confessions of a sweet tooth

I found the idea for this Spiderweb Cheesecake in the October issue of Martha Stewart Living. It was just so cute I had to try it out! I ended up halving the recipe and making it in a regular pie dish rather than the springform pan, so the presentation wasn't quite as stunning, but I knew I didn't need a cheesecake of quite the magnitude of the original recipe. It worked out perfectly in the pan with half the recipe. The things I would do differently if making it again are... 1. the crust turned out a little more crumbly than I would have liked, which was probably my fault for adding a little too many crumbs (not enough butter) 2. It needs to be served very well chilled. Other than that it was pretty tasty for a no bake cheesecake, was pretty simple to put together, and has extra cute gumdrop spiders that go with it. It was a fun and festive project!

I came across this Martha Stewart recipe on a blog that I read often... Stephmodo was guest blogging on petit elephant and talked about them there. I was a bit intrigued by the fresh ginger. It remined me of the triple ginger snaps from Trader Joe's that we discovered last fall. These cookies definitely came out with a good balance of ginger (fresh and ground) and chocolate. A yummy fall addition! Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies 7 ounces semi-sweet chocolate 1 1/2 c. plus 1 tablespoon flour 1 1/4 t. ground ginger 1/4 t. ground cloves 1/4 t. ground nutmeg 1 T. cocoa powder 1/2 c. butter 1 T. freshly grated ginger 1/2 c. dark-brown sugar, packed 1/2 c. unsulphered molasses 1 t. baking soda 1/4 c. granulated sugar 1 t. ground cinnamon Chop chocolate into 1/4-inch chunks (or just use good chocolate chips!), set aside. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, ground ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmet, and cocoa. In a separate bowl, beat butter and grated ginger until whitened, about 4 minu...

This was my little Friday night baking experiment and it turned out really well...probably some of the best brownies I've ever made and I'm a brownie fan, so that's saying something! The brownie recipe is one that my mom found years ago (Snow Flurry Brownies). They normally call for white chocolate chips but are good with any or no form of chocolate chips...it's definitely my favorite quick brownie recipe. They always turn out fabulous as long as they don't get overbaked! I only wanted a few this time, so I halved the recipe and baked them in an 8 1/2 inch loaf pan. It worked out perfectly and we came out with about 5 brownies...which is good since there are only a few of us and I have a severe weakness for brownies! without further ado... Rocky Road Brownies 1 c. sugar 1/2 c. butter, melted 2 eggs 1/2 t. vanilla 2/3 c. flour 1/2 c. cocoa 1/2 t. baking powder 1/2 t. salt Mix together and bake in an 8x8 (foil lined) pan at 350 degrees for about 25 minutes. Do not ove...

The new Sprinkles Palo Alto location recently opened in the Stanford Shopping Center. We were privileged to go there yesterday and waited in line with no less than 50 people. After all that waiting I wasn't disappointed...my peanut butter chocolate came through with two thumbs up. It was seriously delicious. The cake was dense (and moist), the frosting was rich and together they were the perfect match. I sampled Adam's Coconut and Rachel's Chocolate Marshmallow and they were right on as well. So, Sprinkles gets my stamp of approval on round 2...I'm so glad to have them kind of in our neighborhood. I'll be dreaming about cupcakes while I wait for the new Kara's Cupcakes to open at Santana Row...I have to say it will be hard for them to beat Sprinkles, but hopefully they'll give them some great competition! the chocolate peanut butter

I saw this recipe a few years ago and have wanted to try them...today I finally got around to it. They were relatively easy to whip up. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go eat one! Pumpkin Maple Custards 1 c. heavy cream 3/4 c. milk 3/4 c. maple syrup 3/4 c. canned solid-pack pumpkin 7 large egg yolks 1/2 t. ground cinnamon 1/8 t. ground nutmeg 1/8 t. salt Preheat oven to 325 degrees, with rack in the center. In a medium saucepan whisk together cream, milk, maple syrup, and pumpkin. Bring to a simmer over medium heat. Meanwhile in a large bowl, whisk together yolks, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Whisking constantly, gradually add hot cream mixture to the yolk mixture (I added a little to the yolks first to temper them). Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a large liquid measuring cup (for easy pouring). Divide mixture evenly among six 6-ounce ramekins or custard cups. Line the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking pan with a kitchen towel; place ramekins on top. Place in oven, a...

Pretty easy to make and super delicious! I know I'm getting old because in my younger days there is no way I would have considered something with cooked fruit on top dessert. I have changed my ways...in fact my sister-in-law Tracy made it when I was home last week and I had to have it again this week. What's not to love about a lovely little spiced cake with carmelized plums on top? Perfect for Fall and divine with a little vanilla ice cream on the side. Plum Upside-Down Cake 9 T. butter 1 c. packed brown sugar 4 red plums, halved and pitted 1 egg 1/2 c. reduced-fat sour cream 1 c. all-purpose flour 1/2 t. baking soda 1/4 t. salt 1 1/2 t. pumpkin pie spice 1/3 c. finely chopped walnuts (l left them out) whipped cream (optional) Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Place 3 Tablespoons butter in an 8-inch round cake pan; melt in preheating oven, about 4 minutes. Sprinkle melted butter with 1/2 c. brown sugar. Arrange overlapping plum wedges in a circle around edge of pan; repeat in cen...