Health Bars for Dessert! June 17, 2009
Posted by Dorothy in bars, sweet eats.Tags: gnu fiber bars, clif bars, luna bars, lara bars, healthy dessert, gnu fiber chocolate brownie
13 comments
Everyone is looking for healthier dessert options these days, even me! I’ve been taste-testing “healthy” bars with dessert names recently. I’ve had everything from Clif Bars (carrot cake is the only flavor I like but I wouldn’t call it dessert), Luna Bars (i like the iced lemon bars but I wouldn’t call them dessert either), Larabars (all flavors are delicious, and I would definitely consider them a “snack-ey” dessert), and Gnu Fiber Bars. Gnu Fiber Bars are probably my favorite health bars out of the four mentioned. All of the flavors taste pretty good, they give you 50% of your daily fiber needs, and they’re not ridiculously sweet like Fiber One bars! Gnu Bars are all-natural and naturally sweetened!
The Chocolate Brownie Bars are amazing. They actually taste like a brownie! They definitely have a much stronger and deeper chocolate flavor than the chocolate bars from Clif, Luna, and Lara. The soft chewy texture also reminded me of actual brownies. Definitely crunchier than a real brownie, but as close as a “health” bar can get. The Banana Nut Bars are also pretty good. I could taste the fruit juice sweetner in the other flavors, but they were still tasty. But the Chocolate Brownie Bars are definitely good enough to eat for dessert!
YAY Free Food Time! June 2, 2009
Posted by Dorothy in information, sweet eats.Tags: free donuts, free food, free food in june, free friendly's, free ice-cream, free krispy kreme, free sonic
3 comments
Upcoming free food!
6/3 – Free Float at Sonic’s
6/3 – Free Iced Coffee at Au Bon Pain
6/5 – Free Donuts at Krispy Kreme
6/6 – Free Ice-Cream at Friendly’s
First week of June – free Chick-fil-A everyday (locations in Orange County, CA)
Enjoy!
One Life Goal Fulfilled: Hello Kitty Sweets May 27, 2009
Posted by Dorothy in cake, information, sweet eats.Tags: cute restaurants, edible hello kitty, hello kitty, hello kitty cake, hello kitty chocolate, hello kitty dessert, hello kitty gourmet, hello kitty meal, hello kitty mmorpg, hello kitty online, hello kitty pasta, hello kitty roller rescue, hello kitty sweets, hello kitty taipei, hello kitty taiwan, hello kitty themed restaurant, hello kitty video game, momoberry, sanrio restaurant, taipei restaurants
37 comments
One of the things that the readers of this blog do not know about me is that I am a Huge Hello Kitty Fanatic. I can’t believe I have managed to blog for this long and not mention my Hello Kitty obsession! Hello Kitty is not just an adorable character to me, she is a friend and source of inspiration (do I sound crazy? I hope not). I wrote my college admissions essay on Hello Kitty (she got me into UCLA and every other school I applied to), wrote two term papers in college about Hello Kitty, flew across the country to get my hands on a Hello Kitty Tokidoki, obsessively play Hello Kitty Online (if you’re into gaming, I recommend Hello Kitty Roller Rescue; its superfun), collect everything Hello Kitty; I will buy and overpay for ANYthing with Hello Kitty on it, my bedroom looks like a 4-year-old lives in it… yea, you get the idea. I love Hello Kitty!
And so, ever since it opened its doors January 2008, it has been one of my life goals to go to Hello Kitty Sweets, the official Hello Kitty themed restaurant and bakery in Taipei, Taiwan. I believe this is the only official Hello Kitty themed restaurant in the world! A fantasyland of Hello Kitty AND dessert?! My idea of heaven! And lucky me, I was able to go and now I get to share the fantasy with you!
fantasy decor
Hello Kitty Sweets is AmazinG, even for non-Hello Kitty aficionados. The décor is pure fantasy, and the food has all been “Hello Kitty-ized”, and everything is so adorable you’re afraid to eat it and destroy the fantasy. The entire building is pink, and done up with ribbon trimmings and sparkling chandeliers. The walls are quilted (think faux-Chanel), and even the staff are part of the fantasy, with cute pink aprons and kitty ears. Everything is fit for a princess!
