Spring Archives | The Vanilla Bean Blog

Soft Carrot Cake Cinnamon Rolls

Sarah Kieffer — Tue, 17 Mar 2026 13:13:31 +0000

These Carrot Cake Cinnamon Rolls are adapted from a recipe in my book, 100 Morning Treats. The recipe found there is for a Giant Carrot Cake Cinnamon Roll, which is a fun project, but I went with individual buns using the sweet dough base from my soft and gooey Cinnamon Rolls for a great Easter morning breakfast. I was so happy with the results: the buns bake up tender, with a faint carrot flavor that my kids declared to be delicious. A pinch of cloves in the filling gives extra warmth, the icing makes each cinnamon roll center perfectly gooey, and a scattering of candied pecans gave a little crunch to each bite. I like my cinnamon rolls super soft and gooey, so I put a thin layer of the icing over them while they are still warm. The icing melts into the just baked rolls, eliminating any hard corners or edges. If you prefer a little crispy crunch to your cinnamon rolls, you can wait until they have cooled and then top them with all the icing. Things You Should Know About This Recipe: 1. What if I don’t have instant yeast? You can still use active yeast. Active dry yeast […]

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Lemon Meringue Cake

Sarah Kieffer — Thu, 12 Mar 2026 19:41:16 +0000

This is a re-vamp of the lemon meringue cake from my first book. My mother-in-law requested this cake for her birthday last year, and I changed a few things around with great results. First, I swapped out the yellow cake base for white, and found that to be a big improvement. The white cake was lighter and more tender, and this worked well with the buttercream and meringue topping. I did keep the lemon soak, which adds a lot of great flavor, but I also added a lemon curd layer to bump up the lemon zing even more. It was truly one of the best cakes I have ever made, and now a yearly birthday request. My Ingredient Notes: Why I Use the Reverse Creaming Method I prefer the reverse creaming method for making cakes, where butter is introduced to the dry ingredients instead of initially creamed with the sugars. I prefer the texture of this type of cake over butter and sugar creamed cakes; it isn’t quite as fluffy, and has a very fine crumb that is even throughout. It works well for this reader favorite White Sprinkle Cake, too. The top also doesn’t dome as much as a […]

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Creamy Carrot Cake Coffee Cakes

Sarah Kieffer — Sat, 12 Apr 2025 17:54:12 +0000

Carrot cake was my go-to cake in college when I was trying to make a good impression. I made several for my husband while we were dating and brought one to every wedding shower I hosted. Throughout my childhood we only made boxed chocolate cakes, so carrot cake from scratch felt particularly fancy. I still love a classic layer carrot cake, but decided to mix things up and make a mini version, complete with a tangy, maple cream cheese center and pecan streusel. I have made several of this mini cakes now (such as this pumpkin version and this jammy rendition), and I have a few more up my sleeve over the next few months. I use 4 inch [5 cm] springform pans to make these mini cakes, so they bake up with perfect edges, and release easily. They’re the perfect individual serving. You can also this recipe in a 9×13 inch pan if you’d like, it works great just as written. However, I’m always up for a more substantial cream cheese layer as you see in the photo below this paragraph. So for the filling I used 12 oz [340 g] cream cheese and 1/3 cup [65 g] granulated sugar, along […]

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Cherry Rhubarb Crisp with White Wine

Sarah Kieffer — Fri, 26 Apr 2024 15:27:37 +0000

Rhubarb is an important plant to all Minnesotans. Not only can it be found in nearly every neighbor’s garden and growing alongside walking paths and trails in local parks, but for those of us living in the North, it is also a symbol of winter’s end. As its green leaves and pink stalks start to peek out of the ground, there is a collective sign of relief among us all. Winter has come and gone. Spring is here at last. I grew up in a neighborhood where neighbors and friends often sent over a rhubarb crisp, and wanted to recreate the nostalgia while also giving this dessert a little update. Sweet cherries were a delicious addition and also added beautiful color (some rhubarb is green and bakes up a disappointing brown), and sweet white wine added flavor while also helping me use up the end of that box of wine. About this recipe Using Wine in a Fruit Crisp I often bake with alcohol; I find the addition of wine or liqueurs adds good flavor and moisture to what I am making. I added sweet white wine here on a whim and loved how the cherries, rhubarb, and wine all […]

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Ginger Orange Carrot Quick Bread

Sarah Kieffer — Thu, 11 May 2023 19:09:11 +0000

What I love about this recipe: This Ginger Orange Carrot Bread is a new recipe from 100 Morning Treats, my fourth cookbook that was just released. The flavors of ginger and orange are faint, but their subtleness makes this bread shine, pairing with naturally sweet fresh carrots. Orange zest and triple sec give it a lovely brightness, too. This loaf stays moist for days, and I actually prefer it on the second and third days; the flavor develops and it becomes more tender. Baking With Nordic Ware Pans Over the last decade of baking, I’ve come to rely on Nordic Ware for almost all my baking pans. Their pans are not only beautiful, but durable and well-made. For my 100 Cookies cookbook, I relied on their Naturals® baking sheets for many of my recipes, and my last two books have incorporated more of their other pans: The Naturals® muffin pans, Bundt pans, and Popover pans were all used and loved. For my Ginger Orange Carrot Bread, I used the ProCast Classic Loaf Pan, which has a 6 cup (1 lb loaf) capacity. This pan is made from heavy cast aluminum, which ensures that both quick and yeasted breads bake evenly. This pan also has […]

