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[side_show]

I've been invited to a friend's dinner, and agreed to bring dessert at her request.  She's a certified foodie - we both go on an on about cooking and gardening, and I had just bragged to her about the mole poblano I'd made last weekend.  The problem? I don't make dessert - apart from a couple batches of cookies and pre-mixed cake mixes... I'm not much of a dessert/baking person, but I know I'd have to hang my head in shame if I brought something from a box...

Suggestions?

Also, since the meal will (probably) be salmon, I thinking something not-too heavy would be best.

[robot_god]

Also, since the meal will (probably) be salmon, I thinking something not-too heavy would be best.

That is the craziest sentance ever uttered.  Shame.



Italian cheesecake, the one with ricotta and not too sweet.

[wombat]

You agreed to make dessert, or just to bring it?  Because no one ever turned their noses up at a bunch of pints of Ben and Jerry's.  And I am speaking as someone who makes a lot of dessert from scratch.

If you must: brownies are easy. And they never come out looking like the ones from the box, so it will be clear that you did not cheat.

[slink]

Tiramisu! God's own dessert, and not at all difficult to make.

[littlefallsmets]

Tiramisu! God's own dessert, and not at all difficult to make.

I'm gonna have to go with this, too.

Think about it:

It's the dessert so good, not even Olive Garden can screw it up.

That's like God making a rock so heavy, even God couldn't lift it, six blue arms and all.

Think about it.

[side_show]

I'd have to vote against the Tiramisu... I'm a big hater of soggy, and I always equate any baked good soaked in anything with barfing.  Sorry - I used to get  extremely car sick all the time, and after a long drive to grandmas as a kid she was waiting for me with a sandwich she'd accidentally set down in a puddle of dish water.  And then I vomited.  And then I vomited some more.  And some more. 

This means no bread pudding or any cakes in sauces.  One of the many reasons I'm not a desert person. 

Also rice pudding disgusts me, again because it was always served at grandma's after long barfy car rides.

[linnea]

I'd have to vote against the Tiramisu... I'm a big hater of soggy, and I always equate any baked good soaked in anything with barfing. 

Jesus, Mel! You poor thing... Tiramisu is one of life's great pleasures. One of my fondest memories of Italian restaurants is one in Colorado that flew in their signature Tiramisu dessert from fuck*ng Milan. It was unbeliveably delicious. Also, I feel sad that you hate bread pudding. I make a ridiculously delicious bread pudding with a Tennessee bourbon cream sauce and vanilla ice cream. It is not soggy, but rather unspeakably delicious.

I am also a big fan of cheesecake -- chocolate is best, but I did win a blue ribbon at one of our town festivals for my White Chocolate Blueberry Cheesecake. Unfortunately, it takes about 2 hours to make, and you have to bake it in a water bath in the oven, which some people apparently find objectionable because it's difficult. I have my own entire system set up, and the worst part (for me) is wrapping the springform pan in ten layers of foil to prevent water from getting in.

If you're not much for baking, then I'd definitely get some Ben & Jerry's, or maybe some Haagen Daz Dulce de Leche.

[theinevitable]

man, the whole Dulce de Leche thing caught me way the fuck off guard. it went from "oh man, you HAVE to try this stuff. I had some in Chile, and my grandparents brought me some... it's called Dulce de Leche?"
to
"hello, welcome to Dulce de Leche, Inc. Where everything you could ever want or not want in the flavor of Dulce de Leche is... in that flavor."

also: I second the Not Liking Bread Pudding camp. I just don't get it. My mom makes some, and people rave about it... but it's just soggy chocolate bread, with warm sauce. What?

[robot_god]

Yeah.  I love bread pudding, and have ordered it in diners over other desserts, but it really is nothing special.

[KeithHernandez]

Tennessee bourbon cream sauce

Maybe I am an alcoholic, but bourbon only comes from Kentucky, Tennessee just makes American Whiskey.

[CortJstr]

I can't eat tiramisu because it has a coffee flavor. And coffee is a crime against humanity. Cheesecake just isn't my thing. I like the raspberry sauce much more than the actual pie. Bread pudding creeps my out just because I know they make it from the pieces of bread that people leave on their tables.

Basically I'm really picky is what I'm getting at here.

[linnea]

Maybe I am an alcoholic, but bourbon only comes from Kentucky, Tennessee just makes American Whiskey.

Whoops, my bad. That's right, bourbon comes from Bourbon, KY.

Jack Daniels, tips its hat to tradition and refrains from ever referring to its sour mash whiskey as bourbon.

[slink]

Also rice pudding disgusts me, again because it was always served at grandma's after long barfy car rides.

I'm with you on most of this. I hate rice pudding, can't stand bread used in puddings  (soggy bread is just the worst), but tiramisu I just adore. I'm not really a dessert person to be honest, not much of a  sweet tooth, but tiramisu I find hard to resist.

[wombat]

Cheesecake is great but I wouldn't make it for guests if I'd never made it before.  The thing about brownies is that it requires almost no baking technique - you don't even cream butter, you just melt it - so you should be fine as long as you can measure accurately.  And, there is such a wide range of acceptable textures in brownies that no matter how they come out, you can figure that that is how they are supposed to be.

[side_show]

I was sort of leaning toward cookie-stuffed-brownies, but I also like the idea of making a banana creme pie, or this recipe I have for an ice cream bomb involving Oreos, peanut butter and chocolate and a whipped cream layer... 

We actually had to postpone the dinner until next week since the people in Indonesia asked to have a copy of my full speech for Saturday to publish in the program.   

I think the pie or the bomb are both sort of acquired tastes - some people don't like peanut butter or bananas, so I'm thinking I'll run the three choices by the host and see what she says.

Also, the Dulce de Leche thing even spilled over into a coffee flavour offered at 7-Elevens here for a while.  I never tried it.  I'm not sure about the rest of the world, but some of the coffee flavours they offer locally are just beyond disgusting.  Peach Cobbler Latte?  Pumpkin spice?  Blueberry?  Sick.