My grandmother’s fudge cake. I don’t have the recipe, but similar recipes for both the cake and the icing (a true fudge icing) are in The Joy of Cooking
If interested, just find the best chocolate cake recipe and the best true (cooked to softball stage) fudge icing recipe in that cookbook.
Also, Brownies Cockaigne, from the same cookbook.
(I come from a culture background in which we are brainwashed to be excessively pro-chocolate).
We modernized those in the 2000s to crack brownies. Make brownies, put whole chocolate bars (symphony if ya got 'em) in the middle of the batter and bake. They’re super addictive.
@djslack@f00l Joy of Cooking has been a staple of our culinary prep for so long the cover has come off the copy we have and several of the index pages are loose. You can tell our favorite recipes by the amount of batter/butter stains etc on the appropriate pages.
I ran across a bunch of CD copies years ago and gave one to each child (as well as a hardcover copy) on their departure from the nest. They use them frequently. I ran across a copy of the disk the other day, and have it put away for safekeeping in case something happens to the hard cover one we have (spontaneous grease fire?) in the event it ever gets hard to find in paper format.
@chienfou@djslack@f00l I have my grandmother’s copy of that. Her comments are scattered throughout. My niece really coveted it and cooks a lot so I gave it to her. I’d look in it on occasion but not enough to justify keeping it from someone who’d use it as it was intended. I am presuming my middle sister has my mom’s copy.
Everyone loves a parfait. They’re super easy. Layer whipped cream, pudding, and then cake, cookies, brownies, fruit, or any combination of whatever you like. Repeat layers. If it’s just the two of you, you can make individual ones in tall glasses.
Spouse and kids love chocolate pudding, whipped cream, and chopped Oreos. Brownie chunks or chopped/mini Reese’s cups would plus it.
@katbyter We invited a neighbor for dinner a couple weeks ago. Since our blueberries are ripe and plentiful, I was going to make a cheesecake, but I forgot about the long cooling time, so instead I made no-bake blueberry cheesecake parfaits. They were super quick and easy to make and everyone raved about them. Highly recommended. https://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/blueberry-cheesecake-parfaits
Tiramisu is easier than it looks, and that can wait for you in the refrigerator so you don’t have to do the work the day of, so that’s one idea, but everyone swoons over ricotta cake, and it’s the easiest cake in the world, basically a pancake in a cake pan. Not too sweet, just perfect for both dessert lovers and those who usually say they don’t like cake. I use more or less this recipe from Bon Appetit, sometimes add lemon zest or almond extract, and I generally use fresh fruit not frozen, but straight up how it is written it works very well. bon appetit ricotta cake
My family members love red velvet cake with either chocolate frosting or cream cheese frosting and a chocolate ganache (although one prefers mirror finish to ganache) If you want the recipe, ping me in the reply. It’s not that hard and it is really good. At Valentine’s Day (and for my son’s wedding rehearsal dinner desert) I used heart shaped cookie cutters to make individual heart shaped cakes. If its just you and bf, this is the route to go because you only make one thin layer and then cut it. Fewer ingredients and no leftovers
For dinner, an easy-peasy but yummy dinner is roast chicken with carrots and potatoes. Just toss the cut up veggies with a small amount of rosemary, salt, and olive oil and place in roasting pan with a whole chicken or leg quarters. As the chicken roasts (in less than 1 hour) it will give additional flavor to the veggies. This is an easy one dish meal that everyone thinks is harder than it is.
Pavlova is a very impressive looking and easy dessert to make. You basically whip egg whites, sweetener and corn starch to make meringue. Make little bowl shapes of the meringue on parchment paper and bake. Make whipped cream using heavy whipping cream, sweetener, and cream of tartar. Just before serving, fill the little bowls with whipped cream and top with berries. You can even use aerosol whipped cream, but the real stuff is much more delicious. Makes a fantastic looking dessert.
@carl669 My youngest daughter and I are big fans of dark chocolate. She makes a similar dessert, with dense dark chocolate cake, mousse and ganache. She usually cuts back on the sugar since neither of us like overly sweet things. It is a rich and delicious dark chocolate “fix” for us junkies.
