Review: Luna Park's Chocolate Chip Bread Pudding

View fullsize

When my sister found out I started a dessert blog, she said I absolutely had to go to Luna Park to try their Chocolate Chip Bread Pudding. She was a fan, to put it lightly. So much in fact that when she was dining here with a friend when she was 9mos pregnant and started going into labor, she insisted they stay long enough to order this dessert...and polish off every last bite, including an extra scoop of ice cream! Brav-o sister, bravo.

Don't you hate it sometimes when siblings are right? Not in this case. This dessert is kind of like eating a hug. Crispy on the outside, warm gooey chocolatey goodness on the inside and topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream that melts over this bread pudding in all the right places. Yeah that sounded weird...just go with it. 

Rating: 5 Milkshakes

Thank you sister for sharing this yummalicious dessert. : )

Tip: Frosting a Cake

When frosting a cake, if the cake starts coming apart mid-frost, toss the frosting in the microwave for about 10-15 seconds- it will be a breeze after that. Make sure the frosting isn't runny though or else it'll be a hot mess. Fun (?) Fact: when the cake falls apart, it's usually because the cake temperature vs the frosting temperature is off. I'm told it's ideal to have a cold cake and room temperature frosting. Regulating these temps sounds like more work than I'd like to sign up for- hence this tip!

Is anyone else craving cake now?

View fullsize

thatkindofwoman.tumblr.com​

Review: Desserts of Disneyland

View fullsize

My family and I go to the happiest place on Earth, Disneyland, every year. This is partially due to the fact that we all truly love it, but mostly because there's a dental convention in Anaheim that my parents attend. (Ironic fact: my dad is a dentist and my mom is a hygienist...and we're all dessert fiends. GASP). Since we've been going for so many years, we know the park waaay too well, especially when it comes to the desserts (didn't see that one coming huh?) Luckily, Mr. Walt Disney didn't disappoint in this area. My fam and I have dessert traditions that we try to partake in each visit and I'd like to share some of the highlights with you.

View fullsize

Clockwise starting left: Chocolate Chip Cookie Hot Fudge Sundae, Strawberry Ice Cream with Hot Fudge, Firehouse Dalmatian Mint Sundae and Mocha Almond Fudge Ice Cream.

​​Best Ice Cream Sundae: Firehouse Dalmatian Mint Sundae @ Gibson Girl Ice Cream Parlor.
This sundae can do no wrong. Two scoops of mint chocolate chip ice cream, served in a waffle cup, with hot fudge, whipped cream and a cherry. This past visit, I stupidly ordered the Chocolate Chip Cookie Hot Fudge Sundae ​to mix things up. Don't do this. It was below average. Plus, I got to watch my sister happily chow down on the Mint Sundae across the table from me. I was an angry panda.

View fullsize

Why so happy friend? I'm about to eat your face.

Best Frozen Nibble: Mickey's Ice Cream Sandwhich @ Frozen Treat Cart.
Snag one of these adorable cookies 'n cream ice cream sandos and bite Mickey's ears off with glee.

View fullsize

Best Afternoon Snack: Churro: @ Churro Cart.
When you're in between meals and you need a little something something to tie yourself over, order yourself a Churro. It's sugary crunchy on the outside, warm and soft on the inside.

Best Baked Sweet Treat: Chef Cookie’s Deep Dish @ Big Thunder Ranch Barbecue.
Choose from a classic chocolate chip cookie or seasonal cookie (ours was a snickerdoodle), each served with vanilla ice cream and drizzled with hot fudge or caramel. It's yum.

View fullsize

photo cred: disneylandblackoutdates.com

Best Hot Day Refresher: Pineapple Whip @ Tiki Juice Bar.
This pineapple fro-yo is not only delightfully refreshing, but is probably the healthiest dessert at DL. Order this when you've been porking out on corn dogs and want a lighter sweet.

View fullsize

Clockwise starting top left: Some fruity dessert, some PB choco number, my duo of crème brûlée: vanilla and hazelnut and lastly molten choco with flare.

Best Exclusive Dessert: Crème Brûlée duo @ Club 33
You can't help but feel like a VIP getting to dine at Club 33. The 4 desserts we tried were not all mind-blowers, but most were really tasty. Tom Colicchio would give them all high marks on presentation, but I personally think the crème brûlée duo tasted the best.

Disneyland will always hold a very special place in my heart...and stomach. My hat is tipped to you Walt!

