Just A Bite Desserts

Last weekend we celebrated my daughter’s Sweet 16 on Long Island. I’m thrilled to say it went off without a hitch and was exactly what I had envisioned! After making formal bar and bat mitzvah celebrations for my kids in recent years, I wanted this event to be much more low-key but still sophisticated. We scouted locations and found a terrific lounge/nightclub style place without having to go into NYC. The venue’s walls and decor had the perfect vibe – vibrant red walls, wood floors and upscale, modern white furniture as you can see below. (See links at end of post.)

Plenty of delicious hors d’oeurves were served, including Pigs in a Blanket, Mini Egg Rolls, Pizza Bites, Quesadillas, Beef Sliders and more, but the opening Sushi Boats were the biggest hit!

To round out the event’s decor, I placed black and white damask buckets filled with assorted black, white and red candies on all the tables. For the centerpieces, I created ribbon topiaries with black, sparkling ribbons. (See below for link to tutorial.) The custom cocktail napkins were created to match the graphic on the invitations. Here’s a closer look:

The kids danced and sang the night away on the dance floor adjacent to the pre-set dessert table. Of course, the desserts were safely hidden away until the big reveal!

Desserts were carefully selected with teenagers in mind – delicious, fun and easy to eat! I debuted a cute dessert I’ve named Frost Bites. These were vanilla bean and dark chocolate frosting piped into mini push pops.

Dark Chocolate and Vanilla Bean Frost Bites by Just a Bite Desserts

Custom sugar cookies were nestled on cinnamon red hots and added pops of color to both ends of the table.

Decadent Brownie Pops, Mini Chocolate Chip Cookies by Just a Bite Desserts and custom Dark Chocolate Oreos with a damask design disappeared quickly from the table.

Brownie Pops, Chocolate Chip Cookies and Dark Chocolate Oreos

A sparkling cupcake tower was an eye-catching table centerpiece. Stuffed Red Velvet and Vanilla filled with Chocolate Cream Cupcakes were adorned with sparkling bon bons and wrapped in matching cupcake sleeves.

Sparkling Cupcakes

Cookie Dough Pops by Just a Bite Desserts were quickly snapped up and such fun to eat off a stick!

Here’s a look at the full table:

If you are located on Long Island or Manhattan and are making an event, let me help you create a fabulous, delicious dessert display around your theme or colors! We offer full service including set-up, dishes, linens, staff and take-down or are happy to simply cater your custom desserts. Delivery is available. Email me at paula@justabitedesserts.com or call 516.605.0214.

Vendors & Sources:

Venue ~ Chalet in Roslyn, NY

Damask Candy Buckets – Target

Ribbon Topiary Centerpieces by Just a Bite Desserts- Tutorial at Catch My Party

Frost Bites, Chocolate Chip Cookies and Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Pops by Just a Bite Desserts

Stay tuned for Part 2 of the Sophisticated Sweet 16 event!

As a baker, I’m always looking for exciting new recipes and fun ideas, which is why my collection of dessert oriented cookbooks is rapidly growing. Some books are pretty good, some aren’t as good and then there are the rare few that have terrific recipes and also teach the reader exactly how to put them together. Sarabeth’s Bakery – From My Hands to Yours by Sarabeth Levine is that type of cookbook. Sarabeth is a New York City award-winning pastry chef who has several successful businesses. She got her start by making a secret family recipe of jams which are sold in thousands of stores around the world.

With lengthy chapter introductions, baker’s notes, stunning photographs and in-depth instructions, you almost feel as if Sarabeth is in the kitchen with you as you attempt her mouth-watering recipes. Keep reading for a chance to win this fabulous cookbook! But first, let me share this wonderful recipe of hers that I baked today.

While everything Sarabeth makes looks amazing, I found myself drawn to her Rustic Apple Streusel Pie. Be sure to have a good block of time available as there are three parts to this recipe: the dough, the apple filling and the streusel. What follows is Sarabeth’s recipe, which can also be found on her Goddess of Bakedom blog here.

