Hey friends, I’m Trang, chemical engineer by day and food blogger by night, published author and an avid reader. I love nothing more than an excuse to whip up some delicious baked goods to share with the people I care about, including you. Welcome to my blog!
How it all started…
Growing up in Vietnam, my love for sweets developed at an early age; mom told me I asked for dessert at the end of every meal. Grandpa’s signature caramel flan is a family favorite. In elementary school, my after school snack was silky tofu pudding in jasmine sugar syrup. Then in middle school, I was off exploring the city with friends on our bikes; we hit up all the street vendors after school, one by one. There was coconut ice cream with pandan sticky rice – one of my favorites – and of course a million different kinds of pudding (chè) with black bean, mung bean, green agar jelly, grass jelly, tapioca, sweet corn, banana, lotus seed, sweet potato, taro, cassava – these have got to be Vietnam national dessert.
At 15, I moved stateside, and desserts started to change forms. They come in multi-layer cakes, muffins, eclairs, cookies, pies, cheesecakes, truffles, and oh so many sweet things. In my last year of high school, I landed my first real job, working at a cinnamon bun bakery. I got up early to open the shop and learned how to roll out the dough, slather it with butter and cinnamon sugar, and slide it in the oven before the first customers arrived. There was something so satisfying about the whole process, watching the dough rise in the proofer until they looked about to burst, and watching the cinnamon sugar bubble up and drip down the sides of the rolls into the bottom of the oven. That job gifted to me the joy of creating something so delicious with my own hands. It was at that moment that I went from an eater to a feeder, a consumer to a creator.
So here I am, bringing you approachable everyday bakes since 2014. During the pandemic, I worked on a book proposal which never ended up seeing the light of day. It was filled with recipes for sweets and treats inspired by my childhood and the colorful ingredients I grew up with in Southeast Asia. A few years later, that book proposal sits in my Google drive collecting virtual dust, but it was still pulling at my heart so I decided to narrow my blog focus to mostly recipes with tropical vibes and Asian flavors. If you are feeling a little nostalgic and homesick for those vibes and flavors, I hope you’ll find comfort in my recipes.
Here are some personal favorites
- Crispy Twice Baked Miso Almond Croissants – the miso adds a subtle, savory depth that takes these almond croissants out of this world.
- Hawaiian Chocolate Chip Cookies with Oatmeal, Coconut and Macadamias – I made these after a trip to Maui to recreate some cookies I tried on the island.
- Pani Popo (Samoan Coconut Buns) – I first had these at a Hawaiian festival, I was hooked ever since!
- Chinese Bakery Inspired Coconut Buns – growing up, I eat these alllll the time, still do to this day.
- Toffee Chocolate Chip Cookies (with Brown Butter) – I had these at a bakery in South Coast Plaza (a mall in OC), I just had to have them again.
What can you expect
Are you one of those people who skips frosting on top of cupcakes because they’re too sweet? Do you stay away of those dense muffins that require an entire glass of milk to choke down? Or perhaps you’ve always wanted to bake homemade bread but don’t know where to start.
You’ve come to the right place my friend. You can make sweets that aren’t overly sweets, cookies that melt in your mouth, muffins that leave you wanting more. Your house will smell like delicious baked good during the holidays or any day for that matter. And best of all, you can have fun doing it; and you will feel the joy of great culinary accomplishment when that pie you bring to a work potluck is gone in a matter of seconds.
Baking from scratch doesn’t have to be intimidating or complicated. You can start with just a mixing bowl, a wooden spoon and a few simple ingredients. You can do it no matter what experience level you have and together we will conquer the kitchen one recipe at a time.
Readers love us!
On our Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies, Holly said:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
“The best cookies you’ve ever made.”
This is what my husband said when I made these cookies!I love this recipe so much I made it twice in two weeks. I’ve never made brown butter, but the simple instructions really made it easy, and it is so worth the extra step.
The second time I baked these I used coarse salt instead of regular salt and it really made a huge difference— I love it when I can taste bits of salt especially with the hint of brown butter. It gives the cookies an almost salted caramel feel.
Next I will be making the brown butter toffee cookies!
On our Pani Popo (Samoan Coconut Buns) recipe, Maricel said:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I made this for the first time. I’m from Guam and was missing the islands. This recipe was a hit Trang! I tried something different with the dough, by using half bread flour and AP ( I was low on AP), then I formed the dough into rose shapes instead of the traditional round shape. I was worried that rolling it with a pin would change the texture but it didn’t. My family loved it and this is my new go to. Soft, fluffy, and super moist! Thank you for not gatekeeping this recipe, you’re a gem! Si yu’us Ma’ase!
On our Haupia (Hawaiian Coconut Pudding) recipe, Stacey said:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
My mother recalls haupia pudding from her childhood. I made this for her and it brought back lots of fond memories of growing up in Hawai’i. Though the haupia she knew was the thick version cut into squares I made it soft in little pudding cups. She had nothing but nice things to say about it and I even found her licking the pot! Thank you for a simple but elegant dessert and for a pleasant stroll down memory lane with my 86 year old mother.
Where else you can find me
Wild Wild Whisk was a finalist for the Saveur Blog Awards 2018.
I’ve also written for larger publications such as The Recipe Critic.
I’m here for you!
If you have any questions or just want to share your success in the kitchen, I would love to hear from you. You can email me, or reach out to me on Instagram and Facebook. I can’t wait to chat with you. And most of all thank you for being here, I hope this blog can be a place of inspiration for you and can make your day a little sweeter!
