Sometimes you don’t want to bake for the whole neighborhood. Sometimes you just want a teeny funfetti cake, a bit of chocolate just for yourself, or a tiny, fruity layered pastry for two. Here are the small-batch baking recipes (from us and a couple of our favorite blogger friends) we get the most excited about.
1. Small-Batch Funfetti Cake
Cake: It’s great. Too much cake becomes a whole thing. (Sometimes we’ll go for the 9″ x 13″ baking pan and not even be able to conjure up enough confectioners’ sugar to coat the whole sucker.) So we’re so grateful to our friend Michelle of Hummingbird High, who dreamt up this dreamboat of a loaf pan funfetti cake. It’s just the thing for you and a couple of kids. Because you know what? Sheet pan cake isn’t that tasty a week later; there, we said it.
2. Chocolate Mug Cake
It’s just you and Zoom calls and an ever-filling Google Calendar, forever and ever and… zzz. Wake up! Mug cake time. Yes, you can, and yes, you do indeed deserve it. Chocolate mug cake requires only pantry staples, five minutes of prep time, one minute of microwave cooking time, and you, hungry for chocolate mug cake. Got chocolate chips? Vanilla ice cream? Whipped cream? Sprinkles? Great; pour ’em on. If not, no worries; it hits the spot just as well.
3. Millefeuille With Fresh Berries and Kiwi
Listen: Although this millefeuille with fresh berries and kiwi looks like a million bucks, it’s a snap to make. Think: Cook a frozen sheet of puff pastry. Cut it up. Layer on whipped cream and your berries of choice, with or without kiwi fruit. Top with mint, if you’ve got it. The prep time is half an hour (most of it spent with your puff pastry puffing away in the oven and you drinking a cocktail). This is just the thing when you want something fruit-forward and impressive but don’t want to break a sweat.
4. Chocolate Pots de Crème
Maybe, just maybe, you were in the wrong in that argument, and you want to make up for it. Allow chocolate pots de crème to help you say, “I’m sorry.” (They’ll go a long way, we promise.) Sure, it’s simpler to pop a chocolate mug cake in the microwave for your partner or kid, but something about the silky-smooth texture of these babies just helps. We love that you only need a little bit of cream (3 ounces) and a couple of eggs, plus just a quarter cup of whole milk, to make two, just for the two of you. No running to the store or anything. Ahhh.
5. Small-Batch Cinnamon Rolls
We’ve made no secret of our love for baking blogger Mike Bakes. But have you seen his small-batch baking archive? (Insert the emoji of your choice; it’s glorious.) From doughnuts to two to these piping-hot cinnamon rolls (because they’re primo the day they’re baked, let’s be honest), he’s a small-batch mastermind. His recipe makes enough for four of you, or two for each of you. Life is short. Do some small-batch baking.