20 Essential Dessert Tricks That Will Turn You Into a Pastry Pro

From ice-cream bread to no-bake key lime pie, these shortcut recipes and kitchen hacks are pure gold for sweet tooths.

Nidhi Chaudhry

Even if you’re someone who cooks regularly, you might not even think about making your own desserts. Pastry is the most precise of the culinary arts, and it can be intimidating to tackle anything beyond a box of Duncan Hines brownie mix.

But it doesn’t have to be that way. To help you get your pastry legs underneath you. we’ve put together a list of our 20 favorite dessert tricks, including shortcuts to save time, and ingenious hacks you can use to impress your friends.

Some of these tricks sounds like pure alchemy—turning ice cream into bread, transforming a banana into ice cream (without any additions), and making hardened cookies soft again with just a slice of bread. Others are what we like to call “why didn’t I think of that” moves, like freezing whipped-cream puffs to use later with hot chocolate, or topping a cupcake with a marshmallow as it bakes in lieu of frosting. We’ve even got some surprising uses for items that have little to do with dessert, including dental floss for cutting cakes neatly, balloons as molds for edible chocolate cups, and a French press for making whipped cream.

Making dessert doesn’t have to be that hard—here are some home-cook pro moves that’ll take your pastry game to the next level.

Turn ice cream into bread.

Degree of difficulty (0-10): 4 How it works: Yes, you read that right. Softened ice cream, self-rising flour, and a little sugar is all you need to work this magic trick and make some melt-in-your-mouth bread. We know it sounds too easy—and a little too weird—to be true, but it really works. Just think of all the flavor possibilities, including strawberry, chocolate, and Chunky Monkey, and then get adventurous with the add-ins. Throw in some chocolate chips, chopped-up banana, a dash of bourbon, or sprinkles. Mix, put in a pan, and bake—it's really that easy. Read more.
Drop a mini marshmallow in the bottom of a cone to keep ice cream from leaking out.

Degree of difficulty (0-10): 1 How it works: Solve all your ice-cream-dripping-out-of-the-cone-onto-your-shirt woes by dropping a marshmallow inside the cone before you scoop the ice cream in. The marshmallow will plug up the whole and prevent any leakage; you'll get an extra tasty sweet-treat at the bottom of your cone; and your shirt can go on looking ice-cream free (no sticky hands, either). Read more.
Prevent cake from going stale with bread and tooth picks.

Degree of difficulty (0-10): 3 How it works: It's not too often we have leftover cake going into the refrigerator, but the few times we do, it would be nice to put a moist, half-eaten cake into the fridge and find it still moist the next day. Wishful thinking? Not if you have sliced bread and toothpicks. Just cover the cut, un-frosted part of the cake with bread slices and hold them in place with toothpicks. The bread will get hard and stale, but the cake will stay nice and soft. Sorry, bread—you're being sacrificed for a greater good. Read more.
Learn the right way to make an ice-cream cookie sandwich.

Degree of difficulty (0-10): 2 How it works: Unless you've been making your ice-cream cookie sandwiches this way the whole time, your life is about to get much easier. Slicing up the ice cream while it's still in the box is such a ninja move —simple and life-changing—and it's guaranteed to make your cookie sandwich look clean and ultra-pro. Read more.
Make edible cups out of chocolate using balloons.

Degree of difficulty (0-10): 8 How it works: This one's a little tricky. You have to blow up quite a few balloons (more than you think you need because quite a few will pop), dip them one by one in melted tempered chocolate, set them aside to harden, twiddle your thumbs as you wait, and then finally pop the balloons very carefully so as not to shatter the hardened chocolate. If you can do all of that with some patience and skill, then dessert glory will be all yours. Read more.
Use waxed, unflavored dental floss to slice cake.

Degree of difficulty (0-10): 4 How it works: What's dental floss got to do with cake? Nothing, except that it cuts cake better, cleaner, and more precisely than anything else. This cutting method also works beautifully for soft cheeses and cheesecakes, too. Just make sure you're using unflavored wax floss. Read more.
Make a 10-minute, no-bake key lime pie.

