sweets for the sweet

so yeah, making meals at home has been lots of fun.  but you know what else is even better?  DESSERT.

a trip to the asian grocery store yielded a case of mangoes and a bag of sweet rice.  add some coconut milk, sugar and a little salt and you get the most delicious treat ever - mango sticky rice.

and because i'd opened a can of evaporated milk for something - maybe the mochi bubble waffles? - along with some leftover sweetened condensed milk that went in something else that i can't remember, i figured it was the perfect time to try my hand at a tres leches cake.  a quick google search later i was mixing it up and then a little while later i pulled this out of the oven:

so basically it's like a poke cake.  you let the cake cool for a bit before using a fork to poke a bunch of holes in the top and then you mix up the "syrup" and pour it on, saturating the cake completely.

refrigerate it for awhile and then mix up the topping.  most of the recipes i found actually called for whipped cream, but i wanted it to be like the cake we get at porto's so i went the meringue route.  i stuck it under the broiler for just a minute or two so the meringue got a little toasty and then we dug in.

holy moly...so good.  just looking at that makes me want to make it again and eat it all.

i did learn my lesson about making sure there's some space between the heating element for the broiler and the baking rack, though.  i learned that shit the hard way.  i'd mixed up a batch of salty & sweet s'mores bars and topped it with giant marshmallows:

and then i popped that pan into the oven with the broiler on, but didn't realize how close the pan was to the top.  when i opened the door a couple of minutes later, i was met with a pan of fire.  and i panicked.  thank goodness the old lady and her special friend were there, because i was literally frozen and couldn't remember any of the things we've been taught about fires in the kitchen.  the bean actually took video of my panic, the little shit.  and no, i'm not sharing it.  but here's what we ended up pulling out of the oven:

all we had to do was scrape the burnt layer off the top (although lots of people like their marshmallows all burnt like that) and the rest of it was fine.  but i think i was traumatized by the whole experience and couldn't bring myself to eat more than a bite or two.  oy vey.  such a failure.

speaking of failures, i also managed to screw up another s'mores-themed dessert.  i'd seen a few people post about making s'mores eggrolls using their air fryer, which sounded delicious.  so i decided to give it a shot.

i assembled three of those bad boys and put them into the air fryer, where the marshmallows decided they didn't want to stay inside the wrappers and exploded right out onto the rack.  yarg.

by the time i turned it off and pulled them out of there, it was a sticky mess and the marshmallows were pretty much eviscerated.

on a brighter note, i did bust out a pretty good chocolate bundt cake.

AND i even dipped a toe back into the cookie making waters with this super fun request from a friend who'd finalized her divorce after six long years.

this copycat starbucks lemon loaf went to a friend who helped us out when we were in a bind:

a super random craving had me going back to smitten kitchen's almond-vanilla rice pudding recipe, something i hadn't made in probably a decade.  it was so good, i made a second batch two days later.

and lest you think the poor hub was being left out of all the dessert-y goodness, here's a keto-friendly cheesecake i made for him:

plus a lemon bundt cake that he really seemed to enjoy.

i've got a recipe for some japanese bakery-style milk bread that i've been dying to try, and there's a rum cake that's calling my name.  OH!  and we finally put all of our fitness equipment in the old lady's old room, so now there's no excuses.

bring on the sweets!

i definitely want s'more

after competition was over, we took the bean to a pretty forgettable spot for sushi dinner.  well, she was perfectly satisfied with it - which is all that really matters anyway, right?  but we definitely made up for a mediocre dinner with a pretty fantastic dessert stop that took us a little out of our way.  totally worth it.

knowing very well how much i love all things marshmallow, the old lady had shown me an instagram account for a place called toasted mallow.  they do custom s'mores and milkshakes using fresh ingredients and housemade marshmallows in all kinds of flavors.  and of course, it was nowhere near home - more like gilbert, arizona.  but when the hub pulled up yelp while we were finishing dinner, i was pretty stoked to find it on the list of recommended places.  15 miles away from where we were, but he's always such a good sport in indulging my shenanigans.  and so about 20 minutes later, we were pulling up here:

it was pretty empty when we walked in, but there was a lady working behind the counter and the most delicious smell that greeted us as soon as we stepped inside.

the wall on one side was lined with shelves stacked with various flavors of marshmallows to take home, along with some fun layered treats in a jar.

at the counter, you could also pick out gourmet marshmallow pies and pops.

the s'mores menu was pretty extensive, along with a "build your own" option.

i knew the bean would be more interested in a frozen treat, and there were plenty of those to choose from too.

i opted for the butterfinger s'mores, but asked for chocolate marshmallows in place of the peanut butter ones.  she was happy to make the switch and piled them into a graham cracker bowl before torching the tops to make them all melty and gooey.  then she topped that with peanut butter sauce, chocolate ganache, butterfinger bits and threw in a couple of mini peanut butter cups for good measure.

we got about halfway through it before i was really sweet-ed out.  but man, was it good:

as for the bean, she went with the frozen hot chocolate - basically a chocolate shake with hot chocolate mix whipped in and then topped with marshmallow fluff.