First, I assembled the ingredients for the Tender Pie Dough. Since this is a rustic pie, rather than a traditional one, only half of the dough recipe is used. I actually halved the recipe and only made one disk of dough. I don’t recommend this though, as the small amount of ingredients were hard to work with in my electric stand mixer. What follows is the full recipe. Prepare as it is written and divide the dough in half, wrap one half well for the freezer and wrap the other in plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator so it chills while you prepare the apples.

Ingredients for Tender Pie Dough

Tender Pie Dough Recipe adapted from Sarabeth’s Bakery

14 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, at cool room temperature, cut into tablespoons

1/3 cup whole milk

2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon superfine sugar

1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt

1. Beat the butter in the bowl of a heavy-duty stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment at high speed until the butter is smooth, about 2 minutes. With the mixer running, slowly add the milk, occasionally stopping the mixer and scraping down the sides of the bowl with a silicone spatula. The butter mixture should be fluffy, smooth, and shiny, like a buttercream frosting.

2. Mix the flour, sugar and salt together in a small bowl. With the mixer speed on low, gradually add the flour mixture and incorporate just until the dough forms a mass on the paddle and the sides of the bowl are clean.(While this did not happen for me, I pinched the dough together to form one large mass.) Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface. Knead a few times until it is smooth and supple. Divide the dough in half. Shape each portion into a disk, about 1 inch thick. Wrap each disk in plastic wrap. See below for freezing instructions for extra disk of dough.

3. Refrigerate until chilled but not hard, 30 minutes to 1 hour. (The dough can be refrigerated up to 1 day but it will be very hard, and should stand at room temperature for about 30 minutes before rolling out. The dough can also be frozen, double wrapped in plastic, for up to 2 weeks. Defrost in the refrigerator overnight.)

Ingredients for Apple Filling

Rustic Apple Streusel Pie adapted from Sarabeth’s Bakery

1 disk from Tender Pie Dough recipe

Apple Filling

4 pounds Granny Smith apples, peeled, cut into 1/4 inch thick slices (I used 3 pounds of Macouns and had plenty left over for a second pie or other recipe.)

2/3 cup superfine sugar

3 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling the dough

2 teaspoons pure maple syrup, preferably Grade B (I found this at Whole Foods)

2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Seeds from 3/4 Plumped Vanilla Bean or 3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (I used Pure Vanilla Bean Paste)

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Make sure to place your baking rack at the bottom third of the oven before pre-heating.

2. Peel apples, cut in half, then slice apples into thin, 1/4 inch slices. See photos below.

3. Combine sugar, flour, maple syrup, lemon juice, cinnamon and vanilla in a large bowl. Add apples and toss gently. (I used my hands for this step so the apples didn’t break.)

From Sarabeth’s baker’s note, I learned an easy way and sleek way to core and cut the apples for the filling. After they are peeled, slice the apples in half, through the core.

Then, lay the apple flat on the cutting board and begin to slice thin, 1/4 inch slices. Make neat, half-moons by cutting off apple sections that have pieces of the core on them.

After tossing apples with the mixture, they should look like this:

Assembling the pie

1. Lightly flour a work surface, such as a Silpat or baking mat. Unwrap the dough and rap the disk’s outer edge on the mat. Dust the top with flour. Roll out into a 15 inch round. (I ran into trouble here as my round was only about 11 inches and the dough split at the outer edges. Since this is a rustic style pie, it does not need to be perfect. I continued to follow the directions and all ended well!)

2. Transfer the dough carefully to a 9 inch pie pan, letting excess dough hang over the edges. Pour the apples into the crust, making them higher in the center of the pie. Bring up the edges of the dough and pleat or pinch them together, all the way around to form an edge of crust. (See below.)

3. Brush the exposed crust with a hand beaten egg.

4. Place the streusel over the exposed apples to cover, then sprinkle any remaining streusel over the crust. (See streusel recipe below.)