Overall Rating: 5 Ice Cream Scoops

My Dad's "Love" for Cherry Garcia Ice Cream

View fullsize

http://www.tumblr.com

Growing up in a house full of dessert lovers meant desserts didn't stick around long. This was a problem for my dad, who's favorite go-to dessert is ice cream. Whenever his sweet tooth hit, he wanted to have a dessert he could rely on being there for him, like an old friend if you will. This is where Ben and Jerry's "Cherry Garcia" ice cream came in.* My dad was crafty and was able to find the single ice cream flavor that the rest of the family hated. Keep in mind, this was far from his favorite flavor, but he grew fond of it, mostly because he didn't have to worry about it disappearing on his watch. Brilliant or desperate? Nevertheless, whenever I open my parent's freezer and find a pint of Cherry Garcia sitting there, it makes me smile.

*If you haven't had the pleasure (?) of sampling this, it consists of cherry ice cream with cherries & fudge flakes. B&J, this flavor royally sucks. Stick to what you do best like "Coffee Heath Bar Crunch" or "Half Baked".

Recipe: Vanilla Cupcakes with Raspberry Buttercream Frosting

View fullsize

I whipped up some birthday cupcakes for my friend's very, very and I mean very belated birthday dinner (her birthday was in early November, oops). I wanted to attempt to recreate these cupcakes she raved about that my sister made several years ago: white cupcakes with raspberry buttercream frosting. This dessert had me at butter-cream, so I was up for the challenge. I ended up going with a vanilla cupcake recipe I found on browneyedbaker.com and a raspberry frosting recipe on food.com. These were easy as pie to make (sidenote: pie isn't that easy to make phrase coiner!) You basically throw all the cupcake ingredients in a bowl, blend, done, and same thing for the frosting. Even a lightly trained monkey can make these.

Vanilla Cupcakes with Raspberry Buttercream Frosting
Yield: Makes 12 servings

Ingredients – Cupcakes
1½ cups all-purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
1½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon table salt
8 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 stick), room temperature
½ cup sour cream
1 large egg, room temperature
2 large egg yolks, room temperature
1½ teaspoons vanilla extract

Ingredients – Frosting
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
6 -8 cups confectioners' sugar
1/2 cup seedless raspberry jam
milk (if needed)

Directions – Cupcakes
1.  Adjust oven rack to middle position; heat oven to 350 degrees F. Line standard muffin/cupcake tin with paper or foil liners.
2.  Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in bowl of standing mixer fitted with paddle attachment. Add butter, sour cream, egg and egg yolks, and vanilla; beat at medium speed until smooth and satiny, about 30 seconds. Scrape down sides of bowl with rubber spatula and mix by hand until smooth and no flour pockets remain. Pro Tip: Just use a regular mixer, no need to get fancy with this.
3.  Divide batter evenly among cups of prepared tin. Bake until cupcake tops are pale gold and toothpick inserted into center comes out clean, 20 to 24 minutes. Pro Tip: Always start with the lower time range to avoid overcooking. Mine took 20 mins on the nose.
4.  Remove the cupcakes from tin and transfer to wire rack; cool cupcakes to room temperature before frosting.

Directions – Frosting
1.  Cream butter and jam until well incorporated, about 2 minutes.
3.  Add powdered sugar, one cup at a time until you reach desired consistency. Note: I used about 4 cups.
4.  If frosting gets too thick you can add a little milk to thin it out.

Hug a Cupcake

Ever loved a cupcake so much that you wanted to hug it? Or perhaps spoon it? Well you're in luck because now you can <said with cheesy salesman voice>! Check out this gem I found online. Can you say, Birthday gift? : )

View fullsize

image courtesy of thefancy.com

Recipe: Irish Whiskey Chocolate Cake

View fullsize

image courtesy of askmen.com

As a ode to St. Patrick and my ginger hair, I made an Irish Whiskey Chocolate Cake yesterday. It was fairly easy to make and I was pretty happy with the outcome. The cake was majorly moist and the whiskey gave it a nice "wang" <insert joke here>. If I were to make this cake all over again, I would add 2 cups of semisweet chocolate chips for a nice crunch and I'd make a side of whip cream to offset the richness (hint: you should do the same if you are wise). Here is the recipe lowdown, found on Epicurious.