they had a couple of cute shirts for sale too, which we spied on the way out.  they'd gotten a lot busier since we came in, but still took the time to wave and thank us for coming in.

the shelf stable items are available for purchase from their website, and we definitely walked out with a bag full of treats to take home and share with the old lady and her special friend.  if you happen to be in the area and are looking for something sweet, definitely go here.  so good, and super friendly!  i wish they had one at home.  i could use one of those s'mores right now.  mmmmmm.

one hell of a sugar rush

a couple of months ago, i saw a facebook post about some sort of fantastical-sounding event that centered around all things sweet, and it was called "dessert goals."  i remembered hearing about last year's event and it sounded like a good time, so after confirming the old lady's availability i snagged tickets before they sold out.

the event was in downtown l.a. at the cooper building, and getting there on a sunday morning was nice and easy.  when we arrived there was already a good-sized line to get in.  we checked in with the girl at the end of the line and received our swag bags and wristbands.

 the line moved quickly, and we were shown into one of the elevators that took us up to the 11th floor.

there was a lot to look at, and while we were a little overwhelmed we decided to start here, for a little cold brew coffee.

and then we stopped for a quick group selfie.

as we took a quick scan around the room, we decided to save the ice cream stations for last and started in the far right corner.  none of us had had any real breakfast that morning, so we thought maybe it would be a good idea to kick things off with a couple of delicious-looking waffles.

of course, we had to take some silly pictures first.

the old lady and i both recognized the vendor next to the waffles, having seen pictures of their adorable macarons on instagram.

i mean...look how cute!

and of course we had to scoop up some to take home. from left to right:  nutella, french toast, fruity pebbles, nutella s'mores, some sort of super cute bunny, milk & honey, and cookies & cream.

over on the other side of the room, we decided to try some flavored sparkling water.  i don't typically like this stuff, but i was thirsty and figured i'd give it a try.

i still hate it, in case you were wondering.

the bean has always wanted to try the water in a box, so she was stoked to swap a tab from her wristband for one of these.

next up was something that had caught the old lady's eye when she checked out the event's website.  piñata cakes sounded really fun, and we decided to take two flavors home: the chocolate cake with vanilla flan and the piña colada carrot cake.

here's what they looked like later on at home, when we had the chance to crack the glittery chocolate balls open and enjoy the cakes.  both were super delicious, by the way.  i desperately want another one of those chocolate/vanilla flan things.

we couldn't resist stopping at a booth called "the dirty cookie."  we've seen them at the night market before, but never actually stopped to check it out.  it turns out that they're shot glasses made out of cookies or cereal treats, lined with chocolate and filled with some sort of beverage.  fun edible decorations were an option, and the bean decided to add one to hers.

 this was the chocolate chip cookie filled with coconut cold brew.

cocoa krispy cookie, also filled with cold brew.

and this one was fruity pebbles, filled with vanilla almond milk.

after all that sugar, it was time to stop at the salt bar and counteract all that sweet with some savory.

underneath the cluster of celestial-themed balloons (inexplicably, there was a "moon + stars theme to the event) we found something interesting...frosted rice cakes.

we passed on those, because duh.

but we did get ourselves roped into picking out some of these giant cookies, which we tucked away into our bags to take home.

i rarely turn down a good s'more.

also super random...a tarot card reader.

we redeemed another tab from our wristbands for a treat from the star candy bar.

and then we stopped for some "twisted" gourmet cotton candy from this cute little booth.  we decided to share one that was half mango, half bubble gum and decorated with candy sprinkles.

while the bean and i headed off to the macy's photo op, the old lady and her special friend picked up a couple of fun drinks from the little fluffy head cafe booth.  the old lady was excited to try the cheese foam-topped jasmine green tea:

and this was the dirty mess - black milk tea with creme brûlée cream and oreo crumbs.

posting this on instagram earned the bean a shiny macy's shopping bag that contained a cute little lip balm.

photo ops!

did you notice our galaxy-themed skirts?  i'd had this fabric in my stash for awhile and was pretty excited to finally have a good reason to sew something up with it.

we were pretty over it by then and decided to head on outta there.  i was a little bummed that we never did stop at the photo booth with the "sprinkles" background, but that's okay.

the last tab on our wristbands got us a delicious treat courtesy of my/mo mochi.  we each got different flavors:  mango, salted caramel, strawberry and cookies & cream.

after all that junk we just really wanted to have something good for lunch.  and since we were already all the way out there we decided it wouldn't be too bad to drive a few more miles west and head to versailles for some tasty cuban food.  plus, the old lady's special friend had never been there and we decided that he needed to try it.

while we (very predictably) went with the super delicious garlic chicken:

he decided to try something different and ordered their bbq chicken.

while we were a little agog at him going rogue with his order, the old lady had a few bites and grudgingly admitted that it really was very good.  still not as good as the garlic chicken, but she did say it was pretty yummy.  i'd say that maybe i'll give it a shot next time, but i'd be lying because i can't stray from what i know.  heh.