Desserts

Last weekend the Frozen Food Master was joined by lovely co-host Shane on Freezerburns Live! where they reviewed the Limited Edition Hot Pockets Cuban Style. The Frozen Food Master hates pickles and mustard so this was especially painful for him. Could he suffer through this review? The answer is “barely” with the help of some tequila! The Frozen Food Master reviews this Hot Pockets Limited Edition Cuban Style. He will tell you how these frozen products looks, smells, and tastes in this episode of Freezerburns. Read the Nutrition Facts of the Hot Pockets Limited Edition Cuban Style below: NUTRITION FACTS: Calories: 260 Calories from Fat 90 Total Fat: 10g Saturated Fat 3.5g Trans Fat 0g Cholesterol 30mg Sodium: 680mg Total Carbohydrate: 32g Dietary Fiber 1g Sugars: 3g Protein: 10g

As I mentioned in our Scooper Bowl post, a month or so ago, the folks at Hood sent over some samples of their new Greek Frozen Yogurt.What a treat!Before tasting it, I was weary about the Double Chocolate Chip. I like chocolate yogurt, but never as much as fruit yogurt. I was very pleasantly surprised once I tried it. It was so good!To me, honey and Greek frozen yogurt are a given. Honey and Greece just go hand-in-hand in my mind. I'm not sure why. Is Greece known for its honey? I don't know. But never mind that. I wasn't surprised buy the honey but the Honey Vanilla was my least favorite. Maybe it's because I don't actually love honey. This one was very honey-y! But this isn't to say it was bad. I enjoyed it. It just wouldn't be my "vanilla" of choice if faced with a variety of vanillas. But if I were offered it, would I turn it down? Never!My favorite though? I brought the Raspberry Granola over to a friend's house when our kids had a playdate. What a mistake. As a good guest, I couldn't take the leftovers home. But I wanted to! The granola crunch was perfect paired with the raspberry swirl. (On a related note, I hate when my posts make me want to go out right away and buy the product in question...)Lucky for me, as I write this, I still have an unopened quart of the Hood Greek Frozen Yogurt that I was able to bring up from the basement that I can review on the spot. Just a hit of the "soften ice cream" button on my microwave and we are good to go. (Yes, my microwave does have a "soften" button and ice cream is option number 2.)Anyway, verdict is in: though I would have preferred to have the Raspberry Granola sitting in my freezer, the Blueberry that I just softened is quite good. It's refreshing. I have to admit though, it pales in comparison to one of my favorite flavors: Hood's Maine Blueberry and Sweet Cream. It's not the poor Greek Frozen Yogurt's fault -- Hood just already had a blueberry frozen treat that can't be topped!A couple of years ago we were getting a lot of samples of tart frozen yogurt. I wasn't a huge fan. But this Greek frozen yogurt is something I can get on board with. It's rich, creamy, and sweet (not tart!) as I like my frozen treats to be. Hood's Greek Frozen Yogurt is definitely a treat and something I would most certainly buy again. Thanks, Hood!P.S. While on the Hood site to link to their products, I got a little distracted by a giveaway so I went ahead and entered. I hope I win! I love Hoodsie Cups! I love the taste and the fond memories of kids bringing them in for their birthdays in elementary school, complete with wooden "spoon"!

Well it's been three months since our last 2nd St. Creamery review so I think it's high time to dig into the other free 2nd St. sample Blue Bunny was nice enough to send over. What we've got today is their very popular Copper Kettle Caramel flavor. Billed as "caramel flavored ice cream with caramel ribbon and sea salt fudge truffles", I can only imagine that this will be as sweet, if not