Irish Whiskey Chocolate Cake
Yield: Makes 12 to 14 servings

Ingredients
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder plus 3 tablespoons for dusting pan
1 1/2 cups brewed coffee
1/2 cup Irish whiskey (or any whiskey that isn't too peaty)
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 cups sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions
1.  Place oven rack in the middle and preheat oven to 325°F. Butter 10-inch bundt pan well, then dust with 3 tablespoons cocoa powder, knocking out excess. Note: I only used 1 heaping tablespoon.
2.  Heat coffee, whiskey, butter, and remaining cup cocoa powder in a saucepan over moderate heat, whisking, until butter is melted. Remove from heat, then add sugar and whisk until dissolved, about 1 minute. Transfer mixture to a large bowl and cool 5 minutes.
3.  While chocolate mixture cools, stir together flour, baking soda, and salt in a bowl. Whisk together eggs and vanilla in a small bowl, then whisk into cooled chocolate mixture until combined well. Add flour mixture and whisk until just combined (batter will be delightfully bubbly). Pour batter into bundt pan and bake until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 40 to 50 minutes. Note: mine took 43 mins and the toothpick came out mostly clean.
4.  Cool cake completely in pan on a rack, about 2 hours. Loosen cake from pan using tip of a dinner knife, then invert rack over pan and turn cake out onto rack. Pro Tip: I garnished mine with confectioners sugar for flair.

View fullsize

Cheers to my fellow Irish lassies!

Review: Cupcakes of NYC

On my first trip to New York City in the spring of 2009, I decided to embark on a journey: to find the tastiest cupcake NYC has to offer. It was a short trip, so I had to be focused. Sadly, I did not make it to the top of the Empire State Building or see the Statue of Liberty, but I did make it to three cupcake shops. Now that's what I call a successful trip!

View fullsize

Left to right: PB, Cookie Dough & Cappuccino

First, my girlfriends and I hit up a cupcake place that has a lot of hub-bub: Crumbs Bake Shop. The shop may be small, but the cupcakes are ginormous. We snagged three to try: Peanut Butter Cup, Cookie Dough and Cappuccino. Thoughts? The frosting-to-cake ratio was off; there was waaay too much frosting/topping for your own good. Plus, each of them had a frosting filling too, not like it needed anymore. All this frosting was crazy sweet too, which is ok for a bite or two, but come bite three, things start to turn bad.​

Crumbs Bake Shop Rating:​ 1.5 cupcake wrappers

View fullsize

Disneyland length line

Next cupcake stop was at another crowd pleaser: Magnolia Bakery. This place was featured in a Sex and the City episode, so yeah, it's popular. We're talking line-out-the-door-and-around-the-block popular. So we waited in line with the other schmucks for our cupcakes, hoping they would be worth all the fuss. We ordered three cupcakes to sample, and to be honest, I can't even remember what they were. They were that forgettable. The only thing I recall is thinking they were OK, nothing special about them...not to mention it made me question Carrie and Miranda's taste in cupcakes.

Magnolia Bakery Rating: 2.5 cupcake wrappers

View fullsize

Left to right: Classic Chocolate , Red Velvet with Cream Cheese frosting on the right, hi old friend!​

Last, but certainly not least, on our way to walk The Highline, I spotted a cute little bakery in the distance: Billy's Bakery. I insisted that we stop by after our walk and man am I glad we did. This cute, quaint shop is very unassuming and could easily be passed by if it weren't for my cupcake radar. I ended up splitting two cupcakes with one of my friends: Red Velvet and Classic Chocolate. Red Velvet was the CLEAR winner and I immediately regretted agreeing to split the second half. Cake to frosting ratio was perfect, cake was moist and a lovely light chocolatey flavor and the cream cheese frosting was just the right amount of sweet. It made me want to track down Billy and give him a high-five.

illy's Bakery Rating: 5 cupcake wrappers

The next time you find yourself in need of a cupcake in NYC, go treat yo-self with a Red Velv at (my future BFF) Billy's Bakery.

Recipe: Oatmeal Peanut Butter Cookie Sandwich

View fullsize

The Girl Scout cookies have arrived...everywhere. Local grocery store: Girl Scout cookies in your face. Workplace: Girl Scout cookie explosion. Sports Basement: BOOM Girl Scout cookies. I somehow had the will-power to dodge buying a box or 5 and was instead inspired to make my own version of a GSC (Girl Scout cookie). The "Do-Si-Dos" have always been a contender for my favorite GSC, so I decided to give these a shot. I found a good looking recipe on All-Recipes.com called "Oatmeal Peanut Butter Cookies III," meaning there is a I and II version of these bad boys out there too. Well played All-Recipes.