Hello Kitty Puff Pastry
The food is extremely fusion, but very tasty. Everything on the menu is a set meal, aside from the cakes and pastries available in the bakery. We had a baked rice dish with cheese (Taiwanese attempt at risotto), and rice and seafood puff pastry in the shape of Hello Kitty’s head. Each entrée comes with a side of potato salad, an appetizer of sweet corn chowder, and a drink of your choice (we had the mint frappacino and the kiwi smoothie). Every entrée is gorgeously plated with a pretty salad and hello kitty designs made by condiments and spices. Each meal also finishes with a tiny piece of cake and fruit. The dessert was probably my least favorite, as it was light fluffy asian cake that looked like chocolate, but tasted more like vanilla. But the entrees and sides were all delicious!
Hello Kitty "risotto"
kiwi smoothie
The Menu is another source of fun at Hello Kitty Sweets. It comes in the form of a giant book, with full page color photos of Kitty in various outfits and settings, as well as pictures of every entrée and pretty desserts. Everything has detailed complete description so you can make an informed choice. One of my favorite parts of Hello Kitty Sweets is the window where you can watch the bakers making Hello Kitty desserts. All of the desserts are either Hello Kitty shaped, or have impressions of Hello Kitty somewhere, and are just completely Hello Kitty-ed out!
the making of Hello Kitty sweets
Momoberry-esque Dessert Kitty
Hello Kitty Sweets also has its own line of specific Hello Kitty Sweets merchandise. The Hello Kitty Sweets Kitty has eyelashes (somewhat like the Momoberry Kitty), wears stripes, and is always seen holding a cappuccino or slice of cake. Supercute!
If you plan on going to Hello Kitty Sweets, make sure you plan ahead! It is always crowded and there are always multiple groups celebrating their birthdays/baby showers/etc there. The place is usually packed, so make reservations if you can! Also, I was amazed by the amount of men at a Hello Kitty restaurant! There were a lot of couples, husbands and wives, but also bigger parties with quite a few teenage boys. I even saw one party of 10 where 9 women were celebrating the only male at the table’s birthday (I felt kind of embarrassed for him; they brought out a giant Hello Kitty cake with candles and everyone sang to him).
Hello Kitty seating
But everyone is happy at Hello Kitty Sweets! How can you not be, when surrounded by so much happiness, yumminess, sparkliness, prettiness, and sugar?!
hello kitty dessert
If you are lucky enough to visit, the address is: 90, Da-an Rd Sec 1, Taipei City (台北市大安路一段90號)
And I’ve been getting questions on how to subscribe to my blog; if you would like to subscribe by email go here. Or add www.dessertobsessed.wordpress.com to your RSS feed!
If you like reading about other sweet eats, check out my Dessert Tour of New York City!
All About Ice Cream – and Ice Cream Makers April 6, 2009
Posted by Dorothy in ice cream, information, sweet eats.Tags: caramel cone, chocolate, haagen dazs, ice cream, lemonade, peanut butter, summer, sundresses, waffle cone
10 comments
I am so loving the recent summer weather in Southern California! Wonderful sunny lazy days that make me want to pull on a sundress, squeeze lemonade, and eat ice-cream! Ice-cream is definitely one of my all-time favorite foods. I even enjoy it during the coldest of winter! Right now my current obsession is Deep Chocolate Peanut Butter from Haagen-Dazs in a gigantic waffle cone – sooooo peanut buttery and goooooood! The Caramel Cone from Haagen-Dazs is a close second favorite.
Eating Haagen-Dazs in Asia
Summer is always my favorite season, and I usually spend my summer eating ice-cream throughout Asia. Eating ice-cream is superfun in Asia because its extremely humid (you need to eat at least two ice-cream cones each day just to survive!), and ice-cream is so accessible and available everywhere on every street. Its so cheap and there are soooooo many flavors available. But I won’t be spending this summer in Asia (sadness!), so I think I need to start churning out my own ice-cream!
I’ve been looking at ice-cream makers, and trying to decide which one I should invest in, in preparation for the summer! I found this very useful guide, which I wanted to share with all of you!
One of the simple pleasures many of us enjoy is a scoop of our absolute favorite flavor of ice cream when we crave it the most. Whether we’re spending the day in the hot sun on the beach or are getting ready to curl up and watch a movie, a side of ice cream always seems to hit the spot. Part of the reason why ice cream is so wonderful is how convenient it is to obtain whether it’s in the store or at the park, but a great way to keep a stash of your favorite custom flavors is by simply making your own batch! By adding an ice cream maker to your cookware and dinnerware collection, you can control the ingredients you put into your personal flavor and take pride in the amazing ice cream creations that can be shared with your whole family.
