Here at Spectacularly Delicious we strive to present a little bit of something for everybody -- in the USA and the big wide world beyond. With our 2012 readership growing in such far flung reaches as Fiji, Laos and Azerbaijan perhaps, just maybe, we are inching along toward that goal. So let's close out the year with a look at the most popular stories and recipes visited by … [Read more...]
Peach Plum Pignoli — “THREE P TART”
Followers of Spectacularly Delicious may recall the blueberry semifreddo scandal of July 4th, 2011. Once again invite to dine chez Weiss, this time around I was determined to present a dessert that lived up to its billing. The sage advice in Ghostbusters' theme came to mind, albeit with a twist ending -- "If there's something weird, and it don't look good -- Who ya gonna … [Read more...]
Helen Gurley Brown’s Zabaglione with Peaches and Meringue
Frothy and sweet. Smooth and pretty. Ripe, juicy and totally seductive. These qualities are dead-on for Helen Gurley Brown's recipe for Zabaglione. They also what any girl could be providing she had a little moxie -- and a subscription to Cosmopolitan magazine. The 1969 Helen Gurley Brown's Single Girl's Cookbook is also true to her revolutionary world view. Like all … [Read more...]
RECIPE: HELEN GURLEY BROWN’S ZABAGLIONE WITH PEACHES AND MERINGUES
Zabaglione recipe adapted from Helen Gurley Brown's Single Girl's Cookbook (Updated with fresh peaches and meringues) Helen Gurley Brown recommended the egg whites be saved for fluffy scrambled eggs or gin fizzes. The Spectacularly Delicious enhancement turns the whites into little meringues kisses with are folded into the foamy zabaglione with slices of ripe peaches. 6 … [Read more...]
GRILLED APRICOTS WITH HONEYCOMB
The recipe, or guide actually, for grilled apricots (or peaches or plums or nectarines...) is simple: tree-ripe fruit and a well-cleaned grill. Ripeness is a no-brainer; a clean grill ensures no transfer of residual flavors from previous grillings. I turn mine up high for a good 10 minutes (my humble brand X gas grill reaches an impressive 500 degrees very quickly) and then … [Read more...]
WHITE AND DARK CHOCOLATE FONDUE
Bubble, bubble without the toil and trouble in this recipe for dueling White and Dark Chocolate Fondue. One of these cute little fondue pots appeared on my desk recently ("We figured if anyone wanted it, it would be you...") and the other was a yard sale find. If you're not blessed with two dessert fondue pots, well I feel sorry for you, I really do. It's fine to make one or … [Read more...]
FREESTYLE FRANGIPANE CHERRY PIE
Rustic yet refined, this recipe for Freestyle Frangipane Cherry Pie is a summer show-stopper. It has a devil-may-care irregularity about it, fittingly so, since the taste is anything but common. The chewy crust envelops a heap of sweet ripe cherries with a surprise bottom layer of a thick almond custard lurking below. Better still it's really not all that hard to … [Read more...]
DECORATING CAKES WITH FLOWERS — WIN A STEM GEM PRIZE!
What's prettier than a cake decorated with flowers? A rhetorical question of course, but the Taj Mahal, Jeff Aquilon as photographed by Bruce Weber in the late '70s and your own newborn baby are equally acceptable answers. But India is a long way off, it's been 30 years since Jeff hung up his Speedos as captain of Pepperdine's water polo team and making a baby … [Read more...]
DIAMOND JUBILEE CAKE: LONG LIVE THE QUEEN!
A Buckingham Palace favorite, this recipe for Diamond Jubilee Cake is Her Majesty's favorite tea cake, as well as the birthday cake of choice for the young royal princes. Also known as Chocolate Biscuit Cake (how terribly common....) this was the groom's cake Wills chose when he tied the knot with cute little Kate. So why, you may ask, do the Brits … [Read more...]
MacARTHUR PARK CAKE – IN HONOR OF DONNA SUMMER
Since Donna Summer famously sang she'd "never have that recipe again," we've created a recipe for MacArthur Park Cake that will endure. Yes, it does take a chunk of time to bake it, but I'm sure that we can take it, especially to celebrate the unbridled joy Donna's heart-pounding anthems brough us back in those halcyon days of disco. This triple-layer chocolate cake, … [Read more...]