Tarte tatin is an upside down tart that is typically made with apples. Using peaches instead of apples in this classic French dessert is a great change of pace and makes this tart perfect for the summer. I used a mixture of white and yellow peaches, so you can use either type when you make your tart. The peaches do not need to be peeled before using. The peach skins will actually help add some beautiful pink/red colors to the tart and will become so tender while cooking that you won’t even notice that they’re there in the finished dish. In fact, the peaches will be so tender that they will almost melt in your mouth when you take a bite, delivering a fruity sweetness with all the richness of the caramel they were cooked in. And the buttery, crisp pastry crust is the perfect way to deliver those peaches. You must use an oven-safe skillet to make this tart, since it is first cooked on the stovetop and then baked in the oven. I highly recommend using an 8 or 10-inch skillet, which will give your tart a nice size and shape. If you only have a 12-inch skillet (I would not go larger than that without using a lot more fruit and crust!) that is oven safe, you can still use it, but your tart will be a bit flatter than it would otherwise be. Still delicious, no matter what the exact shape, though! This tart is best when it is still slightly warm, but it does need to cool before serving so that the caramel can set up and doesn’t run all over the place when you unmold the tart. Allow it to cool for at least 20-30 minutes after taking it out of the oven. Then, to loosen the hardened caramel before serving, put the skillet over medium heat on the stove for a few seconds (just until the tart moves when you give the pan a shake), and it will unmold easily onto your serving dish. I think that this serves six, but if you cut small slices and are generous with an ice cream accompaniment, you can easily serve 8. Peach Tarte Tatin Pastry 1 cup all purpose flour 1 tbsp sugar 1/4 tsp salt 6 tbsp butter, cold and cut into a few pieces 3-4 tbsp ice water Filling 3 tbsp butter 1 cup sugar 3-4 tbsp lemon juice 1 tsp vanilla extract 6-8 large peaches 1/3 cup water In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar and salt. Rub in butter with you fingertips until the mixture is sandy and no pieces larger than a big pea remain. Add ice water and stir with a fork until the dough starts to come together into a ball. If dough is too sticky, add a little extra flour. If dough is too dry to come together easily, add a little extra water. This can also be done in the food processor. Transfer dough to a sheet of plastic wrap or a small plastic bag and flatten into a disc. Chill for 30 minutes in the refrigerator. Preheat oven to 400F. Cut peaches into quarters, removing the pits. They do not need to be peeled. In an 8 or 10-inch skillet, melt the butter over medium heat. Add sugar, lemon juice and vanilla to melted butter and cook until the sugar has dissolved and the mixture just barely begins to caramelize (mostly white with a little brown at the edges) Arrange peaches skin-side down in the skillet. When you have a layer of peaches in the pan, arrange other peach slices to fill in the gaps. The peaches will shrink slightly as they cook, so it is ok if the pan seems very full. Cook until sugar begins to turn a dark amber – about 3-4 minutes. Pour water in to the pan to stop the caramelization and continue to cook until peaches are tender and all the water has dissolved, about 10 minutes. Caramel will be thick and bubbling when it is done. Meanwhile, roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface until it is large enough to cover the fruit in the skillet (8-10 inches) When fruit is cooked, transfer pastry onto the fruit and cut a few air vents in it with a sharp knife. Sprinkle with 1 tbsp sugar. Bake for 40-45 minutes, until pastry is golden brown. Allow to cool in the pan for 30 minutes before serving. Place pan on the stove over medium he

Don't worry; it's not squid ink! It's a black velvet cupcake made by The Lone Baker.

We've decided that every Wednesday we're going to post a new Japanese candy review. It all started with our friends at oyatsucafe.com offering to send us a bunch of great treats to review. Then they also added that they'll give each of our readers that orders from them a discount by simply putting the word "candycritic" in the discount box when you order. So for the next little while we'll be sampling a lot of fun Japanese candy, if you want to try some yourself, head over to oyatsucafe.com, pick some up, and get a discount while you're at it.Click here to read our first special Wednesday Japanese Candy Review... I think we have to come up with a better name than that.CC

If there is any new innovation in the cupcake world, I think it would be cupcakes as mini-trifles or cupcake sandwiches. This is a good way to distribute the frosting or filling throughout the cupcake and not just have it on top.This is photo of a German Chocolate Cupcake by Love Peace and Cupcakes.