I don’t mind things that are difficult bc I bake and cook a lot and like to do it. He’s a chocolate person where I don’t really like chocolate so when I make deserts I usually go with things I will like but since it’s his bday I’m thinking I should maybe make something he would like. I was kind of thinking Chocolate lava cake and the chocolate mouse looks good but I’m not sure. I just made banana cream pie last weekend and that was really good. I’m a fruit and pasty type desert person or stuff like the banana cream pie.
As for deserts - Mojave
As for desserts - Crepes Suzette. Definitely use the technique where you rub the sugar cubes on the orange and lemon rinds before making the sauce. When you heat the brandy to pour over the dessert, heat it on low until you can just see a tiny wisp of vapor and little “legs” of alcohol running down the side. Make sure you have a clear/safe path and hurry (safely) to pour it over the crepes. You’ve got maybe 5 seconds for a perfect flame. The effect is best if you turn the lights low before you light it. Use a lighter with a long tip instead of a match or bic type lighter or else you may add the scent of burning hair (from your hand) to the aroma. It helps to have a team- one managing the crepes and the other to manage the brandy
@mehcuda67
I absolutely love crepes, my grandpa used to make them for me all the time and I’ve never had any as good as his. He died years ago and nobody remembers his recipe.
My ex used to make something called banana split cake. It was primarily butter, sugar, and eggs. It probably took a few months off my life expectancy with each bite. But it was tasty, and very simple to make. There is a variant which uses cream cheese in place of butter, but that’s really not much more than cheesecake, innit.
Preheat oven to 350.
For crust, mix crushed graham crackers and 1 stick of butter. Line bottom and sides of a 13 by 9-inch pan with mixture. Bake crust for 5 to 8 minutes.
Beat 2 eggs, 2 sticks butter, and 2 cups sugar until fluffy. Spread mixture on the cooled crust. Add a generous layer of crushed pineapple and layer of sliced bananas. Cover with whipped topping and sprinkle with nuts or graham crackers. Refrigerate for 1 hour. Enjoy. Die early.
@katbyter You are correct. Drained crushed pineapple. The ex always used a full 20oz can. She also tossed some maraschino cherries on top after sprinkling on some crushed graham crackers.
You could also make ice cream if you have a hand mixer. No ice cream machine needed.
2 cups heavy cream, whipped
Fold in one 14-oz can sweetened condensed milk (not evaporated milk)
1-2 teaspoons vanilla (or vanilla bean paste if you want more vanilla flavor, but you’d use less of that because it is more concentrated)
Pinch of salt
That’s your base vanilla ice cream. You can stop there or plus it. Add flavor like mint or cocoa and/or mix-ins of your choice – cookie dough or brownie nuggets, chopped Oreos, Reese’s – whatever mix-ins or fruit you’d get in your Dairy Queen blizzard. Fold those in, put in a container and freeze overnight. Scoop, serve, and enjoy!
@Star2236 Yes just fold in and freeze. Make sure you don’t over beat the whipping cream though, or it will start to turn to butter, and your ice cream, though tasty, will leave a film on the roof of your mouth.
My favorite BDay cake lately: Black forest cake.
My wife makes the best cakes. She adds coffee to the cake to make it too good.
Great chocolate cake with a layer of cherries in the middle.
If by homemade you mean driving 700 miles to New Orleans to get a dozen (or two) freshly “homemade” canollis from Angelo Brocato’s then that’s my winner. The regular half-and-half, please. If you know what that means, then you know what a real canolli is. Yeah, you right!
/image Angelo Brocato’s canolli
@blaineg@tinamarie1974
I think the Italian grocers (Amighetti’s? Colino’s? Volpi?) carry the Brocato’s cookies, but … the fresh canollis are over 9000. Not sure what they fill them with up here in STL on The Hill, but it’s definitely not the same.
@blaineg@mike808 the ones on the hill taste like what you get in Sicily. It is basically ricotta, powdered sugar, nutmeg, little chocolate chips…I would have to look @ my recipe I think I am forgetting something.
@blaineg@tinamarie1974 I think Brocato’s might have some anise in it. They might use more ricotta or fold in whipped cream here in STL because the filling seems looser.
