Let me put this year’s Pumpkin Pie at the top of your inbox.  This Cajun variation of Thanksgiving’s most tried-and-true dessert is a show stopper! Made with a buttery, sugar cookie crust, and a silky light pumpkin cream filling – this Tarte a la Bouillie is the perfect end the the most epic meal of the year!

It only took me over six years of Louisiana living to make a proper Cajun sweet dough and pudding pie but friends, here we are!

Continue reading Pumpkin Tarte à la Bouillie at Joy the Baker.

Welcome to a new series here on Joy the Baker called Cliff Notes, authored by, my favorite baker and my favorite Cliff – MY DAD! Dad is the inspiration behind the classics here on the blog.  You know him and love him for his Chocolate Chip Cookies, and Buttermilk Pancakes and he’s also author of, casually, the best Sweet Potato Pie on the planet.  Let’s here how this famous pie came to be from the man, the myth, the legend himself – Clifford Wilson.

Continue reading Cliff Notes: The Origins of Sweet Potato Pie at Joy the Baker.

The perfect retro pie made with Jell-O and Cool Whip.  Pinky sweet cranberry pie topped with lightly whipped cream and, at the very last minute, chocolate covered pretzels.  This sweet lady is this year’s unexpected and delightful Thanksgiving pie.

Every Thanksgiving my family is just chasing the high of my grandmother’s cranberry sauce. It’s a creamy pale pink sauce? spread? dip? dessert? It’s everything and honestly my favorite dish on the table. 

Continue reading Fluffy Cranberry Cream Pie at Joy the Baker.

Let’s settle into the season with crisp apples, cinnamon spice, and cream cheese. These Apple Cheesecake Bars are cream filled with a cookie crisp, topped with warm baked apples. These are our best apple dessert recipes. Let’s get baking, friends!

In terms of fall cravings, I generally glaze past a pumpkin spice.  This is the time of year I want every single apple I encounter to either be sprinkled in cinnamon and sugar or dripping with caramel. 

Continue reading Apple Cheesecake Bars at Joy the Baker.

Here’s the last of the single serve recipes you didn’t know you needed.  So far we’ve made a single cinnamon roll, two giant chocolate chip cookies, and two lemon poppy seed muffins.  Last weekend while visiting my parents in Los Angeles my very own mother said, “I don’t get these single recipes,” and fair enough mom – fair enough.  She’s a double-batch, store-in-the-freezer mother and I respect it. 

Continue reading A Single Serve Berry Crostata Recipe at Joy the Baker.

In a shock to no one, I have a lot of thoughts about the perfect summer cobbler.  Cobbler is a sweetened fruit base topped with a wet biscuit batter that bakes up to be something between a cake and a biscuit atop simmering fruit.  A cobbler is not a crisp (though this apple crisp really stands the test of time).  A cobbler is no time for oats – no time for streusel.

Continue reading The Secrets To My Favorite Blueberry Cobbler at Joy the Baker.

Hot girl summer? Check. Done. We’re hot.  You know what I’ve got my eye on for the coming months? BLT SUMMER. Sourdough bread, extra mayonnaise, seasoned fresh perfect sun-ripened tomatoes, bibb lettuce, and thick crisp bacon cooked with a tiny bit of brown sugar.  An absolute dream but that day isn’t here yet.  In these days before fresh tomatoes are at their peak, we can use the oven to coax their perfect sweetness onto our plate, paired with rich puff pastry because why not?

Continue reading Easy Tomato Tarte Tatin at Joy the Baker.

Okay, there’s something I haven’t told you about Louisiana.  It’s not about the best jazz at Preservation Hall or the sazeracs at The Roosevelt. The secret is that Louisiana not only grows the best strawberries I’ve ever had, but Louisiana harvests those berries TWICE a year. It’s an embarrassment of riches, honestly.  That’s probably why I’ve kept it to myself.

I’m currently trying to grow my own strawberries in the backyard which… will be more like an embarrassment in gardening rather than embarrassment of riches.

Continue reading My Best Strawberry Crumble Pie Recipe at Joy the Baker.

I’m gifting you one last offering for your Thanksgiving dessert table, and it has nothing to do with pumpkin or sweet potato.  Last week I wanted to make a birthday dessert for my friend, Trevor. If you follow along here intently, you know Trevor help me shoot Bakehouse classes and is generally a wonderful friend.  Since he’s always watching me bake, we talk a lot about his favorite nostalgic desserts and whether or not I can recreate them. 

Continue reading Classic French Silk Pie at Joy the Baker.

Each week this fall we’ll revisit a recipe from last year’s Joy the Baker Magazine with new tips, tricks and insights.  The latest issue of my holiday magazine is  currently available most places magazines are sold across the US and Canada and available online here!  This week, let’s make Apple Praline Pecan Pie – my dad’s very best apple pie recipe.  

A few years ago, Dad went down a rabbit hole to perfect his already delicious apple pie. 

Continue reading Apple Praline Pecan Pie at Joy the Baker.