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Sometimes I get into a baking slump and every recipe looks the same. I should probably accept these occurrences , but they make me sad. Very sad, actually. So I’ve found some simple ways to make desserts more fun. That way I can bake more, you can bake more, and the baking slump demons will stop bothering us. Maybe you’ll even develop a signature version of a recipe along the way!
I’ll be using the example of chocolate chip cookies to illustrate all the customizations, but they work for almost any dessert.
Change the size
Normal-sized things make good-sized portions, but anything made mini or giant is simply more fun. Tiny desserts are adorable snacks, and giant desserts serve more people (or make more for yourself).
To make deserts tiny, you can make a mini version of a dessert, or make something handheld. For example, you can scoop cookie dough into smaller portions to make mini cookies, make a pie into a hand pie or a cake into cake pops. Maybe even draw on a little face with melted chocolate for extra cuteness!
To make desserts giant, you could use larger scoops or baking pans for your desserts. If you’re feeling extra, make the dessert layered into a cake, or tiered. If you need more inspiration, baking competition shows often have lots of showstopping giant desserts.
Change the shape
Sugar cookies should not be the only desserts with fun shapes. So when you’re in the right mood, make your cakes heart-shaped, shape cinnamon buns into bears or something equally fun! Make sure to plan your design in advance to make sure you prepare the correct quantities of the dessert you’re shaping and any decorations you want to add.
Change the flavour
Use extracts, juices, powders and other strongly-flavoured ingredients to flavour desserts. If you’d like some ideas for flavours, check out my newsletter! I share a list of fun flavours every season, along with weekly baking inspiration. If you’d like to play around with other aspects of a dessert like texture, you’ll likely need to do some recipe development. Recipe development isn’t exactly a simple way to customize a recipe, but I promise it’s a great experience.
Add a mix-in, filling or topping
Cookies pieces, lemon curd, chocolate ganache and fruit, there are infinite possibilities for what you can add to a dessert. Try using textures or flavours that enhance or balance the existing components in the dessert. If you can’t decide what to use, use whatever sweet leftovers you already have at home. Learn more about mix-ins, fillings and toppings here.
Change the color
Food colouring instantly makes any dessert more eye-catching. However, you can also add colour using natural ingredients like cocoa powder, matcha powder, or fruit. Just be careful with fruit, since it can add moisture to a recipe. (This will vary between fresh, frozen, freeze-dried, dried and pureed fruit.) I recommend doing a quick search online to see how other bakers are incorporating different colours into the dessert you’re making.
Customizing desserts is one of my favourite ways to get out of baking slump. It’s a chance to play around, be creative and get reinvigorated by the magic of flour, butter and sugar.
With love,
Your baking friend Sherene ❤️
