Apple Crumbles

Crumble desserts are great for any occasion. They’re quick and easy to make, and you can use pretty much any fruit you want. I chose granny smith apples for my crumbles because, well, I haven’t done a lot of baking with apples – my baked goods tend to deal in bread, chocolate, or berries. These turned out to be the perfect dessert for a recent family dinner, and I’m looking forward to trying them again with other fruit in the future.

Profiteroles

It's been a few weeks since I did any hardcore baking. Between school and work, I just don't have the necessary prep time anymore most days. This past weekend, however, I decided it was time to bake something blog-worthy - something extravagant and complex. As you can see, I opted to bake profiteroles, a challenge in an of themselves, and something I've never attempted before.

Those of you who have been following SYD might have noticed I'm generally not content doing just one thing - and to that end, I also made the ice cream myself, even without an ice cream maker. It's a chocolate chip and Nutella swirled vanilla ice cream, and it was well worth the effort. You can find the recipes for the profiteroles themselves, as well as the ice cream, and the chocolate ganache topping below. Obviously, you don't have to make your own ice cream for this, as doing so extends the prep time considerably. I'll leave that up to you.

Mini Molten Lava Cakes

Lava cake is one of those extraordinarily rich and decadent desserts that you often see on the menu of a fancy restaurant. The truth of the matter, however, is that there’s really nothing all that fancy about lava cake. It can be made quickly and easily, and with pretty basic ingredients. When done correctly, what you get is less like an actual cake and almost more like hot pudding that’s wearing a cakey hat. It’s creamy and delicious, and the perfect dessert to top off that impending food coma.

Dulce de Leche Brownies

Over the weekend, I hosted a pretty successful barbeque. I arranged a tostada bar with carne asada, steak, chicken, and pork, honey sesame chicken drumsticks, and some Smokin’ Scovilles elk chili. Unfortunately, in my rush to have everything done on time, I didn’t get to take a lot of pictures. However, I did manage to document one of the desserts I featured - dulce de leche brownies.

The original recipe actually calls for these brownies to be salted, but I chose not to since the salted dulce de leche on the inside already provides the necessary contrast in flavors. It also calls for a box of brownie mix, but that’s not how I roll – I made the mix from scratch. While not an especially tough recipe, it does take a while from start to finish, so be sure to set aside an afternoon to make them.

Easy Chocolate Soufflé

My hunt for great desserts leads me to all kinds of interesting ideas. Most of my recent desserts use chocolate as a base, and in my attempt to branch out and diversify this time, I….made another chocolate dessert. Now, I know what you’re thinking – “easy” and “soufflé” don’t belong in the same sentence together. Normally, you’d be right. But this was my first attempt to bake a soufflé, and I assure you – it was easy and the results were perfect. Nevermind that I found this recipe in a cookbook even older than I am, this recipe works just as well today.

Chocolate Swirled Cheesecake Bars

There’s one thing that should be readily apparent by now to those who follow this blog with any regularity – lately, I really like desserts that can be made in bar form. So I figured, what better way to present a cheesecake than in bar form? It’s a relatively simple recipe and doesn’t even require a cheesecake pan – perfect for someone like myself who has never made a cheesecake before. I’m happy to report that the results were delicious, but come on – it’s cheesecake. Did you expect anything less?

Banana Bread Bars

Banana bread is one of those reliable old baking standbys that seems to please pretty much everybody. But that’s the thing – if I stuck to recipes that were old and reliable, this wouldn’t be a very interesting blog, now would it?

My original intent was to make a fairly standard banana bread, just to see how it goes. While searching for a good looking recipe, I came across something considerably more interesting and unique – banana bread in bar form, topped with a browned butter frosting. Almost brownie-like. I knew this was the recipe for me right away, so after a quick trip to the market for bananas, I set about the task of baking these suckers.

Mixed Berry Upside Down Cake

Having exhausted a large portion of my chocolate stores making the Hot Cocoa Cookies last weekend, I decided that the next dessert I bake ought to be something that doesn’t use any. I spent the better part of my day just figuring out what the hell I felt like making. I wanted something interesting, but simple and light as well. I had almost given up searching, nearly resigning myself to just making another cinnamon pull apart bread, when I came across a recipe for upside down cake. It was love at first sight.

Having never made (or even eaten) an upside down cake before, I really did not know what to expect going into this one. It came out with a texture somewhere between bread pudding and cake and, frankly, I’m not sure if that’s how it’s supposed to be. One thing I am sure of however, is that it tastes quite good.

Mixed Fruit Pie

Pie. Who doesn't love a good pie? Fruit, pumpkin, buttermilk, pecan - you name it, and if it's contained within a pie crust, I'll eat it. I decided it was time to take on the daunting task of creating a pie of my own, having never attempted to make one before now. After rummaging through the cabinets and the fridge, I decided on mixed fruit, since that's what I happened to have laying around. I made it work, and you can, too, so check out the recipe down below.