This is undoubtedly the perfect dessert to make a significant impression on dinner guests. Although time-consuming (I spent about 6 hours total making all 4 components), the end product was absolutely delectable. I discovered this recipe when watching a Thanksgiving episode of Throwdown with Bobby Flay. The moment I saw everyone’s reaction after sampling the dessert, I decided to take on the challenge of one of Bobby’s laborious recipes.

I found his five-star recipe for pumpkin bread pudding with spicy caramel apple sauce and vanilla bean creme anglaise on the Food Network website. I first made the homemade pumpkin bread, which turned out moist and rich with flavor. Next, I made the homemade caramel sauce and vanilla bean creme anglaise.

I had to improvise a bit because I did not have every ingredient in the recipe. For example, instead of using bourbon for the pudding, I used whiskey. I also did not have any star anise for the cream anglaise, so I left this ingredient out. However, I doubt I would include star anise even if I had some in my spice cabinet because I am not a fan of licorice.

Next time I make this dish, I will split the task up into two days, making the bread, caramel and creme anglaise the day before. This way, I would only have to make the pudding and bake the dish the day I want to serve the dessert.

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My mom, a high school teacher, has back to school night tonight and wanted to offer the parents some snacks and desserts. Since she worked all day, I decided to help her out by making a few desserts and preparing the snacks.

The other day I was watching Giada at Home and saw her make these espresso caramel bars. Though I’m not a chocolate fan, the dessert looked fantastic. After all, I’ve never made a Giada recipe that was anything but fabulous. In addition to the bars, I also made brown sugar cookies.

The bars were a success—not only did they taste delicious, but they also looked it.

The silky smooth chocolate beautifully complimented the slight crunchiness of the graham cracker crust. The caramel layer in the middle did not go unnoticed, however. Its rich and sweet flavor is simply scrumptious.

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I made my very first cupcake sale the other day! I was extremely excited, to say the least. Since I wanted to make sure I presented the most delicious and visually appealing cupcakes, I spent about six hours of my day baking all the cupcakes—everything from scratch, of course.

I decided to make a spice cupcake filled with homemade caramel sauce, piped with smooth caramel buttercream frosting and drizzled with golden caramel sauce. Is your mouth watering yet? I combined a few recipes, changed some ingredients and fudged a few things to make these cupcakes my own. The result: moist, delectable and irresistible cupcakes. I chose to make my blueberry lemon cupcakes again for the second batch, since I got such a great response last time I made them.

My dad took the leftovers to work and I couldn’t believe how much of a hit they were. He said people were fighting over the cupcakes and someone even put up a sign with an arrow leading to the desserts. I received two e-mails from his co-workers about the cakes. Let’s just say I was on cloud nine the other day and so happy that my cupcakes were a success!

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