Baked Brie with a Brown Sugar Brandy Sauce

Baked Brie is a pretty amazing holiday party appetizer. If there isn't some of this melted cheese at a party, it's a real shame.  Bring this EASY appetizer recipe to your next get-together. It's only a few minutes hands-on time to make the sauce, drizzle on the brie and then bake.  If you're bringing it to a party you can make the sauce beforehand and just bake once you get to there.  Here are a few more easy holiday appetizers. 

Ingredients: 

-1 cup brandy

-1/2 cup brown sugar

-1 wheel of brie

optional garnishes: 

-nuts such as pine nuts, pecans, or walnuts

-earthy herbs such as lavender flowers, rosemary or sage

PeteyBird Goat Cheese and Fig Ice Cream Roll with Short Bread Cookies

Photographing for Amanda at 5280.com means I get to meet some of the greatest chefs and entrepenuers in town.  My most recent assignment was to photograph these amazing mini ice-cream sandwiches from PeteyBird. Pete of PeteyBird uniquely crafted ice cream sandwiches is engineer turned baker which is fabulous for us Denverites. The creatively flavored sandwiches are ideally sized and will melt in your mouth...just in time for summer!  Pete has mastered all things ice cream and cookies during his lengthy R&D process and this was one of his fabulous creations.  Similar to a savory, spreadable cheese log and cracker duo, this sweet version is a perfect dinner party dessert. The recipe may look a bit daunting but Pete swears it's not that bad (it's really not!).  Well worth a show-stopping and interactive dessert. Also, here are a few of his few ice cream sandwiches first talked about on Amanda Faison's Table Talk blog post.

Rock Chalk Cake Pops

Win or lose we still love our Jayhawks...and we will eat cake pops.  Yes, Kansas lost the National Championship on Monday but we had a great season and none of us are fair-weather fans. I made these for our party and they were devoured.  I was lucky to have a few to photograph the next day.  I'm not a baker and I was even successful at these!  I know I'm thinking ahead, but tailgates next fall? You betchya!

Ingredients:


-1 box yellow cake mix
-eggs (however many the box calls for...I needed 3)
-butter (follow box ingredients again)
-1/2 can cream cheese icing
-2 pkgs white candy bark (you can get any color at Hobby Lobby or white at the grocery store)
-sprinkles

Other things needed:

-double boiler (or just two different sized pots)
-Popsicle sticks (also found at Hobby Lobby or craft store)
-Styrofoam blocks or large ring

No-Bake Protein Energy Bites

It's hard not to admit there are definitely "food trends".  This is a trend I saw all over pinterest so figured I had to give it a shot.  Sure enough, they are pretty darn great. An easy way to get a sweet dose of protein, especially when you know your diet can lack it at times, like mine.  You can use a number of different ingredients to make these your own.  For instance, I have a special place for butterscotch so I used them in my mix instead of chocolate. Oh, and did I mention you don't even have to bake these? Awesome.  They're a great snack-on-the-go!

Ingredients:


-1 cup rolled oats (dry oatmeal, but not instant)
-1 cup coconut flakes
-1/2 cup butterscotch chips
-1/2 cup peanut butter
-1 cup flaxseed (whole or ground)
-1/8 cup agave nectar
-1 tsp vanilla
-1 cup crushed cashews

Maple Brown-Butter Ice Cream

So this isn't exactly ice-cream...it's actually a semifreddo which is why you don't even need and ice cream maker to whip up this amazing dessert.  Semifreddo is a semi-frozen custard that almost has a mousse-like texture.  It's basically made using half ice-cream and half whipping cream which makes the light fluffy texture.  I stumbled upon this recipe in one of Martha Stewart's magazines, Everyday Food, and was dying to try it.  An ice-cream like dessert that was easy and you could keep in the freezer for a couple weeks AND doesn't require baking?  Count me in. It was just as easy as I thought it would be and we had it for weeks with butterscotch caramel sauce and nut topping.

Ingredients:


-2 cups cold whipping cream
-6 Tbsp unsalted butter
-3/4 cup pure maple syrup
-5 large egg yolks

(yes, that's it...)

Optional toppings:


-butterscotch caramel sauce from the jar
-mixed nuts topping