The Mixing Bowl: Easy Vanilla Cheesecake by Sally Elford

Today's Mixing Bowl recipe comes for Vanilla Cheesecake comes from illustrator and print maker Sally Elford. Based in the UK, Sally is influenced by mid-century artists like Jan Balet, Miroslav Sasek, and, my longtime favorite, Charley Harper! In the past, she has worked with clients such as Oxford University Press, BBC Worldwide, and Readers Digest, to name a few, and recently started creating and selling limited edition prints on her Etsy site where you can find a nice selection of her great designs. Personally, I really love the Peaceful Park print, but check out her shop to find your favorite!

The last few Mixing Bowl posts have been fruit-filled desserts, so I was excited when Sally sent over this vanilla cheesecake recipe! Not that I have anything against fruit, in fact I love it, but this is great recipe to lead us into fall Quick, easy, and a great way to impress your guests. What's could be better?

Click here to check out the illustrations on Sally’s Etsy site and here to check out more images on her Web site. Thanks, Sally!


Recipe and more images after the jump.

Sweet Testing: Flourless Chocolate Cake

You can't go wrong with a flourless chocolate cake. It's pretty much a foolproof dessert and this version from Baked did not disappoint. It was rich and moist, just like a flourless chocolate cake should be. I suppose there are people who may find this and other flourless chocolate cakes too chocolaty, but that's just crazy talk. In my opinion, there is no such thing as too chocolaty! Besides, in addition to being totally delicious, and easy to make, the flourless chocolate cake manages to be totally gluten-free, without even trying! Yay! I did make one small change to the Baked recipe, though. I wanted to snazz things up a bit, so I added two tablespoons of cinnamon. That's right, two tablespoons! You can, of course, leave that part out. Also, Baked gives you an option of adding a chocolate glaze, but I was short on time, so I just made the cake and then dusted it with powdered sugar and cocoa.

More From Baked: Whoopie Pies, Sugar Cookies, Sweet and Salty Cake, Lemon Drop Cake, Coconut Snowball Cupcakes, Chocolate Bourbon Pecan Pie

You can find the complete recipe after the jump.

Mustache Cookies

A few weeks ago I was introduced to a fantastic little Italian cookie called mostaccioli via Megan's site Feasting on Art. Mostaccioli is, apparently, Italian for mustache and these cookies are often made to resemble, you guessed it, mustaches! Sooo fun! I'm definitely putting Megan's mostaccioli recipe on my extremely long baking to-do list. If you'd like to own your very own mustache cookies, here are are some additional baking and buying helpers:

Mustache Cookie Cutter ($2) from Bake It Pretty. They also have mustache lolly molds!


Mustache Moustachio Sugar Cookies ($25) from Sugar Cookie Couture


Mustache Sugar Cookies from Coastal Cakery in Delaware


Mustache Cookie Cutter ($13) from Copper Gifts

The Mixing Bowl: Strawberry and Nectarine Pie by Ingela P. Arrhenius

Today's recipe for Strawberry and Nectarine Pie comes from illustrator extraordinaire, Ingela P. Arrhenius. Based in Stockholm, Sweden, Ingela's colorful and playful designs have appeared on everything from posters to chocolate milk boxes and everything in between.

In the past, she has created illustrations for products such as greeting cards and stationary, as well as patterns for children's apparel and roller blinds. Her work graces the pages of magazines and children's books, which are often written by her talented husband, and even show up on postage stamps and yogurt containers!


Inspired by art of the 50's and 60's, Ingela's work is so cheerfully retro that it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Her illustrations always make me smile, so I was really thrilled that she agreed to contribute a recipe to Dessert Girl! When she sent over the illustration for the recipe, I instantly fell in love with it! I want to print it out and put it on my wall! I'm so excited to get the chance to share her work with you! You can find more images after the jump or on her Web site, right here. Thanks, Ingela! [To see the recipe in a readable, large-print format, just click on the image.]


Recipe Helpers: Ingela mentioned to me that although this recipe mentions using 5 nectarines, she only used 3 and that was enough, so 5 is not a strict requirement.

If you need help converting the measurements, click here for a nifty conversion calculator.

Note on The Mixing Bowl: I failed to mention this previously, but I thought that I should fill you in on what The Mixing Bowl series is really all about. Basically, I love seeing people making and sharing their favorite recipes. I also really like the idea of featuring and collaborating with people whose work I admire. The Mixing Bowl combines both of those ideas. Not only do I get to share yummy dessert recipes with you, but I also get the opportunity to feature the artists, writers, designers, and people that I love and admire! What could be better? I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!)


