Our First Anniversary : Honeymoon Island & Sea Salt

On day two of our first wedding anniversary festivities (catch up on day one here), G and I journeyed north to Dunedin to visit Honeymoon Island. I had heard it was one of the best beaches around, not to mention its romantic name seemed perfect for the occasion. 

While it was a beautiful beach,  the shoreline was a bit narrower than I had imagined and much, much rockier. The strip of sand was also surprisingly busy for a Tuesday. (Though, the beachgoers were mostly senior citizens, I'll admit. That's Florida for you!) While lounging on chairs in the shade, eating our Firehouse Subs picnic, I noticed that everyone seemed to be wearing sandals or water shoes while slowly, carefully tiptoeing into the surf. And for good reason we learned, when we finally got up to go in. The hubs and I did the eee-ahh-ooh-ouch dance as we stepped into the Gulf Coast waters. Nevertheless, we still had a good time together. Honeymoon Island is a beautiful place and absolutely fantastic for shelling. I could have stayed for hours and hours with my head down, just looking at the sand and picking up interesting shells and stones. (A favorite pastime as a child and still as an adult!) My husband basically had to drag me away.

After checking on the dogs at home and freshening up, we cruised over to downtown St. Pete for an early but long and leisurely dinner at Sea Salt, a new restaurant G and I had visited once before for appetizers (oysters!) and drinks. This time we got the whole experience, starting with a salt tasting. 

A trio of salts was served with the bread and olive oil. Our server explained each salt, including which one to only taste in small amounts because of its incredibly potent flavor, reminiscent of hardboiled egg. (Seriously.) G favored the mild pink Himalayan sea salt while I quite liked the weird egg-y one, as well as the mellow, red Alaea Hawaiian sea salt. 

Since we enjoyed the oysters we tried last time (our first time giving them a go!), we decided to be adventurous yet again and ordered a half-dozen of the sommelier’s choice. The oysters were larger this go-around, a little more imposing for us newbies, but they were still good. After mentioning my observation to our kind server, we learned the selection was from East Coast waters, whereas the smaller ones we had last time were harvested from the West Coast. 

We were presented with a complimentary farro-based amuse bouche before we enjoyed our entrees: the Black Grouper for me, with fava beans, smoked salt fingerling potato, raisin tomato and a black truffle butter sauce that I couldn’t get enough of. G had the Ora King Salmon served with black cyprus sea salt barbecue and chorizo-beluga lentil ragu. The orange-glazed fish looked stunningly beautiful set against the inky lentils.

Before we could even contemplate what to order for dessert, out came a giant cloud of cotton candy. After seeing a few other surprised guests receive a bowl of sugared air, we realized it must just be Sea Salt’s thang. Cotton candy for everyone! But, moments later, another dessert arrived at our table, just for us: a decadent orb of fudge topped with sea salt, of course, and caramel sauce, with the words “Happy Anniversary” written out in chocolate.

Yep, it was a sweet night with G for sure. And I wouldn’t want to share all these adventures (culinary or otherwise, fuzzy selfies included) with anyone else.

Simple Sweets : Brazilian-Style Truffles

Valentine's Day is the chocolate holiday. And while I would never turn down a heart-shaped box filled with candy, there is something infinitely sweeter about offering your love a plate of homemade truffles, don't you think? Especially when they are so quick and easy to make. I came across this recipe while watching Food Network last week and since they were so irresistibly simple to prepare, I decide I just had to make them for G. (And, let's be honest, for me!) 

While most truffle recipes I'm familiar with involve melting chocolate, this one utilizes sweetened condensed milk, which gives the truffles an ultra creamy and smooth texture that would be difficult if not impossible to replicate with any other ingredient. And did I mention it is super easy? No double boiler here.

The original recipe calls for coating the truffles in mini chocolate chips and sprinkles, but this is where you can get creative and play to the occasion (and theme) at hand. Desiring a variety of colors and textures, I added toffee bits and powdered sugar to my topping line-up. Colored sanding sugar, crushed freeze-dried fruit (such as strawberries) or a sprinkling of fine flaky sea salt would also be excellent. And you can't go wrong with the crowd-pleasing pair that is sure to be in your pantry already: cinnamon and sugar. Sweet and spicy. Just like my Valentine. 

