desserts

Levity Gourmet Marshmallows for Valentine's Day

Filed under: Dining

I first tried Levity Gourmet Marshmallows back in August and I can honestly say they're as good to eat as they are pretty to look at, and although most wouldn't consider serving a slice of marshmallow as a stand-alone dessert Levity's decidedly decadent and unique versions of the popular airy treats are sure to change your mind. I was so impressed I've become a devoted follower and was delighted to see that they're now offering two new seasonal flavors for Valentine's Day: Sweet Cinnamon (shown here) and Champagne. The Sweet Cinnamon is a "spicy treat" topped with sweet candy hearts while Champagne features a hint of its namesake's effervescent flavor and has a sprinkled sugar topping. Pretty enough for serving after dinner or as a gift to your special someone (a great alternative to chocolate) on the holiday of hearts. $14 for 15 pieces

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Tags: desserts, marshmallows, valentines day

Francois Payard's Black Truffle Chocolate Tart for New Years' Eve

by Carrie Coolidge (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Dining, Holiday Guides

Celebrate New Years' Eve with Francois Payard's decadent black truffle chocolate tart

World-renowned French pastry chef Francois Payard is creating a truly decadent dessert for all chocolate lovers wanting to celebrate New Years' Eve in style.

For New Year's Eve Payard is offering for the first time a Black Truffle Chocolate Tart. Ingredients include real black truffles (currently retailing for $2.60 per gram), a sable Breton shell that is sprinkled with dry girolle mushroom powder. The tart is topped off with a layer of 70% Guanaja Dark Chocolate Ganache that is mixed with fresh black truffle shavings drizzled with a bit of black truffle oil, pieces of hazelnut nougatine and a hint of fleur de sel. While it may sounds unusual, word has it that the tart is absolutely "incredible" according to the select few who were treated to an advance tasting.

Payard describes the tart as "very rich, with a strong truffle flavor and aroma, but also with a deep, intense chocolate flavor so that the earthiness of the truffles complement the slight native acidity of the chocolate without overpowering the finished result."

The Black Truffle Chocolate Tart serves eight people and is a limited edition of only 25, so place your order as soon as possible. It will be available for purchase for $85 at the new Francois Payard Bakery at 116 West Houston Street between Sullivan & Thompson. Orders may be placed online or by phone by calling 212.995.0888, ext. 131.

Tags: awards-main, black truffle, chocolate, dessert, Desserts, Francois Payard, Francois Payard Bakery, luxist-awards, New Years Eve, Payard, tart, truffle

Pricey 'Crack Pie' Sweeping the Nation

by Rigel Celeste (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Dining

Have you tasted Crack Pie? If you live in NYC and haven't tried it yet you're fast becoming a minority as this simple but apparently addictive little baked good is taking over NYC (and seems to have eyes for the rest of the country too). Available at Momofuku Bakery and Milk Bar in Manhattan, its humble appearance and simple ingredients are deceiving as it carries a whopping price tag of $44 per pie. And no, there's no actual crack in there jacking up the cost. The pie has an oatmeal cookie crust base with a filling that includes egg yolks, sugar, butter and heavy cream. Some have likened it to the Southern favorite, chess pie.

But people are more than willing to pay for this sweet treat. Crack Pie has grown so popular, in part due to recent celebrity endorsements (Anderson Cooper went crazy over it on Regis & Kelly and Martha Stewart featured the bakery and recipe on her show), that the bakery has begun selling the pies online and shipping them via Fed Ex.

So no more excuses for an Iowan like me, I know what I'm putting on the top of my b-day wish list this year!

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Tags: baked goods, BakedGoods, bakery, crack pie, CrackPie, dessert, desserts, nyc, pie, pies, sweets

10 Tips for Baking Perfect Cupcakes

by Rigel Celeste (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Dining

Cupcakes are one of the best sweets for bringing to a party or offering guests because not only are they tasty, but they're cute, fun to decorate and personalize, and are conveniently pre-sized in individual servings. And although baking a cupcake is easy enough in principle, baking a perfect cupcake takes a bit of attention to detail.

