Read on for (lots) more pictures and the recipe…
This little beauty was made for the special occasion of dinner and French Chef watching over at the Maestro’s. It. is. divine. The slight tartness of the fresh strawberries pairs perfectly with the sweet and nutty flavor of the almond cream and the slivered almonds in the crust. Plus I got to use my tart pan for the first time!
Read on for (lots) more pictures and the recipe…
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So! I found this recipe and knew I had to make it...one of my girl drinks is Pomegranate Martinis...The original cake called for pomegranate seeds, orange segments, and whipped cream icing along with everything else you see here, but I was in the wrong season for pomegranate seeds, thought the orange segments would be awkward textually, and didn't have time to make the whipped cream icing. Hence the not super attractive, but very moist and tastey cake you see before you!
Read more for the recipe and step by step photos... Now THIS is the main event of the evening. I actually dream about this cake all year long, but don't make it often because there are 9 (count 'em, 9) eggs in it...*drool*. Thoroughly gluten free and delicious! It's a bit tricky to roll and usually cracks, but you can cover it with icing.
Cake Roll (makes 8 - 10 servings) Ingredients 7 oz. dark, good-quality semi-sweet chocolate 4 tbsp strong coffee 7 eggs, separated 3/4 cup sugar 2 tbsp cocoa It gets even better....dreams of chocolate.... This scrumptious recipe was an attempt by Lisa is Cooking to recreate Twix bars...but when I saw the recipe, I immediately recognized a cousin to Millionaire Shortbread.
Read on to see the recipe and the results! Here they are! The new and beautifully improved photos by myself and my new camera! And they are accompanying a delectable recipe for a deeply rich and decadent chocolate mousse. What could be better than a dark chocolatey mousse? A dark chocolatey mousse that is waltzing with the flavor of Bailey's Irish Cream, of course. Why didn't it dawn on me before?!
New Year's Eve Dinner 2009-2010 We decided to have a quiet dinner in on New Year's Eve this year since my boyfriend had to work late. This of course gave me lots of playing room, so I decided to make Red Wine Braised Beef Short Ribs a la Hubert Keller (with some adjustments) and Caramelized Shallot and Crispy Sage Mac & Cheese. We accompanied all of this heavenly food with some simple green beans, just to give the impression of a healthy, balanced meal ; ). Red Wine Braised Beef Short Ribs a la Hubert Keller One of the many gems I found on Tastespotting! (I did a half recipe, which was more than enough for 2 meals!) Ingredients: 4 lbs bone-in short ribs Salt & Pepper Cayenne and Chili Peppers 4 tbsp olive oil 2 small onions, peeled and sliced 2 carrots, peeled and coarsely chopped 2 celery stalks, chopped 1 2" piece fresh ginger, peeled and sliced thinly 2 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped M. Keller's recipe suggests 1 stalk of lemongrass. I didn't have this on hand but I substituted 1/2 tsp of lemon juice for the half recipe 1 1/2 cups red wine, pinot noir. We used a 2006 Bourgogne. 1 cup strong coffee (not in the original recipe) 1 14-oz can diced tomatoes with juice 2 tbsp brown sugar 2 tbsp parsley, chopped 3 tbsp tomato paste 3 cups beef stock 1 sprig fresh sage Directions:
Caramelized Shallot and Crispy Sage Mac & Cheese A favorite on Tastespotting and I can absolutely see why! You won't need extra salt and pepper for this dish...the warm flavor of the shallots, garlic, and sage do everything to make this a perfectly seasoned plate. Be careful though, this recipe is enough to feed at least 10 when used as a side! Ingredients: 1 lb orecchiete pasta (we used medium shells as our local store didn't have orecchiete...the horror!) 2 tbsp olive oil 2 large shallots, chopped 2 cloves garlic, minced 5 tbsp butter 1/4 cup all-purpose flour 1 1/2 cups buttermilk 1 cup heavy cream (we actually substituted Half-and-Half...that whole faking healthy thing) 2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese (we used XXX Sharp Cheddar. It's amazing! Almost as good as British cheddar...almost) 2 cups Gruyere cheese 1 tsp kosher salt (seriously, don't add more!) 1/4 cup chopped fresh sage Directions:
No New Year's Eve is Complete without a Yule Log! I decided to try my hand at a Yule Log this year, but I've always found them rather bland, so when I found this recipe for a Mocha Yule Log, I was raring to go! In all honesty, I think this recipe could use more cocoa in the cake part..but overall very taste and fun and easy to work with. Ingredients: For Cake~ 6 eggs, separated (make sure no yolk gets into the whites or they won't whip the way you want!) 3.5oz (just under 1/2 cup) + 1.7oz (just under 1/4 cup) caster sugar 1.7oz (just under 1/4 cup) cocoa (I used Ghirardelli cocoa powder...You could probably go up to as much as 1/2 cup of cocoa) 2 heaped tsp of instant coffee powder (crystals work fine, too) 3 tbsp icing sugar (or confectioner's sugar) to sieve over the log as decoration Directions:
Ingredients: For Icing~ 6 oz dark chocolate (I used 3 oz Semi-Sweet baking chocolate, 3 oz Ghirardelli 100% Cocoa baking chocolate) 1 tsp instant coffee powder 8.8oz (just over 1 cup) icing sugar (confectioner's sugar) 8oz (2 sticks) butter, softened Directions:
Spread the icing across the cake going up to the edges.
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