Sweet Testing: Whiskey Tart with Whiskey Whipped Cream

I know that I’ve mentioned before on this site that I love Baked, the New York—based bakery that has spawned a series of amazing dessert cookbooks, but I don’t know if I ever talked about my love of whiskey. Yep, that’s right, whiskey. I’m not a big drinker and, honestly, I didn’t even start consuming alcohol until a few years ago, but it was whiskey, friend of the Irish for centuries, that ended up converting me. I think it tastes a bit like ginger ale, but, really, I’m still pretty much a lightweight, so what do I know? I just like it. And whiskey and chocolate…even better! To further entice you into my whiskey world, I will add that this tart is not only delicious, but a cinch to make, so you can impress your friends and family with very little time and effort. Always a good thing! ~Erin

You can find the complete recipe after the jump.

The Mixing Bowl: Blue Hawaiian Ice Cream by Lili Chin

Lili Chin is a woman after my own heart. Her website, We All Scream, combines three of my favorite things---illustrations, ice cream, and unique flavor combinations---to create an illustrated recipe site that equally appeals to both my stomach and my eyes! Seriously, with ice creams flavors like Ginger Caramel, Strawberry Bourbon, Mexican Corn, and Sunflower Seed, how could I resist! There’s even an ice cream recipe for dogs! I was in dessert/design heaven. And it doesn’t stop there. In addition to these wonderful recipes, Lili creates individual labels for her ice creams that feature her designs. How cute is that?? When I first laid eyes on her site, I instantly knew that I had to ask her to contribute a recipe to The Mixing Bowl and when she sent over this recipe for Blue Hawaiian ice cream, I couldn’t wait to share it will all of you. I’m a huge fan of tropical flavors (tropical lifesavers were always my favorite pack) and I can’t take my eyes of the ice cream’s lovely blue hue. Who doesn’t love blue-colored food??

Malaysian-born Lili Chin is an artist and animator based in Los Angeles. She is the co-founder of FWAK! Animation, which produced its first feature-length animated film in 2006, Los Campeones de la Lucha Libre (The Champions of Wrestling). She was also the co-creator, producer and designer on Mucha Lucha, a Warner Bros' hit animated series which ran for 52 episodes on Kids WB and Cartoon Network. When not animating, Lili draws the cutest dog portraits over at Doggie Drawings. I love the retro kitsch look of her dog portraits and, as an animal lover, the idea of a getting a personalized pet painting really appeals to me! If you don’t own a dog, have no fear, she draws other animals as well. In addition, as the proud dog owner of a rescued Boston Terrier named Boogie, Lili donates a percentage of her Doggie Drawing sales to Boston Terrier/Animal rescue (woo hoo!).

To check out Lili's ice cream site, We All Scream, click here. If you’re a fan of this site, I’m sure you’ll love it as much as I do. You can see more of Lili’s work via her Flickr page and on her Doggie Drawings site. Thanks, Lili!

To see a larger version of the recipe, simply click on the image at the top of this post. You can also view additional images from Lili after the jump.

Sweet Testing: Grasshopper Cake

I swear this isn’t another Baked cake. It has nothing to with Baked. It is a completely unrelated dessert that has absolutely no connection to a particular bakery in Brooklyn known for their mega super delicious treats. Okay, that’s a lie. It is, in fact, a Baked cake. I’ve been thinking of adding a Baked tag to all my Baked recipes because I’ve made so many of them. I can’t help it! They are always good! I was particularly happy with the way this one turned out. It’s like a thin mint cookie in cake form! Actually, it’s better than a thin mint cookie and I really like thin mint cookies. One person told me that it was the best cake that I had ever made, but I usually hear that from at least one person every time I make a Baked cake. I’m telling you, they are just that good!

You can find the complete Grasshopper Cake recipe after the jump.

The Mixing Bowl: Tiramisu by Zara Picken

I love learning interesting tidbits about food, like why there isn’t flour in flourless chocolate cake or how and when chocolate and peanut butter first hooked up, so when illustrator Zara Picken sent me her recipe for Tiramisu, along with an explanation of the dessert's name, I was instantly smitten.

From Zara: I wanted to evoke the colours of the dessert and the meaning –"tira mi su" loosely means “pick me up” or “lift me up” in Italian and the dessert was intended as a cheering dish to be eaten when feeling low. I also referenced the Italian origin of the dessert by imagining the illustration in the context of a 1930s Italian Art Deco poster, the sort you might see in a café.

Pretty neat, huh? I love that Zara put so much thought behind her recipe/illustration!

Zara Picken is an illustrator based in Bristol, England whose work combines mid-century modern design, muted colors, and surreal elements to create something totally unique. Given the fact that Zara is influenced by things like the writing of Haruki Murakami and the film Inception (both of which I love), it's not really surprising that I've developed a fairly major crush on her work. I'm especially fond of her series of people with electronic devices instead of heads. Those may be my favorite pieces. You can check out more of Zara's marvelous work, including the electronic head people via her Etsy shop, Web site, and Flickr page.

You can find the tiramisu recipe and more pics after the jump.

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!

