Slutty Brownies

ML had a July 4th party this past weekend and my girlfriend brought the slutty brownies (I know, I am a lucky man). Why “slutty brownies?” Because they’re so bad they’re good.

Biting into a slutty brownie brings you there unique layers and textures. There’s the cookie crust, creating the perfect base to set an Oreo in a bath of fudgy goodness. Then there’s the Oreo, which you’re kind of waiting for anxiously once you find out that somehow there is a whole Oreo in each piece of brownie. Finally, you have the fudge brownie, surrounding the Oreo and leaving nothing more to want but a glass of milk. Personally, I think this is the prime brownie for dunking.

Like its namesake, this recipe is easy, and the brownies move quickly.

Slutty Brownies

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Endless Ice Cream: Rose Petal

While not a prevalent flavor in the United States, rose is fairly common elsewhere. Across the Middle East, particularly Iran, it is used to flavor all manner of sweets. Ice cream is the only use of rose in food that I have found palatable. Rose candy tastes like grandma’s perfume to me, and rose scones just taste wrong. But the ice cream gives a nice rounded sweetness that is just right for such a delicate flavor. The rose petals themselves are not really potent enough to stand up to the amount of sugar and cream that ice cream requires, so it’s fleshed out with rose water.

Rose water can be found at most Middle Eastern grocery stores and at specialty stores. The potency of the rose water will vary from brand to brand, so you may want to start of by whisking in one teaspoon at a time until you are satisfied with the flavor. I used Nielson-Massey, which is pretty strong.

Rose petals should be unsprayed, or organic. The best would be from a friend or neighbor, as they would be the freshest. Otherwise try natural foods stores or a florist/nursery specializing in organic flowers.

Rose Petal Ice Cream

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Lobster + Ice Cream?

Road tripping in Maine recently, my friends and I pulled over at Red’s Eats, the iconic lobster shack long praised as the spot to grab an authentic Maine lobster roll. Unsurprisingly, I suppose, it didn’t live up to the hype. We got a rather bland $17 roll that seemed to be coasting on its widespread fame for putting more than a whole lobster on each roll. Still, if I’m stopping for a Maine lobster roll, I care more about the taste than the amount of food, right? Apologies if that makes me un-American.

Stuffed with lobster but not sated, we instinctively followed the “Lobster Ice Cream!” sign pointing next door to Lear’s Ice Cream. Now this time, I was excepting something gimmicky—“lobster” flavored ice cream actually made from chemicals—but got something legit. There is actual lobster meat all up in this ice cream. A lot of it: three lobsters in each 2-gallon batch, pureed and then mixed into a sea salt base.

And it tastes like lobster, too. I have to admit this was perhaps the first ice cream cone in my three decades of life that I failed to finish; it was just too rich. But it’s definitely worth sharing with a group.

Unsightly, consider this your next assignment.

Artsy Photo of the Day

Its Its gone high-end: coffee-toffee ice cream and chocolate cake, dipped in chocolate. Spotted at Jasper’s Corner Tap and Kitchen in San Francisco,

 

Independence Day Dessert: Red, White and Blue Ice Cream

I have an addiction to buying spices. I make a trip to Penzey’s Spices every couple of months. I get their catalog in the mail and circle all of the spices I am running low on and, plus a few new ones I want to try. The pink peppercorns caught my eye, so I picked up a small jar of them. As soon as I tasted one I knew it had to go into ice cream. They are  floral, fruity, and spicy all at the same time. Paired with sweet blueberry compote and white chocolate chips, this is one ice cream you will never forget.

Pink Peppercorn, White Chocolate & Blueberry Ice Cream

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1-Minute Dessert: Sea Salt Chocolate Cherry Cake

Some days are chocolate cake days.
When you drop your stud earring on the floor, then step on it thumb tack style.  That’s a chocolate cake day.
When you leave your keys in your car and the engine running and it takes you like half-an-hour to realize it and run back outside in a panic.  Um, chocolate cake day.
When your boss is out of town and the phone rings about 20 times.  And every time it’s him.  Yeah, get you some chocolate cake for that day.
All of these are possible reasons why you need to shove this cake in your face.
But you don’t really need a reason.

1-Minute Sea Salt Chocolate Cherry Cake

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Homemade Ice Cream Cake

My roommate Kate is somewhat of a culinary genius. Not because she cooks fabulously ornate meals or spends hours slaving over the stove. But because in the age of shortcuts, spice mixes, and semi-homemade bullshit, she still cooks with simple, high-quality ingredients all the time. She does not buy anything prepackaged. She pulls together fabulous dinner parties on the fly quite often, and last week she outdid herself, again. Something I just learned about her is that (a long time ago), she worked at a chain ice cream shop, and her job during the day was to make the cakes. And in typical Kate fashion, she took that skill and made something even more fabulous out of it.

I present to you the homemade ice cream cake, using Kate’s standard formula: 2 ice creams, 1 cookie, 1 candy, 2 drizzles. In this particular instance it was a birthday cake, so the birthday guy got to choose: vanilla, coffee, oreos, Reeses cups, chocolate and peanut butter.

The Pauly Special 

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