As promised, I did keep up at least for another week–here’s this week’s dessert, 14-1: Chocolate Fondue.
Alas, there was no party to serve it at–it was a random Thursday (tonight actually) and just the two of us. But with a mini electric fondue pot and a pre-prepared fruit bowl from the market, any day can be fondue day. This, my friends, is the future.
We’re closing in on the 11th anniversary of this project, and if I ever have hopes of finishing it (which I still do), I need to figure out a strategy. I’ve spent enough time in my real life learning how to “professionally” manage projects, so I’ll apply some of that here and aim to knock out at least one recipe a week until I finish everything non-meat-related. Then I might just dump the rest online and call it a day.
You don’t care about any of this–you’re here to read about 15-46: Mousse Casablanca, right? Everyone wants to “jump to the recipe” already.
Blah blah something about how this is fancy and 80s.
Here’s the thing with this recipe–it seems too “kiddy” to be an adult dessert recipe, but is also something you most likely wouldn’t serve to kids (unless you grew up as a quasi-adult like I did). I’m not sure who this is supposed to be for?
I had high hopes of catching up on this thing in a timely fashion, but let’s face it–we’re all surprised I’m even still updating it all at this point. The 10-year anniversary came and went a few months ago without much (or any) fanfare, but I AM still here–just not as attentive as I used to be. Let’s face it–a LOT has changed over the last 10 years. No plans to completely let it die yet, but I would be lying if I said I hadn’t considered it.
Anyway, here’s 16-20: Chocolate Mousse Cake, which was one of two desserts I served for Christmas 2023 (XMAS 23).
Seemed Christmas-appropriate, plus it’s gluten-free! That doesn’t matter to anyone that’s in this house, but someone out there might care about something like that.
I grew up in Southern California, and lived there up until about 10 years ago. At one of my last jobs before I left, I was often gifted with a Porto’s Bakery fruit tart, which was (and I’m sure still is) delectable. 16-32: Glazed Fresh Fruit Cake reminds me of those fruit tarts, and makes me excited for warmer weather days ahead (check with me again about that when we’re in the middle of summer).
Glazed fruit tarts aren’t unique to just Porto’s or Simply Delicious, and there’s even different options for glazing your fruit tarts, depending on what you’re going for.
If you’re still in the “indulgent” spirit, 15-15: Tiramisu comes highly recommended. I remember when tiramisu had its big moment around the time this book was published, so it’s not surprising that it was included in this book.
This is a great one to make in advance of a party or dinner…just don’t sneak too many bites before you serve it!
Happy New Years’ Eve! 2021 has not been my favorite year (probably not yours either), and so I’m not sad to see it go–in fact, we’re going to celebrate its departure with a holiday-ish dessert today: 15-34: White Chocolate Strawberry Soufflé. This soufflé is not baked, but does include meringue being folded in. I’m not sure if that makes it “not a soufflé,” but at this point, does it matter?
“Dramatic” is definitely a good way to describe this past year, so perhaps this is the perfect dessert/recipe for today. However your 2021 has been, I hope that 2022 is a safe and prosperous year for you and yours.🎇
Now–let’s get off the heavy stuff and into something much lighter–discussion of this “soufflé”.
I missed getting this one out in time for 4th of July, but summer’s far from over here in the U.S. If you happen to have some seasonal fruit or are looking for a lighter dinner option (I grew up on quiches and I love them), 20-8: Pie Crust can be a great base recipe for both of those. And of course, this isn’t limited to just summer–pie crusts are useful all year round.
You can even make up a bunch of pie crust dough balls using this recipe and freeze them individually–just pull one out when needed and let it defrost.
Hi there–it’s been a while, but things got busy recently. Here’s one that’s been half-finished in my draft queue for way too long.
We got onto a “ridiculous desserts” kick recently, and made 15-14: Knickerbocker Glory along with its similar cousin, 15-7: Banana Split. If you’re still holding off on going out somewhere for ice cream, either one of these are pretty easy to make at home and are definitely ridiculous. Not quite on the level of “cake hanging off of a milkshake for Instagram“, but also definitely not something you’d eat very often.
“Knickerbocker glory” is a real thing that Simply Delicious didn’t just make up, and has been around for about a hundred years at this point. They were allegedly invented in the US (at the Knickerbocker Hotel), but seem to be a much bigger deal in the UK these days than they are here. They’re even mentioned in Harry Potter!
Since Independence Day is just around the corner, maybe you can make these as an “American” summer treat–especially if it’s super hot where you are right now.
Parfait means something different in America than in other places, so if you’re a Yank like me, you may find the description and name of 15-3: Orange Parfait to be a bit of a mismatch.
In current-day America, parfait usually refers to a fruit/yogurt/granola cup you might find at Starbucks or McDonalds for an easy breakfast on-the-go. In other places (like France), parfait usually refers to what is essentially ice cream, which is pretty close to what Simply Delicious has got for you here today.
Fun fact: there can be meat parfaits as well (similar to a pâté). I think I’ll skip that version for today.
This is a do-ahead recipe, so there’s a bit of planning that must go into it if you want to have it ready to serve for a particular event. They don’t really frame it in any other way other than preparing it for a party, but if you want to make these just for you, go ahead. Treat yo’ self.
I can’t quite figure out if 8-23: Beef Kebabs with Red Wine Butter are supposed to be used for when you are serving fancy food in a casual situation (like a truffle and foie gras burger in Las Vegas) or casual food in a fancy situation (like food trucks at a wedding). I suppose this one could go either way, depending on the circumstances.
This recipe features not only kebabs, but a compound butter to serve with them. Simply Delicious is big on beef + compound butter–another example is 8-4: T-Bone Steak.
If you’re looking for some other types of kebabs/skewers for your hypothetical casual yet fancy grilling party, try 10-14: Lamb on Skewers or 9-23: Fruity Sausage Kebabs.