No recipes in this post, but I wanted to share pictures of treats that we had this Christmas. The first is a birthday cake that my mom has been making my brother probably since his 1st birthday. It's a chocolate buttermilk cake (made with the best cocoa powder in the world this year- Valrhona- totally worth the price in taste) with her famous white yummy icing. She would always decorate his cake with M&Ms and animal crackers. However, the decorations disappeared as he got older, but his request this year was to make the cake exactly the way he remembered it as a kid. I think it's still appropriate as an adult and it's still a classic that never disappoints.
The second treat was a ridiculous cheesecake that I made for Christmas Eve. It was a Paula Deen recipe and I expected it to be none other than incredibly rich, easy to make, and so good that you'll keep eating it. It was a 6 layer cheesecake with a graham cracker crust, a layer of chocolate ganache, caramel, chocolate chip cookie dough (homemade please), cheesecake, and another layer of chocolate ganache. Almost stupid to make an already sinful dessert more sinful, but Paula does it every time.
The third treat (well, some may not consider this a treat) was a vegetable tian from Ina Garten's "Barefoot in Paris" cookbook. It was fanned layers of potato (I used blue potatoes for their color and texture), tomato, and zucchini. The vegetables sit in a bed of sautéed onions and garlic and topped with plenty of thyme and Gruyere cheese. Enough said. It was an incredible side dish.
(this picture was taken before the addition of the cheese)
The final treat was Ina's black and white angel food cake in her "At Home" cookbook. I have made this a lot and it's my favorite cake. It's a classic angel food cake with the addition of semi sweet chocolate shavings in the batter. Then, once it's cooled, chocolate ganache acts as icing. So good and you won't feel guilty about eating it.
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