Posted in Baking, Dessert, tagged Caramel, Corn, Summer, Whoopie pies on September 8, 2014| 10 Comments »
Caramel corn whoopie pies…YUM, right?! My mom found this recipe in Cuisine at Home last year and every time we bring the whoopie pies to a party, they’re a hit. The fluffy, cornbread-esque cookie tastes even more incredible paired with the caramel filling. These are a must-make dessert, I promise!
I’m off to New York tomorrow for work and can’t wait to eat my way through the city. First stop? Shake Shack, of course!
Posted in Baking, Chocolate, Dessert, Dessert bars, tagged Brownies, Caramel, Chocoley, Fudge, Gourmet, White chocolate on June 6, 2014| 5 Comments »
Chocoley–an online provider of high quality chocolate ingredients–contacted me a few weeks ago, asking if I’d be interested in baking a dessert with the company’s gourmet chocolate. I decided to make these decadent and gooey toffee brownies topped with homemade caramel and a white chocolate drizzle. The Chocoley dark chocolate gives the brownies an incredibly rich and delicious flavor. I brought the brownies to my office and they were a huge hit!
Posted in Alcohol, Baking, Cupcakes, Dessert, Entertaining, Holiday, tagged Butterscotch, Caramel, English toffee, Memorial Day, Toffee, Whiskey on May 23, 2014| 8 Comments »
You guys, I honestly have no words. These cupcakes are everything. Please go make them and have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend!
Posted in Alcohol, Baking, Candy, Dessert, Holiday, tagged Apple cider, Bourbon, Caramel, Homemade whipped cream, Thanksgiving on November 28, 2012| 23 Comments »
I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I’m still recovering from all the turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes, dessert and copious amounts of wine. I’m honestly not sure how we were able to eat this decadent dessert after dinner, but who turns down a cake with bourbon as one of its primary flavors? Not me. Needless to say, this dessert is definitely making another appearance soon.
I meant to mention this last week, but my brother, Matt, just got engaged to his girlfriend, Vanya, of six years. I’m so incredibly happy for them and am looking forward to all that comes next!
Posted in Baking, Breakfast, Cake, Dessert, Entertaining, Fruit, Holiday, tagged Banana, Caramel, Custard, Vanilla bean on January 17, 2012| 54 Comments »
To celebrate my dad’s birthday over the weekend, my mom and I made him the family favorite dessert–triple layer banana cake with caramel, vanilla bean custard and buttercream frosting.
We’re only graced with this gourmet cake on special occasions–you’ll understand why when you scroll down and see the recipe. My mom has always made the dessert by herself (which can take up to 5 hours) but since I was home, I decided it was time I learned how to make the cake. Even though it still took a few hours to make with the two of us, the result was beyond worth it.
The recipe is from one of our favorite cookbooks: The Hali’imaile General Store Cookbook. We visited this restaurant during our first trip to Hawaii 12 years ago. The macadamia nut-crusted halibut with mango-lime butter sauce recipe I posted a while back also comes from the The Hali’imaile General Store Cookbook.
Posted in Baking, Cookies, Dessert, Entertaining, Holiday, tagged Caramel, Ladyfingers, Pumpkin, Trifle on October 4, 2011| 85 Comments »
Since it seems everyone else has jumped on the pumpkin band wagon except me, I figured I’d fix that over the weekend. Though pumpkin isn’t the star of this dessert, the flavor is still recognizable.
This trifle is as decadent as it looks. One large spoonful will surely fill you up, complete with apples and pears roasted in browned butter, creamy cinnamon pastry cream, silky pumpkin-caramel sauce and soft ladyfingers soaked in Sherry. Told you it was rich.
If you’re looking to impress guests on Thanksgiving, I think this dessert would do the trick. :)
Thank you to Jaime over at A Dash of Domestic for passing the Versatile Blogger Award to me!