Sweet Testing: Chocolate Stout Layer Cake

This is one of those cakes that has been on my "to do" list for a while now, but I only recently got around to making it! The whole beer dessert trend has been on the rise for a while now and the idea of putting beer into baked goods is not a new one, but, as I know quite a few beer fanatics that would smile big after being served a stout cake, it's still a topic that I wanted to cover. Besides, I think the beer dessert trend is still rising. I don't think we've reached the peak yet or that it's come to head, so to speak, so I think it's still relevant. :-)

The cake itself was really delicious! Sometimes a really tasty chocolate cake just hits the spot, you know, and this one had a really nice chocolaty flavor. I kept thinking of it as a very masculine cake, probably because of the beer and the color, but also because it's not overwhelming sweet cake, which was fine with me. Sometimes, too much sweetness ruins a cake. Oh, and it didn't taste at all like beer, but there isn't much beer in it, so I wasn't expecting it to. It was more about the fun of serving a beer cake than serving a cake that tastes like beer!

You can find the complete recipe after the jump.

Devil's Food White-Out Cake w/ Bailey's Irish Cream Frosting

I've been wanting to make this cake since the day I bought Dorie Greenspan's Baking: From My Home to Yours. Quite honestly, it's the main reason that I bought the cookbook in the first place! So, when my sister's bday came around this year, I sent this cake, along with a few others, as possible choices for her cake. As you've probably already guessed by now, she picked this one! She did have one condition, though. Do not use the marshmallow frosting because, in the words of my sister, marshmallow is kind of yucky.

Luckily, Dorie states right in the recipe that you can use any sort of thick frosting for this cake, so, at my sister's suggestion, we went with a Bailey's frosting, instead. Well, actually my mom went with the Bailey's frosting, as she was the one who actually made the cake. I was, well, let's just say that I was not in a baking mood at the time. It all turned out well, though, because this cake was awesome! Sooo good! For some strange reason, my mom's cake was not nearly as high as Dorie's. Maybe the frosting wasn't as thick or sturdy. Regardless, it was mighty tasty! It's booze and chocolate! What's not to love? Btw, this doesn't taste like liquor, at all, but you can always add more Bailey's, if that's what you're into. :-)

You can find the complete recipe after the jump.

Inspiration Board: Steampunk

(Image above: Cake by Mike's Amazing Cakes, photo by celustig)

What the heck is steampunk??? That was a question I was asking myself recently after stumbling across this word, a word that I had never seen before, twice in one day! The first time I came across it was after a friend of mine posted a steampunk-related link on Facebook and then, later that same day, it showed up again, on a pair of steampunk cuff links on Etsy. What the heck is this steampunk business??? I quickly sent an e-mail to my friend, the Facebook poster, for an explanation. As it turned out, I've been a steampunk fan for years . . . I just didn't know it!

For those of you who, like me, require a crash course in steampunk, here ya go. Steampunk is, as far as I can tell, a sort of a Victorian, fantasy, sci-fi hybrid. Just picture any film that has one foot in the future, and the other in the past. Think Time Bandits or City of Lost Children. I think the whole genre is pretty cool and, as I usually do whenever I learn something new, I started getting super excited about it! Of course, I immediately started thinking about writing a post about steampunk desserts! I was a bit disappointed with the lack of range amongst the steampunk sweets out there. As of right now, the inspiration is mostly about gears, but I still think it's an fun idea, nonetheless!

Steampunk cookies and bourbon bread pudding with bourbon glaze from Jenny Bannock

Cake by Mike's Amazing Cakes, photo by Libby Bulloff


Cake topper by The Builder's Studio ($139)

Sweet Testing: Chocolate Bourbon Pecan Pie

I'm not a fan of pecan pie. It's not really pecan pie's fault, though. I used to enjoy it, but once, when I was fourteen, I ate some pecan pie and then promptly came down with the flu. I have hence forth hated it. It's pretty much a guilty by association thing. The mere thought of it makes me nauseous! Don't you hate when that happens?? Anyway, enough about my stomach ailments. The point is, I don't like pecan pie or bourbon, for that matter, but my sister insisted that this pie is awesome, so I made it, and let me tell you . . . it is AWESOME!! It doesn't really taste like pecan pie. It's more like a fat, warm, chocolate chip cookie. Yum! I wish I had taken a picture after it was cut because that's where all the yumminess resides, but I was so distracted by eating it, that I forgot! Oh, well, next time!

As far as the baking process is concerned, this is one of the easier recipes from the Baked cookbook. The pie crust came out perfectly, but if you want to opt for a store-bought crust, you could make this really quickly. Oh, and you can't taste the bourbon, which I liked, but if like your desserts a little more boozy, you can always add more.

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

You can find the complete recipe after the jump.

Getting Drunk on Ice Cream

I don't drink wine, but I do come from a wine family (meaning that they drink a lot of wine, not that they stomp grapes in barrels or anything), so I was super excited to come across this wine-flavored ice cream! It would be the perfect gift for my father, who has a makeshift wine cellar in his basement. Unfortunately, it's not so easy to get your hands on this stuff, except if you live in New York, where you can buy Mercer's Wine Ice Cream at your local Whole Foods. Make sure that you have proper ID before making the trip, though! The ice cream does contain five percent alcohol, so you have to be of legal age to buy it! Finally, a chance to get drunk and have a sugar high at the same time! Click here for store locations and additional info.