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Raspberry Rhubarb Streusel Pie Bars

Sarah Kieffer — Wed, 20 Apr 2022 11:43:13 +0000

I’ve always loved using rhubarb as an introduction to Spring baking, and these bars hit all the right notes. You get this amazing contrast between the sweet, jammy raspberries and the tangy bite of rhubarb, which keeps every bite from being too sweet. The easy, press-in crust has an oat base that holds everything together, a sweet-tart, jammy filling, topped with a golden, crumbly streusel that adds just the perfect amount of crunch. When this is in the oven, the whole kitchen smells incredible. These bars are delicious on their own, but I’ll never turn down a dollop of fresh whipped cream or vanilla ice cream. More Rhubarb Recipes:

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15 Best No-Churn Ice Cream Recipes

Sarah Kieffer — Thu, 10 Jun 2021 22:57:48 +0000

No ice cream cream maker? No problem. You don’t even need one to make some of the most amazing ice cream you’ve tasted! No-churn ice cream is made using just 5 easy to find ingredients and 10 minutes of prep. The ice cream is rich and creamy, and while the texture is slightly different than regular ice cream, it’s a great way to make a simple frozen dessert. In this post you’ll find my top 15 no-churn ice cream recipes, everything from classic vanilla to strawberry rhubarb, and a bonus recipe for Raspberry Chip! How to Make No-Churn Ice Cream I dedicated a whole chapter in my first cookbook to no-churn ice cream recipes because I love the ease and versatility of this method so much. No-churn ice cream is simply made by folding whipped cream into condensed milk, along with your favorite flavors or mix-in’s, then spreading in a pan and freezing. Besides heavy cream and sweetened condensed milk, you’ll add a bit of salt to cut the sweetness. And I like to add a small amount of cream cheese for it’s tang, to balance the flavors, and keep the ice cream smooth when it’s frozen. Using No-Churn Ice […]

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Coffee Blondie Skillet with Whiskey No-Churn Ice Cream

Sarah Kieffer — Wed, 17 Mar 2021 14:48:05 +0000

I’ve always been a big fan of skillet desserts, but since having children they seem to be a more regular occurrence; there is something about a cookie or brownie being baked in cake form that never fails to delight. I usually stick to chocolate chip cookies and brownies, but this time I used my Coffee Blondies recipe and was very happy with the results. To elevate this Blondie Skillet Cookie, I topped it with Irish Whiskey No-Churn Ice Cream (the kids just had vanilla, ha) and homemade caramel shards. The combination of coffee + whisky + caramel was a perfect way to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. (Side note: I recently found out I am about 5% Irish, so I’m embracing my roots with this recipe.) I baked this dessert in small skillets and then a larger one, and with and without chocolate. And I loved it all ways. *I have notes below on how to accommodate different ways of baking. More Skillet Dessert Recipes:

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Glazed Meyer Lemon Snack Cake

Sarah Kieffer — Mon, 08 Mar 2021 23:26:43 +0000

I have been a fan of snack cakes for years (see Chocolate Chip Snack Cake and Powdered Sugar Snack Cake), and am excited to now have a Meyer Lemon version to add to the mix. This recipe comes from Bake From Scratch Vol 5, which was just released. This new volume is a lovely collection of recipes, and I have a few of my own included (such as Cranberry Streusel Bars, Pumpkin Blondies, and Chocolate Orange Sables). A couple things: *Zoë François has a new cookbook coming out, along with a television series. Her new book is entitled “Zoë Bakes Cake” and you can find it here. I photographed the “how-to” pictures in this book, and highly recommend it; Zoë is an amazing baker and her recipes are incredible. *100 Cookies was nominated for a Minnesota Book Award! You can read about the other nominations here, as well as an interview I did for the Minnesota Daily. More Snack Cake Recipes: Powdered Donut Cake Walnut Snack Cake with Raspberry Buttercream Chocolate Chip Snack Cake

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Lemon Poppy Seed Bundt Cake

Sarah Kieffer — Thu, 24 May 2018 03:13:44 +0000

I know it’s spring, and I should be straying away from citrus and moving towards rhubarb, but I made this lemon poppy seed Bundt cake last week and wanted to share it. Making Lemon Poppy Seed Bundt Cake It’s a recipe inspired by a wonderful citrus Bundt cake from Yossy’s book (affiliate link), but I swapped regular lemons for Meyer, and cream cheese for sour cream. I also swirled in some poppy seeds and lemon curd for good measure. It’s tender, moist, and full of lemon flavor. I really love this Lemon Poppy Seed Bundt Cake with the cream cheese, and have a few more variations planned with the base recipe (my family raved about it for days, and thought it was better each passing day, which was a win-win) so stay tuned for those. A few things: *I often share what music I’m listening to in my Instagram stories, and I’ve made a playlist here on Spotify of some of the songs if you want to take a listen. *I’m looking forward to: Molly’s TV show! Seeing Jeremy Enigk perform Return of the Frog Queen A whole summer reading PG Wodehouse (affiliate link) / (I’m addicted now – I don’t […]

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