Five years ago, after completing my first year in grad school, I flew home to visit my parents, and it was then that I photographed, wrote, and published my very first blog post! Shortly thereafter, I shared the story behind the silly name of the blog, but I’ve never really talked much about why I started a blog in the first place. ...
cake
Chocolate Irish Cream Poke Cake
Hi friends! It’s time to put on your cake pants—or cake shorts, since summer has officially arrived—because I’ve got a new cake recipe that you won’t want to miss! But before I get to that, let’s catch up for a minute. Things have been pretty topsy-turvy in the Cake Pants household, but in a good way! ...
Chocolate Snack Cake with Strawberry Frosting
Over the last few months, I’ve realized that food is my love language. If I want to show my affection or support for someone—a friend, a family member, Dr. Cake Pants, Phoebe, etc.—I turn to food. So naturally, with the most love-centric holiday on the horizon, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to create a special dessert: chocolate snack cake with strawberry frosting! ...
S’mores Cupcakes
Happy first day of summer! What better way to celebrate than with a dessert inspired by s’mores, one of the quintessential emblems of summertime leisure? I have to admit: I’ve never been crazy about actual s’mores. Toasted marshmallows make my throat a bit tingly, and not in a good way—more in an “I think I'm coming down with a cold” way. But the combination of graham crackers, chocolate, and ...
Black Forest Poke Cake
In a rather uncharacteristic turn of events, it has been over a month since I last posted a recipe for a dessert (or even a dessert masquerading as breakfast). But today, I’m ending the savory streak, and with a recipe that is wholly worthy of breaking the dessert fast: Black Forest poke cake! ...
Lemon Snack Cake with Raspberry Frosting
I knew I hit the cake jackpot with this lemon snack cake as soon as I took it out of the pan, when I scraped the crumbs off the parchment paper and ate them. It was love at first bite! This cake is ridiculously moist, full of cheery lemon flavor, and topped with perfectly tart yet sweet raspberry frosting that is so vibrant that it puts artificially colored frostings to shame. ...
Strawberry Peach Upside-Down Cornbread Cake
Let’s just get this out of the way up front: this cornbread is not what you’d serve alongside ribs, chili, or fried chicken. It could very well be what you’d serve afterward, though, because this strawberry peach upside-down cornbread cake—whew, what a mouthful, huh?—belongs solidly in the dessert category. Or possibly brunch. In my mind, there’s only a fine line between dessert and brunch: if it ...
Mimosa Coffee Cake
This post has been a long time in the making. For one thing, I had intended to make a mimosa-inspired coffeecake for New Year’s Day this past holiday season, but as is the case with many people (or so I suspect), I was overly ambitious in estimating what I’d have time/energy to do and ended up having to ignore half of my holiday to-do list. C’est la vie. Secondly, I’d been meaning to take the ...
Apple Spice Cake
I’m sure some of you are thinking, “Apple cake?! But it’s not fall anymore!” Well, as much as I love to feature seasonal foods, sometimes I’m inexplicably in the mood for something…unseasonal. Does that ever happen to you? Like, it’s the middle of July and you think to yourself, “You know, I could really go for some pumpkin bread right about now!”? Luckily, apples are one of the few fruits that ...
Mango Carrot Cake {updated!}
First things first: I have to admit that this is not a new recipe for this site. It is, however, slightly modified*, but the real reason for re-posting it is that it’s one of my all-time favorite recipes, yet because the photos weren’t so great (it was only my 7th post, after all!), it hasn’t really received the attention I think it deserves. ...