Dessert News Posts

21Feb
0

Dessert So Good, TV Shows So Bad

I’m a big Food Network fan. I can sit there for hours watching Diners, Drive-Ins, & Dives or The Best Thing I Ever Ate. Cooking competitions? Sure, bring it on! Food is glorious and watching people treat food as though it were art, which I think it really is, is so fascinating. Even though I salivate as I watch others eat, I can’t get enough of it. So why, oh why, do I have such a disdain for shows about dessert? Cupcakes, pies, cookies, brownies, I love them all but they’re just not as interesting to watch on screen.

I was so excited when Top Chef: Just Desserts was announced, but I quickly realized all the contestants were whiny little brats. Maybe that was just bad casting, but even the challenges weren’t that special. I think I watched to the end of the series, I can’t even remember. But I can easily spout off every winner of Top Chef. The only show that vaguely interests me is Amazing Wedding Cakes on Lifetime. Mainly because I can’t believe people can afford to drop thousands of dollars on a cake recreating an entire scene from Alice in Wonderland.

Maybe it’s because most baking involves a lot of stirring batter and not much else. Even cake decorating, which I admire greatly, is just extremely tedious work. I’d rather watch someone light a pan on fire and use liquid nitrogen in soup. I love you dessert, more than you’ll ever know, but I just can’t watch you on television.

Posted by KristenM in Dessert News and tagged with , , , , , ,
20Feb
0

Balloons Aren’t Just Decorations

Desserts are getting weirder. There’s no doubt about that. Remember that gold leaf ice cream sundae? How weird! But not as weird as this. There’s a dessert that can double as a party decorations. No, I’m not kidding. A chef in Chicago has made an edible balloon! No, again not kidding.

This balloon is flavored green apple, comes with an apple fruit leather string, and of course a whopping helping of helium. Tell me, would you order this? Cause I’m a little up in the air. I might do it for the novelty of it. Plus telling people I once ate a balloon will produce some really incredible looks.

Watch the video to see the balloon being made and hear the waiter explain the two different ways to eat it. Stick around until the end to hear the helium in action.

Posted by kristing in Creative Ideas, Dessert News and tagged with , , ,
17Feb
0

Can You Lose Weight by Eating Dessert for Breakfast?

As I just teased my coworker for eating candy for breakfast, an article on the very subject popped up in Google News. A new study says it’s possible to lose weight by eating sweets for breakfast. Of course this has a lot of stipulations. Don’t eat an entire chocolate cake for breakfast and expect the pounds to shed.

The reasoning behind this study is twofold. First, your metabolism is much more active in the morning and the calories consumed will burn up easily. Second, when a person eats a daily sweet snack, it can prevent the psychological addiction that one can feel if not eating sweets at all. Basically, it keeps you sane!

The study contained two groups of morbidly obese, non-diabetic people that were watched for 32 weeks. The first group ate a low-carb, 300 calorie breakfast. The other group consumed a 600 calorie breakfast high in protein and carbs with a dessert item. Both groups took in the same amount of calories for the day. Both groups lost about 33 pounds halfway through the study. However, by the end, the low-carb dieters gained back 22 pounds, while the dessert group lost another 15. The dessert group lost an average of 40 more pounds.

Keep in mind this doesn’t give you free reign to eat whatever you want. Include something sweet in a high protein breakfast. The rest of your meals for the day should be high in protein and contain complex carbohydrates.

Posted by KristenM in Breakfast, Dessert News and tagged with , ,
03Feb
0

Candy Land the Movie: A Diabetic Nightmare

Oh Hollywood, what load of garbage will you put out next? Apparently an entire movie based around the children’s board game Candy Land. Cute idea or waste of a few million dollars? I’m leaning more towards the latter. Sometimes it saddens me to think about how those millions of dollars could have went to feed the poor or improve our broken school system. No, instead it’s going into Adam Sandler’s pockets who will play the lead role, as well as co-write the script.

