F is for Flourless Chocolate Cake

This my friends was another picture perfect recipe that was fairly easy, even though the title was pretty daunting. I'm sitting in my bed right now looking at these pictures and it's making my stomach grumble. I'm cravin' this lil' baby, because it would be a perfect midnight snack right about now. 

A flourless chocolate cake, also known as a molten cake,  is made with whole egg foam using low heat to form a kinda of thick chocolate custard. Many gluten-free eaters look to this recipe to satisfy their chocolate cake cravings. Jean-Georges Vongerchten and his restaurants  was known to popularize this dessert.

This was definitely a crowd pleaser, because the consistency was, for lack of better word, fudgy. It was kinda gooey, but still had a crispy crust, like a mix between a brownie outside, fudge lightness, and chocolate cake taste. The cocoa powder create an illusion of daintiness, but the taste packed a punch and it was also perfectly complemented by a heavenly scoop of ice cream. 

So until next time, show off those sweet teeth and don't forget to ask "What's for dessert?"

Recipe from http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Flourless-Chocolate-Cake-14478 

C is for Caramelized Banana Split with Hot Chocolate Sauce

I made this recipe for my dad's birthday. It's from epicurious.com and the picture looked like a crowd pleaser, and just the title drew me in and teased me to make it.
A traditional banana split consists of three scoops of ice cream (vanilla, chocolate and strawberry) on a 
halved banana, topped off with chocolate, marshmallow, nuts, whipped cream, and a cherry. Yummo!

The Banana Split was invented by David Evans Strickler, a 23-year-old apprentice pharmacist at Tassel 
Pharmacy in Latrobe, Pennsylvania and soon became an american classic.


For the letter "C", I originally wanted to do a coconut cake, which I also planned to make for my dad's birthday because he loves coconut. But the only recipes I could find had many steps and too many weird ingredients

We only had enough bananas for this recipe. To ensure that they would not be eaten I wrote a note stating "No touchie. I need them for recipe." It turned out to be very effective, no one ate them :D

I am actually not a huge fan of banana and this recipe made them kinda gooey after they were cooked. Some people might like that texture, like my dad, but, to me, this recipe didn't live up to my expectations.
But my dad loved it and said it tasted like bananas foster, which is one of his new favorites. Glad to make ya proud pop!

P.S. This recipe was also kinda stressful because there was a lot going on; I forgot about walnuts and had to frantically toast them last minute, then the bananas got gooey and cold, the ice cream melted, and I didn't wanna burn chocolate
Recipe from http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Caramelized-Banana-Splits-with-Hot-Chocolate-Sauce-240583
Until next time, put those sweet teeth to work and don't forget to ask "What's for dessert?"

T is for Tiramisu

Tiramisu means "pick me up" in Italian; it is the perfect combo when some people want coffee, some want sweets after dinner. Ever since I was young and had tiramisu in some random restaurant or bakery I now always look for it on the dessert menu whenever I go out, in search of that perfect  "pick me up." And I think I found it, surprisingly, in my own kitchen.

 According to the article, The Trail of Tiramisu, the present day version of tiramisu was said to have been created by Carminantonio Iannaccone in a restaurant in Treviso, located northwest of Venice on Italy's northern Adriatic coast, called Le Beccherie. In the 70's he opened up a restaurant where he cooked up a dessert based on the "everyday flavors of the region": strong coffee, creamy mascarpone, eggs, Marsala and ladyfinger cookies. He says it took him two years to perfect the recipe, which was originally served as an elegant, freestanding cake."

The man who started it all; Mr. Carminantonio Iannaccone

Nowadays you can find all of these ingredients at your local grocery store. Mascarpone is a soft, mild Italian cream cheese.and usually found in the specialty cheeses aisle. 

This dessert is oh so very light. My family and I hacked at it one spoonful at a time, til it was a sad small lump. I would be at school just dreaming about this dessert; I would come home and eat some for snack, I ate it for breakfast, and of course after dinner.

I tried to soak the lady fingers to give it a stronger coffee flaver, but they dissintegrated quickly. So follow the recipe and just brush them with coffee.

Some other recipes wanted me to make a difficult creamy thing, but we are all normal people and don't wanna waste time doing that. This recipe was awesome; easy, quick, delish, which is all I ask for in a dessert recipe.
Recipe on page 54 of Teens Cook Dessert.
So until next time, show off those sweet teeth and don't forget to ask "What's for dessert?"

Z is for Zip-Lock Bag Ice Cream

I honestly can't imagine a world without the invention of ice cream. So my dessert weaknesses include; cupcakes, gummy candies, and frozen treats, mostly importantly, ice cream or custard.

Oh boy, someone needs to hold me back so I  don't try to lick the computer screen...

