vietnamese iced coffee granita sundae

Did you know that only EIGHT percent of New Year's resolutions actually get achieved? Crazy right? Remember that time I made an epic New Year's resolution to post a blog every week? Well.... I'm definitely not part of that 8%. 

So where have I been you ask? Suffering the miserable life of an undergraduate college student taking two too many classes, working one too many jobs and having the joy of commuting between two equally as dysfunctional households on different sides of one giant lake. Woe is me, lol. But it's over with. Finally!!! Somehow, I even managed to do well in school (after announcing that "everybody has a bad semester, and I'm okay that this one is mine") and even won an award for it! Oh, I went to a freezing cold New York, bleached my entire scalp, and drunk texted Molly Yeh about cheese fries in Texas in this period, too. 

Rest assured, I'm not leaving again. I've missed all of my lovely internet friends way too much and will spending the next few days cooped up in bed post-wisdom teeth surgery being paranoid about dry sockets and making the rounds visiting all of your pretty blogs. :)  Let's celebrate with some dessert! 

A few days ago, French Market Coffee sent me a giant box of coffee and challenged me to create a killer New Orleans-themed recipe. I obviously obliged, because coffee is the sole reason why I got through this semester from hell and coffee plus dessert is the greatest combination like.... ever. 

Now I know what you're thinking, Vietnamese iced coffee .... New Orleans??? Did you know that New Orleans has thriving Vietnamese population and a killer Viet restaurant scene? Did you know that my diet pretty much consists of nothing but banh mi and spring rolls? Did you know that Vietnamese is the fourth most spoken language in the entire state of Louisiana? Did you know that I just looked that up on Wikipedia? Bam. 

Because Vietnamese iced coffee is the delicious marriage of chicory coffee and condensed milk, I figured I would deconstruct it and turn it into something even more delicious than the drink itself.

The result: granita sundaes. Granitas are generally served alone or with a bit of whipped cream, but I truly believe in calorie-loading so I covered mine in layers upon layers of ice cream. Condensed milk ice cream, to be exact. On top of all of that, I covered the whole deal in even more condensed milk, because why not? 

I know this all sounds potentially stressful, but this dessert is super easy! The granita is literally just coffee and sugar, mixed, frozen, and sloshed around with a fork a few times. The ice cream is a no-churn situation, with only three ingredients and a quick freeze. You can even lie and act like you broke out that fancy Cuisinart ice cream maker that you've never used, I won't tell! Promise!

Brb, I'll be eating the leftover granita for the rest of my summer.

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Chicory Coffee Granita 

• 2 cups hot brewed French Market Coffee & Chicory chicory coffee 
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract

make: 

In a medium-sized bowl, dissolve the sugar in the hot coffee. Once dissolved, stir in vanilla. Transfer the mixture into an 8-inch metal baking pan. Freeze the mixture, making sure to stir the mixture vigorously with a fork every 30 minutes until slushy, about 2 hours. 

Condensed Milk Ice Cream 

• 1 cup cold heavy whipping cream 
• 1 tsp. vanilla bean paste or extract 
• 1 (14 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk, plus extra for drizzling

make: 

Using a hand mixer or stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the cold heavy cream and vanilla on high until soft peaks form. Gradually add the condensed milk and continue whipping until high peaks form. Transfer the mixture into a bowl or loaf pan and freeze until set, at least four hours or overnight. 

When ready to serve, layer the granita and ice cream in a bowl or coffee mug. Drizzle with extra condensed milk! 

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This post is sponsored by French Market Coffee. All opinions are my own and this sundae is literally amazing so don't be fooled. 

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king cake fries

Well hello there internet, how have you been? I know I promised lots of Christmas craziness last time I posted on here, but real-life Christmas craziness took over and consumed my entire life. I initially felt pretty guilty about my online absence, but my internal batteries needed some quality time to recharge. You know, sometimes we all need a proper break away from reality, especially one that's full of drunken holiday ragers, becoming a bonafide recluse during family functions, attempting to turn that childhood dream of becoming a figure skater despite Louisiana's lack of ice into a reality, ringing in the New Year semi — no, definitely — trashed in the French Quarter, and watching Clueless four too many times. It's good for the soul. 

Despite the fact that my sleep schedule was totally ruined and I never stopped tweeting about it, I have finally emerged from the dead, ready to tackle the new year. (Speaking of that, please tell me that all of you guys are in the omg it's actually 2015 where are the flying cars and metallic space suits camp too.) 2014 was a rollercoaster, but 2015 is going to be even crazier. This year, I'll be turning 21 — I know what you're wondering; yes, I will be accepting bottles of gin, preferably Hendrick's, as a present — and in December, I am GRADUATING. FROM. COLLEGE. (!!!!!!!!!!!) 

The past year has also been such a wonderful time for Glazed & Confused. From all of the beautiful new virtual friendships I've formed to the lovely press write-ups that I've received, it's been a whirlwind full of lots of chicken and waffles cakes and beignet ice cream sandwiches and honestly, I wouldn't want it any other way. As cliché as it is, I am so eternally grateful for each and every one of you for making this site so special. Heart emojis for everybody! You're the best! 

