The true confections of a dessert addict!
“PARADISE IS OPEN TO ALL KINDS OF HEARTS.” Pierre Jean de Béranger
Two bites = two words. Tropical. Paradise.
A sweet tart crust….. filled with luscious coconut pastry cream….. sprinkled with chewy toasted coconut….. and topped with fresh, sweet, juicy pineapples.
Is your heart open? [Read more...]
“COFFEE MAKES IT POSSIBLE TO GET OUT OF BED IN THE MORNING. CHOCOLATE MAKES IT WORTHWHILE.” Author Unknown
The cycle of a lazy Sunday morning. I am too comfortable in my bed and my eyes remain closed as I contemplate how to spend this beautiful day. Everything about this morning feels good. And soft. The soft, cool breeze wafting through my window stirs me to wrap my favorite soft, cotton blanket around me, my feet, still poking out. The soft, tinkling of the wind chimes relax me to sink even deeper into my soft, pillowy feather bed. I can sense that my soft and sweet, affectionate cat, Sinclair, has come to enjoy the morning, too. His soft little face gently nudges my head. Nudging, but I won’t open my eyes. Nudging, and my nose begins to itch. Nudging, I roll over. Nudging, he finds me on the other side. Nudging, nudging, nudging! Sinclair!!!
So Sinclair is out and I am up! A warm cup of coffee, light with cream begs to wash down…..something. The coffee keeps me focused just enough to layer mascarpone, strawberries, strawberry jam and bits of milk chocolate on cold flat pastry. But I am patient….I know that it’s just a matter of time until the dough warms and puffs and flakes and browns in the oven. Wait! Let me sprinkle it with sugar and toss some almonds on top for good measure! And it’s just as I had hoped! Maybe even more! Warm and crusty, sweet and gooey. Chocolate and strawberries mingling and oozing. It’s pure, blissful, comforting. And it’s gone before my coffee has time to wash over it. A few more sips. And I am tucked back in bed. The perfect lazy morning until….. [Read more...]
1 can (14oz) sweetened condensed milk
8 oz heavy cream
4 eggs
16 oz Irish whiskey (I used Jamesons)
2 oz espresso
1 oz chocolate syrup
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
Beat the condensed milk, cream and eggs in a glass bowl. Place the bowl over a pan of simmering water and continue to gently whisk until the mixture reaches 160°F on your thermometer. The mixture should also lightly coat the back of a metal spoon. Remove this from the heat and let it cool to room temperature. Add the whiskey, coffee, chocolate syrup, vanilla and almond extracts. Stir well. This recipe makes about 1 1/4 quarts, but since it is fresh, it must be stored in the refrigerator. It will keep for up to 1 month.
As always when I post a cocktail, I’m going to share a favorite piece of music with you! I love Patty Griffin! And this song always brings me such a feeling of clarity, simplicity and joy. I’m not Irish, but my blessing to you is that it will make you feel the same! Enjoy this Irish cream and have yourselves a Heavenly Day!
Baking from scratch really can be quick and easy!!! Easy you say? Absolutely! Boring? Not a chance!
The Daring Bakers‘ February 2012 host was – Lis! Lisa stepped in last minute and challenged us to create a quick bread we could call our own. She supplied us with a base recipe and shared some recipes she loves from various websites and encouraged us to build upon them and make new flavor profiles.
The only rules for this Daring Bakers challenge is that the bread would contain no yeast and take no longer than an hour and a half to prepare. While Lisa offered a great base recipe and some wonderful suggestions, this time we were allowed to make any quick bread that we wanted. So I decided to share one of my favorites….. [Read more...]
“RIVERS KNOW THIS: THERE IS NO HURRY. WE SHALL GET THERE SOME DAY.” Winnie the Pooh
I have always loved the word yummly and use it a lot to describe anything that I taste that is insanely delicious! And before I became acquainted with Yummly, the recipe search site, I had always associated this term with Winnie the Pooh somehow. I think I was getting confused with ‘rumbly in my tumbly’, which Pooh says often, and which happens to me quite a bit, too!
