My BF has a thing for caramely, butterscotchy tidbits and chocolate chip cookies. [Ed. Note: C is for cookie, and after proper advisement from my attorney, I submit that it is, indeed, good enough for me.] I mixed the two together and added liquor and dare I say this is the cookie, at least in our house. The butterscotch schnapps put it over the top with a toasted caramel note without it tasting boozy. Have tried this same recipe with bourbon, and it's good, real good. [Ed. Note: Hiccup.]
There are rules in our house for homemade chocolate chip cookies 1) not flat and crispy 2) not cake like 3) must be cold from the fridge 4) must be soft and chewy in the center and crispy around the edges. Some people like warm cookies out of the oven, but we like our cookies cold from the fridge. You can eat these cookies with milk, but bourbon also works. Please designate a driver if you go this route. Inspired by: Baked – New Frontiers In Baking Serving size: Makes 1 dozen cookies Ingredients
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Mamala. This is how I affectionately referred to my beloved mother. Mamala. She passed away six years ago, and every year I still bake a cake on her birthday (Aug 4) in her honor.
As far back as I can remember, I made her birthday cakes. She was the ultimate chocoholic and I loved when her eyes rolled back in her head as she took the first bite of any dessert. Her two most favorite flavors were anything chocolate and anything malt, and here we get both. I have made hundreds of chocolate cakes, but this is The One. The go-to. Ina Garten (Barefoot Contessa) never lets me down, and the addition of malt powder to the frosting gives it an extra kick. This cake is lush, never dry, super chocolatey with a superior texture. Definitely a dessert for chocoholics beyond recovery. Adapted from: Ina Garten, Barefoot Contessa at Home Number of Servings: 8-10 Ingredients Chocolate Cake
Chocolate Malt Frosting
Directions Chocolate Cake
Chocolate Malt Frosting
One of my favorite scenes in the 1989 film When Harry Met Sally is when Meg Ryan’s character Sally has the following exchange with a waitress:
Sally: I’d like the chef salad please with oil and vinegar on the side and the apple pie a la mode. Waitress: Chef and apple a la mode. Sally: But I’d like the pie heated, and I don’t want the ice cream on top. I want it on the side and I’d like strawberry instead of vanilla if you have it. If not, then no ice cream, just whipped cream, but only if it’s real. If it’s out of the can, then nothing. Waitress: Not even the pie? Sally: No, just the pie, but then not heated. I laugh (my bf laughs harder) because it hits close to home. As a chef, I know how personal food can be, and admittedly, I have been known to be...particular. In my younger days, even more so. As a child, soft and crunchy were too different to coexist. Foods were either soft and tender or crunchy and crisp, and never the twain shall meet. My desserts of choice had to be velvety smooth; any crispy, fruity, or even sprinkles decorated on top ruined it for me. Don’t get me started on my dislike of sweet on savory/meat. Gradually my taste palette evolved and I became a true texture-convert due to my love for pavlova. Named after the Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova, this personal game-changer is a meringue-based dessert with a soft marshmallow center and crisp outer shell. The contrasting textures are brilliant—it’s a little crispy on the outside and light and airy on the inside. By the second day it loses its crispness and becomes a decadent truffle-like brownie, but still pillowy light. The recipe is adapted entirely from Smitten Kitchen. She lowered the sugar and upped the chocolate and it’s just perfect. I didn’t change a thing. Adapted from Smitten Kitchen Number of servings: 10 Ingredients Meringue
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AuthorI'm Jacquie, personal chef & recipe developer in the beautiful Pacific Northwest. Lover of books, bourbon, chocolate and movies. Archives
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