The films writers are describing the film as, “Lord of the Rings, but set in the world of candy.” As a huge fan of LOTR, I highly doubt it will come anywhere close to that magnitude. I’m sure it will make for a semi-decent kids movie, all those bright colors and desserts will make for quite the appealing backdrop. I’m just glad I don’t have any kids nagging me to see this film with them.

I’m sure the film will probably instigate some crazy fanatical parents too who will say the movie is encouraging kids to eat unhealthy. Yeah because kids wants an adventure in the magical world of broccoli and tofu. You know there will be riots! I’ll stick to eating real desserts instead of fantasy ones, thank you very much.

Posted by KristenM in Dessert News and tagged with
19Jan
0

A Stormtrooper for Dessert

dessert

Stormtrooper Cake Copyright of Oakleaf Cakes

I often watch shows like Amazing Wedding Cakes and Food Network’s Challenge where bakers are put to the test to create ridiculous cakes. But they have all been put to shame by Oakleaf Cakes in Massachusetts who created a 6-foot Stormtrooper cake. As you can see from the picture, it’s pretty intense. The cake consisted of 300 pounds of frosting, cake, and Rice Krispy slabs. I guess one could say Oakleaf Cakes really took the cake! *insert knee slap here*

The cake was created for over 600 sci-fi geeks at the Arisa Sci-Fi Convention in Boston. It took nine people, two weeks of planning and execution, and a little bit of engineering skills to complete the epicness that is this dessert. Every time I see these incredible cakes I always wonder if anyone dares to eat it. It’s just too beautiful and too awesome to cut into. Rest assured that not a piece of cake was wasted. I cannot speak for the other intense desserts though.

Want the recipe? Good luck. It’s a bit past my skills. To create incredible cakes you need a little architecture and engineering knowledge so the cakes do not collapse in on themselves. I recommend an internship with the Cake Boss.

Posted by KristenM in Cakes, Dessert News and tagged with , ,
23Jun
0

Peanut Butter In/On/Over Everything

I enjoy sweets just fine. Honestly Oreos or a great thick piece of chocolate cake, maybe a delicious bowl of ice cream. All of these things are wonderful snack all on their own. Nobody could complain much about getting a taste of any of them. But if you are going to offer me a sweet or a piece of candy, no matter what it is, I may just inquire about the presence of peanut butter on the premises. This is because to be honest everything tastes better when it is smothered end to end in gooey peanut butter.

The deliciousness of peanut butter is virtually incontestable. (Save for those with devestating and life threatening peanut allergies, who obviously have never been lucky enough to appreciate the delightful treat.) It’s versatility is also often noted, it can meld beautifully with creamy chocolaty flavor or fruity flavors in equal measure. I once dunked a curly french fry in some peanut butter and was strangely pleased with the results!

During college I would often utilize the protein boost provided by peanut butter as a rationalization that chocolate bar or cake, or ice cream, could be a dinner. It was a glorious time to be sure, and when I dump a bag of M & M’s into a jar o Jif I realize, you can go home again.

Posted by TimD in Cakes, candy, chocolate, Cold Desserts, Dessert Articles, Dessert Ideas, Dessert News and tagged with ,
29Apr
0

iHop Pancake Stackers. Wow.

iHop Pancake Stackers

We interrupt this blog for an important news bulletin: iHop has created a sandwich. Out of pancakes.

Meet the iHop Pancake Stackers sandwich, an ambrosial — and artery-clogging — layering of pancakes (the bread), cheesecake (the meat), and whipped topping (the… whipped topping?). The Pancake Stackers sandwich lasts through June 20 and comes in strawberry, blueberry, and cinnamon flavors.

Think of said monstrosity as a sweeter — and more caloric — version of the industry’s other recent sandwich imposter: the KFC Double Down. The Double Down weighs in at 540 calories, HuffPost reports, whereas the Pancake Stackers sandwich encompass a considerably heftier 1,250.

Still hungry? Order a combo meal, allowing you to enjoy the aforementioned, and eggs, and hash browns, and bacon, sausage, or ham.

Posted by Sarah in Dessert News, funny and tagged with , , , ,