Yesterday, I had the good fortune to come home to an email, in which I was alerted that Yummly had used my recipe for Cranberry Cherry Ribbon Cookies in an article called ‘10 Christmas Cookies that Will Put You in a Cookie Coma’! How very awesome!
Yummly is the world’s largest and most powerful recipe search site. They have been featured by The Today Show, Reuters, Fox, CNN, The Wall Street Journal, TechCrunch, About.com and more. And they have millions of viewers and subscribers. So you can imagine my surprise when they wrote to tell me that I would be added to their list of other hand picked blogs that are featured by them and that my recipes were “Certified Yummly”. I am proud to be associated with such a wonderful site, and one that I use so often in my own recipe searches! And I am in great company with so many other wonderful blogs!
Baking is a passion that really teaches patience. But sometimes….. when you are patient enough….. life is not only good…..it is Yummly!
“COME ON OVER HERE WITH THAT SUGAR STICKY SWEET STUFF.” Sugarland
I always think it’s a smart idea to develop a repertoire of good, simple, basic recipes. They are always there to fall back on in a pinch, stand in for something else, and be the basis or sidekicks for other great recipes. A fantastic caramel sauce is one of those basic necessities. I especially love to warm this in the fall and dip slices of fruit in it! I love to bake this in apple or pear pies. And of course, it’s great drizzled over ice cream! I made this delicious caramel sauce now because I’ll be using it in a frosting! However you choose to use it….it’s one of the simplest things to make and keep on hand….. [Read more...]
“IT IS, IN MY VIEW, THE DUTY OF AN APPLE TO BE CRISP AND CRUNCHABLE, BUT A PEAR SHOULD HAVE SUCH A TEXTURE AS LEADS TO SILENT CONSUMPTION.” Edward Bunyard, ‘The Anatomy of Dessert’
There is a restaurant in Middleburg, Virginia called The French Hound, which offers a wonderful stuffed pear dessert, served with a creme anglaise. I wanted to try to recreate this dessert. But I wanted to include a pastry that would lend itself as a delicate crust to absorb all the luscious flavors. Kind of like a lighter version of pie. I added dried cherries to the poaching wine, and reduced it to a wonderful syrupy sauce. And the center of the pears? They are filled with….. [Read more...]
“YOU ARE ICE AND FIRE; THE TOUCH OF YOU BURNS MY HANDS LIKE SNOW.” Amy Lowell
This icy treat has a fire all it’s own! Chilly to my tongue, but definitely warms my heart! It is hard to believe that something so ridiculously easy can taste so amazingly good! Refreshing? Yes! A great combination of flavors, but the rum most definitely shines through! [Read more...]
“LIFE IS BETTER THAN DEATH, I BELIEVE, IF ONLY BECAUSE IT IS LESS BORING, AND IT HAS FRESH PEACHES IN IT.” Alice Walker
You like peaches, right? I thought so! And how about creme brulee? YES! Me, too!!! So it’s inevitable…..they have to come together! Oh friends…..I will never ask another thing of you if you just promise me you will try this once! You will be hooked! Two simple flavors come together to create such a sweet medley in your mouth. Just get yourself some of these fresh, ripe beauties…..mix a simple custard on the stove. A sprinkling of sugar….and a little carmelization! This is going down as one of my all time favorite summer desserts! Wait till you see what it looks like when you start scooping!!!…… [Read more...]
“THOUGH THIS BE MADNESS, YET THERE IS A METHOD.” William Shakespeare
Well this is my first attempt at making macarons! You know, for such a perfect little cookie, you hear so many horror stories about how difficult it is to make them! But actually, it really wasn’t so difficult after all. You simply must follow the instructions as exactly as you can. I let my egg whites age for several days. I measured everything (in grams)! I even purchased thermometers for both ovens! The only thing I would do differently is pipe them smaller. (I know my piping skills are sorely lacking, so I should have measured here, too)!
But all the effort you will put forth will be worth it. This delicately sweet, chewy cookie filled with rich coffee cream is like no other baked good in all this world! While my first love is for cupcakes, I believe I am developing a passion for these amazing and special little cookies! And I can see how some are inspired, by the most ordinary visual stimulus, to create these little sensations! The possibilities are endless! And here’s how you can be inspired, too…….. [Read more...]
