14 March 2011

desserts from the weekend


It was a dessert-filled weekend. 
My favorite kind.

We started with this, my first attempt at tiramisu.
I used this Giada de Laurentiis recipe as my base, but I didn't want to use raw egg yolks, so I substituted one cup of cream, whipped. I also didn't want to spend 8 hours making enough espresso—two shots at a time—to fill 1.5 cups, so I made super strong coffee instead.

Yeah, so it didn't work all that well. It was ok, but a little on the watery side (thanks to the coffee) and seemed to be missing a flavor layer. I never figured out what it was missing.  (Though it was probably the egg yolks.) This might be one dessert that I'll leave to the professionals. Unless y'all have tips for me. . . 

Anyway.
Next up was this cookie pizza.
It's one of my favorites.
Press sugar cookie dough in a pizza pan.
Bake until lightly browned.
Combine 8oz room temperature cream cheese, whipped, and 8oz Cool Whip.*
Spread over the cooled cookie.
Decorate with your favorite fruit.
(Bonus for rainbow colors.)

*Typically, I avoid Cool Whip. When I found out that the stuff I thought was "whipped cream" was really whipped oil and corn syrup, I felt utterly betrayed. If I were making this cookie pizza immediately before serving, and was confident there would be no leftovers, I would make this with real whipped cream. However, this cookie pizza had to travel a bit, so I went with the Cool Whip to avoid runny, deflated cream.

The creativity and best frosting technique awards 
go to my sister-in-law for this awesome cake.

It's a St. Patrick's Day cake.
Guinness in the cake.
Irish cream in the frosting.
Yummy all around.
(But maybe not for the kidlets.)

There are lots of recipes online if you're interested.
Just search for "Guinness cake" or "chocolate stout cake."
It would be great for St. Patrick's Day.

{Disclaimer: I had help eating all these desserts. 
Though I would have eaten them all by myself if I had to.}

Did you make anything fun over the weekend?