If you’re looking for a versatile tool to add to your kitchen, many Cuisinart models are capable of making a variety of frozen drinks and desserts in just 20-30 minutes in a push of a button. The durable stainless steel construction includes a double insulated freezer bowl and automatic mixing paddles that give you the creamy and delicious texture you’re craving in your next helping of ice cream or frozen yogurt. Electric models are fast, reliable, and can be taken wherever your guests reside for drink or dessert refills. Many models come equipped with an ingredients spout that allows you to easily add in the components you want for your dessert. Next, simply turn the machine on and wait while your delectable mixture develops before your eyes!
For a more traditional approach to making ice cream, consider a White Mountain ice cream maker that offers both electric and manual models. The old-fashioned hand crank makers come with a cast iron frame and wooden bucket for your ice cream making needs. Be sure that you or your friends are prepared to churn out the mixture for 30-45 minutes depending how many hands you have to help out. After going through this process you can certainly take credit for all of the hard work put into churning your own batch of ice cream for your friends and family. If old-fashioned is your thing, be sure to make room for these manual makers as these four and six quart buckets can take up a lot of room in your kitchen.
A Delicious Taste of New York City! April 4, 2009
Posted by Dorothy in chocolate, cupcakes, sweet eats.Tags: best cupcakes, chocolate, healthy, japanese, new york city, nyc, restaurant, souffle, soy, tofu, valrhona
12 comments
Remember when I went on that wonderful dessert tour of NYC not so long ago? Well, I was sitting around and reminiscing about those wonderful chocolate souffle cupcakes from Kyotofu, and majorly craving them. They were voted the Best Cupcakes in NYC, and SO good! They melt in your mouth like truffles, AND have tofu in them (which kind of makes them healthy)! So I decided that I HAD to have some, even though I was on the West Coast and miles away from Kyotofu! I mean, I have a kitchen, and I know how to make Chocolate Souffle, so it can’t be that hard, right?
…not really. I tried variations of chocolate souffles, flourless chocolate cake, and even brownies, and then even combinations of the three, but nothing was right. They were all either too fudgy or too chewy or too crispy (well I think I overbaked that batch)… and if you think a chocolate souffle cupcake is just an overbaked chocolate souffle (like I did), let me tell you, you are wrong (overbaked chocolate souffles are not nearly as yummy as the real thing)! so I went to plan B – digging around Google with my handy dandy digging around Google skills aquired from college! I should’ve done this sooner, because I soon found the ACTUAL Kyotofu recipe! YAY!
mini-chocolate souffles cupcakes from kyotofu
I then proceeded to bake them, and they were SO delicious! Not EXACTLY like the ones I had in NYC, but closer than anything I had tried. I’m sure they’ll become perfection with more practice. Here’s the recipe, so try it out for yourselves! Just remember to use the best quality dark chocolate you can find, and to puree the tofu into smoothness BEFORE you blend it into the batter (I didn’t the first time… and ended up with tiny chunks of tofu in my cupcakes). Oh, and the recipe says it makes 24 mini cupcakes, but I got 36 mini cupcakes. The more the merrier!
Kyotofu’s Chocolate Souffle Cupcakes
2 cups dark chocolate (preferably Valrhona pellets, 64 percent)
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 tablespoon white miso
3 eggs
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup Japanese bread flour
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
3 1/2 tablespoons cocoa powder (preferably Valrhona)
1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 cup silken tofu
1/4 cup soy milk, unsweetened (preferably Vitasoy)
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. (1) Melt chocolate, butter, and miso in double boiler over low heat, stirring occasionally. When only small lumps remain, remove from heat and stir until completely smooth. Whip eggs until they reach “ribbon stage,” then pour chocolate mixture into mixing bowl with the eggs, varying the mixing speed to incorporate chocolate. (2) Combine all dry ingredients in a bowl, mixing together with hands or a whisk. Fold the dry ingredients into the chocolate, mixing until fully incorporated. Add tofu and soy milk slowly, mixing until fully incorporated. (3) Scoop batter almost to the top of 24 wax-lined mini–panettone cups (available at New York Cake & Baking, 56 W. 22nd St.) arranged on a baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes, rotating tray halfway through, until center springs back when touched. Dust with confectioners’ sugar if desired.
