• Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• In a medium bowl combine your flour, cornstarch, baking soda and salt. Whisk together until combined and set aside.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, mix the softened butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, egg and vanilla on medium speed until fluffy.
• Add in your flour mixture little by little until just combined. Be careful not to overmix.
• Stir in 1 1/4 cup of the M&M's with a spatula until evenly distributed.
• Optional: you can chill your dough for up to 24 hours, but it is not completely necessary.
• Scoop the dough into balls (about 29 grams each if you are weighing them) and place them on your cookie sheet. Press the remaining M&M's into the tops of each cookie dough ball.
• Bake for 9-11 minutes or until the edges just start turning golden brown. Allow to cool on the cookie sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire cooling rack.

• Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line a 12 mold cupcake tin with paper liners. Set aside.
• In a large bowl, combine the vanilla cake mix per the instructions on the box. Set aside.
• In a small bowl, toss the diced strawberries and a little bit of the flour. Keep adding little bits of flour until the strawberries are lightly coated and not sticking together.
• Fold the strawberries into your batter with a spatula until evenly distributed.
• Fill each cupcake liner about 3/4 of the way full, or until all 12 cupcake liners are evenly filled. Bake per the instructions on the box.

For the strawberry buttercream

• In a medium saucepan, combine the chopped strawberries and lemon juice and bring to a simmer on medium heat, stirring occasionally. Continue to lightly simmer until the strawberry bits are soft and resemble jam. It should stick to your wooden spoon, about 10 minutes.
• Allow the strawberry mixture to cool completely before starting your buttercream.
• Place your softened butter into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat on medium speed until smooth and creamy (about 2 minutes).
• Add in 3 tablespoons of the cooled strawberry mixture and beat until combined, about 1 minute.
• Add your powdered sugar in, one cup at a time, and mix on low speed until all of the sugar has been added.
• Add in the heavy cream and salt, then beat on high speed for 2 minutes to thicken and fluff the buttercream.
• Add the buttercream to a piping bag with a Wilton 2D piping tip (or your preference) and pipe onto each cooled cupcake.
• Top with small fresh strawberries if desired!

For the pound cake

• Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line a 9×5 loaf pan with parchment paper. Set aside.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients: flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
• In a separate larger bowl, whisk together the eggs and ricotta until smooth.
• Add the vegetable oil and almond extract to your ricotta mixture and whisk until well combined.
• Slowly add your flour mixture to the wet ingredients and whisk together until all of your flour mixture is incorporated and smooth. Be careful not to overmix your batter. This can add too much air to the mixture and risk the pound cake falling in the center while baking.
• Once your batter is ready, fold in the orange zest.
• Pour into your parchment lined loaf pan and gently smooth the top with a spatula.
• Bake at 350 degrees for 40-50 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Try not open the oven or move the pan around until it has baked for at least 30-35 minutes. Again, this can risk the center caving in.
• Let the cake cool in the pan for at least 30 minutes before removing it.

For the glaze

• In a medium bowl, whisk together all of your powdered sugar with 3 tablespoons of whole milk. Add additional milk until you achieve your desired consistency.
• Once your pound cake has cooled completely, remove from the parchment paper and set it on a piece of wax paper.
• Pour your icing over the top and let it fall down the sides. Let is sit for a few minutes for the glaze to set.
• Slice in 1-1 1/2 inch pieces and serve cold or at room temperature.