Tag: sweet

  • Keto Avocado Brownies

    Keto Avocado Brownies

    One of the biggest hallmarks of the Keto Diet is that sugar is a big no no. This means that most sweets and baked goods are off the table unless they’re specially made to be keto-friendly.

    These brownies are pretty tasty too, not nearly as sweet as regular brownies with the texture of fudge. The avocado makes the brownies very creamy, and if you’re not an avocado lover, then you’re in luck because you cannot even taste it in the brownies!

    I like using stevia for this recipe, but you can use any sweetener substitute you like! There are tons of sweetener conversion charts on the internet, so feel free to use those! Also, feel free to add whatever mix-ins make you happy, whether it be nuts, keto friendly chocolate chips, or sugar free frosting (we like cream cheese!).

    And just so you can make sure you’re not going over your net carbs for the day, these brownies have 2.8 net carbs per brownie!

    Get the recipe here.

  • Zoe’s Chocolaty Bacon Eclairs

    Zoe’s Chocolaty Bacon Eclairs

    Eclairs are an amazing dessert. When I was young I used cannoli and eclair interchangeably. Yes yes I know that’s basically sacrilege, but I’m really into desserts and I was too young to know the difference.

    But these are all eclair. I won’t be providing you with the recipe because I will be doing a whole segment on desserts later this year, so if you’re really into it, stay tuned for that.

    These eclairs are the perfect munchie. Rich chocolate mixes with espresso and a touch of chili pepper, a slightly crunchy pate au choux, and delicious bacon jam with caramelized onions. Sweet, savory and umani in all the best ways.

    (and they’re really easy to make into an edible… )

    It’s important to note that eclairs are incredibly time consuming to make if you’ve never made them before.

    BUT! If you’re not about making your own, you could always buy some and add your own bacon mixture to the top of it!

  • Ricotta, Pine Nut, and Honey Bread Pudding: Cookbook Review

    Ricotta, Pine Nut, and Honey Bread Pudding: Cookbook Review

    Zoe’s Take:
    6.5/10

    As far as I am concerned, bread pudding is a pretty good dessert when made correctly. I have a fantastic bread pudding recipe that’s basically a dark chocolate dream. For me, this one was just okay. None of the flavors really came forward for me, and the pine nuts were really just a weird addition. I was hoping that the ricotta would have made more of an impact in this recipe, but it didn’t. I guess if you’re a really big pine nut and ricotta fan, this might be for you, but it’s not for me.

    Eric’s Take:
    8/10

    I definitely enjoy a good bread pudding. The Challah I got from my local grocery store was a bit soft and I don’t believe it soaked up as much as it should have. The directions were also somewhat ambiguous. For the bread the instructions were 12 cups of cubed bread. That could vary greatly depending on how large the bread is cut. The pine nuts didn’t add in the crunch I was hoping they would. However, I love ricotta, pine nuts and honey. To Zoe’s point this was definitely for me…so maybe I’m a bit biased. The points were lost on ambiguous directions and taste. Not that this wasn’t really good, it just wasn’t stellar.

  • Absolutely Deep Dark Chocolate Fudge Cookies: Cookbook Review

    Absolutely Deep Dark Chocolate Fudge Cookies: Cookbook Review

    These cookies were made by Chef Marcel Desaulniers for The Trellis: Cafe, Restaurant & Grill.

    Zoe’s Take:
    8/10

    I love a good cookie. If it’s an all chocolate cookie, even better. So when we saw this recipe in The Great Chefs of America Cook Kosher, we had to try it. It’s a good cookie. It might even be a great cookie, but it’s not a 10/10, 5 star amazing cookie because it didn’t live up to the fudge bit. When a cookie describes itself as fudge, I expect melty chocolate chips and a richness. These cookies spread out quite a bit for me and were huge and got a little crunchy. Don’t get me wrong, I still like crunchy cookies, it was just not what I was expecting. Oh well.

    Eric’s Take:
    9/10

    These cookies are VERY good! Super chocolatey and decadent. I thought this recipe was relatively easy to follow. There were a lot of steps and they were blocked in large paragraphs. There were also a lot of timed steps with mixing. I really liked these cookies, but the lost point was with the directions. Because of the steps being a bit confusing it led to inconsistent results between Zoe and my cookies.

  • Spiced Red Wine Poached Pears

    Spiced Red Wine Poached Pears

    I first learned to poach in culinary school. It was not my favorite type of cooking. We learned first on fish, then on chicken (yuck) and finally, on pears! As far as I was concerned, my favorite thing to poach is pears… and then maybe salmon.

    Poaching should only be done on delicate foods, for instance, you wouldn’t poach a rib-eye steak. But pears are perfect. Generally, if I’m poaching pears in red wine, I will serve them with as much chocolate as possible. If they are poached in white wine however, I prefer to serve them with ice cream.

    Get the recipe for my flavorful liquid here!