Use your favorite cake recipe A standard 2-layer cake recipe should make 24 average-sized cupcakes
Use the highest quality ingredients, including fresh eggs and butter instead of margarine
Allow all ingredients to come to room temperature before mixing
Mix thoroughly but don't overmix Over-mixing can cause your cupcakes to taste chewy and flat
Fill the cups 2/3 of the way -- less and they can burn or dry out, more and they might spill, drip, or not cook thoroughly
After filling the cups let them rest for 2-5 minutes to let the batter settle evenly
Know your oven If your oven cooks hotter at the back be sure to rotate the cupcake pan halfway through cooking
Test for doneness after the minimum cooking time to prevent overcooking. A toothpick should come out clean when stuck in the middle.
Allow cupcakes to cool completely before frosting or the frosting will melt and look sloppy (and the decorations might even slide off)
Serve and enjoy cupcakes the same day they are made for optimum richness, moistness, and flavor.

Tags: cupcake, cupcakes, desserts, sweets, sweets-pedia

Quilted Chocolate Handbag Cake

by Rigel Celeste (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Dining, Handbags

This would be an especially fun Valentine's Day gift for the fashionista who has everything: a very pretty and stylish edible handbag! This Quilted Chocolate Handbag Cake from Horchow is white chocolate butter cake (mmmm!) filled with chocolate ganache and white chocolate buttercream. No worries of it going out of style, just maybe about how to slice it (I want the piece with the big red rose on it).

Be sure to check out Horchow's two other handbag cake offerings, the Sassy Satchel cake and the Zebra-Striped Handbag cake. $225-$280 each.

Gallery: Horchow Handbag Cakes

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Tags: cake, desserts, gifts, handbag, Handbag Cakes, HandbagCakes, sweets

Harrods Makes Whoopie (Pies)

by Rigel Celeste (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Dining

Coming soon to Harrods' already divine line-up of fine dining delicacies will be the Whoopie Pie. Whoopies are little cake-like cookie sandwiches filled with buttercream that started in New England and have now spread to the famous European food hall. Their skilled pastry chefs have crafted four flavors of Whoopie, all featuring fluffy cake "pillows" filled with delectable vanilla buttercream and topped with darling (and beautiful) edible designs.

There's Gingerbread (spices, vanilla, and chocolate w/polka dots), Pistachio (pistachio, green fondant icing, and edible glitter), the Classic (chocolate, vanilla, and sparkles), and Red Velvet (chocolate, peanut butter cream, and little candy hearts).

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Tags: cake, cakes, dessert, desserts, dining, harrods, sweets, whoopie, whoopie pie, whoopie pies, WhoopiePie, WhoopiePies

How to Sweeten Up Without Sugar

by Rigel Celeste (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Dining

Trying to cut back on sugar but love sweets? Although the only real solution is to wean yourself off sweets altogether (at least to a degree) there are other ways to quiet your sweet tooth without going the refined sugar route. Here are a few ideas, many of which are great for baking.

Honey Made up of a combination of fructose, glucose, maltose, and sucrose, honey is as much as 50% sweeter than sugar and has a distinctive flavor that can vary depending on location, time of year, and the bees diet. Honey also offers some nutritional benefits in the form of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and other nutrients.

Maple Syrup Real maple syrup (not the 'maple-flavored' syrups) contains magnesium and zinc and comes from sugar maple trees. It's boiled down to the desired thickness and is usually about 60% sweeter than traditional table sugar.

Agave Nectar A fructose syrup that's slightly thinner than honey and originates from the Agave plant in Mexico, it's 25-30% sweeter than white sugar and has a mild flavor along with some nutrient properties (mostly minerals). It also has a lower glycemic index than sugar so is often favored by diabetics.

Molasses A byproduct of the sugar refining process, molasses is dark and heavy and has a very strong flavor. It is sweet (made up of fructose, glucose, and sucrose) but slightly less so than sugar itself. Molasses is high in iron and calcium and also contains several B-vitamins.

Raw Sugar If you must have sugar then go for raw sugar, or sugar that has not been refined and still maintains its nutritional value. Tastes very much like brown sugar (essentially it is, although even less processed).

Stevia Made from the leaf of the stevia plant, stevia sweetener is 200-300 times more potent than sugar and is usually found in liquid and powder form. Stevia leaves (although not always the end product) contain many nutrients like iron, calcium, and zinc.

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Tags: agave nectar, AgaveNectar, baking, cooking, dessert, desserts, dining, honey, main-pedia, molasses, stevia, sugar, sweets-pedia

The Most Impressive Desserts

by Rigel Celeste (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Dining

Looking to impress your guests with a dessert to die for? Or maybe you'd like to bring something amazing and memorable to a holiday party? Whatever the occasion whenever desserts are present they invariably draw the eye and wet the appetite, and they have the uncanny ability to impress despite (sometimes) being deceptively simple.