Degree of difficulty (0-10): 5 How it works: This one's a cheat version of a key lime pie, and it can come in handy in all sorts of dessert emergencies. You whip up milk, heavy cream, and lime juice together, and then spread a portion of this filling on the bottom of a deep-dish pie plate. Next comes a layer of Ritz crackers, followed by another layer of the filling. Then crackers, filling, crackers, filling—until the pie plate is full. Grate some lemon zest on top, put it in the fridge, and wait for the real magic to happen. Read more.
Make frozen whipped-cream puffs for your hot chocolate.

Degree of difficulty (0-10): 5 How it works: Homemade whipped cream trumps Reddiwhip or any other store-bought whipped cream anyday. But it's not terribly convenient to whip up a batch every time you want to top off a mug of hot cocoa. That's where the freezer comes handy. Just make whipped cream as you would (remember to add sugar), and then spoon individual servings onto a parchment-lined baking sheet, freeze for 2-3 hours, transfer to a freezer bag, and store in the freezer until the next time you're hankering for whipped cream-topped hot chocolate (or a dollop of whipped cream in your morning coffee). Read more.
Make one-ingredient banana ice cream.

Degree of difficulty (0-10): 3 How it works: This trick has been around for a while, but we'll confess, we didn't believe it would work when we first read about it. How can frozen banana, on it's own, without any additional dairy or sweetners, magically turn into rich and creamy ice cream? Simple: By getting a few turns in the blender or food processor. Turns out the smidgen of fat in bananas is responsible for this kitchen wizardry—when they are frozen and blended up, the fat makes them creamy instead of crumbly. It's a simple and healthy way to quick gratification, and a great way to show off your creative kitchen chops. Read more.
Bake cupcakes and muffins using mason jar lids.

Degree of difficulty (0-10): 2 How it works: Don't let a simple thing like the lack of a muffin tray stop you from getting your cupcake on. Just use lid-rings from mason jars to hold cupcake liners in place on a baking tray, then pour in the batter and bake as usual. They won't always turn out as pretty as muffin-tray cupcakes, but a lopsided cupcake is better than no cupcake at all. Read more.
Make brownie in a coffee mug.

Degree of difficulty (0-10): 3 How it works: Of all the great things that can come in a mug, a microwaved brownie has got to be the best. All it takes is about two minutes and some simple mixing of dry ingredients like flour, sugar, and cocoa with wet ingredients like oil, water, and vanilla. Mug brownies are perfect for when the sugar craving strikes out of the blue. Just make sure you have ice cream handy. Read more.
Top your cupcakes with toasted marshmallow.

Degree of difficulty (0-10): 4 How it works: Throw a giant marshmallow on top of each of your cupcakes five minutes before they are ready to come out of the oven. As the marshmallows turn gooey and start to appear golden brown, use the flat side of a spoon to press down and spread them out over your cupcakes. Now you have toasted marshmallow frosting. Read more.
Make sliceable popsicles in a loaf pan.

Degree of difficulty (0-10): 5 How it works: Why should you be deprived of homemade pops simply because you don't own a popscicle mold? Get your loaf pan out, fill it with the popsicle mixture of your choice, and secure wax paper on top. Then, make little slits in it right along the middle, about one inch apart, to put popsicle sticks in and keep them upright. Slip this into the freezer carefully. When it's all frozen (about 6-7 hours), carefully wet the outside of the pan with hot water until the frozen 'loaf' slides out. Then cut with a knife between the sticks and voilà—ice pops! Read more.
Make sugar cookie cups to serve ice cream or fudge in.

Degree of difficulty (0-10): 4 How it works: Turns out the back of a muffin tray is just as useful as the front. Thin round slices of store-bought sugar cookie dough, each placed on a raised cup on the back of a muffin tray, will melt in the oven and droop down the sides to form sugar-cookie cups. Once they've cooled down and you remove them, very carefully, from the upside-down muffin tray, just add a dollop of your favorite filling (ice cream, fudge, cheesecake) and top with some fruit. You fancy, huh? Read more.
Make ice cream in your food processor.

