I would never have thought of putting these two delectable treats together to create one memorable dessert. But that’s exactly what happens when you combine Greek Baklava with New York cheesecake. What you get is a delicious, creamy cheesecake filling in a sweet and crunchy phyllo dough cup. The individual servings can be made in a cupcake pan, but are much more suited for muffin tins. Got a special event coming up? The Baklava Cheesecake Cups, with their sweetened raspberries and sugared rosemary twig garnish will provide the wow factor on your dessert plate both in flavor and presentation!
mascarpone cheese
Tiramisu
I love hearing about the origin of Italian dishes from my Momma, who grew up in Venice, Italy, and who became a gourmet chef when she arrived in America. One of my favorite stories is about a gourmet dessert that America has fallen in love with called Tiramisu. It is believed to have originated at a fabulous restaurant in Treviso, my Momma’s hometown, called Le Beccherie. It was the first place she took me to when I was 18 years old when visiting her town for the first time. Since then, Tiramisu has turned up in most Italian restaurant menus but few people actually know what Tiramisu means. It means “pick me up.” As Momma explained to me, during WW2, rationing was mandatory in Italy, and many people were under-nourished. That was a particular concern for pregnant women who needed to keep up the nutrients and calories to produce healthy babies. Tiramisu was the perfect solution. It’s loaded with protein-rich eggs, and calorie-rich heavy cream and Mascarpone cheese. The espresso would give one a boost of energy, and together the ingredients provided the perfect “pick me up.” The beauty of Tiramisu is that it is so easy to make. The only challenge is, you have to wait 8 hours for it to set up. But it’s worth the wait. Give yourself a delicious pick me up this week with melt-in-your-mouth Tiramisu!
Watch my How To Video for Tiramisu here!
Tiramisu
4 Cheese Pizza with Prosciutto, Fig, and Arugula
The Story
Spend a little time on Pizza.com and you’ll learn plenty about your obsession with a pie called Pizza:
- 94% of Americans eat pizza regularly
- Americans eat approximately 100 acres of pizza a day, or about 350 slices per second
- 36% of people consider pizza the perfect breakfast
- Kids prefer pizza over all other foods for lunch and dinner
- Saturday night is the most popular night to eat pizza
- During TV news, pizza is most often ordered during the weather segment
- 61% of the American population prefers tin crust
- The most popular pizza size today is 14″
Here’s my latest pizza obsession, starting with authentic pizza dough I learned to make from chefs in Italy!
Waldorf-Astoria Red Velvet Cake
The Story
Is it one of the most Googled recipes? At last check, there were 563,000 sites for Red Velvet Cake, with it’s dramatic, deep burgundy layers of chocolate decadence. That’s a lot of places to search for the signature sweet that originated in the 1920’s at America’s grand hotel of luxury and elegance, the Waldorf-Astoria in New York.
But you can quit clicking, because we have the original right here.
It’s not the version that’s loaded with tons of red food coloring and very little flavor (you’ll find plenty of those in your search). This is the authentic and luscious Red Velvet Cake right from the Waldorf-Astoria Cookbook, given to us by the hotel’s executive chef, John Doherty (who is, by the way, the youngest chef ever to head the hotel’s three restaurants and exquisite room service, long known as the Waldorf-Astoria’s crown jewels).
But Chef Doherty has been at the helm for more than 20 years now, and has said that despite the attempts around the globe to improve this classic recipe (with little success, red velvet cake aficionados tell him), the hotel continues to serve it in it’s pure form. Chef, we love this cake. Here’s to the next 100 years of Rescuing Red Velvet!