The first ice cream parlor was opened in New York in 1776. It was named ice cream from iced cream, like iced tea. Major breakthroughs of the ice cream industry include adding salt to the ice to lower the temperature,  Nancy Johnson patenting the hand-cranked freezer, and Jacob Fussell creating a commercial ice cream plant.

Nancy Johnson's beautiful invention

This recipe is awesome and super handy. Definitely will be using this again once summer rolls around. It's so fun, fast and easy. It would be a great activity for kids, like my little cousins or the kids I babysit for. They would love to squish the bags and see the ingredients transform into ice cream. The chemistry behind, not only in this recipe, but baking in general never ceases to amaze me. How can half and half, a splash of vanilla, rock salt and ice, come together to create this delicious creation? Beats me.

 It honestly tastes just like store bought vanilla ice cream, just not as frozen solid, which is fine with me. If you like it firmer, you could definitely just pop it in the freezer for a couple hours or overnight.

Nowadays, there are those cool, new, high tech ice cream machines, (even though my family owns one...) but now I know all you need is 2 Ziplock bags for a perfect summer classic!

It was "Mmm Mmm Good!"

Recipe from http://familyfun.go.com/recipes/homemade-ice-cream-in-a-bag-684806/

K is for Kahlua Angel Food Cake

Kahlua was invented in 1936 when a chemist, Senor Bianco, added Arabic beans to a liquer recipe from the Alvarez brothers. Kahlua then became a well known brand as it became the number one liquer brand in the world in 1984 and has sold 3.1 million cases in the United States, even though it was only brought over in 1962. Similar liquers include Tia Maria, which is the one I used in this recipe, Kamora and Kona gold. On the other hand, Angel Food cake has been an american staple for hundreds of years. Because lots of labor and strong arms are needed to whip the egg whites, historians believe that African AMerican slaves baked the first Angel Food Cake, because they are also traditional post-funeral foods.

I had never had Angel food cake before this. I was expecting super light and airy with the perfect twinge of coffee liquor aftertaste, like this yummy Chinese sponge cake my mom would buy at the bakery.

Instead of buying a whole bottle of Kahlua, I used some of my parents old coffee liquor that is probably 1,000 years old.

But that is not what I ended up with...this recipe made go "eh". No offense but it kind of ruined this perfect idea of angel food cake for me.

But it was partially my fault; I didn't stir it well enough and there were chunks of flour all over the cake. But not only that, the recipe said to put the batter in an ungreased baking pan, but when in came out, it was super sticky. I had to inch a knife around the a couple of times before it even started to budge, I wanted to use my hands to coax it out of the bundt pan, but it only left the gooey topping of the cake on the surface of my hands.

I didn't like the spongy-ness to begin with and it just got even more spongy over time. It had an awkward taste as well; the coffee wasn't strong enough for it to be coffee cake, but it also wasn't too little for it to be a hint.

The Kahlua liquor also added that alcohol flavor that I wasn't expecting or wanted. I brought some to my friend, who also ate my janky, dry biscotti. I feel bad, he's getting all my bad desserts.. Even after I brought a huge hunk of it to my friend, there was still a third of it left, until one day I came home from school and didn't wanna look at it anymore so I threw it out.
Recipe from page 57 of Cuisinart cookbook.
Until next time, put those sweet teeth to work and always ask "What's for dessert?"

Y is for York Peppermint Pattie Cookies

The Star of this recipe

"The chill of peppermint, the rich dark chocolate, York peppermint pattie. Get the sensation." We all know those commercials where the girl rips open the wrapper and wind breezes through her hair, her eyes dialate and she gets chills while eating these things. Not gonna lie I wish that happened when I ate a York Peppermint Pattie...yeah I am weird. Hey guys sorry it's been a while, but I'm back now and that's all that matters.

The dark chocolate enrobed peppermint confection, known as York Peppermint Pattie had humble beginnings when Henry C. Kessler invented it in York Pennsylvania in 1940. It then grew to become an american classic.
This is going to be a pretty short post just letting you know, but over all this recipe was a real crowd pleaser. Just like the Apple dumplings, I got the perfect technique by the end of it.

First, flatten the sticky batter into your palm

Then lie the batter on top of one of the cookies, until it dropped over; ya know gravity and all.

Finally, pinch the dough to completely cover the rest of the cookie!

Repeat until an entire cookie sheet is filled with these babies!

 I brought a lot to my school and all my friends loved it. My sister brought the rest for her friend's birthday at school and she showed them off.

They were pretty easy, just a tad messy, but other than that they were really fun to make and shape. 

Ooey, gooey, and delicious; the slow motion shots capture it don't ya think?

Recipe fromhttp://www.hersheys.com/Peppermint-Pattie-Cookies

So until next time, let those sweet teeth lead you and tonight ask "What's for dessert?"