Trader Joe's cookie game is strong, so it's always tempting to try new varieties. However, one product that we go back to time and time again is TJ's All Butter Shortbread Sandwich Cookies with a Raspberry Filling. It starts with two rich and buttery shortbread cookies. While some shortbread cookies - especially store-bought ones - can be on the crumbly end of the spectrum, that's not what you get here. They're hard, yes, but they have some give to them,
Mastering chocolate cake is a great first step for those learning how to craft desserts, and Stewart's website features an easy chocolate cake recipe that makes quick work of the confection. The secret to her perfectly moist cake? Sour cream. Though "sour" seems counterintuitive to a sweet treat, this ingredient provides the right moisture and acidity for a fudgey chocolate cake with a spectacularly soft crumb.
In fairy tales, it's where children get lost, where witches build houses made of cake, and where transformations occur in the shadow of trees. But it's also a place of deep, loamy quiet a world that hums with hidden life. This cake draws on that dark magic: a tender chocolate sponge, earthy and aromatic with cocoa powder and olive oil, topped with a rosemary-infused ganache and strewn with textures that nod to moist soil, fallen leaves, moss, bark and fungi.
Sometimes it's worth skipping the boxed chocolate cake mix and heading straight to the bakery section at your favorite grocery store. Many stores have ready-to-eat cakes that you can easily grab from the fridge or order at the bakery counter. I visited seven different grocery chains to sample slices and full cakes to see which ones deliver indulgent, crowd-pleasing results and which are best avoided.