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.

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.

Photo from BraveTart Website

One of my absolute favorite holidays of the whole year is Mardi Gras. Fat Tuesday. It’s basically society saying go ahead, GORGE yourself on dessert all day long. It’s fine and dandy for this one day to eat an entire box of doughnuts without anyone looking at you askance. Okay, well, maybe that’s just me.

But there are a metric ton and a half dessert recipes that you can try out for Fat Tuesday. I know that it’s a little early but I also know that many people do their weekly grocery shopping on the weekend. So stock up on these recipe ingredients. Here are my three favorites that I’ll be making this year.

1) Mini King Cakes from King Arthur Flour – Huge king cakes are grand, but what if you could hold it in your hand? What if you could walk around without limit of plate and fork? Freedom and king cake! Brilliant. Just hide the baby in one of them and don’t tell which.

2) Mojito Pie from Biscuits and Such - This is not traditional Mardi Gras fare, but honestly how can you go wrong? This has all the elements of a great Mardi Gras celebration and IT’S A PIE! I can’t wait to try this one. It’s the only one on this list I haven’t made before.

3) Buttermilk Beignets with Chicory Custard Filling from Brave Tart - These are my tried and true absolute favorites. They are so delicious that I make up reasons to make them throughout the year. Christmas? Beignets. Fourth of July? Beignets. Birthday? Beignets. Saturday? Beignets. I’m serious when I say that anyone can make these. Just follow the recipe. It may be a longer process but oh dear custard they are so worth it.

This is one of my most favorite holidays of the year. Enjoy it! Have a great Mardi Gras everyone!

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.

There are certain staples, such chocolate chip cookies and brownies, that are easy to make and nearly universally appealing.  You should avoid making anything with nuts, since it is such a common allergen. If baking is generally not your forte, you do not need to overtax yourself. The recipe for chocolate chip cookies may be found on the back of Tollhouse bags of chocolate chips. And, brownie mix includes instructions on the back of its packaging, as well.

Although both desserts are easy to make and do not take that much time to bake, brownies involves the least amount of effort. Despite this, brownies are generally appreciated by any food audience. If you are in a rush, you should make brownies, since they will be ready sooner. Try to leave enough time for them to cool before you cut them, otherwise they will crumble; if you run out of time, you may try to carry them in the cake pan and cut them when you reach your destination.

As the guest at someone’s home, you should still in your own way contribute to your friend’s hospitality; baking is the perfect way to show your appreciation.

Copyright Bakingdom.com

Over the weekend my roommate and I decided to try our hands at s’more cupcakes. We came across them on the This Is Why You’re Fat website…great inspiration, right? My roommate did a quick Google search and came across a great dessert recipe that actually isn’t difficult at all. Of course they didn’t look quite as food porn worthy as the ones on the website, but they tasted like chocolate heaven and that was all that mattered. I won’t tediously write out the recipe but you can check it out on Bakingdom.com.

Out of sheer laziness, and cheapness, we decided to not do the marshmallow frosting and instead used whipped frosting. It still tasted delicious and some people even commented that they did not care for the marshmallow frosting regardless. My advice to you is to really crush the graham crackers very finely, otherwise it makes it difficult to line the pan with. Also, we could have melted just a little bit more butter to make the crackers wetter and easier to stick along the sides. We did, however, use liners so maybe they stick better to a greased cupcake pan.

The end result is a toasted crust with a rich chocolate cupcake and a frosting that balances out the decadent flavor. One is just enough without getting a toothache, but beware of a subsequent food coma.

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.

Anyway, the point was that I wasn’t feeling my normal peppy self. I needed a pick me up. It came in the form of dessert. Not just any kind of dessert, but cupcakes.

I love cupcakes. I love everything about them. They’re like a cake…but smaller. (I heard a little girl say that once. It’s so true.) Yellow cupcakes with chocolate icing are my favorite. So I made some. I made two dozen cupcakes and ate them, not for dessert, but for dinner.

Yup, I ate cupcakes for dinner. You should try it sometime. It definitely brought me out of my emotional funk. The novelty of doing something you “shouldn’t” (eating dessert not before dinner but FOR dinner) makes you feel just a little giddy.

I’m telling you, try it out. Not every day, but maybe once a month…or so…

If you’ve never been here, I ask, WHY NOT!? It’s an amazing centralized holy ground for chocoholics in the tri-state area. If you can dream it, the chocolate man can do it. Max Brenner is so proud of his chocolate he actually puts a drawing of himself on the napkins. You’d have to be really confident and really love your product to have it wiped on you from other people’s faces. But he is rightly proud. This is some of the best chocolate I’ve ever had.

Just typing this makes me want to go there and see the chocolate flowing through the pipes (yes, I said pipes) from one end of the store to the other and order the most amazing fondue.

They bring it to you in huge vats of either milk, white, or dark (or all three if you’re feeling up to it!) with a plethora of things to dunk in it, shove in your mouth, and wipe on those Max Brenner napkins.

There is plenty of candy out there that feels just as neglected as you, and is probably just as sour. Sometimes what you need is a good old moment to soak in your feelings. Let that misery subside and enjoy some junk food. It’ll make you feel better than that box of chocolates he sent before the tacky break-up text message.

You know what’s just as good as the hearts that say “I love you?” The hearts that say, “Call a 900#.” Yep, they exist. They’re called Bittersweets. Pretty much any aggression you need to let out can now be said with a tart candy heart.  They’re an easy way to express how disappointed you are without having to waste air.

Another fun way to celebrate anti-Valentine’s is to give your ex some trick candy. It’s an opportunity to seek revenge for breaking your heart. try candy that changes the color of their tongue or has a sour flavor. It’s harmless fun (for you, anyway). Who could blame you?

Enjoy this anti-Vaentine’s Day!