The 13 best recipes to bake in April (2024)

This month, we’re fully embracing the mashup. From churro cupcakes to cannoli cheesecake, we’ve got creative recipes you didn't even know you needed. But don’t worry, we have tried-and-true classics too, like the only soufflé recipe you’ll ever need and a back-pocket vanilla cake to whip up at a moment’s notice. Here, we’re sharing a baker’s dozen recipes to bake all month long and beyond.

Photography by Rick Holbrook; Food Styling by Kaitlin Wayne

1) Churro Cupcakes with Chocolate Ganache

Allow me to introduce you to the cupcake mashup you didn’t know you needed. To evoke the spirit of a churro, pâte à choux is baked in a muffin pan, then the hollow puffs are filled with tender, cinnamon-scented cake batter, baked a second time, andtopped with luscious chocolate ganache and rolled in cinnamon sugar for a fancy finish.

Get the recipe: Churro Cupcakes with Chocolate Ganache

Shop the recipe:Muffin Pan and Cinnamon Sugar Plus

Photography by Rick Holbrook; Food Styling by Kaitlin Wayne

2) Lachha Paratha (Flaky Paratha)  

If you’re after flaky, flavorful flatbread to accompany weeknight dinner, this Lachha Paratha recipe from Tara O’Brady may be exactly what you’re looking for. These are as fun to make as they are to eat: Each piece of dough is rolled thinly, brushed with ghee and covered in cilantro, garlic, and roasted cumin powder, then rolled, coiled, and flattened, resulting in a flatbread with irresistibly flaky layers. Bonus: You don’t even need to turn on the oven.

Get the recipe: Lachha Paratha (Flaky Paratha)  

Shop the recipe: White Whole Wheat Flour

Photography by Rick Holbrook; food styling by Kaitlin Wayne

3) Banana Snacking Cake with Chocolate Malted Cream Cheese Frosting

This snackable single-layer cake is reminiscent of banana bread, but gets a dose of childhood nostalgia from malted chocolate cream cheese frosting. Rainbow sprinkles and crushed malted milk balls add a touch of fun to this everyday cake. 

Get the recipe:Banana Snacking Cake with Chocolate Malted Cream Cheese Frosting

Shop the recipe: Rainbow Pop Nonpareils and Malted Milk Powder

Photography by Rick Holbrook; Food Styling by Kaitlin Wayne

4) Classic Cheese Soufflé

From its impressive height to its cloud-like interior, this French staple is a simple showstopper. The combination of Gruyère and Parmesan add nutty richness to the soufflé; serve it for a simple supper with a big green salad, or as an elegant brunch centerpiece.

Get the recipe: Classic Cheese Soufflé

Shop the recipe: Pastry Brush

Photography by Rick Holbrook; Food Styling by Kaitlin Wayne

5) Quick and Easy Vanilla Cake

Here’s why this recipe lives up to its name: It’s mixed entirely by hand, requires only two bowls, and takes just 10 minutes to prep. And it’s not just the cake that’s quick and easy: The recommended chocolate frosting comes together in a flash too. Altogether, you’ll have an occasion-worthy cake ready in just about an hour and a half.

Get the recipe: Quick and Easy Vanilla Cake

Shop the recipe:Round Cake Pan

Photography by Rick Holbrook; Food Styling by Kaitlin Wayne

6) Chocoflan

This iconic Mexican dessert is exactly what it sounds like: half rich chocolate cake and half creamy flan. The beloved dessert has a magic trick up its sleeve: The cake batter is poured into the Bundt pan first, then topped with the flan mixture. Once it goes into the oven, the two layers switch places (due to the cake being less dense than the flan). Who needs frosting on top when you can have a thick layer of caramel flan instead?

Get the recipe: Chocoflan

Shop the recipe: Original Classic Bundt® Pan

Photography by Rick Holbrook; Food Styling by Kaitlin Wayne

7) Filipino Egg Pie

This custard pie is adored throughout the Philippines for its silky texture, all thanks to evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk, and eggs. During baking, the top of the pie transforms into a bronzed, deeply toasted layer that contrasts with the smooth filling beneath.

Get the recipe: Filipino Egg Pie

Shop the recipe: Maple Rolling Pin and Mat Set

Photography by Rick Holbrook; Food Styling by Kaitlin Wayne

8) Cannoli Cheesecake

With their creamy ricotta filling, cannoli were practically destined to be transformed into cheesecake. Here, ricotta and cream cheese are the foundation of the luscious filling, while waffle cones approximate the crunch of cannoli shells in the crust and garnish.

Get the recipe: Cannoli Cheesecake

Shop the recipe: Springform Pan

Photography by Rick Holbrook; Food Styling by Kaitlin Wayne

9) Chocolate and Coffee Cupcakes

Mocha lovers, this one’s for you. We’ve always been fans of adding espresso powder to our chocolate cakes to amplify their flavor, but pairing moist chocolate cupcakes with coffee frosting demonstrates the full magic of coffee and chocolate combined.

