Dessert Weekend

If you don't know who The Pioneer Woman is, stop reading this blog immediately, and go to her blog to be inspired and charmed into adoration.

Many thanks to my sister-in-law for introducing me to the witty writing and recipes of The Pioneer Woman.

Anyway, now that you've perused her cooking blog (and the rest of her blog), you know how she presents her recipes with full step-by-step instructions and color photos. I had good intentions of doing just that before I started this recipe for Mocha Truffle Tartlets, but then I got distracted by actually making them.

I did at least manage to take some pictures of the final product, and I can endorse these as easy to make and a crowd-pleaser. I took them to a surprise birthday party. Happy birthday, Alexis! Sam liked them, too. His ringing endorsement was, "They look like quiche, but they're dessert!" (The exclamation point was not evident in his tone of voice, but I used creative license to spice up his quote.)

I didn't use the full amount of the cream cheese topping, so don't make as much as it tells you to make, or do a better job of evenly dispersing it than I did. Also, these are really rich, so one or two per person is plenty. If I make them again I might half the recipe.

I love baking and making desserts of all kind, so this weekend is super fun for me because I get to make an Italian chocolate cake (from Giada's latest cookbook) for small group Sunday night, too.

I try not to make full sized desserts for just the two of us, so when I have the opportunity to bake for a group, I indulge my culinary creativity. And, maybe when I make the cake I'll try a bit more to emulate The Pioneer Woman and have a post full of pictures. For now, enjoy looking at the tartlets, and consider making them yourself.