Pook's Pantry Recipe Blog

A Life in Food by real-life Chef Cheryl Bennett

Dessert

Coffee Cookies

Do you love coffee?  Yeah, me too.  I don’t mean that in a casual  “yeah, I love coffee” kind of way;  I. Love. Coffee.  We’re hot & heavy.  It’s a torrid love affair that has no end in sight.  I once (foolishly) thought I should give up coffee…  Why, you ask?   Well, I thought I should get off caffeine, or rather it should get out of me.   Then, after 3 absolutely miserable weeks,  I had a revelation of sorts.   I don’t really drink (I’m usually a 2 drink max kind of girl), I’ve never had a cigarette in my entire life and I don’t do drugs.  Pretty boring, I know…   So, here’s where I decided that coffee and I are lifelong partners; I don’t do anything else!  Everyone has a vice and dammit, coffee was going to be mine! 

coffee butter cookie 3

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Salchichoc (Chocolate “Sausage”)

 

Disclaimer:  I received a pdf version of “Charcuteria: The Soul of Spain” .  Any links to book are affiliate links.

choc sausage

 

Chocolate Sausage?  No, it isn’t a recipe for actual sausage made with chocolate,  it is a dessert fashioned to look like sausage and it is made out of chocolate.   Kinda brilliant…  but then again, I do love Spain, Spaniards and their whimsical sense of humor 🙂

Charcutería: The Soul of Spain is an in depth look at Spanish charcuterie, unfortunately most of which is completely unavailable to us here in the United States.   This book covers every facet of it and is peppered with anecdotes from the author’s experiences in Spain, which also make it a fun and engaging read as it connects to recipes in the book.  The writing and explanations are descriptive and never feel like the author is talking “at” you instead of “with” you.

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Panna Cotta Recipe with Bourbon Figs

This easy panna cotta recipe with bourbon-poached figs will make you swoon. Lightened up just a bit, this vanilla panna cotta is still decadent and delicious, but with just a few less calories. 

panna cotta recipe with poached figs

Vanilla Panna Cotta with Bourbon-Poached Figs

Whenever I see figs, I must buy them.  I can’t quite help myself, they are just so sexy.  Then my brain starts spinning with all the possible things to do with them. When I am visiting my family in Ohio, I always try to make something special.  Something that I know for sure they have never had before.  Sometimes it goes over well and sometimes, maybe not so much.  I think this one was a winner. 

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Key Lime Pie from scratch

Key Lime Pie.   These three little words make me sit on the edge of my seat in anticipation.  In my book, it is one of the most perfect desserts.  The fact that it is ridiculously easy gives it major bonus points. 
Growing up, I don’t think I’d even heard of key lime pie.  We had apple, peach, strawberry-rhubarb, blueberry, pecan, pumpkin, lemon meringue, chocolate cream, but never key lime. 

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Blushing Valentine

I know it may seem a bit early to start thinking of Valentine’s Day, but it’s only a few short weeks away.   If you like to make a special treat on Valentine’s Day, this is the cake.  
It is a towering 4 layers high and lovingly encased in the most delicate rose-scented buttercream.  It is outrageously good and worth every. single. calorie.  

This is also the type of cake that could easily become adorned with say a few candles for a little celebratory birthday party?   The colors could be swapped out for any, the flavor of the buttercream could be adapted to whatever you’d like it to be.  Using a vanilla base for both cake and buttercream allows you the flexibility to change colors and flavors to suit the occasion or intended recipient….

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Pour Some Sugar on Me!

It’s Christmas cookie time again and that means the cookie exchange!  However, if you are buying jar after jar of colored sanding sugars to sprinkle on your creations it can get very costly rather quickly.

Working in this business has made me acutely aware of what things REALLY cost.   Walking through stores and seeing someone pay $4.50 for a tiny 3 ounce bottle of colored sanding sugar for example…   I know that they could make huge bags of it for $4.50.

I have a drawer full of them, I’m not immune to be sucked in by all the pretty colors… but no more!

It’s not that I’m cheap;  I prefer to think of it as frugal, but what gets under my skin is paying an exorbitant amount of money for what I’m getting.
It’s all about getting a decent value for your money. 
So, with that said:  We are going to make our own sanding sugars this year for a fraction of what we would pay at the grocery store.

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Dulce de Leche Tart with Popcorn Crust

This dulce de leche tart with popcorn crust was born of my lifelong love affair with homemade caramel corn.

dulce de leche tart with sea salt on top

 

I wanted to put a  twist on this most delicious treat and elevate it to something you could actually serve to guests (not that I wouldn’t put out a big trough of caramel corn, but you know what I mean).

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