Get the recipe: Chocolate and Coffee Cupcakes

Shop the recipe: Espresso Powder

Photography by Rick Holbrook; Food Styling by Kaitlin Wayne

10) Frangipane and Fruit-Filled Wool Rolls

These adorably shaped milk bread rolls are a mini version of our beloved Filled Wool Roll. They’re arranged to resemble a quilt, and their interiors are as pillowy soft as their name suggests. But the outside appearance only tells half the story: Inside are alternating fillings of orange cardamom and raspberry frangipane.

Get the recipe: Frangipane and Fruit-Filled Wool Rolls

Shop the recipe: Cloud Forest Ground Cardamom and Orange Blossom Water

Photography by Rick Holbrook; Food Styling by Kaitlin Wayne

11) Giant Sheet Pan Chocolate Croissant

This recipe takes all the best elements of a chocolate croissant — gooey filling and flaky layers — and skips the labor-intensive laminating and shaping. Instead, we call for Fast and Easy Puff Pastry to achieve those characteristic flaky layers without the fuss of a traditional laminated pastry and long rests.

Get the recipe: Giant Sheet Pan Chocolate Croissant

Shop the recipe: Triple Cocoa Blend

Photography by Rick Holbrook; Food Styling by Kaitlin Wayne

12) Morning Glory Breakfast Bread

This subtly sweet quick bread checks off a lot of boxes: no added sugar, 100% whole grain, and no dairy. Plus it’s packed with mix-ins like shredded coconut, apples, carrots, and raisins for a hearty start to the day.

Get the recipe: Morning Glory Breakfast Bread

Shop the recipe: White Whole Wheat Flour

Photography by Rick Holbrook; Food Styling by Kaitlin Wayne

13) Easy Vegan Lemon Cake

This simple yet elegant cake comes together in mere minutes and doesn’t skimp on bright citrus flavors. Lemon is used in virtually all of its forms: zest, juice, and candied slices, plus a few not-so-secret ingredients for bolder flavor (lemon juice emulsion and lemon juice powder).

Get the recipe: Easy Vegan Lemon Cake

Shop the recipe: Lemon Juice Emulsion and Lemon Juice Powder

Cover photo (Cannoli Cheesecake) by Rick Holbrook; food styling by Kaitlin Wayne.

The 13 best recipes to bake in April (2024)

FAQs

What is the most popular thing to bake? ›

Some of the most popular baked goods are apple pie, chocolate chip cookies, cornbread, and banana bread.

What is the oldest baked good? ›

The oldest remains of unleavened bread to date (about 14,000 old) were found in northeastern Jordan. This allows evidence that bread baking was developed about 4,000 years before the development of agriculture.

What are fun things to bake? ›

Quick and easy baking ideas
  • Easy chocolate brownies. ...
  • Triple chocolate chip cookies. ...
  • Fairy cakes. ...
  • Easter lemon and elderflower almond cake. ...
  • Chocolate drip cake. ...
  • Vanilla and raspberry mascarpone loaf cake. ...
  • Carrot cake loaf. ...
  • Biscoff cupcakes.

What is the oldest bakery in the USA? ›

The oldest continually operating bakery in America, Winkler Bakery is located inside Old Salem Museums & Gardens, the historic district of Salem dating back to 1766.

What was the first cake ever baked? ›

The first cakes were probably made in ancient Egypt. Yeast was used to making them light and fluffy. Honey was also often used as a sweetener. Nuts and spices were added for flavor and the cakes were sometimes iced with honey or syrup.

What was the first bread ever made? ›

Flatbread, the earliest form of bread, is still eaten, especially in much of the Middle East, Asia, and Africa. The principal grains used in such breads are corn (maize), barley, millet, and buckwheat—all lacking sufficient gluten (elastic protein) to make raised breads—and wheat and rye.

What to cook for food snobs? ›

Food Snobs
  • Copycat Cheesecake Factory Shrimp Scampi Linguine - Asili Glam. Copycat Cheesecake Factory Shrimp Scampi Linguine - Asili Glam. ...
  • 1:07. Stuffed Baked Potato Extravaganza 🥔 ...
  • Sweet Potato Muffins. Sweet Potato Muffins. ...
  • Garlic Butter Shrimp with Asparagus. Garlic Butter Shrimp with Asparagus.

What sells best at Bake Sales? ›

Cupcakes, brownies, and cookies are always winners, but any small, portable baked items are good bake sale ideas. Note that bake sale cookies, cupcakes, brownies, and muffins are easier to package and sell by the piece than are cakes and pies.

What are the 4 major baked products? ›

Bread, cookie, muffin, and cake are the most common baked goods. The major components responsible for the texture, flavor, and visual appearance of most bakery items are flour, water, and leavening agents.

What are the most popular pastries? ›

10 Most Popular Pastries in the World
  • Croissant. Hailing from France, the buttery croissant is a breakfast staple that has conquered the world. ...
  • Macaron. ...
  • Danish Pastry. ...
  • Éclair. ...
  • Cannoli. ...
  • Baklava. ...
  • Mille-Feuille. ...
  • Pastel de Nata.

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