Tres Leches Cake

by // // No Comments

Hi friends! How are you doing? I’m very happy because I finally got my first covid vaccine. Now, I have to wait 3 weeks for my second dose. But, sadly covid got to my family. My brother and little niece in Peru were diagnosed with covid 2 days ago, it is super sad because my niece had cancer last year and her immune system is a bit weak. Also, my brother had a quick visit to my parents house this week (before he knew he had covid) so now I am worried that my parents are infected too, they will have a test on Saturday and I’m praying they all test negative. I am so over this virus, I can’t take it any longer and I can’t wait to go see my family sometime soon, it all depends when my parents get vaccinated.

Now, to the happy part of this post… this tres leches cake is a classic in Latin America and many of you have requested a recipe for this cake. Soft vanilla sponge soaked with 3 leches : evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk and half & half. Topped with a delicious whipped cream frosting and ground cinnamon.

This cake has the right amount of milk mixture so it does not get soggy like other recipes. It is very moist but not super wet and soggy.

Let’s start with the recipe and if you want to watch how I made this dessert, don’t forget to visit me on Instagram @pastry_tales

Continue reading →

Easy Strawberry Shortcakes

by // // No Comments

Every time I go to Costco I like to get fruit and this time I got a big box of strawberries. I have been using them for fruit salads or just to snack on them BUT yesterday morning I was craving some quick bread for my morning coffee so I decided to make a vanilla pound cake and I used some of this cake to make shortcakes, the result of my experiment was totally amazing!

This vanilla pound cake recipe is REALLY simple and you just need a few ingredients. After it is completly cooled off you will slice it, spread some homemade whipped cream (I don’t like store-bought ones) and topped it with sugared strawberries. This dessert is perfect Spring-Summer.

Let’s start with the recipe and if you want to watch how I made these shortcakes, visit me on Instagram @pastry_tales

Continue reading →

Boston Cream Pie Cupcakes

by // // No Comments

Happy Friday! How is everyone doing? I am back with a new cupcake recipe. One of my husband’s favorite desserts is Boston cream pie but because we are just 2 people at home I decided to make a smaller version so I don’t have a lot of leftovers.

These cupcakes have 3 parts: a soft vanilla cake, a pastry cream filling and a chocolate ganache topping.

Let’s start with the recipe and if you want to watch how I made these cupcakes, visit my Instagram page @pastry_tales

Continue reading →

Oreo Cupcakes

by // // No Comments

Growing up I didn’t eat Oreos because they were not very popular in Peru but we did have a similar cookie called “Charada” (charade), very similar, crispy chocolate cookie filled with a vanilla cream and they were one of my favorites for sure. Years later Oreos got popular in Peru too but I was not really a big fan of them.

When I moved to California and I found myself without my Peruvian goodies, the most similar cookie to Charade were Oreos so I start enjoying eating them but for some reason I don’t like the cream filling so much. I like to eat the cookie part though.

I like baking with Oreos though, cheseecakes, pies, cupcakes, brownies and I know many of you are big fans of these cookies so here is an easy recipe for Oreo Cupcakes.

These cupcakes have 3 parts: half of an oreo at the bottom, a soft vanilla-oreo cupcake topped with a delicious vanilla whipped cream frosting. This cupcake is just a big oreo in your mouth.

Let’s start with the recipe and if you want to watch how I made these cupcakes, visit me on Instagram @pastry_tales

Continue reading →

Alfajor Tart

by // // No Comments

I’ve been asked many times if there is just one type of alfajor cookies and the answer is no. In South America you’ll find Peruvian, Colombian, Argentinian, etc.. different versions of alfajores. All of them have a different twist and are delicious. The cookie base is different but one of the things that they have in common is the filling which is dulce de leche.

You know I love alfajores and I have been thinking about this recipe for a long time. Finally, I got a couple of dulce de leche cans and made this awesome dessert. This tart has 3 layers: crust (similar to an alfajor cookie dough), dulce de leche filling and a coconut topping. Coconut is a common ingredient to use in Peruvian alfajores.

Let’s start with the recipe and if you want to watch how I made this recipe, visit me on Instagram @pastry_tales

Continue reading →

Chocolate Strawberry Cookies

by // // No Comments

Chocolate and strawberries are a great match. These cookies have a rich chocolate flavor, they remind me of shortbread cookies.

The strawberry filling is a buttercream made with freeze dried strawberries, sugar, cream ad vanilla.

Let’s start with the recipe and don’t forget to follow me on Instagram @pastry_tales

Continue reading →

Key Lime Pie

by // // No Comments

Hi friends! I hope you are all doing good. Last week I bought a big bag of key limes, I used some for my key lime pie cupcakes but I still had a lot left so I decided to bake a pie, a recipe that my mom taught me when I was a kid.

This pie is super special to me, I always bake it when I want to find comfort in food. Last week has been mentally exhausting for me, my dad’s health has not been very good, his nurse left and my brother had to take my dad to ER (something not very good right now in Peru because covid cases are still high and we were told that if he got hospitalized it was very probably that he get covid and put him in risk). Anyway, it has been nerve wracking in any way you can think of but finally we found a new nurse for dad and she will start working this weekend. I wish I can travel to see them like I always do BUT I decided not to travel until I get fully vaccinated.

I hope your week is going better than mine and that if you feel down for some reason, go to your kitchen and bake this special pie! Thank you to everyone who sent me a message asking how my dad was doing, I really appreciate it!

If you want to watch how I made this recipe, visit my Instagram page @pastry_tales

Let’s start with the recipe.

Continue reading →

Key Lime Pie Cupcakes

by // // No Comments

Key lime, lime or lemon pies are my favorite desserts. I have been making them since I was a teenager. My mom used to make them all the time so I learned from her.

Today, I am showing you how to make key lime pie but into cupcakes! These cupcakes have a crust, filling and frosting just like a pie! They taste amazing!

If you want to watch how I made these cupcakes, visit me on Instagram @pastry_tales

Let’s start with the recipe.

Continue reading →

Chocolate Wine Lava Cakes

by // // No Comments

As you might know, I live in Northern California so we have many wineries around us (plus Napa Valley is very close to where I live). I really never like wine when I lived in Peru, if I had a drink was mostly a cocktail or something made with pisco which is a grape based drink that you can mix with sodas or juice. Anyway, after I moved to California, my husband and I began exploring some wineries in the area and I started enjoying wine tastings and visiting wineries.

Last week I went to Trader Joe’s and I got a couple of inexpensive wines, we opened one for my husband’s birthday but we did not finished it so I decided to add it to this bake. I wanted something easy to make with not so many leftovers (I still have some of my husband’s birthday cake).

These chocolate lava cakes have wine, a touch of cinnamon and the perfect amount of dry ingredients to make sure you achieve the gooey center that we all look when eating lava cakes. Perfect treat for date night or just to indulge yourself.

Let’s start with the recipe and if you want to watch how I made this recipe, don’t forget to visit me on Instagram @pastry_tales

Continue reading →

Funfetti Cake

by // // No Comments

Every year I make my husband’s birthday cake and this year he requested a funfetti cake. Vanilla cake with sprinkles covered with chocolate buttercream.

This recipe makes three layers (I’m using 6-inch cake pans) perfect size if you don’t have a lot of people at home. This cake can give about 6-8 servings.

Let’s start with the recipe and if you want to watch how I made this delicious cake visit my Instagram page @Pastry_Tales

Continue reading →
« Older posts