Trip to New Orleans

I went to New Orleans for my birthday and had cake every single night.  This Baked Alaska from Antoine's was by far my favorite dessert of the trip! I wish I took photos of the inside but it was so perfectly sweet, fluffy and creamy.

Antoines in the oldest restaurant in the city, and completely haunted.  It has so many beautiful rooms each with their own stories.  This emerald green room was my favorite. 

My last meal in New Orleans was at the famous Commanders Palace, where we ate an amazing three course brunch while Jazz musicians played in the courtyard.   This Pecan Pie was my favorite!

Their strawberry short cake was pretty great too.



You can't go to New Orleans without eating at Cafe du Monde.
I had their begneits almost everyday. They are my favorite! 

Mini Pumpkin Pecan Pies

In honor of Fall, I decided to make a seasonal treat and instantly thought pumpkin! I found this super easy Mini Pumpkin Pecan Pie recipe from The Food Network and it turned out really well.

First I mixed the dry ingredients with freshly chopped pecans thanks to my new Cuisinart.

This turned into a nice, and super sticky, dough.

I divided the dough into 24 little sections and rolled them into balls, using tons of flour. These were pressed into mini cupcake tins and baked.

I used about one big scoop of this giant can of pumpkin to make the filling while the dough was in the oven.

Then I added the filling into the mini tins, topped each one with a full pecan, and continued to bake.

They turned out really well, sort of more like a muffin than a pie, but nevertheless very tasty.

Beau Rivage

We went to Beau Rivage in Malibu for Ilana's 25th birthday; The food was really good, and they had an amazing selection of desserts! We tried four different cakes:


Apple Tarte Tartin - This is not usually my thing, but I loved it!


Chocolate Cake - A good standard chocolate cake, but not the best I've ever had.


Tiramisu - I loved this! My second favorite of the night, it was so fluffy and flavorful.


Chocolate Pecan Pie - My favorite of all! It was so dense and crunchy with that perfect sweet/salty combo.