If you’ve been paying attention, then you probably know that I don’t bake. Measuring, mixing, flour … ick. Waaay too precise for me. Fortunately, there are easier and much quicker ways to get to dessert.

Here are some ways to make a delectable dessert without having to invest in a $400 mixer:

Slice and Bake and …

I love slice and bake. If they didn’t taste so good right off the roll, well, then maybe I would bake… But anyway, whatever form your slice and bake (or break and bake) comes in, remember that it’s still just dough. Thus, you can always soften it up a bit and mix in [nearly] everything from the next point down. You can also:

• Cut-out fun shapes and/or top with icing, melted chocolate or sprinkles
• Form the dough into thick, round balls, and add a pice of chocolate, candy, cream cheese, fruit or jam to make thumbprint cookies
• Roll the dough thinly into a pie pan to form an incredibly sweet crust for cakes or pies
• Spread chocolate chip dough as a thick layer (or combine two rolls) into a small cake pan or casserole dish to make blondies
• Make cookie surprises by wrapping dough around pieces of chocolate or candy bars before baking

So, the box calls for butter, a cup of water and an egg. But that doesn’t mean you have to follow it. Next time you’re looking at a box (or bag) of Betty Crocker, think about mixing it up a bit:

• Substitute soda, coffee or even beer instead of water & oil
• Add a few teensy drops of liquid flavoring or extract
• Spice it up by adding spices like ground cinnamon, allspice or nutmeg or grated citrus peel
• Mix in chopped nuts, flaked coconut or poppy seeds
• Add chocolate, butterscotch, peanut butter, toffee, mint, etc chips to the prepared batter
• Or, break up your favorite candy bar and toss it in to the mix

Sometimes, a nice dessert is all about presentation. Think of parfaits, sundaes and chocolate-dipped fruits and cookies. You can also make interesting pies and treats by mixing cream and flavorings into instant pudding mixes or layer instant gelatin, fruit and whipped cream to make a “gelatin salad”. Re-think popsicles and freeze fruit juice with a bit of ice cream for a playful-pop, or, stir fruit juice every 30 minutes for about 3 hours as it freezes to make a tasty little granita. Oh, and never underestimate the allure of a simple chocolate fondue- with a little marshmallow, rum, butterscotch, peanut butter, etc mixed-in.

Rolls of ready-to-bake croissants, biscuits and puff-pastries can be your best friend at dessert time.

• Press them into the bottom of casserole dishes, pie-pans or muffin tins for easy, fluffy and gooey crusts
• Layer with fruit and top with honey, syrup or jam before folding up and baking
• Roll-up crescents with chopped nuts, honey and cinnamon, bake and then drizzle with cream
• Roll a croissant around a few pieces of a chocolate bar for a fresh Pain au Chocolat
• Actually, fill a croissant/crescent with just about anything: fruit slices, jams, cream cheese …
• Make an array of shortcakes by flattening biscuits a bit and topping with fruit, syrup and whipped cream or ice cream

One sneaky and very common trick is to take a fully-prepared cake from the bakery (most commonly, angel-food cake or pound cake), cutting it into large slices and adding on to them. Some of my favorites include:

• Cutting a small slit into the cake, inserting a chunk of chocolate before grilling the slice and topping with fruit
• Coat slices with butter and brown sugar, then bake until toasted
• Pan-fry each side (toast) and drizzle with fruit jam or honey
• Soak slices in a mixture of eggs and sugar, grill each side and coat with syrup and powdered sugar (for dessert french toast)
• Toss cake (or white bread) cubes with butter, chopped apples, brown sugar, cinnamon. Top with cream and bake to make yummy ‘bread’ pudding
• Take a whole cake, cut the top off and hollow-out a ‘trench’. Fill the trench with fruit, ice cream or sorbet. Replace the top and drizzle with chocolate, icing, etc.

Mousse just might be the quickest, easiest dessert-type out there. Broadly, a mousse is a chilled, whipped, light dessert and is usually made with whipped cream, eggs and some sort of flavoring or gelatin. Mouses can be chucked into a pie shell, used as a dip for fruits, breads or cakes, layered with other ingredients into a parfait, used as a topping/icing or eaten straight with a spoon. Here are some tasty mousse mixes to get you started (microwave together, whip and chill- & always go heavy on the cream):

• chocolate, peanut butter, whipping/marshmallow cream
• cream cheese, milk, coffee, pudding, whipping cream
• maple syrup, egg yolks, whipping cream
• lemon/lime juice, sweetened condensed milk, whipping cream
• powdered sugar, cocoa powder, vanilla extract, whipping cream
• bananas (mashed & blended), powdered sugar, lemon juice, whipping cream

~Happy Baking!

photos: trekkyandy; scaramuzzino; avlxyz; [RAWRZ!]; Brett Jordan