Posted in Baking, Bread, Bread Pudding, Dessert, tagged Banana, Caramel, Pudding, Toffee on March 15, 2011| 8 Comments »
Talk about rich! Just looking at the picture above makes me want to run to my fridge to sneak a forkful of this delectable banana cake drizzled with sweet caramel sauce.
I found this recipe on the Epicurious website and didn’t need to change any measurements or ingredients. My brother, who couldn’t get enough of the cake, said it tasted just like bananas foster, but in a different form. His comparison was spot on, particularly because of the distinct rum and banana flavor. In my opinion, you can’t go wrong when baking or cooking with alcohol!
Posted in Baking, Cheesecake, Dessert, Dessert bars, tagged Caramel, Graham cracker, Pecan on February 4, 2011| 3 Comments »
I’m still looking for an apartment in LA, so in the meantime, I’ve been staying a couple of nights a week at my good friends’ apartment. Since they won’t accept any money for letting me stay, I bake for them every week, as this is something they gladly accept. I baked for them (here and here).
I usually decide which dessert to make, but this week they had plenty of suggestions—cheesecake bites being the top choice. Their flavor recommendations ranged from caramel pecan to Oreo cookie to raspberry. I hunted for recipes online and went with my friend Heidi’s choice of caramel pecan cheesecake bites.
I altered the recipe a bit—making homemade caramel sauce instead of using caramel squares, and increasing the amount of graham cracker crust to make the bottom layer more proportionate to the top cheesecake layer.
The cheesecake bites were rich and delectable, with a mildly crunchy graham cracker and pecan crust and a silky and creamy cheesecake topping. Although I did not have time to make extra caramel sauce to drizzle on top of the bites (suggested in the recipe), the dessert bars were plenty sweet enough without the addition.
Posted in Alcohol, Baking, Bread, Bread Pudding, Dessert, Fruit, Holiday, tagged Bread Pudding, Caramel, Pumpkin, Vanilla bean on December 4, 2010| 4 Comments »
This is undoubtedly the perfect dessert to make a significant impression on dinner guests. Although time-consuming (I spent about 6 hours total making all 4 components), the end product was absolutely delectable. I discovered this recipe when watching a Thanksgiving episode of Throwdown with Bobby Flay. The moment I saw everyone’s reaction after sampling the dessert, I decided to take on the challenge of one of Bobby’s laborious recipes.
I found his five-star recipe for pumpkin bread pudding with spicy caramel apple sauce and vanilla bean creme anglaise on the Food Network website. I first made the homemade pumpkin bread, which turned out moist and rich with flavor. Next, I made the homemade caramel sauce and vanilla bean creme anglaise.
I had to improvise a bit because I did not have every ingredient in the recipe. For example, instead of using bourbon for the pudding, I used whiskey. I also did not have any star anise for the cream anglaise, so I left this ingredient out. However, I doubt I would include star anise even if I had some in my spice cabinet because I am not a fan of licorice.
Next time I make this dish, I will split the task up into two days, making the bread, caramel and creme anglaise the day before. This way, I would only have to make the pudding and bake the dish the day I want to serve the dessert.
Posted in Baking, Chocolate, Dessert, Dessert bars, tagged Caramel, Chocolate, Espresso on September 29, 2010| 6 Comments »
My mom, a high school teacher, has back to school night tonight and wanted to offer the parents some snacks and desserts. Since she worked all day, I decided to help her out by making a few desserts and preparing the snacks.
The other day I was watching Giada at Home and saw her make these espresso caramel bars. Though I’m not a chocolate fan, the dessert looked fantastic. After all, I’ve never made a Giada recipe that was anything but fabulous. In addition to the bars, I also made brown sugar cookies.
The bars were a success—not only did they taste delicious, but they also looked it.
The silky smooth chocolate beautifully complimented the slight crunchiness of the graham cracker crust. The caramel layer in the middle did not go unnoticed, however. Its rich and sweet flavor is simply scrumptious.
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