There are more Ingela images after the jump.

Girl Scout Cookie Blizzards

This is my third ice cream post in as many weeks, so you know that it must be summer, despite what the weather report says. (I actually prefer cooler weather, so, if you ask me, this has been the greatest summer ever!) Anyway, I had to tell you about the limited-edition blizzards that Dairy Queen is offering this summer! You have probably guessed it by now. Girl Scout cookie blizzards!! Yum! Trans fat goodness! Last month DQ featured Tagalong blizzards and this month freezer friendly Thin Mints are on the menu! Even with my aversion to trans fats, I did try the Tagalong blizzard last month and was not disappointed! Totally worth it! I can't wait to try the Thin Mint version! Oh, and even though these were supposed to be available for a limited time, it looks like DQ is still offering the Tagalong flavor, so if you didn't make it to DQ last month, it's not too late!

On a side note, last month a goofy picture of me appeared on I Heart Handmade . . .because I heart handmade. Anyway, if you're into handmade items, check it out. It's a great site for crafty folks and the people that love them. Thanks, Marichelle!

Dessert Blast from The Past: Confetti Cake

This used to be my favorite cake when I was a kid. Yum! Unfortunately, I won't eat the Pillsbury version because, like most boxed desserts, it's filled with lots and lots of bad stuff. I really wanted to find a recipe for this cake, so I could make it with real live ingredients, but I kept running into recipes that required a boxed mix. At first, I was thinking that I could just make a yellow or white cake and add sprinkles, but I quickly realized that I couldn't use any old cake. It had to be traditional birthday cake, a moist, dense cake with just the right amount of sweetness. After spending way too much time searching the net for recipes, I think I found just the right cake! It's called The Birthday Cake and it's supposedly really yummy! I can't wait to try this one! It's so sweet! How can you not love it?

The Birthday Cake can be found on the menu of Restaurant Eve in Virginia or you can click here for the complete recipe via The Washington Post. Just don't forget to add the sprinkles (1/4 cup)!


Oh, and if you're short on time, Naturally Nora offers a boxed version, with ingredients that are more natural than those in traditional cake mixes (i.e. no trans fats or artificial preservatives).

To Dry For: Tea Towels

I love these fun tea towels from To Dry For! Based in Oxford, England, Sally and Dave created this site as a way to bring designers and tea towels together and to make the buying of such towels easy for the tea towel loving public. Each towel was created by a specific designer and the product description contains a link to that designer's Web site, making it easy to check out more of their work. Personally, I love the "Right On" design by Stuart Kolakovic, but the Mr. T towel is pretty hard to resist! Check out the full collection right here.

Black Pearl Cake (Wasabi & Ginger)

During my recent trip into the wonderful world of Wasabi ice cream, I stumbled upon this recipe for chocolate cake with ginger, wasabi, and black sesame! I'm a sucker for desserts with unusual flavors, so this cake, which was created by Katrina Markoff, CEO of Vosges Haut-Chocolat, is right up my alley. I can't wait to try it! Click here for the recipe, which originally appeared in Bon Appetit.

[top photo: Noel Barnhurst/Bon Appetit; bottom photo: catsun)

High Fashion Dessert - Erin Fetherston

I've been sitting her thinking about how I'm dying to see the new movie (500) Days of Summer, staring the super awesome Zooey Deschanel, so I thought that I'd post this cute picture of Zooey pushing an ice cream cart from Erin Fetherston's Fall/Winter 08/09 collection. Erin's work has always sort of reminded me of cake, what with the tiers and the ruffles and all, so I thought this was a good opportunity to post some of her work! Have a great weekend everybody!

Wasabi Ice Cream and Other Asian Ice Cream Diversions

Recently, at a housewarming party that I attended, a discussion about wacky ice cream flavors arose. I quickly mentioned the Curry ice cream from Vosges, while someone else told the tale of eating wasabi ice cream at Cold Stone Creamery. Wasabi ice cream? At Cold Stone? I couldn't find any mention of it on Cold Stone's Web site, although I did find evidence of it's existence at one time, but it did start me wondering . . . is Wasabi ice cream available elsewhere?? I thought I'd do some Web surfing to find out!

Apparently, Wasabi ice cream is quite common in Japan, where, according to this Web site, you can also buy ice creams flavored with lots of yummy ingrdients, like chicken wings, eel, and octopus! The "yummy" part was sarcasm, in case you didn't catch that. I also discovered photographic evidence for Japanese snake, garlic, and salt ice cream. (I'd pass on the snake, but the garlic and salt flavors might actually be pretty good!)

