A big, amazing change

I know I've been very absent lately. The past few months have been really hectic but exciting - I've been really busy at work and I've also been channeling my inner Martha Stewart and working on tons of DIY projects for my wedding this Saturday.

One of those DIY projects is, of course, a dessert bar. How could I not bake something for my own wedding! I'm not crazy enough to bake my own cake so the next best thing was a dessert bar. I was inspired by images such as this one (courtesy of Amy Atlas)


I knew I could pull off something like this fairly easily. I actually called a few people to see how much something like this would cost and was shocked at the price - obviously knowing how to make meringue buttercream frosting and pipe it with a star tip and making mini tart shells is a highly valuable skill! There was no way I was paying someone thousands of dollars for something I knew I could do - and do well - for maybe $100 worth of ingredients and 24-30 hours of baking. So I created a plan and set forth.

This past week I've been a busy bee in the kitchen - if you've been following my tweets, you know what I've been up to. Most of what I made are things that are already on the blog, or are just modifications of things on here - there was no way I was going to dive into uncharted territory when my time is highly limited. (Despite their beauty, macarons were out of the question as I've never made them before.) So I stuck to things I can do easily - cupcakes, fruit tarts, shortbread cookies, marshmallows, and meringues - two flavors of each, all bite size.

I promise I'll post recipes and photos (and they'll be gorgeous professional photos courtesy of this amazing photographer) when I'm back from stuffing my face in Turkey on our honeymoon.

And with that, I'm off to make myself pretty, hang out with my family and friends, eat tons of great food, and, most importantly, marry my absolute favorite person in the world.

Blueberry Ricotta Tart

At long last, here’s the recipe for my entry for the Brooklyn Beer Experiment.

When I decided to enter, I came up with a shortlist of things to make. My first thought was Beeramisu using a coffee porter (specifically, Sixpoint’s Gorilla Warfare, which is SO GOOD) instead of Marsala + espresso, but, unfortunately, I was too late, as the organizers of the event informed me that someone else had already entered it. (And Johnny Iuzzini, who is one of my favorite pastry chefs, deemed it the best dessert. Note to self: stop procrastinating.) I am, however, undeterred, and plan on making this at some point in the future using the original tiramisu recipe, which, as I mentioned last fall, was created in Baltimore.

tweet!

Upon the suggestion of my publicist (aka the fiance), raspberry eggplant is now on Twitter.

Click here for my twitter page - follow and you'll be updated on new blog posts, where I'm eating, what I'm cooking, and very likely some (oh who am I kidding - LOTS) of my random musings.

The Brooklyn Beer Experiment

The First Annual Brooklyn Beer Experiment, which was organized by cook-off masters Nick and Theo, was held this past Sunday at the gorgeous Bell House in, of course, Brooklyn. And, of course, I was one of the participants.


There were two contests, home brewing and a cook-off. Since I know absolutely nothing about brewing beer (I’m only good at drinking it), I decided to conjure up a sweet treat infused with beer. Before I delve into that, let me give you my little recap. (Theo’s recap is here, followed by a list of those on other blogs.)