Indulging My Sweet Tooth

I normally don't have much of a sweet tooth, but I recently indulged a bit while attending The Broke Socialite Does...Sugar Coma Festival.  The event brought some of Atlanta's best bakeries, caterers, ice cream shops and restaurants together under one roof (Le Fais do-do on Atlanta's westside).   Since I'd missed previous tours, I figured that I needed to have the full Sugar Coma experience at least once.  This was the perfect venue and opportunity to do so!

Talk about sensory overload-I didn't know where to start sampling!  The venue was jam packed with everything from cakes and pastries to truffles and tarts.  Cotton candy, petit fours, little marshmallows, brownies, and cupcakes.  Tons and tons of cupcakes.  Cupcakes as far as the eye could see...

Somehow I made my way to the Peacecake table, which is where I began my sampling.  I was really impressed with the Vegan & Gluten Free Chocolate Cupcakes and their Gluten Free Brownies.  Delicious stuff!  You can order their Organic, Vegan & Gluten free brownie, muffin, cupcake and cookie mixes online at their website, www.mypeacecake.com.

There were so many treats to sample and after a few I'd had my limit (I tihnk I may have suffered from Red Velvet Overload).  Among my favorites:  a mini pear frangipane tart from Konfections by Kristina,  the Whoopie Pies from West Egg Café, and a wonderfully refreshing Meyer Lemon Sorbet from High Road Craft Ice Cream and Sorbet (love!).   I'm kind of kicking myself for not sampling their Citrus Ginger sorbet (which received raves from several Sugar Coma Fest attendees).  A delicious Patrón Margarita cupcake from CEO Custom Cakes (purchased at the Sugar Coma Marketplace) was the perfect ending to a sweet afternoon.

Strawberry Lime & Basil Sorbet

Not long ago, I posted a little recap of The Broke Socialite's Graze tour and raved about a refreshing strawberry cocktail served up at our last stop, Noon Midtown.    I managed to get the "recipe" from Reggie the mixologist, but because I'm old I don't remember everything he put in the cocktail.  What I do remember is strawberry, rum(?), lime, lemon and a basil simple syrup.  This is my attempt to recreate it in (non-alcoholic) sorbet form.   Since I gave my ice cream maker away, I had to use the old "stainless steel pan in the freezer" method which worked pretty well.   I also used agave nectar as a sweetener.   Recipe follows next...

Vanilla Bean Panna Cotta With Amaretto Cherry Compote

One of the things I love about summer is cherry season.    I get downright giddy when the Rainier variety start showing up in supermarkets!  Here's what I made with part of my cherry stash (managed to pick up a couple of pounds on sale).   It had been a while since I'd made panna cotta for dessert, so I decided to try this easy recipe from Food & Wine's website.   I love the creamy consistency, plus you don't have to fuss around with unmolding them.    My grandmother (who'd never even heard of panna cotta, much less tried the dessert) gave them her stamp of approval, so that's good enough for me!   I made a simple amaretto-flavored cherry compote to spoon over the panna cotta.  Recipes to follow next...

Snow Day @ Maison Robert

What is that phrase, the best laid plans often go astray?  Well, something like that.  It was my first "free" Saturday morning in a while, so I'd planned to check out a couple of new (to me) spots that I've been wanting to try.  However, thanks to the Great Atlanta Snowstorm of 2010, those planned had to be scrapped.  Just as I was planning to whip up a little somethin' at home, I get a tweet from Maison Robert Fine Chocolates:

Snow, schmo! We are open!

Say no more!   I had been wanting to stop by ever since viewing Broderick (Savory Exposure) & Chloe's (Chow Down Atlanta) food porn-tastic photos.  It was Valentine's Day weekend, why not splurge on some sweet treats? 

Making Macarons With Tartelette!

A couple of  Sundays ago I was fortunate enough to take part in a macaron workshop taught by the wonderful food stylist/blogger/photographer/pastry chef extraordinaire Helen of Tartelette.  I had never tasted these trendy French confections (let alone attempted to make them) so this was a special treat for me!  It was great to finally meet fellow bloggers Tami (Running With Tweezers), Jennifer Z. (The Blissful Glutton) and Shameeka (The Broke Socialite), along with new friends Angie (Bakerella), Susan (The Frugal Hostess), Emily (Ultra Foodie and the Poodle Revolution), Katie (Whisk Away), Wendy, Lisa, Caryn, Paula (bell'alimento), Jennifer B. and our gracious hostess Patti (Anatomy of a Dinner Party) who welcomed us into her lovely home for the afternoon.  Our macarons weren't perfect, but I think we did pretty good for our first effort!  Many thanks to Helen, Patti, Tami and Shameeka for pulling this all together, and a special shout out to the ATL Macaron Crew-it was a pleasure meeting all of you!  I'm looking forward to whipping up my own macaron creations very soon.  I can't wait to put what I've learned into practice!

Foodie Events: Sugar Coma is coming January 16th!

Happy New Year everyone!  Here's a heads up on a fun foodie event that's coming up this month.

