Ginger-Mascarpone Icebox Cake

This past weekend I met up for a potluck with a few of the folks that I went river rafting with back in September. I wanted to make something that would appeal to a lot of people, was creamy and cold, and didn't involve chocolate. I was having a bit of trouble finding a recipe that would meet all my requirements until last weekend. I was in the Houston International Airport, on my way home to Seattle after visiting my dad in Florida, when I picked up Fine Cooking's Sweet Cakes magazine. I saw a photo of this recipe and knew I had found a winner.

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There are no words except...Lemon-gasm

You can thank my good friend Kristina for christening my latest concoction. I was going to call it Frozen Lemon Mousse Pucker Pie but according to her that name just didn't convey what she says is "off-the-hook yummy!"

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Very Berry Trifle

Even after everything that I've made in the history of my blog, this is my most favorite. It has everything I love in a great dessert: thick buttery pound cake, lovely sweet berry flavor, a glorious vanilla pastry cream, and dreamy whipped cream. This is my idea of comfort food.

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Lemon Poppy-Seed Aborio Rice Pudding

One of my absolute favorite things I love about blogging is receiving email from my readers. The mail I receive is either in regards to a recipe I posted, a general request for help or advice about something dessert related, or just someone who feels compelled to say hello. But yesterday I received a very different email, one from a very sweet woman named Angela.

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Bananas Foster Black Bottom Cream Pie

Sometime last year, my colleague Tim gave me a Blackbottom Pie recipe that he's had for many years. He thought that it may have come from his great aunt but wasn't entirely sure. It was type written on aged typewriter paper and called for ingredients like "scalded rich milk" which according to this website, is "milk with some cream mixed in".

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Yummy (Non-Alcoholic) Tiramisu

When I was growing up, my mom worked as a waitress in several family owned Italian restaurants. From the age of about ten, I'd tag along with her on the weekends and work in the kitchen washing dishes, busing tables or doing any odd job that needed to be done. In the early afternoons I used to watch the cooks make tray after tray of Tiramisu, but never understood its appeal. This was in large part due to the fact that it was drenched in alcohol, something to this day I've never been much of a fan.

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Amy's Peanut Butter and Chocolate Icebox Cake

I was so excited to make this dessert for Amy's birthday that I delivered it an entire day early! I left it on her desk this morning before she arrived, only to have her come to me a few minutes later to tell me her birthday was actually tomorrow. I felt like such a dork! I tried to encourage her to celebrate her birthday-eve instead, something my sister always celebrated because her birthday was on New Year's Eve, but she wanted to wait until tomorrow and who could blame her? Several coworkers commented, wondering where dessert/breakfast had gone but I assured them that it didn't disappear and that it would be back tomorrow.

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Coconut Banana Whipped Dream Trifle

That's not a typo, this dessert really was a "whipped dream". I made this trifle for Mark because he graduated with his MBA last week and I wanted to make him something special to celebrate his achievement. When I asked him what sweet treat he wanted, his eyes lit up and big smile came across his face. He wanted a coconut pound cake with bananas in between the layers and coconut frosting. I knew I could do that, but then I got inspired to come up with something a bit different. I ran it past him first and he told me to go for it.

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Baked French Toast Bread Pudding

One of my all time favorite company-worthy breakfast entrees that I like to make is Baked French Toast. It's essentially regular French toast but the bread is soaked in the egg and milk the night before and stored in the fridge until morning. It's then baked for about thirty minutes until it's a bit crispy on the edges of the bread. It's creaminess and buttery texture is always a sure fire hit.

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Raspberry-Lemon Trifle

Yolanda was very specific with her request. Although she didn't say she wanted a trifle per se, she did say she wanted something that was cold, wet, and fruity. She also didn't want anything that contained chocolate. The choice was obvious; it had to be a trifle.

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Vanilla Mint Brownie Ice Cream Cake

Jeremy's been talking a bit tight-lipped lately. He has somehow angered his TMJ and opening his mouth too wide or chewing anything too hard causes him to wince in pain. Poor guy! As someone who has also suffered mightily from a ticked-off TMJ, I can definitely empathize. So when he told me that he would like something that had a chocolate and mint combination for his dessert, the choice seemed obvious to me: Taffy! (Only kidding... Ice Cream!)

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Chocolate Peanut Butter Cloud Pie

Tracy's been my neighbor for over four year now and she's someone I've liked from the moment I met her. She's always smiling and just a ray of sunshine around our neighborhood. Recently she hosted a very large neighborhood swap meet. Not only did she help me rid my house of a ton of stuff I didn't want, I was able to pick up a bunch of stuff I could use, including my new favorite book, Food Lovers Companion. So, to show my gratitude I offered to make her something sweet.

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Ultimate Chocolate Trifle

I think I might have driven Steve a little nutty with regard to him being in the office on his birthday. But I think he will agree that my badgering was worth it! For Steve's birthday his request was simple, "Something chocolaty". For a few months I've been waiting for the right time to unleash what I think might be the king of chocolaty-ness: A Chocolate Trifle. What's a Chocolate Trifle you ask? Well, it starts with chocolate chip brownies, which are then topped with chocolate mousse, and layered in fresh whipped cream. This process is then repeated twice and when you're finished, you're left with a pristine whipped cream surface on which to sprinkle little curls of decadent Swiss milk chocolate. If this isn't "something chocolaty", I don't know what is.

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