Some desserts, however, have a reputation and an edge when it comes to their ability to impress guests. All truly impressive desserts have at least two things in common: they have a beautiful presentation and of course taste wonderful as well. If you're looking to make a statement and don't know where to start consider serving one of these:

Mousse Originating in France, mousse is a rich and creamy dessert that presents well in individual portions and can be made ahead of time.

Trifles Available in every version from chocolate to fruit to red-white-and-blue, the trifle gets its glamour from the gorgeous and colorful layers that go from pleasing the eyes to pleasing the palette.

Cheesecake First created in ancient Greece and always a fan favorite, a great cheesecake is not something many are able to make for themselves at home so it becomes all the more fantastic to have it served up at a party. It's also extremely versatile and can be left plain and classy, or dressed up with fresh fruit, chocolate shavings, or anything else your heart desires.

Crème Brûlée Literally translating in French as "burnt cream," creme brulee is another delectable dessert that is not easily recreated in the average kitchen. Simple, rich, and elegant, it's sure to impress.

Chocolate Cake A standard, classic dessert that is loved wherever it goes. The trick to a truly impressive chocolate cake is in the recipe: find one you love and stick with it.

Tags: baking, cooking, dessert, desserts, luxist-awards, main-pedia, sweets-pedia

Chocolate Pencils

by Rigel Celeste (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Dining

Years ago I used to have a nasty habit of chewing on my pens and pencils, and although I've since broken that habit I know I can expect a serious relapse if I ever own a set of these chocolate pencils by Nendo. The pencils come in a set that includes a variety of different cocoa blends so you'll have the perfect flavor (and color) to top whatever it is you're garnishing, plus a pencil sharpener for easy and perfectly shaped shavings every time. Sounds like a perfect gift for the chef or hostess that already seems to have everything!

Gallery: Chocolate Pencils

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Tags: chocolate, chocolate pencil, chocolate pencils, ChocolatePencil, ChocolatePencils, dessert, desserts, dining, pencil, pencils

$130,000 Platinum Cake

by Rigel Celeste (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Dining

Earlier this month I thought the Apple Crate Cake was pricey at $185, but that suddenly seems like chump change when compared to this Platinum Cake designed by a Japanese pastry chef worth $130,000. It's a white cake draped in platinum necklaces, pins, pendants, and even edible platinum foils. The creator's name is Nobue Ikara, and the cake has been dedicated to several famous Japanese women (including actress Rinko Kikuchi) in an effort to encourage more women to wear platinum jewelry.

So is it doin' it for ya? Have a hankering for a platinum necklace?

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Tags: cake, cakes, dessert, desserts, expire-images:2008-9-13, jewellry, jewelry, platinum, sweet, sweets, white

The World's Most Expensive Dessert

by Rigel Celeste (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Dining

If you've got both expensive taste and a sweet tooth then you may want to add at a least a few, if not all, of the world's most expensive desserts to your wish list of things to try. The list topper (and therefore THE most expensive dessert in the world) is The Fortress Aquamarine from Wine3 at The Fortress in Galle, Sri Lanka. The focus of the sweet treat is an 80-carat aquamarine gem resting on a specially shaped sliver of fine chocolate representative of the company's logo. It's a gorgeous looking dessert, but not many have any idea if it tastes equally as good since priced at $14,500 the restaurant has yet to sell their first one.

Via The 9

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Tags: brulee, chocolate, creme brulee, CremeBrulee, dessert, desserts, fortress, most expensive, MostExpensive, sundae, sweet, sweets, top 10, top ten, Top10, TopTen

The $1,000 Brownie

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Dining

In Atlantic City, you can eat dessert or you can eat Dessert. The dessert-centered restaurant Brulee at the Tropicana offers three pricey selections off their crystal menu. Each dessert is the centerpiece of a three part menu that includes an amuse sucree, the dessert and petit fours. The desserts include an arabesque and a mille-nuits each served on Baccarat crystal. The most decadent dish might be the Brownie Extraordinaire with Saint Louis which sells for $1,000. It is a chocolate brownie with Italian hazelnuts, ice cream and a St. Louis crystal atomizer containing 1996 Quinta do Noval Nacional Port. It sells for $1,000 and you get to keep the atomizer. Personally, I'd just rather have a full bottle of the Port which can be found for half that.

[via AP]

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Tags: atlantic city, brownie, desserts, port

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