If you have a sweet tooth, you'll definitely want to take part in The Broke Socialite's Sugar Coma Tour on Saturday, January 16th at 9 AM!  You'll get to hang out with fellow foodies as you tour some of Atlanta's finest bakeries, restaurants and cupcake shops.  You'll go behind the scenes at the participating establishments to learn from the chefs as well as have the opportunity to sample their delicious treats.   Among the great perks for Sugar Coma attendees:

• You will be chauffeured to the tour stops in style courtesy of Cadillac, who will be providing four 2010 SRXs
• Four Seasons Hotel Atlanta is offering the opportunity to win one of two pairs of tickets to the Celebrity Chocolate Buffet @ the Four Seasons Hotel Atlanta on March 19th
• Sugar Coma doesn't end after the last tour stop thanks to Yelp Atlanta, who will be hosting a after-party for all attendees

Join The Broke Socialite along with "Sugar Mama"/tour guide (and pastry chef) Helen (from the fantastic Tartelette blog) for what promises to be a fun day of learning, socializing and tasting.  Registration is only $40.80 per person.  To reserve your spot on the Sugar Coma tour, click here.  I plan to be there!

Keeping My Mother's Christmas Tradition Alive

I love baking.  Pies, breads, tarts, cakes-you name it, I'll bake it.  Well, everything except cookies.  I know this will probably sound silly, but I have never had the patience to bake cookies.  I won't even bother with that pre-packaged cookie dough that you just break into squares and plop onto a cookie sheet.  My mother, on the other hand, was the chief cookie baker in our family.  Every Christmas, she'd make dozens of cookies for family and friends.  One particular cookie was a huge hit with our family and was requested every holiday season.  My mother affectionately called them Pecan Dusties: buttery pecan shortbread rolled in confectioners' sugar.

It has been three years since I've tasted my mom's beloved pecan dusties, two years since I lost her one week after Thanksgiving in 2007.  This holiday season, I decided that I would carry on my mom's tradition and prepare batches of her pecan dusties to share with the family.  I'm so glad that I asked her how to make these before she passed, and I am happy to share the recipe here.  Warning:  these cookies are very addictive (seriously).  Be prepared to make a few batches because these cookies will be gobbled up in no time.

Holiday Recipe: Eggnog Cheesecake

Here's a very quick and simple holiday dessert, courtesy of my good Twitter friend Kelly P.   She was kind enough to share this recipe for eggnog cheesecake.  Even if you don't particularly care for eggnog, I think you'll enjoy this recipe-it's delicious!  Thank you Kelly!

Kelly's Eggnog Cheesecake

1 prepared shortbread pie crust*

12 ounces or 1 ½ (8 oz) pkgs cream cheese, softened

½ cup granulated sugar

1 tbsp plus 1 ½ tsp flour

¼ cup plus 2 tbsp eggnog

1 egg

1 tbsp rum extract (if you don't care for rum flavoring, you can use pure vanilla extract as a substitute)

A pinch of nutmeg

Preheat oven to 425°F

In a large bowl (using an electric or hand mixer) combine cream cheese, sugar, flour and eggnog.  Add egg, rum extract and nutmeg and beat until mixture is creamy and smooth.  Pour into prepared shortbread pie crust and bake in a 425° oven for 10 minutes.  Reduce oven temperature to 250° and bake for an additional 50 minutes.  Refrigerate for at least four hours before serving.  Kelly advises that this cheesecake tastes best after 24 hours or overnight refrigeration.

*To prepare this cheesecake in a 9-inch springform pan, use the following recipe for shortbread crust and double the cheesecake filling recipe above.

Shortbread Crust

1¼ cups shortbread crumbs (about 6 oz  of shortbread cookies, crushed)

2 tbsp granulated sugar

3 tbsp melted unsalted butter

In large bowl, combine shortbread crumbs, sugar and melted butter.  Press crumb mixture into a 9-inch springform pan.  Bake at 350° for 10 minutes.  Allow crust to cool before filling.

Time To Make The Sufganiyot...

The holiday season is upon us!  With Hanukkah beginning this Friday evening, here's a post devoted to sufganiyot, a traditional holiday treat.  These filled doughnuts are a staple of Israeli Hanukkah celebrations.  Since this was my first attempt at making sufganiyot, I did a bit of research in order to find a recipe I could work with.  After some trial and error, I finally settled on a recipe and method that produced some pretty good results.  It is based on a recipe I found on bhg.com (which I tweaked just a bit). 

My Great-Aunt's Cream Cheese Pound Cake (well, sort of)

In my family, my great-aunt Margaret is the queen of cakes.  Whenever we travel to Florida to visit, we are always begging her to bake us a cake (or two).  I don't know how she does it, but she just has a knack for baking the most delicious cakes you'll ever eat.

Here's the cream cheese pound cake recipe that my grandmother managed to grab from Aunt Margaret on a recent visit.   It's not her personal creation, but it's a recipe that she swears by and has used for years.  I present it here, just as it was submitted by a Mrs. Ralph A. Patrick many years ago.   It's a little different from my own cream cheese pound cake recipe (this one calls for margarine, I normally use butter), but it's very good.  I was munching on some today-I only wish I'd had strawberries to go with it!

Cream Cheese Pound Cake

3 sticks margarine
1 8 ounce pkg cream cheese
3 cups sugar
dash salt
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
6 large eggs
3 cups sifted cake flour

Cream margarine, cream cheese and sugar until light and fluffy.  Add dash of salt and vanilla and beat well.  Add eggs-one at a time-and beat well after each addition.  Stir in the sifted cake flour.  Spoon mixture into a ten-inch tube pan.  Bake at 325° for 1 1/2 hours.  Allow cake to cool in pan for 10 minutes before inverting on a wire rack.

One delicious tweet...

When I saw it, I had to try it...

Bacon Ice Cream (with candied bacon garnish).  Want the recipe?  Visit My Last Bite.com for easy step-by-step instructions (plus her dish of ice cream is much prettier than mine). You won't even need to bust out the ice cream maker for this one!  While you're at it, follow @mylastbite for more delicious tweets.