Earlier, I raved about Pizzeria Mozza, a great little restaurant in Los Angeles and what great food they have. Their signature dessert that everyone raves about is called Butterscotch Budino with Caramel Sauce. The first time I visited Mozza the waiter recommended it.

I have made this two times at home. The recipe was featured in the New York Times. It is not super easy but is worth the effort. The combination of the creamy butterscotch pudding, tart creme fraiche topping and a hint of fleur de sel salt is perfect. My friends were skeptical when I told them about it but became believers after the first bite!

I started with the Butterscotch Budino , which is basically Butterscotch pudding. The recipe said to wait until it turned dark drown, nutty color but it started as dark brown sugar so it was hard to tell when it had carmelized. The second time I went by the time and was happier with the results.

Next, I added the cream mixture followed by the butter and rum. The first time I forgot to add the milk and it broke up. I was able to whisk it in and it turned out after all. It seems to be forgiving in that even if every step is not perfected the end result is still a good thing.

I spooned the pudding into ramekins, covered with plastic wrap and refrigerated.

For the caramel sauce I swirled the sugar, corn syrup, water mixture and let it become amber color and added the cream mixture. It was a bit smoky amber with the vanilla beans showing.

I made the cream mixture but don’t think I thickened the cream enough first. The second time I made it a bit thicker. The last time I served in a little glass which was made a more attractived presentation. Both times I’ve made it the dessert has been a huge hit.

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So this is my first post with Tuesdays with Dorie. They are a group cooking their way through Dorie Greenspan’s Baking: From My Kitchen to Yours cookbook. I had only recently heard about Dorie and was intrigued so I picked up the book and gave it a try.

These are like homemade Snickers bars. I wished you could see the cute picture in the cookbook because mine were not that thick or pretty. But they tasted great. If you are considering trying this recipe I would add a layer of dulce de leche over the peanuts. That would also make it easier to have that nice smooth chocolate layer. I would also double the chocolate to make a thick layer. But that is just me…

The best part - I made the dulce de leche, which is amazing if you have never tried it. I used David Lebovitz’s recipe and it turned out great. A few years ago I made it in the can over the stove, but I’ve grown more cautious and didn’t feel like having the can explode on me! So here is the recipe.

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Today I am entering my very first foodie blog event - the Master Bake challenge. This is an event created by Nikki and this is the first month of the challenge. I am looking forward to meeting other food bloggers and see what they create.

This months ingredient is cinnamon. Deciding to do this the night before I leave town I had to create something using what I had in my pantry last night as the deadline is fast approaching. The recipe I came up with is a combination using a brownie from Nigella Lawson and a Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting from Emeril.

The brownie is a dense chocolate but a bit thinner than I expected. The Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting is very good but I should have made it a bit thicker. Either way, I still think these will get eaten up quickly.

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I needed a quick dessert to bring for a meeting. I had some cream cheese in the frig so I decided to try these. I just bought a new to me cookbook, Gale Gand’s Chocolate and Vanilla Cookbook. They are easy to make.

The recipe is from Gale Gand’s Chocolate & Vanilla Cookbook.

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For my first post I thought it was fitting to make the recipe that introduced me to the world of food blogs. After Sprinkles came to Orange County I went on a mission to find the recipe for my favorite cupcakes, Red Velvet Cupcakes. I knew Magnolia Bakery had one so I googled it and found Nosh With Me, where Hillary, an LA blogger had the recipe. I started reading her blog, following links to others and became inspired to try it myself.
I hope you enjoy!

Back to the cupcakes. I remember as a little girl growing up, my family doctor and a deacon at my church, would bring Red Velvet Cake to potlucks. I was fascinated with the deep red color and the great taste. Somehow it took me years, more than we will mention here, to try it.

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