I am NOT a cocktail girl. I could think of a lot of cocktails but really wanting to make one into a dessert wasn’t whipping me into a frenzy of excitement ( where I once again probably break the Top Chef Just Desserts rules). I’m a beer girl through and through. One does not throw back a Cosmo or Mojito while watching hockey…it’s against nature. After a week of pouring though cookbooks, I even have one dedicated to Booze, I ended up saying screw it and went with what I love. Beer, a black and tan of sorts to be exact. There are lots of stout cakes out there. Almost all of them are chocolate stout cakes that come out for St. Patrick’s Day. I really loved the idea of the Gingerbread Stout Cake I saw on Epicurious awhile back that then showed up on Deb’s site. That gave me the black of the black and tan but I needed the tan. Enter the caramel made with ale. I chose to go with orange blossom ale, as I think gingerbread and orange go together in a delightful way. If you … [Read more...]
Gingerbread Stout Cake with Caramel-Ale (yep beer) Sauce…the Ulitimate Black and Tan
Top Chef Peabody’s Chocolate Overload…
Chocolate. Chocolate. Chocolate. The first real challenge was all about chocolate. Trying to make the most decadent chocolate dessert possible. Truthfully the fact that the winner used white chocolate to me makes it null and void. I like white chocolate, but it’s not chocolate. Do you think white chocolate is chocolate? Anyway, I watched and listened as the judges picked apart the dessert. They seemed to be most impressed with the desserts that had different texture and different chocolates. The very same day I was thinking of this my much awaited copy of Baked: Explorations came out. I LOVED their last book and couldn’t wait until for this to arrive on my doorstep. Inside was a Mississippi Mud Pie. Which had a cookie crust, a flourless chocolate cake bottom, and chocolate pudding. Okay, now we are talking. I had originally wanted to make chocolate meringues to crush up and put on top, but our humidity the last couple of days was making a crunchy meringue a big no-no. If I were to … [Read more...]
Top Chef Peabody’s Cinnamon Roll Cupcakes…
For years friends have said to me, you should be on Top Chef. I would tell them no way, I don’t have the knife skills(and a whole other bunch of reasons). And well, there’s never any dessert. So of course, what comes along? Top Chef: Just Desserts. My friends hounded me like crazy to try out. After seeing the cast, thank goodness I did not! Not afraid of their skill, just plain afraid of them! No seriously, I would lie awake at night probably hoping that my bunk mate wouldn’t try to smother me to death with buttercream frosting just for the fun of it. But it got me thinking. Along the lines of, Julie and Julia, I decided I will be doing each of the challenges that they are going to do on Top Chef Just Desserts. Which is how I ended up with these Cinnamon Roll Cupcakes with Cheesecake Frosting topped with Mini Cinnamon Rolls. The first quick fire challenge was to make your signature dessert. I really have two. Either my bread pudding or my cinnamon roll cheesecake. In the middle … [Read more...]
