Back at it with my unique flavor combinations: this time, Coffee, Chocolate and …. Cardamom! I think that you all know that I have this absolutely love for cardamom and it pairs really really nicely with coffee, so why not combine the flavors in a cookie. Besides, it makes the kitchen smell amazing on a Sunday morning.
Insomni-baking, Edition # (insert a random high number): Blueberry Basil Deep Dish Pie. Yup, I made a pie early this morning. Believe it or not, I really just made the pie because I needed to “get rid of” last year’s frozen Maine blueberries. It’s blueberry season again, and I am about to re-fill my freezer with this year’s crop when I realized that I still had 6-7 cups from last year. So I made this pie. And yes, I added basil to a blueberry pie. It gives it a really nice floral note … I don’t think that it is necessarily identifiable as basil, but it is very nice. Yum yum!
Sometimes, the old favorites are the best. Case in point: chocolate chip cookies. Nothing is quite as magical as a plain old chocolate chip cookie — in this case with chocolate chips, white chocolate chips and butterscotch chips — because I happen to have all three kinds in the house. Now, where’s my glass of milk?
Here is a riff on old-school Rice Crispies Squares: Rice Crispies Squares with nutty browned butter and … wait for it … Nutella! Oh so posh, right? Originally I had intended to dip them in chocolate as well, but it’s been so hot that that would have just melted in your hand. I’ll have to try that variation when it it cooler out!
So, It’s my best friend’s birthday this weekend, so I am up at her place, visiting in Maine. And of course, there was a birthday cake to be made, so I made this amazing Mountains of Berries Cheesecake. It’s a vanilla cheesecake and fresh berries that I picked myself (well, at least the raspberries and blueberries). It’s goinng to be a disaster to cut, but that is ok because it will still taste good!