5. Place the pie on a half-sheet pan that has been covered with parchment paper. Bake pie about 30 minutes, then rotate the pan. Total baking time is about 50 minutes to one hour, until crust is golden brown and any juices that escape are thick. If crust is browning too quickly, tent it with parchment paper. Remove from oven and cool on wire rack for one hour. Serve warm or at room temperature. (For further decadence, add a scoop of Breyer’s Vanilla Ice Cream to each warm slice when serving.)

Streusel adapted from Sarabeth’s Bakery ( I doubled this recipe for the pie I made. This came in handy because as you can see, my pie crust didn’t cover much of the apples. Thankfully, the streusel covered it all.)

1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon unbleached all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon superfine sugar

1 tablespoon light brown sugar

1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

1/8 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1. To make streusel, combine flour, superfine sugar, brown sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl.

2. Stir the melted butter and vanilla together in another small bowl.

3. Gradually stir the butter mixture into the flour mixture, just until evenly moistened (you may not need all the butter, but I did).

4. Squeeze the mixture in your hands until thoroughly combined.  (I skipped this step as well as the next.)

5. Crumble the mixture in the bowl to make fine crumbs with some small lumps. (I preferred larger lumps throughout the streusel. See photo below.)

The end result…

Here’s a slice so you can see how pretty the thinly sliced apples look.

Can't stop at "just a bite" on this one!

This pie received 10 thumbs up from the 5 who sampled it throughout the day. This is one cookbook every baker should have! Here’s your chance to win one free from Just a Bite Desserts!

Enter up to 3 times by leaving a SEPARATE COMMENT on this blog post each time you do one of the following:

1. Leave a comment on the blog telling us what your favorite pie flavor is.
2. “Like” Just a Bite Desserts on Facebook and then come back here and tell us you became one. If you’re already a fan, leave a comment on our Facebook wall mentioning the Sarabeth’s Bakery cookbook giveaway. (Then come back here and leave a comment saying you did.)
3. Tweet this giveaway on Twitter using @JustABiteDssrts, with a link back here. Here’s a sample tweet: I’m entered to #win the Sarabeth’s Bakery cookbook #giveaway from @JustABiteDssrts! http://bit.ly/ug1iXd

Entries will be taken through Wednesday, November 2nd at 12 midnight and a winner will be chosen using Random.org, on Wednesday morning. Good Luck! (Offer available to U.S. residents only.)

Ever since Jessica over at how Sweet it is blogged about this Peanut Butter Brownie Fudge Trifle, I haven’t been able to get it out of my mind. I mean, if you saw something like this on your computer screen, could you stop thinking about it? I think not.

Which is why I decided to make it. And boy, was it gooood!  Each of the ingredients are so easy to put together, especially if you use shortcuts as Jessica suggested. I usually bake from scratch, but in this case, I followed Jessica’s basic rule of thought that shortcuts wouldn’t compromise this recipe. Not one bit. The key is to use quality ingredients.

Love chocolate? How about peanut butter? The two together? Yes? Then trust me, you will LOVE this trifle!

But before I get to the recipe, here are a couple of tips I thought I’d share…

Tip #1 - The recipe calls for chopped peanut butter cups. I found these small bags of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup Minis in bulk at my local BJs. The fact that they are super small and come unwrapped saved me a lot of time. I froze 4 bags of them, then sliced each cup in half for use in the trifle. Freezing (or at least chilling) them is a must before slicing. Simply use a sharp knife and away you’ll go.

Tip # 2 – For the brownies, I used a double box of Ghiradelli Triple Chocolate Brownies mix. I found this in BJs too. I followed the directions on the box for the double batch and used a 9 x 13 inch pan. The brownies came out double high and super fudgy.

Tip #3 – To quickly cut them into cubes after they fully cooled, I used a pizza cutter to make 70 bite-sized pieces. Next time, I might just make a single batch in an 8 x 8 pan as I had more than enough brownies for the dish I used.

