desserted island

It was not a very productive week in terms of personal projects (read: I was unfortunately too busy with pesky midterms and papers), so I really have nothing to show you in terms of new DIY things or recipes. I have, however, amassed an absurd number of dessert pictures on my computer over the past few months.

So let's play deserted island. If I were ever on a "desserted" island (pun intended), I would take...

Pain au chocolat from my favourite bakery, Sabletine

Chocolate covered meringues (light and crispy with just a lick of chocolate, yum)
[foodnetwork.com]

Quite possibly the most epic chocolate souffle known to man.
If I were going to die alone on an island somewhere,
I'd at least want my taste buds to be comforted by chocolate.

[joels.com for How Stuff Works]

Go on. You know you want to.

Your turn. If you were trapped on an island, what three desserts would you take? (Keep in mind you will be eating these for the rest of your life... choose wisely!)

hey there, studs

A few days ago I sourced these studs at a sketchy little leather supplier at Queen and Augusta in downtown Toronto. I got really excited and sacrificed one of my tank tops for a little DIY project.

The sacrificial tank top (Pardon the chalk marks. I like to stay organized.)

I'm so pleased with the results that I've already started studding a pair of my black skinny jeans. And after that, I've a mind to bedazzle a black leather purse. Someone really needs to stop me before I stud everything that I own - I mean it.

i've heard of many chocoholics...

...but I ain't ever seen no 'chocohol'. We got an epidemic, people: people who like chocolate and don't understand word endings. They're probably 'overwork-aholled'.

-Demetri Martin, Comedian

I've taken up a lover and his name is chocolate (He has yet to meet the parents. But I think they'd approve). Over the past week or so, I've been lusting over chocolate desserts. Last Thursday, I made these delicious truffle tarts with a raspberry surprise in the middle. They are quite a fantastic way to use up that old box of Fudge-Os.

Today, some friends came over to bake these heavenly molten lava cakes. Rich and satisfying, these are best served straight out of the oven. We had a few timing issues, but this is a rather forgiving recipe. Although the bottom of the cakes were a little undercooked, those ooey gooey chocolate centres made us overlook the mistake. Now if only chocolate could hide all of our mistakes...

Butter, chocolate and egg yolks - just a heart attack waiting to happen

At this point, I was tempted to eat the batter itself!

Garnishing the molten cakes with strawberries...

All ready to eat!

I just love taking glamour shots of food.

Paula Deen's Molten Lava Cake

Ingredients (makes about 6 servings)

I've converted some of the weights to fit the metric system. Darn Imperialists.

• 170 g bittersweet chocolate
  
• 50 g milk chocolate
  
• 150 mL butter
  
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups icing sugar
  
• 3 large eggs
• 3 egg yolks
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tbsp flavoured liqueur (we used Grand Marnier, but I'd also like to try it with Chambord)
  

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
2. Grease 6 ramekins.
3. Melt the chocolate and butter in the microwave in 15 second spurts, stirring occasionally.
4. Whisk in flour and sugar to chocolate mixture.
5. Stir in eggs and egg yolks, blend at low power until smooth.
6. Add in vanilla and orange liqueur.
7. Divide the batter into the ramekins and bake for 17 minutes (the original recipe calls for 14 minutes, but ours were still a little too runny. This is the step the requires the most precision, so you may have to play around with your timing to get it right.)
8. Loosen the sides of the cake with a knife, and invert ramekin onto a plate.
   
9. Garnish with strawberries, and enjoy!
   

the box

What's in the box? What's in the box?! What's in the boooxxxxxxx?

I'll give you a hint. It's not anything decapitated. Nor is it a book of Marshall's old mad labs ("Fart went to the fart to fart fart?!").

It's one (of many, sadly) of my recent online purchases... I'll keep you in suspense until I decide to take them out for a test drive!

chocolate drizzled meltaways

Browning butter

Whipping egg whites

Mixing batter

Ready to pop in the oven!

Chocolate Drizzled Meltaways
Crispy on the outside, buttery on the inside. (And, as always, my foolproof stamp of approval!)

Makes about 24 cookies

* 1/2 cup butter
* 3 large egg whites
* 1/3 cup sugar
* 3/4 cup all purpose flour
* 1 tsp vanilla extract
* chocolate, for drizzling (I used Lindt chili-infused dark chocolate... delicious!)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Celsius.
2. First, you will need to brown the butter. In a skillet, melt the butter on medium heat. After butter has melted, continue to heat the butter until the milk solids separate from the butter fat. When the milk solids begin to brown slightly, take off heat. Make sure to watch the butter carefully, otherwise it will burn!
3. In a large bowl, beat the egg whites while gradually adding in the sugar. Continue beating until mixture becomes glossy and forms peaks.
4. Add in flour, brown butter and vanilla extract into the egg white mixture. Mix until just blended.
5. Drop batter onto parchment paper lined baking sheet (in a pinch, you can use aluminium foil instead, like I did...), about 1 heaping tablespoon per cookie. You can use the back of a spoon to smooth out the batter.
6. Bake for 12-15 minutes, until edges are golden brown.
7. Let cool 5 minutes, then drizzle melted chocolate on top.
8. Chill 30 minutes, until chocolate sets.
9. Bon appetit!

Freshly baked with a dash of chocolate...

...mmm!

phoenix rising

Congrats to Phoenix for winning the Grammy for Best Alternative Album of the Year! Finally getting some well-deserved recognition =)

Except for the fact that nobody will ever know because the award wasn't given out during the actual show. That's a thumbs down for the Grammy Awards.

Watch their acceptance speech here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sbNP18yFeg&feature=channel