Oatmeal Peanut Butter Cookie Sandwhich
Yield: Makes 24 servings

Ingredients – Cookies
1/2 cup butter, softened                   
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup white sugar                            
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg                                                      
3/4 cup all-purpose flour                                      
1/2 teaspoon baking soda                  
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt                               
1 cup quick cooking oats

Ingredients – Filling
3 tablespoons butter, softened        
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1/2 cup smooth peanut butter         
2 1/2 tablespoons heavy whipping cream

Directions
1.  In a large bowl, cream together 1/2 cup softened butter or margarine, 1/2 cup peanut butter, white sugar, brown sugar and vanilla. Add egg and beat well.
2.  In small bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add these dry ingredients to the creamed mixture. Stir. Add oatmeal and stir.
3.  Drop using a teaspoon (scoop should be overflowing) onto greased baking sheet or wax paper, and press each mound down with a fork to form 1/4 inch thick cookies. Pro Tip: put dough in fridge for a bit to make spreading easier.
4.  Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 8–10 minutes, or until cookies are a light brown. Pro Tip: when in doubt, take them out. Better to under-cook than over-cook these.
5.  To Make Filling: Cream 3 tablespoons butter or margarine with the confectioners' sugar, 1/2 cup smooth peanut butter and the whipping cream. Spread filling onto half of the cooled cookies, then top with the other half to form sandwiches.

Girl Scouts, c'est la vie!

Recipe: THE Cake

View fullsize

One of my sister's makes a dessert so delicious that there can only be one name for it: THE Cake. It's actually a pretty simple recipe, but it hits on all the right things: Chocolate? Check! Toffee? You betcha! Whip cream? Of course!

Luckily, I get to eat this at least once a year, due to the fact that someone in my family requests it for their Birthday cake (it's usually me). She was hesitant to share this recipe, but we agreed that true dessert lovers would be worthy enough. That said, here is the recipe in all it's glory. Note: full credit for this recipe goes to her mom who also knows a good dessert when she sees/eats it.

THE Cake
Yield: Makes 12 hefty servings, 15 wimpy servings

Ingredients
1 pint whipping cream
add sugar to taste (about 1/2 cup)
10 crushed Heath bars
1 box German chocolate cake mix

Directions
1.  Make cake according to recipe in greased 2, 8" round pans, let cool
2.  Crush Heath bars (leave 1 crushed bar aside). Pro Tip: my sister's technique is putting them in a plastic bag and hitting them with a hammer, but any kind of mallet will do
3.  Whip whipping cream until firm
4.  Fold all but the 1 crushed bar into whipping cream
5.  Once cake has fully cooled, frost first layer of cake with whipping cream/Heath bar mixture
6.  Place second cake layer on, frost
7.  Sprinkle remaining crushed Heath bar on top
8.  Keep refrigerated until ready to serve
9.  Cut a large and in charge slice for yourself and enjoy
10.  Contemplate eating another piece

Review: Chapeau! French Toast

View fullsize

image courtesy of urbanspoon.com

My fee-awnce (fiancé sounds too hoity-toity) and I went to one of our favorite restaurants to celebrate V-day: Chapeau! The "!" happens to be part of its name, although I'd be inclined to use it anyways because I love this place so much. We had a lovely meal, but lets cut to the chase and chat about the important part. No, not the delicious authentic French food, but the dessert we had. It was listed as "French Toast" on the menu, making it sound incredibly average, but let me tell you, it was far from that. The description had the word "hazelnut" it in, which evoked an instant Pavlovian reaction in both of us, which made this the obvious choice. It consisted of a piece of perfectly seasoned french toast which was lying in a bed of soft caramel and topped with hazelnut ice cream. Sounds simple enough, but it was amazeballs. Rich, moist, caramelly goodness comboed with creamy hazelnut, and was surprisingly not too sweet. If you live in the bay area, go hit up Chapeau! for dinner, order the French Toast for dessert, and thank me later. 

Rating: 5 spoons

Jello!

Contrary to appearances, this first post isn't about one of the world's saddest desserts: jello. We'll chat about that another time. From that, hello! Welcome to my lovely blog about one of my favorite topics: dessert. Why write about such a topic? Because I have way too much to say about it. Sad, but true. My plan is to share dessert stories, recipes and reviews here and there. We'll see how it goes- I'm winging it. From that note, hope you have a lovely Friday.