Tip #4 – The original recipe calls for instant chocolate pudding. After reading the ingredients on the box of Jell-0 Instant Pudding, I opted to go with Kozy Shack Chocolate Pudding. Not only is it faster to use pre-made pudding, Kozy Shack tastes way better than instant and is all natural. None of that artificial color or flavor in my trifle. No way! (Special thanks to my sister for this great suggestion!)

Tip # 5 – For best results when making both the whipped cream and the peanut butter mousse-like mixtures, use the whip attachment on your stand mixer, not the beater.

Tip #6 – Be sure to follow the directions carefully and finish making the peanut butter mixture by hand, folding in the whipped cream with a spatula or spoon.

Once you start layering, your yummy dessert is going to start looking like this:

And then like this… (I actually filled in the center with more brownie cubes after I took this photo.)

Until you eventually get to this…

That is all. (Or, need I say more? Run, don’t walk, to your supermarket and start getting the ingredients to make this all occasion dessert!)

Peanut Butter Fudge Brownie Trifle (Adapted from How Sweet It Is – original recipe here)

Ingredients

A single or double batch of your favorite brownies, boxed or from scratch, cooled and cut into cubes (I used Ghiradelli Triple Chocolate Brownies)

1-2 22oz tubs of Kozy Shack Chocolate Pudding (I used 1 3/4 tubs)

4 small bags of peanut butter cups, chopped (I used Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups Minis)

2 cups heavy cream

3-4 tablespoons granulated sugar, depending on your desired level of sweetness

2 teaspoons clear vanilla extract

1 cup of creamy peanut butter (I used Reduced Fat Creamy Skippy)

1 cup of powdered sugar

2 tablespoons milk (I used 2% milk)

8 ounces of whipped cream cheese, room temperature (I used Temptee Cream Cheese)

{peanut butter mixture layer from this peanut butter pie recipe}

Directions

In the bowl of an electric mixer (or using a hand mixer), beat heavy cream, sugar and clear vanilla extract on medium-high speed until stiff peaks form. Transfer the whipped cream to another bowl and refrigerate until ready to use.

Combine peanut butter and cream cheese in mixing bowl and beat at medium speed. Scrape down sides of bowl until mixture is creamy. Add in powdered sugar and mix until just combined. Add 2 tablespoons of milk and mix until incorporated. Remove the bowl from mixer. Add 1 cup of whipped cream to the peanut butter mixture and fold by hand with a spatula or spoon until mixture is mostly combined.

Use your trifle dish or other pretty glass bowl and layer your ingredients in any order. I did as Jessica suggested and started with a layer of brownies, then the peanut butter, then a handful of chopped peanut butter cups, the chocolate pudding, whipped cream, and repeated it until I reached the top. I used a Wilton #4B open star tip to pipe the whipped cream flowers on top. You can sprinkle more chopped peanut butter cups on top for decoration if you like. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Tip #7 – A word of caution, if you’re taking this to a party and/or serving it to guests, be sure to keep the top layer of ingredients just below the top of the glass. This will ensure that the top of your trifle will remain intact after being covered in plastic wrap or tin foil.

{Please note that I was not compensated by any of the companies mentioned in this blog post.}

So, tell me, does peanut butter and chocolate do it for you? What dessert sends you over the edge – you know, the one you can’t get out of your mind until you make it?

Hey there, I know it’s been a while! I’ve been baking up a storm since we last met here at Just a Bite Desserts and hopefully soon I will have some special news for you! In the meantime, remember those tutorials for Pie Pops I made a while back? Well, in case you missed them, you can read the original post here and the tutorial with a better pastry recipe here. I had so much fun making those that I decided to make them again. This time, I used my new apple cookie cutter to create hand pies, the perfect Fall treat. After all, what says Fall better than apples and cinnamon?

Happy Fall to all of you and Happy New Year to those celebrating the Jewish New Year this week! Let me know what your favorite baked treats are this seaason!