Edible Art: Share the Sweet

I love it when I see something dessert related and within a few seconds I find myself smiling with delight. That's what happened to me recently when I first saw these wonderful candy designs by Norwegian designer Maria Tovslid. Titled Share the Sweet, Tovslid's series was created to change the way we read, interact with, and consume candy. The three pieces, the chocolate, the lollipop, and the licorice, are molded in such a way to draw attention to the experience of sharing. It's candy that not only makes sharing easy, but encourages it. What's better than that?? You can check out more of Maria Tovslid's work on her Web site, right here.

Bittersweet

I love people who think creatively with food, who create new dishes and flavor combinations, who don't take food or themselves too seriously and therefore end up making food that stirs your emotions, whether they are making you smile or laugh . . . or gag. Rick at Bittersweet is just such a person. He has only been blogging for eight months, but he has already posted recipes for Cough Syrup Cupcakes, Candyland cake, Twinkie Milkshake, Tie Dye Tiramisu, Chocolate Mountain, Red Velvet Pancakes, and Apple Pie French Toast, just to name a few. I don't think there's ever been a cake, a pie, or a cookie on Rick's site that I didn't like. Okay, I'll admit that sometimes his ingredients scare me, but I admire his originality and the sense of fun he brings to each and every recipe! Always unique and unexpected, Bittersweet is definitely one of my favorite places to visit.

Cookbook Excitement

I'm not a big buyer of "things," but if I have one weakness (besides clothes), it's baking cookbooks! I get them for xmas and birthdays and I buy them as gifts for myself. I'm even guilty of purchasing cookbooks and then never actually using them! They just sit on the shelf staring back at me. Needless to say, if there's one thing that I don't need, it's another cookbook. That said, there are a number of new cookbooks on the market right now that I'm super excited about. Here are just a few.

First up, Fat Witch Brownies: Brownies, Blondies, and Bars from New York's Legendary Fat Witch Bakery. Yes, that's right, you no longer have to go to NY in order to sample some Fat Witch goodness. Now you can make Fat Witch brownies, blondies, and bars right in your own kitchen! With over 50 recipes for everything from a Banana Bread Brownie to a Breakfast Brownie, you're bound to find the perfect brownie for you. (Releases September 2010).

For all of you out there who, like me, are fascinated with the current trend of alcohol-spiked desserts, there are two new cookbooks on the market to help inspire you. The first one, Booze Cakes, includes recipes for cakey desserts like Rum and Coke Whoopie Pies, White Russian Cupcakes, and Pink Champagne Cake, among others.

The second one, The Boozy Baker, was written by food writer, Lucy Baker (who also happens to be a co-writer for the Fat Witch Cookbook) and with 75 recipes it will cover all your drunken dessert needs. Inside the pages you will find recipes for Homemade Bourbon Vanilla Extract, Green Tea and Banana Cake with Sake Syrup, and Donut Bread Pudding with Tennessee Whiskey Sauce. Fancy!

The Mixing Bowl: Apricot Flaky Scones by Elisabeth Klos

I'm a big fan of breakfast. Eggs, hash browns, pancakes, toast with jam. I love it all! I will admit, though, that on most mornings I'm strictly a granola gal (I don't even put milk on my cereal, although sometimes I'll add berries on top, if I have them on hand!). Every so often, though, I like to treat myself with a little breakfast delight. These apricot scones, brought to us by painter Elisabeth Klos, are the perfect something special for when you have guests over brunch or on days when a bowl of corn flakes just isn't going to do the trick!

Elisabeth Klos is a fantastic painter based in California who also just happens to have a whole series of oil paintings devoted to desserts! It's the perfect combination of art and sweets! I'm really taken with the doughnut painting, but there's also something about that crust on the pumpkin pie piece that I just love!

From Elisabeth: I love painting and drawing sweets/baked goods because they evoke such a warm, nostalgic, happy feeling in me and in most of my customers. The process works something like this: First I do a decoupage under the painting with packaging labels from old flour bags, sugar bags, Hershey bars, etc. (You can see the label in the scone painting - the Gold flour symbol to the left of the scones.) Then I usually do color blocking as a backdrop to a simple portrait of the dessert using oil paint. Sometimes I use a rubber stamp to put text under the dessert.

Elisabeth's paintings are available for sale on Etsy, right here. If you're looking for something specific for the dessert lover in your life, Elisabeth will take custom orders as well. I think it would be really fun to give an avid baker a personal portrait of their most famous dessert: mom's apple pie in oil! You can find contact info and more images on her Web site. Click here to check it out and here to view her blog.

You can find the complete recipe and more of Elisabeth's work after the jump. Thanks, Elisabeth!

Spaghetti Ice Cream

Am I the only one that didn't know that ice cream shaped like spaghetti is like...a thing...in Germany? Yep, that's right. It's called spaghettieis (spaghetti ice) and it's not really noodles, but ice cream that has been pressed through a spaetzle press. To assemble, simply place the "noodles" over whipped cream, add strawberry sauce instead of tomato sauce and replace the cheese with white chocolate, coconut, or grated almonds and voila, you have spaghettieis. When I first saw it, I thought it was just another fondant-covered novelty dish, but I was wrong! It's actually well-known dessert in Germany and has been around since the 1960s! Want to try making it yourself? Click here for a recipe.

[Photo by Christian Cable]

The Mixing Bowl: Honey Joys by The Bunny Theory

This week’s recipe is by talented Australian artist, Carmen Hui (The Bunny Theory) whose Web site Forgotten Fancies I was fortunate enough to stumble upon a few weeks ago. Carmen's site focuses on chronically the various "stuff" in her life through illustration. She attempts to attach a level of meaning to each object and describes any significance it may (or may not) have had on her life. It's a really interesting and creative take on excess and the idea of putting a value on "things." It definitely makes you think about all the crap that you own. Maybe even making you think twice before you add something new to your collection! Hmmm . . . what am I going to think of these bright yellow flats in ten years?



For her Mixing Bowl contribution, Carmen has send us a recipe for Honey Joys, which are made almost entirely out of Corn Flakes! You know how I love a recipe with nontraditional ingredients and this one sounds really interesting! Also, it's super simple and not labor intensive, at all! I hope you'll get a chance to try the recipe! Let me know what you think! To check out Carmen's Web site, click here. Thanks, Carmen!