I do love dessert with wow factor.  I don’t love a fussy dessert that leaves me with a boatload of dishes to clean up. And I do love ice cream. We had guests over for dinner on Sunday night, and I concentrated on making lots of sides for our barbecue since I really, really love sides.  I made everything from scratch: cornbread muffins, baked beans, coleslaw, roasted potatoes, garlic butter corn on the cob, and grilled cheese-stuffed jalapenos wrapped in bacon. That did not leave a lot of time for making dessert. I bought a pre-made chocolate pie shell, hot fudge sauce, strawberry ice cream, chocolate chip ice cream, vanilla ice cream and w...

Tags: ice cream, ice cream pie, barbecue

Don’t get me wrong, meringue cookies can be very good, especially if you make them yourself, but some commercial ones are simultaneously cloying and tasteless.  Long associated with Passover because they do not include flour, meringue can be a versatile component of a dessert, serving as a base as in a Pavlova, as a topping as in lemon meringue pie, or, my favorite, as an edible dessert bowl.  This twist—making the meringue into a bowl—is not only a smart way to present a substantial dessert that is kosher for Passover, but a show-stopping one as well. I love chocolate as an ending to any meal, and the ...

Tags: desserts, ice cream, meringues, Passover, Seder

Monday is my birthday and Andi, being the kind (and crazy) coworker that she is, orchestrated a surprise party for me yesterday. There was brown butter pound cake with brown butter frosting, gifts and—this is the clincher—two kinds of bacon ice cream. Seriously. Bacon. Ice. Cream. Despite a busy day at work and then French class, Andi went home Wednesday night and whipped up two kinds of bacon ice cream (though I think “whipped up” hardly describes the process of making homemade ice cream). The Pecan-Brown Sugar & Bacon Ice Cream recipe was from ...

Tags: ice cream, bacon

Here’s an idea for a cool party—have an ice cream soda bar. It's a fun and easy way to entertain lots of people on a hot summer day or night. Just set out tubs of ice cream and several different flavors of soda (that would be "pop" if you live in Minnesota) and let everyone make their own. We tried this last week in the test kitchens as a way to celebrate a couple of staff birthdays and everyone loved it.   We provided plastic straws and tall plastic spoons to add a festive touch. ...

Tags: ice cream, ice cream sodas, root beer floats