Roundup: Personal Feats of Dessert, SHF #65

I issued a challenge for Sugar High Friday and 5 brave souls answered it! This month's Sugar High Friday was an invitation to re-create a past dessert failure. Or, to revisit a dessert recipe, ingredient or dessert genre that had bad memories or a past failure associated with it.

From Australia, Cathy X. who writes Aficionado-X led the charge by sharing Green Tea Macarons. Her vision: to overthrow the notion of macarons being notoriously difficult to make, I'm sharing a recipe that rids the need for conventional Italian meringue once and for all. It's based on the very first method which I was taught and have adjusted a little here and there since.

Janet who writes Tastespace also brought tea to into her quest and revised Earl Grey Tea Shortbread Cookies. She writes, "A subtly addictive shortbread cookie featuring Bergamot from Earl Grey tea, with lime and orange highlights, wrapped in a sugary coating. Take this Martha! :)"

Solange from Europe who writes Pebblesoup conquered cakes that didn't rise and that were moist in the middle. Her new creation: Jam Filled Cakes. She says, "I have never been able to make cakes properly so thanks for spurring me on--possibly I would have always thought that when it worked it was a miracle. Now I know it is a matter of using the right ingredients and timing."

Victoria from Singapore who writes Sweets by Vicky tackled comfort-food superstar: Banana Cream Pie. In particular she addressed the challenge of how to make a good Gluten-free crust. She says, "Banana cream pie is supposed to be comforting, but making pie crust is one scary feat! Gluten-free pie crust has a bad rep so I tried to turn it around. Sad to say 'Operation Pie Crust' wasn't too successful but hey, I tried!"

Mansi from California in the US who writes Fun and Food Cafe worked with chocolate- it really does require some dessert chops! She shares with us Rich and Decadent Cocoa Brownies. She says, "This recipe comes from a colleague's wife, who is a great baker. I used to shy away from making these brownies as I could never get them to be as good as hers, despite all that cocoa and butter that goes inside!

But with a strong desire to tame this demon and perfect the recipe, I gave it one more shot, this time with a few changes and some help from Alice Medrich, they turned out perfect! Soft and airy, just like a cake, yet loaded with cocoa flavor which is not the same as eating a chocolate cake, these ultimate Cocoa Brownies promise to be a hit at potlucks and parties!"

I set out to tackle egg whites and meringues with the help of a friend. Sweet Potato and Lemon Ice Cream housed in Cinnamon Meringues. I got an adventure in whole-family dessert making, as well as lots of tips from a superstar husband and wife team who are masters in the kitchen.

Thanks for reading our Feat Adventures for Sugar High Friday!