Awesome Baking

Pastry artist Liz Marek of Sugar Geek Show created this awesome checkerboard-patterned cake that looks like a lumberjack’s flannel shirt on the inside and a tree stump on the outside. In this tutorial video, you’ll learn how to make this cake, and also get a glimpse at the edible chocolate axe Liz made to go with it.

We’ve seen a LEGO machine that could make pancakes, so the idea of a brick-built cake bakery isn’t that far-fetched. But Tomosteen made their LEGO cake factory using stop-motion animation. The fanciful facility is run by a team of tiny cats, who surprisingly don’t lap up the batter before it can be baked in the LEGO brick oven.

As we’ve seen before, pastry artist Manna-Tanuki is a master at the art of decorating cookies. In this video, they make an incredible collection of cookies inspired by the Studio Ghibli film Spirited Away. Even the box they’re displayed in is edible, though we’d feel bad chowing down on something this beautiful.

The Great British Bake Off is called The Great British Baking Show here in the U.S. because Pillsbury owns a trademark on the words “Bake-Off.” Captain Disillusion digs into the consequences of this legal battle in the way the show has to be shot, edited, and have VFX applied to modify its contents for Netflix.

Food Kingdom takes us inside the kitchen at Korea’s Saebil Patisserie for a satisfying baking video. After cooking up some yummy-looking croissants, they crank out dozens of cube-shaped breads, which spiral like a tornado in the center. We also enjoyed watching all those oranges take a bath before being sliced up for marmalade.

Every time we’ve tried to write “Happy Birthday” on a cake, it comes out a sloppy mess. Pastry artist Manna-Tanuki shows us how it’s done, creating incredibly precise and clean lines in the icing of a Pocket Pikachu cookie. Check out their YouTube channel for more complicated designs, like this epic My Neighbor Totoro cookie.

As we’ve witnessed before, pastry chef Amaury Guichon is a true master of chocolate. Watch as he transforms a puddle of chocolate into an intricate sculpture of a mama turtle and her baby, swimming atop a brilliant blue anemone. It took him four days to create this incredible, edible masterpiece.

After wowing us with numerous gourmet snack foods, pastry chef Claire Saffitz has struck out on her own, with a video series to accompany her new cookbook, which features a mix of both sweet and savory recipes for home bakers. First up, soft and crispy foccacia. (Thanks Rob!)

Working with molten hot sugar is one of the most daunting tasks in the kitchen, but international pastry instructor Amaury Guichon makes it look easy, as he shows off the technique he uses to create a perfectly smooth dome of the sweet stuff. Also, check out his incredible, edible samurai.

Bon Appétit pastry chef Claire Saffitz takes a stab at replicating one of our favorite guilty pleasures, Pop-Tarts. We’ve had some gourmet hand pies before, but never one that looked as accurate, tasty, or toaster-friendly as Claire’s.

Bon Appétit’s Claire Saffitz is back in the test kitchen to make yet another popular snack. With their layers of chocolate, caramel, and crunchy cookies, it turns out that the shape, flavor, and texture of Twix bars are incredibly challenging and frustrating to replicate.

“How hard can it be to make a cracker?” It turns out it’s pretty hard. But is it impossible? Watch Bon Appetit’s resident pastry chef Claire Saffitz try to recreate the color, texture and of course the flavor of original Cheez-Its snack crackers.

Kaci Hansen aka the Homicidal Homemaker shows us how to make a delightful cake that pays tribute to Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining. The yule log style roll cake features a pattern inspired by the pattern on the rug at the Overlook Hotel, along with a decorative axe.

We’ve featured a baking pan that lets you make brownies that all have crispy edges. But Bakelicious’ Crispy Corner not only does that, it also makes uniformly-sized brownies, each with four crispy edges and a fudgy center. It’s made of carbon steel and has a non-stick coating.

Want to make a dessert that’s sure to be the talk of the party? Ann Reardon of How to Cook That shows us how to create a tasty salted caramel and chocolate cake that looks like a pot overflowing with popcorn. She makes it look easy, but we’re sure it’s not. Full recipe here.

One of Hungry Happenings‘ Halloween hits. The stuffed pizza skull is easy to make and needs only a handful of ingredients. Once you get the hang of it, you can try different molds, sizes and stuffing. Check out the complete recipe and instructions here.

Designed by pastry queen Jessica Leigh Clark-Bojin of Pies Are Awesome, these stencils make it easy for anyone to create awesomely geeky pies. Designs include C’thulhu, a fire-breathing dragon, a prancing unicorn, and a kittens with deadly weapons, among others.

Christine McConnell is known as the “Queen of Creepy Cookies” for good reason. Her creations include such subversive pastries as an Alien Xenomorph Easter Bunny and edibles with tentacles. Learn to make your own disturbing desserts with her new book.