Dessert, the Sweet Spot

[StephanieL]

A NYT recipe that I've been holding on to for many years: Brown Butter Nectarine Cobbler/Cake.  Basically, you cook down some fruit, brown butter and put that in a pan, make up a pancake-like batter (no eggs, so not a clafouti), and add it to the butter along with the fruit and some toppings.  You can also use peaches (or a combination), and we had a bunch of peaches we got from someone near us who had extra.  I definitely want to make this again, with really ripe nectarines.

[joethefoodie]

Flaungarde of mostly figs and a few plums, via David Lebovitz via Richard Olney.

Photo taken right away after removal from the CSO, these things collapse very quickly.

[StephanieL]

Microwave bread pudding, to use up the stale challah.  I added fresh strawberries and some pieces of a Ghirardelli 72% bar.  For what it is, it's not bad.

[StephanieL]

Made meringues for the first time.  Since I hadn't beaten the egg whites as stiffly as I should have, the mixture was a little runny, which was good because they were chewy in the middle and I love that.  I added almond extract at the end, and also placed dried cherries and sliced almonds on the meringues themselves before they went into the oven.

[Sneakeater]

I bow before you

[Sneakeater]

I'll own up:  I actually made a meringue once.

I was absolutely astonished that it worked.

[Sneakeater]

It's kind of like heavier-than-air flight.  Your every instinct tells you that it shouldn't work.

But somehow it does.

[prasantrin]

Meringues are very nice with toasted coconut added 

[StephanieL]

2 hours ago, prasantrin said:

Meringues are very nice with toasted coconut added 

I'm sure, but I'm not a big coconut fan. 😉

[prasantrin]

Cocoa nibs? Those are good, too!

But really, a plain meringue with a chewy center is perfection in itself!

[StephanieL]

N managed to grow bananas in this climate.  I can't remember the variety, but they're short & stubby.  They also have a short shelf life, so she's making banana bread now, using the Caribbean-influenced recipe in Jubilee (lots of pecans and dates, and heavy on the nutmeg and allspice).

[bloviatrix]

Here's my attempt to make babka. It needs work. I used the recipe from Mastering Spice by Lior Lev Sercarz. The dough includes a spice blend of cinnamon, ginger, ancho, and nutmeg. The one one on the left is chocolate tahini, sour cherry currant, and chocolate chip and the one on the right is chocolate tahini and halva. I cut into the former.

[prasantrin]

On 1/29/2022 at 2:27 PM, StephanieL said:

N managed to grow bananas in this climate.  I can't remember the variety, but they're short & stubby.  They also have a short shelf life, so she's making banana bread now, using the Caribbean-influenced recipe in Jubilee (lots of pecans and dates, and heavy on the nutmeg and allspice).

If they are saba, turon is one of my favorite Filipino snacks. You can also make banana fritters with them or banana-q. Or just fried bananas. The fried bananas and banana-q are kind of made the same way (sprinkle sugar on the bananas -whole for q, slices for fried) and fry, we usually fry in butter because butter makes everything better. 

[StephanieL]

N had a hankering for brownies last night, and fortunately I had enough ingredients on hand to whip together a batch of Maida Heatter's All-American Brownies.  Couldn't be easier--you mix everything in the pot/saucepan you use to melt the chocolate and butter.

[bloviatrix]

It's not Purim without Poop emoji cookies, that need to be decorated.\(hamenstaschen are also underway)