Degree of difficulty (0-10): 8 How it works: You read that right—it's possible to make ice cream (the creamy type, not the crystallized kind) at home even if you don't have an ice-cream maker. Yes, the process is a little more involved than what the ice-cream machine demands, because the ice-cream mixture needs to be quick-frozen in ice cube trays, then blended with heavy cream and frozen again in a quart container for four more hours. But where's your sense of adventure? Read more.
Make brownies in a waffle iron

Degree of difficulty (0-10): 6 How it works: The waffle iron is the multi-tasking workhorse of the kitchen, good for making waffle-shaped omelettes, cinnammon rolls, potato hash, and of course, waffles. But it's especially good for making brownies in a matter of minutes. Sadly, it's not entirely foolproof—getting the freshly-cooked soft brownie out of the waffle iron takes some deft maneuvering. But the rewards are great, especially when topped with ice cream or salted caramel. Read more.
Use a French press to make whipped cream.

Degree of difficulty (0-10): 4 How it works: It won't lead to the fluffiest whipped cream you've ever had, but it'll do the job well enough (and you won't kill your wrist in the process). Just fill the French press less than half way up with heavy whipping cream, put on the lid, and push and pull the filter up and down very quickly. Read more.
Make quick and easy Nutella pastries with Nutella and store-bought puff pastry dough.

Degree of difficulty (0-10): 4 How it works: If you're trying to impress someone with your dessert prowess but lack any real baking skills, this hack is for you. You only need the most basic of abilities to succeed, like going shopping for Nutella and puff-pastry sheets, cutting the sheets into squares, putting a dollop of Nutella in the middle, and closing it up like a triangle (press the open edges together with a fork). Some egg wash goes on top with a little sprinkle of sugar, then into the oven your super-simple pastry goes for 20-25 minutes. It'll come out looking like a dessert from a professional pâtisserie, and you'll wonder why you ever thought baking was difficult. Read more.
Make mini-donuts by covering cheerios with chocolate, cinnamon sugar, etc.

Degree of difficulty (0-10): 3 How it works: Frankly, these tiny Cheerio-donuts aren't going to satisfy any serious sweet cravings, but they are pretty awesome nonetheless. Use them as topping on ice cream, decorations on cake, or just something to get a laugh out of your dinner guests. The best part is, you can have 20 of these without feeling any guilt. Read more.
Make stale cookies soft again by putting them in a plastic bag with a slice of bread.

Degree of difficulty (0-10): 2 How it works: After spending hours on baking perfect chocolate chip cookies, it's painful to see the delicious results turn into hard crumbly masses in a matter of days. Save your cookies—or rescue ones which have already become stale—by storing them with a slice of fresh bread. The moisture from the fresh bread will migrate to your cookies, making them soft and chewy once again. Read more.

20 Essential Dessert Tricks That Will Turn You Into a Pastry Pro

Turn ice cream into bread.

Drop a mini marshmallow in the bottom of a cone to keep ice cream from leaking out.

Prevent cake from going stale with bread and tooth picks.

Learn the right way to make an ice-cream cookie sandwich.

Make edible cups out of chocolate using balloons.

Use waxed, unflavored dental floss to slice cake.

Make a 10-minute, no-bake key lime pie.

Make frozen whipped-cream puffs for your hot chocolate.

Make one-ingredient banana ice cream.

Bake cupcakes and muffins using mason jar lids.

Make brownie in a coffee mug.

Top your cupcakes with toasted marshmallow.

Make sliceable popsicles in a loaf pan.

Make sugar cookie cups to serve ice cream or fudge in.

Make ice cream in your food processor.

Make brownies in a waffle iron

Use a French press to make whipped cream.

Make quick and easy Nutella pastries with Nutella and store-bought puff pastry dough.

Make mini-donuts by covering cheerios with chocolate, cinnamon sugar, etc.

Make stale cookies soft again by putting them in a plastic bag with a slice of bread.

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