  • Valentine’s Day Vanilla Rhubarb Scones

    Valentine’s Day Vanilla Rhubarb Scones

    It’s Valentine’s Day, and what are you doing? Maybe going out for dinner or heading to the jewelry store to pick up something shiny.

    In my house, we don’t really do the whole out to dinner thing. Or the gifts, or the jewelry. I normally try to make something new. So this year, I made scones. But not just ANY scones (I also have a deep love for the word scone), vanilla rhubarb scones. Sweet and tart, these bring the perfect flavors to a Valentine’s (or any other day’s) morning!

    If you already have a scone recipe you love, you can just modify it with ease to make them into these vanilla rhubarb scones. Add another teaspoon of vanilla, or crush up a vanilla bean and add that in. Then, cut rhubarb into small pieces and add those right into the scone mixture and voila! Vanilla Rhubarb scones for your Valentine’s Breakfast.

  • Caramel Corn with Pistachios, Peanuts and Coconut

    Caramel Corn with Pistachios, Peanuts and Coconut

    Want to know a secret? I’ve never really enjoyed caramel corn. My grandmother used to buy those massive tubs that were divided into three sections, one with regular popcorn, one with caramel corn, and I don’t remember the last one. I was never interested in the sweet popcorn, only the salty stuff.

    But that has never meant that I don’t enjoy actually making caramel corn. This one is particularly good because it combines the sweetness of caramel with the saltiness of peanuts and pistachios and the mild sweetness of coconut. Basically, it’s the perfect sweet and salty snack.

    Get the recipe here!

  • National Cream Puff Day: Croquembouche

    National Cream Puff Day: Croquembouche

    This was not an easy project to start, but it was so sweet when it was finally done (intentional pun). A crouqembouche is a tower of cream puffs, decorated with a caramel-like spun sugar.

    Now, cream puffs themselves are not so hard to make, it’s just the time and effort that gets rough. The first step is to make the pate a choux pastry. This is the most versatile pastry, i think. You can use it for crouquembouche (obviously), profiteroles, eclairs, beignets, dumplings, gougeres, craquelins and churros. There are more wonderful things you can make, but you don’t need to know all of them right now. To get our delicious pate a choux recipe, subscribe to our mailing list for the exclusive recipe!

    Each puff is then formed and baked until dry on the inside and then filled with a light and luscious pastry cream. Finally, you make your spun sugar (which I cooked a little bit too long), and stick them either to a mold or free build your own out of puffs by sticking them together with the sugar. A word of warning: The sugar is HOT and will definitely burn you if you get it on your fingers.

    Your last, and unnecessary step, unless you’re going for that real fancy look, is to wait until the sugar reaches a honey-esque texture. Using a silpat and a spoon (or fork), drizzle the cooled sugar into cool shapes and lines. If you’re using a silpat, the sugar will come right off and you can drape it around your croquembouche. The sugar will harden, and stay put, but will be brittle.

    Unless you are well schooled in croquembouche and pastry, this will be an all day project for you. It’s daunting, but entirely possible.

  • Gingerbread People Review

    Gingerbread People Review

    Zoe’s Take:

    7/10

    I like gingerbread a lot, and these were no different. The biggest problem is that the recipe called for a cake mix that basically doesn’t exist, volume wise, which made the dough very wet. I remedied this by adding more flour. Another problem was because of the cake mix, the gingerbread expanded way more than if I had made the dough from scratch. The gingerbread was very good though, and very moist and chewy, exactly what I was looking for. I decorated each gingerbread person very simply, but they could very well be complex and done with royal icing. Definitely good, but definitely some issues.

    Eric’s Take

    8/10

    I enjoyed making this recipe. The shortcut for this cookie was a spice cake mix. Again, the recipe called for a size that didn’t exist anymore. I also added a tad extra flour and this helped a lot. This was my first time making gingerbread and I had fun doing it. I also decorated very simply. This recipe lost one point for the texture as it was chewy and less traditional. I also dropped it a point for taste. I didn’t overly love the flavor. It was a bit bland and needed some more sweetness. Overall I enjoyed the process and cookies. I gave these cookies away as gifts, and they received very good reviews. 

  • Mexican Hot Chocolate Cupcakes with Tequila Buttercream

    Mexican Hot Chocolate Cupcakes with Tequila Buttercream

    I have been asked for this recipe multiple times since I created it. Earlier this year, I competed in an online recipe competition in which I had to use the chocolate brand Callebaut to make a recipe for a specific category. I competed in 4 different categories in the competition and in two of those categories I made it to the final round. These cupcakes were one of the two that made it.

    I enjoyed making these cupcakes immensely, and even more so, enjoyed eating them. These cupcakes are not very sweet, and have a little kick of spicy in the cake itself. The buttercream on the other hand, is sweet and very alcoholic. The tequila is not cooked out, so all of the taste and all of the alcohol is still present.

    I love love love these cupcakes, and I definitely want to see them if you make them! Please tag @withzoeanderic and @chefzoe on Instagram, post the picture on our Facebook page, or post in the comments on this post!

    Find the recipe here!

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