I would compare them in a side-by-side taste-off, but the Brocato’s canollis, for some reason, never survive the trip back to St. Louis.
@blaineg@mike808 they sell two types here in STL at the major bakeries. The cream ones and the ricotta ones. If you don’t ask for ricotta you get cream. The ricotta ones are traditional, but no anise in STL…at least not traditional sicilian ones.
@tinamarie1974 Ah. TIL. I’ll have to ask for the ricotta ones. I must have gotten the cream-filled ones all tarted up for the tourists. I do have some Eye-talian heritage, but it is way back up in the OG Cajun family tree.
My grandmother’s fudge cake. I don’t have the recipe, but similar recipes for both the cake and the icing (a true fudge icing) are in The Joy of Cooking
If interested, just find the best chocolate cake recipe and the best true (cooked to softball stage) fudge icing recipe in that cookbook.
Also, Brownies Cockaigne, from the same cookbook.
(I come from a culture background in which we are brainwashed to be excessively pro-chocolate).
@f00l brownies cockaigne?
/giphy Tony Montana
We modernized those in the 2000s to crack brownies. Make brownies, put whole chocolate bars (symphony if ya got 'em) in the middle of the batter and bake. They’re super addictive.
@djslack @f00l
Joy of Cooking has been a staple of our culinary prep for so long the cover has come off the copy we have and several of the index pages are loose. You can tell our favorite recipes by the amount of batter/butter stains etc on the appropriate pages.
I ran across a bunch of CD copies years ago and gave one to each child (as well as a hardcover copy) on their departure from the nest. They use them frequently. I ran across a copy of the disk the other day, and have it put away for safekeeping in case something happens to the hard cover one we have (spontaneous grease fire?) in the event it ever gets hard to find in paper format.
@chienfou @djslack @f00l I have my grandmother’s copy of that. Her comments are scattered throughout. My niece really coveted it and cooks a lot so I gave it to her. I’d look in it on occasion but not enough to justify keeping it from someone who’d use it as it was intended. I am presuming my middle sister has my mom’s copy.
Flourless chocolate cake could be up there
Everyone loves a parfait. They’re super easy. Layer whipped cream, pudding, and then cake, cookies, brownies, fruit, or any combination of whatever you like. Repeat layers. If it’s just the two of you, you can make individual ones in tall glasses.
Spouse and kids love chocolate pudding, whipped cream, and chopped Oreos. Brownie chunks or chopped/mini Reese’s cups would plus it.
@katbyter We invited a neighbor for dinner a couple weeks ago. Since our blueberries are ripe and plentiful, I was going to make a cheesecake, but I forgot about the long cooling time, so instead I made no-bake blueberry cheesecake parfaits. They were super quick and easy to make and everyone raved about them. Highly recommended.
https://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/blueberry-cheesecake-parfaits
/image parfait
Tiramisu is easier than it looks, and that can wait for you in the refrigerator so you don’t have to do the work the day of, so that’s one idea, but everyone swoons over ricotta cake, and it’s the easiest cake in the world, basically a pancake in a cake pan. Not too sweet, just perfect for both dessert lovers and those who usually say they don’t like cake. I use more or less this recipe from Bon Appetit, sometimes add lemon zest or almond extract, and I generally use fresh fruit not frozen, but straight up how it is written it works very well. bon appetit ricotta cake
My family members love red velvet cake with either chocolate frosting or cream cheese frosting and a chocolate ganache (although one prefers mirror finish to ganache) If you want the recipe, ping me in the reply. It’s not that hard and it is really good. At Valentine’s Day (and for my son’s wedding rehearsal dinner desert) I used heart shaped cookie cutters to make individual heart shaped cakes. If its just you and bf, this is the route to go because you only make one thin layer and then cut it. Fewer ingredients and no leftovers
For dinner, an easy-peasy but yummy dinner is roast chicken with carrots and potatoes. Just toss the cut up veggies with a small amount of rosemary, salt, and olive oil and place in roasting pan with a whole chicken or leg quarters. As the chicken roasts (in less than 1 hour) it will give additional flavor to the veggies. This is an easy one dish meal that everyone thinks is harder than it is.