Brazilian-Style Truffles

Recipe via Giada De Laurentiis

Cook time: 10 minutes | Total time: About 2.5 hours | Makes 16-20 truffles

Ingredients

One 14-ounce can of sweetened condensed milk

2 tablespoons butter, plus more for your hands

2 tablespoons unsweetened coca powder

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/8 teaspoon fine salt

Toppings of your choice (I used mini chocolate chips, toffee bits, sprinkles and powdered sugar)

Directions

Combine the condensed milk, butter, cocoa powder, vanilla and salt in a small saucepan. Place over medium heat and bring to a simmer, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon. Reduce the heat to medium-low and continue stirring until the mixture thickens and, when stirred, pulls away from the bottom of the pan, about 8 minutes. Remove from heat and pour the mixture into a bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until completely chilled, about 2 hours.

To form truffles: Prep toppings by pouring each into a dish or shallow bowl. Lightly butter your hands. Using a tablespoon or small cookie scoop, scoop some of the truffle mixture into your hands and roll into a bite-size ball. (Work quickly and gently, and don't roll too much, as to prevent the chocolate from melting!) Roll the truffle in your chosen topping, coating the exterior completely, and then place on a plate. Continue with the remaining chocolate. Once all the truffles are made, pop in the fridge for about 10 minutes to firm up again before serving. 

Truffles can be stored in the refrigerator for up to a week—if they last that long. (Ours didn't!)

One word of warning: I would recommend using a tablespoon measure for scooping the truffles. I used our "small" scoop and ended up with 12 large, two-bite truffles. Not that either of us were complaining. They were still delicious. But if you want a larger yield, with one-bite truffles, try to exercise restraint when scooping your chocolate. (Or don't—no judgment here!)

Vanilla Rice Pudding with Raspberry Sauce

[ Rice pudding with raspberry sauce. ]

Christmas may be over, but I just have to share the recipe for a creamy, vanilla-infused, raspberry-topped dessert that my family eats every Christmas Eve. I promise it will still be just as good at your New Year's Eve dinner party tomorrow... or even another special night in the new year that calls for an out-of-the-ordinary treat. Because I understand if you just can't cook another. single. thing. But you're going to want to give this light-but-decadent dish a try eventually, if just for the raspberry sauce. (Light and decadent, you ask? How is that possible? I'm not sure, but it is certainly true with this airy and rich rice pudding.)

As evidenced by my (naturally) blonde (usually) hair, blue eyes and ultra pale skin, I am half-Danish, on my mother's side, and many of the holiday traditions I grew up with stem from those Scandinavian branches of the family tree. One tradition I have come to hold dear is having rice pudding for dessert on Christmas. Which is funny, because I actually didn't like it much as a kid. I only would eat it (or pretend to eat it) to play the game. Dessert with a game? Oh yeah. We Danes know how to party.

See, in Denmark, where the dessert is called Risalamande (French for rice with almonds), a whole blanched almond is dropped into the rice pudding and mixed in before the dessert is portioned out. Whoever finds the almond in their bowl wins a prize. In Denmark, the "almond present" is a marzipan pig but in my family the prize has always been chocolate, in one form or another. It's a fun game but we Danes, adults and kids alike, can get competitive (if memories from my childhood are correct). And if the almond splits—watch out! You might have two people fighting over the present.

[ Individual rice puddings, a chocolate snowman prize and G's snickerdoodles. ]

I can't remember even one time that I won the prize, but over the years, as my palate matured, I started enjoying the dessert more and more. Thought it is not very sweet at all, it is the type of thing I only need a few bites of, it's so creamy and rich. My dad and brother on the other hand, they generously fill up their bowls and pour the beautiful red raspberry sauce on thick.

Being far from home for the holidays this year, I found myself looking forward to the rice pudding even more than usual, if just for the nostalgia's sake. So I asked my mom to email me the recipe, her mother's recipe. Initially I assumed I'd just be making it for myself and the hubs, but I ended up being able to share this close-to-my-heart traditional Danish dessert with friends on Christmas Day. They absolutely loved the raspberry sauce, and I think they got a kick out of learning about a new-to-them cultural tradition, complete with silly game and almost-too-cute-to-eat chocolate snowman, serving as the almond present.

A quick note: My mom's mom's recipe suggested rinsing the rice and tossing any off-color (black) rice, but that is not necessary nowadays with most types of rice, including arborio rice, which is what I used. The pearl-like, high-starch Italian white rice is the kind employed to make creamy risottos, so it seemed perfect for this rice pudding, even though my grandmother's recipe called for MJB (now Farmhouse) regular rice, a long-grain white rice. I'm confident most any white rice will do.

