Cake and smores

10/7/13  - I have had a small break from my dessert blog because of a recent move to the other side of town.  Being closer to downtown will enable me to sample tasty treats at many of the city's eateries. 
On Saturday, we had a drink at 5 Walnut wine bar, and I was in the mood for something sweet.  I ordered a slice of the raspberry almond cake with vanilla frosting.  This was a huge piece of cake, easily a perfect dessert to share.  The cake was rich with a slightly almond flavor, but not overpowering.  Layers of raspberry filling were a perfect match for the almond flavor and vanilla frosting.  This paired well with a glass of prosecco.
Yesterday, a simple classic was in order to satisfy my sweet tooth.  We have a fire pit at our new place.  I had been craving smores.  So I roasted marshmallows, got out the Hershey bar and put both on a chocolate graham cracker. (didn't have the regular grahams).  It is hard to beat this terrific combination.  In my opinion, marshmallows are not used enough in desserts!  For many folks, they are perhaps too sweet, but they are still yummy to me.  Also, they bring up pleasant memories of childhood - the only part of camping that I enjoyed was sitting around the campfire and toasting marshmallows!

Peanut butter pie

8/20/13 - Was wandering downtown this afternoon and decided to stop at one of my favorite Asheville eateries - Early Girl Eatery.  I got the peanut butter pie.  This was a creamy, cheesecake type pie, with a chocolate oreo crust.  Whipped cream was on the side.  I really enjoyed the dessert, and ate it very rapidly, as I was hungry at the time.  However, it was very rich. and I probably should have saved half of it to take home.  Case of eyes bigger than my stomach!  Still love Early Girl desserts, however, and will try the carrot cake next time.
 

Crepe creation

Aug. 17, 2013 - Last night we stopped for a bite at Creperie Bouchon on our way to Downtown after Five.  This little restaurant is an offshoot of one of my favorite Asheville restaurants, Bouchon.  After having a delicious salad, I decided to order a dessert crepe.  I ordered the special crepe of the day, which was a coffee, chocolate chip crepe.  The crepe had coffee in the batter, as well as expresso chips and chocolate chips.  It was topped with whipped cream.  While the crepe had a nice coffee flavor, it could have used more chocolate chips.  Also, a sauce (perhaps a mocha sauce) would have been interesting.  I need to check out desserts at Bouchon as well.  One of my favorite used to be their crème brulee flight.

My favorite desserts since October 2012

Since I did not sample today, I started thinking about my favorite desserts during the past 10 months, when I started my dessert journal.  Probably my two best have been chocolate.  One was a "volcano" cake served at a lunch in the wine country of Chile.  It was wonderfully moist, and the chocolate center was dark, rich, and luscious.  The other was a chocolate lava cake at a beer pub in Sarasota, Florida called Shakespeare's tavern.  It was in the shape of a small bundt cake, and warm, topped with whipped cream.  The filling was mouth watering.  I liked this dessert so much that I returned to Shakespeare's tavern a week later and had the same thing.
My sister is a chocolate addict, and I asked her whether her dessert fave would have to be chocolate.  She said that it absolutely would.  I must say, however, that two very close runners-up for my most yummy treat were non chocolate.  The first was a creamy homemade peanut butter pie from a restaurant called Yoder's in Sarasota.  This is an Amish eatery, and the specialize in pies.  The peanut butter was just sweet enough, with a taste of salt from the peanut flavor.  The crust was flaky and buttery.  I loved this pie, and will get it again when I return to Sarasota.  The other was a homemade coconut cake from the Early Girl Eatery in Asheville.  This cake was the best coconut that I have had since my grandmother made it every Easter.  The cake was buttery, moist;  the frosting was silky and filled with fresh coconut.  The serving was huge as well, and I managed to make two desserts from it.  So, I continue my dessert journey, not totally convinced that the best desserts have to be chocolate!

My so called healthy dessert

Unfortunately, I did not have time to travel downtown today to try out a new dessert.  So I resorted to my banana and chocolate chips dessert.  I slice the banana, add chocolate chips, and microwave for 15 seconds.  Melts the chocolate just a little.  This is satisfying and I rationalize that it is somewhat healthy because of the fruit and dark chocolate, which studies show is beneficial to us.  Another "healthy"one like this is dried cranberries, chocolate chips, and walnuts.  As much as a sweets fanatic as I am, I stick to one sweet treat a day, as I do not want too much sugar in my daily diet.  I realize that one dessert a day is probably more than I need, but the point is, I do have some discipline to keep from going overboard with sugar.

Breakfast Treats

8/13/13 - I ate a breakfast treat after my exercise class today.  Panera Bread is one of the standard chain eateries for breakfast sweets.  I had a cinnamon crisp scone.  I like the cinnamon frosting.  The scone was a little dry, but most scones are rather dry.  (except for the cranberry orange scone recipe that I got from a friend).  I did enjoy it, though.  I have had a number of breakfast goodies since I have kept my dessert journal, and so far I would rate the apple strudel at Old Europe in downtown Asheville to be my favorite.  The apples were juicy, not too sweet, and the pastry was honey glazed.  It was really delicious with a cup of coffee.
My secret to eating a variety of desserts but not gaining weight is to keep a regular exercise regimen.  Today I worked out an hour at a combination pilates/yoga class.  I do several dance exercise classes during the week, including my favorite zumba.  I also walk, hike, and do light weight training.  Not only do I benefit with overall health, but it does enable me to indulge in my sweets obsession.

Lunch time dessert

8/12/13 - Today I tried a new dessert at White Duck Taco in Asheville.  This popular lunch spot in West Asheville also has a daily dessert, which today was the Salted caramel macaroon cake.  This dessert reminded me a lot of the coconut pie that my mother used to make when I was a child.  It was a round, tart looking cake, very moist like a custard.  The very different touch was the salted caramel sauce.  I really liked the combination, as it was a surprise blending of flavors.  My profile picture has the cake pictured along with me.  I should say that my husband did not care for the flavors, but is not generally fond of coconut.  I would definitely order this again, but I did think that it was a little pricey.