I personally love “An Italian in My Kitchen” Check out her web site and her recipes. Anything I have tried is delicious!
Pavlova is a very impressive looking and easy dessert to make. You basically whip egg whites, sweetener and corn starch to make meringue. Make little bowl shapes of the meringue on parchment paper and bake. Make whipped cream using heavy whipping cream, sweetener, and cream of tartar. Just before serving, fill the little bowls with whipped cream and top with berries. You can even use aerosol whipped cream, but the real stuff is much more delicious. Makes a fantastic looking dessert.
@moondrake really pretty!
@tinamarie1974 I made those for friends a couple of weeks ago. I only had blueberries and blackberries but strawberries and raspberries look better.
https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/my-kind-of-chocolate-birthday-cake-232272
i’ve only made it 4 times. takes about 6 hrs due to chilling time needed in fridge between some steps. it’s an ungodly rich “cake”, but so, so good.
@carl669
Looks really good. I would even eat some of that too (not a big chocolate person).
@carl669 My youngest daughter and I are big fans of dark chocolate. She makes a similar dessert, with dense dark chocolate cake, mousse and ganache. She usually cuts back on the sugar since neither of us like overly sweet things. It is a rich and delicious dark chocolate “fix” for us junkies.
If you are looking for something that isn’t that difficult but is delicious I would recommend chocolate mousse
https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyler-florence/chocolate-mousse-recipe-1957453
I don’t mind things that are difficult bc I bake and cook a lot and like to do it. He’s a chocolate person where I don’t really like chocolate so when I make deserts I usually go with things I will like but since it’s his bday I’m thinking I should maybe make something he would like. I was kind of thinking Chocolate lava cake and the chocolate mouse looks good but I’m not sure. I just made banana cream pie last weekend and that was really good. I’m a fruit and pasty type desert person or stuff like the banana cream pie.
@Star2236
too bad you just did banana cream pie… I was going to suggest bananas Foster…
There’s just something magical about flaming desserts.
As for deserts - Mojave
As for desserts - Crepes Suzette. Definitely use the technique where you rub the sugar cubes on the orange and lemon rinds before making the sauce. When you heat the brandy to pour over the dessert, heat it on low until you can just see a tiny wisp of vapor and little “legs” of alcohol running down the side. Make sure you have a clear/safe path and hurry (safely) to pour it over the crepes. You’ve got maybe 5 seconds for a perfect flame. The effect is best if you turn the lights low before you light it. Use a lighter with a long tip instead of a match or bic type lighter or else you may add the scent of burning hair (from your hand) to the aroma. It helps to have a team- one managing the crepes and the other to manage the brandy
@mehcuda67
I absolutely love crepes, my grandpa used to make them for me all the time and I’ve never had any as good as his. He died years ago and nobody remembers his recipe.
@mehcuda67 @Star2236 @RiotDemon
see this thread for more on crêpes
My ex used to make something called banana split cake. It was primarily butter, sugar, and eggs. It probably took a few months off my life expectancy with each bite. But it was tasty, and very simple to make. There is a variant which uses cream cheese in place of butter, but that’s really not much more than cheesecake, innit.
Preheat oven to 350.
For crust, mix crushed graham crackers and 1 stick of butter. Line bottom and sides of a 13 by 9-inch pan with mixture. Bake crust for 5 to 8 minutes.
Beat 2 eggs, 2 sticks butter, and 2 cups sugar until fluffy. Spread mixture on the cooled crust. Add a generous layer of crushed pineapple and layer of sliced bananas. Cover with whipped topping and sprinkle with nuts or graham crackers. Refrigerate for 1 hour. Enjoy. Die early.
@ruouttaurmind that seems like a Paula Deen amount of butter!
P.S. Assuming the pineapple is drained, for anyone wanting to try this.
@katbyter You are correct. Drained crushed pineapple. The ex always used a full 20oz can. She also tossed some maraschino cherries on top after sprinkling on some crushed graham crackers.
@katbyter @ruouttaurmind
That sounds a lot like your basic Saint Louis Gooey Butter Cake recipe.
