I hope you all had a merry Christmas! I spent the week home in NY enjoying time with family, consuming lots of calories, and taking a nice little break from life! Shutting off for a few days can really do wonders, but after 5 days out of the kitchen, I'm itching to get back to baking :) I've already got lots of new dessert ideas brewing in my head for 2013, but first I want to take a look back at the best of 2012. From sparkly peeps to an oatmeal cream pie makeover that still makes me swoon, this was a seriously sweet year! There was no ...
Balancing the Buttercream with Goat Cheese & Avocado Portobellos
Are you confused? Wondering if you're in the right place? Where's the dessert?? I promise this isn't the twilight zone, just changing things up today. You see, the most common question I'm asked is "How do you stay in shape?" Sometimes I get the "You don't look like a pastry chef!" Other times it's just "What's your secret?" Well, I can assure you there is no secret, but I do have some tips and tricks for balancing the buttercream. I also figured as long as I'm going to talk about this, I have to share one of my favorite go-to ...
Raspberry Goat Cheese Muffins
Good morning! I hope you all had a great holiday weekend. There's something about this time of year that I just love. We're easing into summer, planning getaways, and thankfully, things seem to slow down a bit. My favorite part of these days is the mornings. It's still cool enough where you can sit outside, drink a cup of coffee, and just relax. I also find that a few extra minutes in the morning without any distractions does wonders. What's even better is when you have a fantastic muffin to enjoy, and it just so happens I ...
Chocolate, Goat Cheese and Red Wine Cupcakes
Last week Raycom Media asked me to come up with a dessert for an Oscar themed menu. I was sent a list of all the nominated movies and a quick summary of each. After reading through them, there were definitely some obvious desserts that I could have made, but I like to think outside the box. Instead of taking inspiration from one particular movie, I created a dessert inspired by Hollywood's biggest night itself. One that is elegant, charming, and ready for the red carpet! You can read the news story here. My first task was to assemble a ...
Pumpkin & Goat Cheese Muffins with Candied Bacon
For some reason muffins remind me of lazy Sundays, slowing down, and taking a break. I also love them because they give me an excuse to eat dessert for breakfast! I think right now it's really important to remember to slow down. With the holidays upon us it's easy to get caught up in the craziness and miss what's happening right now. I've been a bit caught up in the madness lately myself. When someone asked me what projects and desserts I had planned for Spring, I almost collapsed. My list of projects I want to make for the holidays ...