Creamy Vanilla Rice Pudding with Raspberry Sauce

A traditional Danish Christmas dessert | Servings: 10 to 12

Ingredients

Rice Pudding

1 cup arborio rice (or other short-grained white rice; not instant)

1 to 1 1/2 quarts whole milk

1 tablespoon sugar

2 whole vanilla beans (alternatively, 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract)

1 to 2 pints heavy whipping cream

Raspberry Sauce

2 bags frozen raspberries

1 cup sugar

Cornstarch

Optional: 

Sliced almonds, toasted, for garnish

One whole blanched almond, to play game

Directions

For rice pudding: Put rice in a large heavy pot and add water to about 1 inch above the rice. Bring to a boil. Add 1 quart of milk and turn heat to low. Stir rice. Put lid on and cook for at least 30 to 45 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent rice from sticking to the bottom and burning. If rice is stuck, try not to scrape it up—you don't want ugly burnt bits mucking up your pristine white rice pudding! (Note: I used 1 1/2 quarts of milk and it took almost an hour and a half for the rice to absorb all that milk. One quart should be plenty, and the rice will be done quicker.) Cook rice until it is the consistency of thick oatmeal. The rice should be soft and not look like rice. It should have exploded, it is so full of creamy goodness. Give it a taste—careful, it's hot!—to make sure the rice is not hard. You do not want al dente rice pudding.

Move pot off heat. Stir in the sugar. Scrape the "caviar" or seeds from the vanilla bean pods (click link for tutorial) and stir in, making sure those lovely black dots distribute evenly. Let rice cool completely.

Once rice is cool, fluff with a fork and add a little milk if it appears too sticky. Using a hand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip heavy whipping cream until firm peaks form. (Feel free to add a little sugar, to taste, since the rice pudding isn't very sweet.) Carefully fold whipped cream into rice, making sure not to deflate all that light airiness you just whipped in. Add whipped cream in batches, to desired consistency. (I needed just 1 cup heavy whipping cream.)

Keep rice pudding covered in fridge until ready to serve.

For raspberry sauce: Pour frozen raspberries (no need to thaw) in medium pot. Add about 2 cups of water and sugar to taste. (I started with half a cup and added a few tablespoons more.) Cook over medium-high heat until raspberries fall apart. 

In a small bowl, mix equal parts cornstarch and cold water to make a slurry. Stir slurry into simmering sauce to thicken. (A slurry virgin, I had to do this several times; I used about 4 tablespoons of cornstarch total.) Continue to simmer sauce to cook out cornstarch taste but once the sauce reaches desired consistency, take off heat as cooking too long can undo the slurry's power.

To serve: Scoop rice pudding into bowls or individual ramekins. Top with raspberry sauce, which can be served warm or at room temperature. Optional: Garnish with toasted sliced almonds.

Tips: 

-Do-ahead: Rice pudding can be made a day in advance and stored in the fridge. For best results, fold in whipping cream just before you are ready to serve. The raspberry sauce also keeps well when stored in an air-tight container in the fridge. Use leftovers on ice cream or even your morning yogurt.

-Blanching the almond: To remove brown skin, soak raw almond in very hot water for a minute or two. Remove and rub with fingers or paper towel. Skin should peel right off.

If you try this recipe, I'd love to hear how you like it! Also, do you have any holiday food traditions?

Entertaining Eats : A Chic & Simple Sundae

I don't know about you, but the holidays always seem to instill in me a sense of carte blanche when it comes to consuming copious amounts of sweets without worry for the aftermath (also known as the extra poundage sure to be tacked onto my frame come December 31). "The happiest time of the year" means calories don't count, right? Right. (That's what New Year resolutions are for.)

Well, I have one more recipe to add to your holiday must-eat list. It's not a holiday dessert per se, but it has booze, nuts and fresh whipped cream and that all screams holiday to me. Even better? It's super fast and easy to put together but the taste and presentation is impressive. The perfect thing to serve when entertaining company. This dish takes care of the requisite end-of-meal coffee service, too!

So what is this amazing dessert? A Hazelnut Affogato Sundae.

The recipe is from the cookbook "5 Ingredient Fix: Easy, Elegant, and Irresistible Recipes" by Claire Robinson, host of the eponymous Food Network show 5 Ingredient Fix (as well as various iterations of Food Network Challenge).

What I love about Claire's show and cookbook is that all the recipes are prepared with five ingredients or fewer, which doesn't just make for simple cooking but it also lets those ingredients shine. What attracted me to the Hazelnut Affogato Sundae was the nuts (and, related, the nutty liqueur). Hazelnuts are my favorite kind, without question, and I absolutely have an unhealthy addiction to Nutella. But my first encounter with hazelnuts was not within a decadent chocolate spread but actually during the holidays. At Thanksgiving and Christmastime, my mom always puts out a bowl of mixed nuts, still in their shells, for cracking and snacking. Hazelnuts are not the easiest to crack, for sure—almonds for the win—but if I could successfully manage to get a nut out whole I was rewarded with the most delightful little bite.