The traditional recipe simply calls for cake flour, butter, sugar, eggs and a dusting of powdered sugar.
https://m.riverfronttimes.com/foodblog/2017/01/12/the-10-best-spots-for-gooey-butter-cake-in-st-louis
@katbyter @mike808 @ruouttaurmind gooey butter cake is amazing. Paula Dean has a really good recipe. Center piece is the best!!!
@ruouttaurmind
Holy butter
You could also make ice cream if you have a hand mixer. No ice cream machine needed.
2 cups heavy cream, whipped
Fold in one 14-oz can sweetened condensed milk (not evaporated milk)
1-2 teaspoons vanilla (or vanilla bean paste if you want more vanilla flavor, but you’d use less of that because it is more concentrated)
Pinch of salt
That’s your base vanilla ice cream. You can stop there or plus it. Add flavor like mint or cocoa and/or mix-ins of your choice – cookie dough or brownie nuggets, chopped Oreos, Reese’s – whatever mix-ins or fruit you’d get in your Dairy Queen blizzard. Fold those in, put in a container and freeze overnight. Scoop, serve, and enjoy!
@katbyter snapping this for future reference!
@katbyter
So after beating the cream, you just fold in the rest and freeze? Never knew it was so easy, definitely gonna make in the future.
@Star2236 Yes just fold in and freeze. Make sure you don’t over beat the whipping cream though, or it will start to turn to butter, and your ice cream, though tasty, will leave a film on the roof of your mouth.
My favorite BDay cake lately: Black forest cake.
My wife makes the best cakes. She adds coffee to the cake to make it too good.
Great chocolate cake with a layer of cherries in the middle.
If by homemade you mean driving 700 miles to New Orleans to get a dozen (or two) freshly “homemade” canollis from Angelo Brocato’s then that’s my winner. The regular half-and-half, please. If you know what that means, then you know what a real canolli is. Yeah, you right!
/image Angelo Brocato’s canolli
@mike808 I don’t know anything about canolli, but a friend that had lived in Italy for a few years made some, and it was amazing.
@blaineg
@mike808 @blaineg I’ve made them since I can remember and have had them in Sicily. So. Very. GOOD!!!
@blaineg @tinamarie1974
I think the Italian grocers (Amighetti’s? Colino’s? Volpi?) carry the Brocato’s cookies, but … the fresh canollis are over 9000. Not sure what they fill them with up here in STL on The Hill, but it’s definitely not the same.
@blaineg @mike808 the ones on the hill taste like what you get in Sicily. It is basically ricotta, powdered sugar, nutmeg, little chocolate chips…I would have to look @ my recipe I think I am forgetting something.
@blaineg @tinamarie1974 I think Brocato’s might have some anise in it. They might use more ricotta or fold in whipped cream here in STL because the filling seems looser.
I would compare them in a side-by-side taste-off, but the Brocato’s canollis, for some reason, never survive the trip back to St. Louis.
@blaineg @mike808 they sell two types here in STL at the major bakeries. The cream ones and the ricotta ones. If you don’t ask for ricotta you get cream. The ricotta ones are traditional, but no anise in STL…at least not traditional sicilian ones.
@tinamarie1974 Ah. TIL. I’ll have to ask for the ricotta ones. I must have gotten the cream-filled ones all tarted up for the tourists. I do have some Eye-talian heritage, but it is way back up in the OG Cajun family tree.
@mike808 well I hope you like them! Personally I like the ones from Missouri Bakery the best! My heritage comes from moms side, 3rd generation US
I mean let’s be honest. He probably just wants you for desert. Just saying
@unksol It’s dessert. Just saying. And agree.
/youtube sQGn2zRnQGc
@mike808 in my defense the OP went with desert… He would probay find that… Insert your own wet/dry joke here
@unksol You did get the Cardi B WAP reference in the video, right?
@mike808 honestly I only watched 20 seconds of that and about all I could make out was “pussy”
The only reason I know she exists is her tax rant
@mike808 and this
@mike808 hmm. I think this is the right one
@mike808 @unksol
https://www.google.com/amp/s/theslot.jezebel.com/wet-pussy-stumps-ben-shapiro-1844678613/amp
Apple and cherry cobbler with vanilla bean ice cream
@cranky1950 I’d add blueberry and blackberry cobbler to that list with the ice cream too.