pears. While my chubby Pocky didn’t fully dry out in the oven, the exterior was crisp. They retained a bit of that cream puff softness in the middle, but they were really good anyway.
If you don’t have the book Baking with Dorie: Sweet, Salty & Simple by Dorie Greenspan yet, get it and join us as we bake through it every second and fourth Tuesdays! Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll and all the other participation deets over on Tuesdays with Dorie!
Tuesdays with Dorie BWD: Meringue Snackers
April 28, 2026 at 9:09 pm | Posted in BWD, cookies & bars, general pastry, groups, other sweet, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 3 CommentsTags: baking, cookies
Meringue “Snackers” is a funny name. I mean, I do like meringues, but it would never cross my mind to have one as a snack. Kind of like eating air. These big, swirly puffs are pretty to look at though. And you can do lots of things with them…even though I didn’t shape them into pavlovas, I’ll still probably take them from snacks to full-fledged dessert with some berries and cream.
I have some bright pink “raspberry juice powder” that I impulse bought not long ago, and thought I could fold some through the meringue to create a kind of rippled look. Well, that effect was totally lost, so I hit them with some extra powder when they came out of the oven. The powder is tart, so it plays off the meringue’s sugariness well. While I had these in the oven, I was also baking off some of the meringue as small disks to make the Little Marvels I skipped last summer. The two shapes bake and dry at different rates so I was doing a bit of oven juggle and who knows how long these were actually in there for. I took my snackers out when they felt firm, were a bit cracked and peeled off the parchment with no problem. They never got completely dry inside, so they have some chew in the middle, but do I think that’s nicer than a hard meringue.
If you don’t have the book Baking with Dorie: Sweet, Salty & Simple by Dorie Greenspan, get it and join us as we bake through it every second and fourth Tuesdays. Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll!
Tuesdays with Dorie BWD: Brioche Sticky Buns
March 31, 2026 at 11:00 am | Posted in breakfast things, BWD, general pastry, groups, other sweet, sweet yeast breads, tuesdays with dorie | 3 CommentsTags: baking, bread
I’d like to be that person who wakes up at 5:30 on a Sunday morning to bake off Brioche Sticky Buns before the sun comes up, but, even when I worked in bakeries, I am absolutely not that person. In my house, morning pastries are eaten for dessert, unless there are leftovers. I recommend planning for leftovers with these, because they sure are good with a cup of coffee.
These sticky buns are a two-day affair, the first day dedicated to making Dorie’s brioche dough, and the second day to assembling, proofing and baking. I feel like we’ve made her brioche dough a zillion times now, and indeed in the course of TWD history, we’ve even made sticky buns with it twice before. These have a cinnamon-sugar filling and a brown sugar caramel topping. Warm from the oven, they are soft and buttery and gooey. I did make a scaled back batch, but was sure to have a couple leftover to warm up for the next day’s coffee treat.
If you don’t have the book Baking with Dorie: Sweet, Salty & Simple by Dorie Greenspan, get it and join us as we bake through it every second and fourth Tuesdays. Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll and all the other participation deets over on Tuesdays with Dorie!
Tuesdays with Dorie BWD: Chocolate Éclairs
April 22, 2025 at 7:35 pm | Posted in BWD, general pastry, groups, other sweet, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 8 CommentsTags: baking, choux
Choux-based treats are some of my favorite to make and eat. I think pâte à choux is a really fun dough, and one of the few things worth breaking out a piping bag for, imo. These Chocolate Éclairs actually required me to use two piping bags (one for the dough and one for the filling)– something that I could see coming, and had me putting off this bake until this very morning.
Luckily, choux pastry is pretty easy-peasy to make, and a little cocoa powder is all that’s needed to give the dough its chocolate twist. I piped out the dough a bit thicker than Dorie says to because I like chubby éclairs (and as a result only got six instead of eight). I didn’t really feel like making pastry cream to fill them, and I’ve seen other group members do some nice whipped cream-filled versions, so I followed suit. The flavor, texture and stability of mascarpone whipped cream is something of an obsession of mine, so I whisked up some of that.
A couple of months ago, I impulse-bought a jar of Sicilian pistachio cream at Eataly; I decided to finally crack it open and flavor my whip mix with a big blob of it. Yum is all I have to say about that. When I brought these out, glazed and dressed up for dessert, my husband asked if I was inspired by Dubai chocolate– I think it’s hilarious he has even heard of that!
If you don’t have the book Baking with Dorie: Sweet, Salty & Simple by Dorie Greenspan yet, get it and join us as we bake through it every second and fourth Tuesdays! Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll and all the other participation deets over on Tuesdays with Dorie!
Everyday Dorie: White Wine-Poached Pears
February 25, 2023 at 10:32 pm | Posted in everyday dorie, general pastry, groups, other sweet, sweet things | 5 CommentsTags: cake, everyday dorie
Imagine pears bobbing around in a honey-sweetened white wine syrup flavored with ginger, vanilla, cinnamon and star anise. White Wine-Poached Pears are so fragrant! They make an elegant stand-alone dessert, but poached pears are also great alongside ice cream or a piece of “simple” cake. I have a jar of leftover syrup in the fridge…I might use it to make a champagne cocktail before the winter’s through.
For the recipe, see Everyday Dorie by Dorie Greenspan, and head over to Cook the Book Fridays to see all of our cakes this week.
Everyday Dorie: Eton Mess
April 22, 2022 at 8:18 pm | Posted in everyday dorie, general pastry, groups, other sweet, pudding/mousse, sweet things | 3 CommentsTags: everyday dorie
Eton Mess is a traditional British dessert with whipped cream, strawberries and broken up meringue…it reminds me of a pavlova someone took a mallet to, but it’s beautiful it’s own messy way. Light and summery, Dorie’s version uses a strawberry-rhubarb compote and meringue with Biscoff spice cookie bits swirled through. And my version of Dorie’s version uses puréed mango, sweetened raspberries and meringue with crispy Lazzaroni amaretti cookie bits. The meringue is baked off in a sheet, which is then broken up into crumbles. I bake at home with golden sugar rather than white, so I am assuming that’s what gave my meringue it’s golden hue, as I didn’t neglect it in the oven. It was delicious with the almondy flavor from the cookies, and I was glad to have extra to nibble on. I assembled my Eton Mess parfait-style, which looked quite tidy for photos, but rest assured that as soon as the camera clicked off, I stirred it up and made a mess of it.
For the recipe, see Everyday Dorie by Dorie Greenspan, and head over to Cook the Book Fridays to see all of our messes this week.
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