Next stop on my Wasabi hunt was the Web site for il Laboratorio del Gelato in New York. They do indeed carry Wasabi gelato, along with LOTS of other new and unexpected flavors like Guinness and cheddar cheese. You can also find curry and wasabi flavors at the Big Gay Ice Cream Truck, which is in NY as well.

For those of you who prefer making things yourself, check out Anthony Bombaci's recipe for wasabi ice cream, right here.

I'll stop at this point, but I found lots of other interesting asian ice cream treats during my search! More to come . . . soon!

[wasabi ice cream image: Katherine Moon; wasabi sign: Andrew Martin; salt ice cream: piki hiki biki; snake ice cream: kaige]

Superman Ice Cream Fans Unite!

I'm loving this video by Quinn Strassel (The Mitten) about Superman ice cream. Inspired by the Serious Eats post on this colorful treat, Quinn took to the streets to try to find out more about this mysterious flavor. Apparently, Superman ice cream is only a Michigan thing or, at the most, a Midwest thing. Who knew?? Click here for the full post.

photo by Laura Roberts

The Mixing Bowl: Strawberry and Pear Croustade by Hang Tight Studio

I am so sooo excited to present this guest post from Heather Dutton of Hang Tight Studio. I have been a fan of Heather's work for many years now and I'm thrilled that she agreed to put together this cooking project for Dessert Girl! It's so inspiring to see people make food that they love and Heather's post for strawberry and pear croustade with vanilla bean glaze does not disappoint!


Heather, who runs a freelance textile and surface design business, and has worked with big name companies like Pottery Barn and Tupperware, creates wonderful and incredibly cute designs! I'm particularly fond of her playful animal prints, like the ones below, but she also has a lot of gorgeous floral and geometric patterns as well. I love her work so much that I have been known to use her designs as desktop wallpaper and, whenever I do, I always get tons of compliments from passersby!



I hope you’ll enjoy Heather’s recipe as much as I did. It looks like the perfect summer treat, for the eyes and the belly! (To see the recipe in a readable, large-print format, just click on each image.)

Thanks Heather!

To see more of Heather’s work click here to visit her Web site and, to shop online, visit her brand new Etsy site, right here. While you're there, check out the paint chip etchings, which combine both cuteness and recycling! Yay!

(p.s. This post officially starts my new guest baker series, which I'm calling The Mixing Bowl, for now. Or is that title too cheesy? Stay tuned for more mystery pastry chefs in the future!)

Dessert in the Bath

I'm a big fan of anything you use in the shower, especially soap and bubble bath, so I was excited to see that sweets shop Dylan's Candy Bar has extended their product line to bath products. I especially like the look of their shower gel line, which comes in cute retro-inspired soda bottles. All products are free of parabens and synthetic preservatives, among other things, so woo hoo, no potential cancer risk! Well, until some future date when it's discovered that "safe ingredients" kill you as well. Click here to view the complete, paraben-free, collection.

While visiting Dylan's Web site, I also stumbled upon these great candy building blocks. I'm not sure how they taste, but they look like Legos, so I'd have to give 'em a try!

Momofuku Milk Bar: My Latest Bakery Obsession

It started innocently enough, a coworker of mine recently had dinner at Momofuku Ko in NYC and sent me the link to their site. Of course, one of the first things I did was to click on the site for their bakery and what did I see?? Arnold Palmer cake! Cornflake-marshmallow-chocolate chip cookies!! Crack pie!!! Crack pie??

I want to go there.

I quickly searched Google, desperate for a recipe for Arnold Palmer cake (iced tea jelly, lemon mascarpone cream, almond tea crunch), but came up with nothing. Has no one tried to copy this yet?? Happily, my crack pie search yielded better results, leading me to a demonstration from Martha Stewart's show, along with recipes for Momofuku's cereal milk and blueberry-and-cream cookies!! Woo hoo!

I am now officially obsessed. I wish more bakeries thought this creatively! I haven't made the crack pie yet, but it's on top of my baking list. I also can't wait until the day that I actually get to step foot inside the Milk Bar, although there are so many choices that in the process of making a decision, I may completely freak out. Oh, and don't tell me their desserts suck or I'll punch you in the arm! Okay, if it sucks, I would like to hear your opinion, but I'll still be mentally punching you in the arm. :-)

To watch Martha's visit to the Momofuku Milk Bar, click here. (The link takes you to the beginning of the show, so you'll have to scroll over to the video titled Momofuku Milk Bar.)

Did I mention the Lucky Charms soft serve???

(Arnold Palmer cake photo by Kathy Chan.)