Three years ago, we asked our readers to write a few blog entries for us. Evan T. of Marlborough, MA was asked to write about his ice cream pet peeves (the things people do with ice cream that might bug you). We all have ice cream pet peeves. What are yours? EVAN WRITES: Hello, fellow [...] [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

It’s not really necessary to go into great detail about where this bar has it’s origins (The Mekong Delta in Vietnam) but the origins of Vietcacao are worth a paragraph or two. The company has been active for five years now but was six years in the making before that. André Stengel – the founder – decided to get involved in Vietnamese cacao after a somewhat illustrious career as both head of a high school and VP of the French Confectioners & Chocolatiers Association. France was the first country to colonise Vietnam and the country was producing cacao until the Vietnam War disrupted both cultivation & supply. Vietcacao is also engaged in an ethical and sustainable development programme, with the company investing profits back into the local community. One particularly notable project involves the installation of equipment and provision of training for pupils in a school for handicapped people. With support coming from (mainly French) companies and chocolatiers, Vietcacao continues to build on early success. In the UK Marc Demarquette is both a supporter and importer of their products and it was he who supplied this bar for review. The chocolate itself is a deep reddish brown in colour with a light, vibrant scent suggesting fruity/floral notes which is borne out in the tasting. Good acidity and lots of bright, fruity cacao notes precede the deeper red fruits and woodier low notes. It has a long, clean finish and an excellent soft mouthfeel. At seventy percent cacao this bar doesn’t overwhelm in any way – it’s a light, bright tangy chocolate with a great range of flavours. I suppose one way to describe this bar would be ‘unsurprising’, which is in no way an insult. It has all the right qualities for a good chocolate but doesn’t surprise in anyway. You get bright, lively acidity sitting over moderate dark notes, a hint of bitterness and a long, clean finish and that’s all good. It’s good to see someone taking the time and trouble to resurrect the cacao growing industry in Vietnam – as is happening all over the world – and the ethical credentials of this chocolate (plus the taste) make it very desirable. A great ‘everyday’ chocolate for those who like something that isn’t too aggressive or ‘wacky’. Information Contains dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids). Cacao Origin: Vietnam Filed under france, vietcacao. Tweet This The post Vietcacao Mo Cay B?n Tre appeared first on Chocablog.

Galettes are open faced tarts that are terrific for showcasing fresh summer fruits, and the Almond Apricot Galette from Confessions of a Bright Eyed Baker. To make the tart, a buttery pie crust is filled with a rich almond filling and topped off with lots of fresh apricots. A little bit of almond extract in the pastry dough helps to tie it in to the filling and bring all the flavors together. Sweet, juicy apricots pair very well with almonds, making this simple and rustic dessert a real showstopper in terms of flavor. The Gooey Chocolate Coconut Cream Skillet Cake that Willow Bird Baking recently baked has a lot of great elements to it. The chocolate cake is baked right in a skillet, giving it a rustic and homemade look. The cake has a mild chocolate flavor and is topped with a buttery, chocolate and pecan frosting. This might be enough for some, but to take the cake over the top it is actually hollowed out and filled with an indulgent coconut cream filling, then further topped with whipped cream and toasted coconut. Blueberry Kitchen‘s Strawberry, Buttermilk and Raw Honey Ice Cream is a delicious way to enjoy strawberries this summer. The creamy ice cream has a base made with tangy buttermilk, cream and plenty of egg yolks to give it a very silky texture. It is sweetened with honey, rather than sugar, and loaded with fresh strawberries. This would be a great element to have in a frozen strawberry shortcake dessert. Chunky Monkey is a popular Ben and Jerry’s ice cream flavor, but the same flavor combinations translates into plenty of other banana desserts, too. Half Baked Baker baked a Chunky Monkey Cake. The simple looking loaf cakes are dense banana cakes that are packed with lots of ripe bananas, chocolate chips and toasted pecans. After baking, the loaf cakes are split in half and filled with caramel frosting, then they are topped with cream cheese frosting. It is a lot of flavor in a little package, and they all work together to create one indulgent dessert. Another dessert where strawberries are the star is Thyme of Taste‘s Strawberry Tart with Mascarpone Cheese. The tart filling is not baked, which means that the tart shell can be baked in advance and the filling can be prepared without heating up the kitchen on a hot summer day. The filling is primarily creamy mascarpone cheese, lightly sweetened and flavored with a little lemon and vanilla. It is topped with fresh strawberries with are glazed with a port reduction before serving, giving it a beautiful finishing look and a complex, sweet and very grown up flavor.