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desserts

Desserts, Sweet Snacks

Spring Has Sprung Garden Party Cake

All of a sudden, it seems to be spring. After this winter here in Boston, I never thought that we’d be saying “Gosh, it’s hot!” again, but here we are on May 7 … and it’s downright hot. So, in celebration thereof, I made this here cake. I actually have a bit of a philosophy that I have broken with this cake — which is that I think that a cake should look like a cake, not like something else — but eh, rules are meant to be broken sometimes and I ended up with this cutsie little cake. It’s just a chocolate cake with raspberry filling, chocolate butter cream frosting and lots of mini-M&Ms.
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Cookies, Sweet Snacks

Hazelnut Saffron Linzer Cookies,
with Passion Fruit Gelee

And now for something completely different in the cookie department … a complete departure from my usual chocolate or caramel or what-have-you (but not a departure from Linzer Cookie style cookies, which I seem to make fairly often), this week we something involving saffron and passion fruit, which go together quite nicely, I found out. Also, the smell of saffron when baking, because it is intensified, is just lovely.

And now, these aren’t Christmas Cookies … the cut out parts are meant to be flowers, even though they turned out more like stars. Although, I would make Christmas Cookies in May.
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Desserts, Sweet Snacks

Browned Butter Bourbon Pecan Chocolate Chip Pie
aka Kentucky Derby Pie

In a couple of days, the Kentucky Derby will be run for 2015. I’ve been seeing a lot of photos out there for Mint Juleps and such, but thought I would go in another direction with my homage to the the Running of the Roses: Pie. No surprise there, eh? I’ve been this type of pie been called Chocolate Chip Pie, but with my addition of Pecans and Bourbon, it almost seemed more appropriate to rename it as Kentucky Derby Pie. Southern, and all that. It is ooey and gooey on the inside, perfect for pairing with vanilla iced cream.
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Desserts, Sweet Snacks

Pistachio and Spicy Salted Caramel Deep Chocolate Brownies

Over the years, I have posted a lot of brownie recipes on this site. They are perhaps my favorite “go to” thing when I have to make something in a hurry, because even the “from scratch” type of brownies don’t take very long to make and you can add so many varying flavors to them. Case in point: these Pistachio and Spicy Salted Caramel Deep Chocolate Brownies. Make your own spicy caramel sauce and a gourmet style brownie is made. Also, I love the whole salty and spicy thing on chocolate, so I used the Falk Salt Chipotle Sea Salt again.
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