I'm not usually a fan of coffee-laced ice creams, but the combination of crunchy hazelnuts and freshly whipped unsweetened cream really round out the espresso flavor that on its own may otherwise be too strong. (The recipe also calls for amaretti cookies, but I got by just fine without them if you can't find any.) I take my morning cup with a generous splash of creamer and that's just how I like this sundae—with an extra helping of whipped cream.

Of course, this sundae is a play on a traditional affogato. A true affogato is when a shot of hot espresso is poured over very cold ice cream—and then eaten immediately! You can definitely turn this twist on an affogato into the real deal if you have an espresso maker.

Hazelnut Affogato Sundae

Recipe from 5 Ingredient Fix | Serves 4

Ingredients

1 pint heavy whipping cream

1 1/2 tbsp. Frangelico

1 pint espresso gelato (I used Ciao Bella's Caffè Macchiato gelato)

1/4 cup blanched hazelnuts, toasted

2 amaretti cookies (Claire suggests Lazzaroni cookies)

Directions

With a whisk or handheld mixer, whip the cream in a bowl until very thick but still liquid; while whisking constantly, add the Frangelico and whip until soft peaks form. (At this point I placed the whipped cream in the fridge, covered, to keep it nice and cold while I roughly chopped the hazelnuts. The skins are easy to remove after the nuts are toasted; just rub with your fingers or a nubby towel. But it was late in the evening and I just wanted my dessert, so I kept the skins on. Never fear, despite my laziness it was still delicious!)

To serve, place 2 scoops gelato into each of four dessert bowls. Sprinkle a tablespoon of hazelnuts over the gelato and top with a healthy dollop of flavored whipped cream. Rub 1/2 an amaretti cookie along a fine grater over the whipped cream to garnish. Serve immediately.

If you make this sundae, be sure to let me know what you think in the comments. Also, do you have any quick and easy entertaining recipes you turn to during the holidays? I'd love to hear!

(Cookbook image via Hachette Book Group)

Sweet Fall Treat : Pumpkin Dump Cake

I made this easy cake on Halloween and totally forgot to post about it. Luckily, it is not just a Halloween-appropriate dessert. This Pumpkin Dump Cake is the perfect fall treat. It tastes like pumpkin pie, but it is so much easier to make. That's the thing about dump cakes. While they don't have the most appetizing or elegant name, they are simple, quick and delicious. You basically dump the ingredients in a pan and bake. Even better? You probably have most of the ingredients in your pantry and fridge already. So if you're craving something sweet this weekend, give this cake a go.

Pumpkin Dump Cake

Recipe via Tablespoon, with a few minor changes

Prep Time: 10 minutes | Total Time: 60 minutes | Serves 16

INGREDIENTS

1 (29 ounce) can pure pumpkin

1 (12 ounce) can evaporated milk

3 whole eggs

1 cup white sugar (I used half white, half brown for a deeper, molasses-like sweetness)

3 teaspoons cinnamon

1 (18.25 ounce) boxed cake mix (instead of the suggested Betty Crocker Supermoist Yellow Cake Mix, I used a Duncan Hines Spice Cake Mix for extra fall-time flavor)

1 cup chopped pecans (optional, but highly recommended)

3/4 cup butter, melted

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9x13 baking dish.

2. In a large bowl, mix pumpkin, milk, eggs, sugar and cinnamon until well blended. Spread pumpkin mixture in prepared baking dish. The mixture will be very wet! This is OK.

3. Sprinkle cake mix evenly over the top of the batter. If adding pecans (please do!), sprinkle them over the cake mix. Pour melted butter on top, evenly distributing over the dish. Bake 50 minutes.

4. Let cake cool, then cut into slices (which may fall apart like mine did, but it still tasted good!). For extra decadence, top with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream. I used Talenti Tahitian Vanilla Bean gelato and it was heavenly.

My husband loved this cake, saying it tasted just like pumpkin pie, and even a friend who watched our dogs over the weekend (while we were in Miami) enjoyed the leftovers. I will warn you: this makes a lot of cake! We were unable to finish the whole pan. So it is ideal for an autumn dinner party, or even to cap off a Thanksgiving meal.

If you give this recipe a whirl, I'd love to hear how you like it!