I'm usually super into the whole new year's resolution thing, but the past two years I have decided to take an alternate route. Instead of my traditional list of strict, tangible goals, I've adopted the single-word theme approach. 2014 was The Year of Flourish, and I think I flourished rather well! This year's word, you ask? Savor. 

Savor may sound a little odd, but it's a principle that I've been needing to reestablish into my life for a long time. I've neglected the smaller things in life pretty consistently over the past few years and I often get so carried away in pleasing my inner critic  that I forget to enjoy the many beautiful things that surround me. I've battled with my fair share of challenges in the last year, but I've finally seemed to reach an emotional breakthrough — I am not my demons, my mistakes, or my criticisms. 

As for the blog, a few big changes are happening for the year. Namely, I'll be posting a little less often — a new recipe every Tuesday and another post on every other Friday or so. The Friday posts will serve as extra recipes, special features, and more intimate glimpses into my personal life. My goal here isn't to deprive you guys of content, but to make it of a higher quality and more inspired. Disclaimer: the writing is probably going to be a bit longer, but I'll be sharing much more of what goes behind the scenes into each post, so grab your reading glasses. 

It just so happens that this Tuesday is King's Day! The Epiphany, also known as Twelfth Night, serves as the official start of Carnival here in New Orleans. Though we've still got a few weeks until the parade grounds are littered with beer bottles and tourists start thinking it's acceptable to flash their breasts for a strand of plastic beads, today marks the beginning of king cake season! The traditional king cake recipe combines sweet French or Danish pastry, cinnamon sugar, and a generous dousing of powdered sugar glaze and purple, green, and gold sugars. I'm not in the mood to bore you with a recipe for the classic king cake ... or really any king cake for that matter. Seriously, y'all know me better than that. 

Blogosphere, meet king cake fries.

In my quest to create the closest thing possible to dessert poutine, I made this absolute showstopper of a dessert chock-full of vitamin A. Imagine a steaming hot pile of cinnamon sugar-dusted sweet potato fries, covered in a brown butter cream cheese glaze, praline sauce, toasted pecans, and hella sparkly sanding sugar. If that isn't heaven to you, that's okay. More fries for me! 

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Graham's Notes: 

• Before tossing your sliced sweet potatoes in coconut oil and cinnamon sugar, give the slices a good dusting of cornstarch. This allows the fries to form a crispier skin for the optimal crunch factor that we all know and love. For extra crispiness, crack the oven door after the fries are done baking and let them cool a bit inside the oven.
• Some call me difficult, but I'll let the insults slide as long as I can continue using vanilla bean paste. Seriously, this stuff is one of the greatest purchases any baker could make. I use vanilla bean paste over traditional extract whenever I need a deep vanilla taste and want to see little flecks of bean throughout my glaze, frosting, cake batter, or even cookie dough. In this recipe, the paste makes the brown butter cream cheese glaze extra beautiful!  
• Speaking of that glaze, you should make it to your desired consistency since you're the one who has to eat it. (Like that's a chore!) Personally, I like mine a little thicker (this is especially good for reheating if you're not eating all of your fries immediately), so I use only 3-4 tablespoons of milk. If you want your glaze to be thinner, just add extra milk by the tablespoon until you reach whatever you deem perfect! 
• If you're alone or can't eat the whole plate of fries while they're warm, it's perfectly acceptable to reheat them later on. Microwave the fries for about 15 seconds, making sure to stop once you hear the praline sauce bubbling like crazy. Pro tip: don't burn the roof of your mouth. I know you want to eat them immediately, but please wait the five seconds until they're cool. Trust me, it's worth it in the end. 

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Cinnamon Sugar Sweet Potato Fries

(adapted from Sally's Baking Addiction) 

• 3 large sweet potatoes, washed and peeled 
• cornstarch**
• 2 tablespoons coconut oil, melted 
• 1/2 cup sugar 
• 3/4 tsp. cinnamon 
• 1 batch of brown butter cream cheese glaze (recipe below)
• 1 batch of praline sauce (recipe below)
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans, toasted 
• purple, green, and gold sanding sugar

make:

Preheat oven to 400° F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. 

With an extra sharp knife — because it's absolutely miserable to cut with a dull knife — slice the washed and peeled sweet potatoes into halves, then quarters, then individual slices. Desired thickness should be somewhere around 1/4-inch thick. 

Once sliced, toss the potatoes in a dusting of cornstarch. Remove all excess powder and toss them in the melted coconut oil, making sure to coat each fry thoroughly. In a small bowl, mix together the cinnamon and sugar, setting aside 3 tablespoons of the mixture for later. Add the the cinnamon sugar (not the 3 tablespoons!) and toss to coat. Divide the coated fries evenly among the two baking sheets.

Bake the sweet potato fries for 18 minutes on one side, flip them, and then bake for another 15 minutes. Once done, you can remove them or let them cool slightly in the oven for 20-30 minutes for extra crispiness. Coat the warm fries in the remaining cinnamon sugar mixture. 

Pile the warm fries onto a serving plate and drizzle with brown butter cream cheese glaze and praline sauce. Top with toasted pecans and purple, green, and gold sanding sugars. Serve immediately, turn on Mambo No. 5, and share with your most loved ones — these are extra special.

Brown Butter Cream Cheese Glaze

• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
• 4 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
• 1 cup confectioners' sugar
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla bean paste* or extract 
• 3-5 tablespoons milk** 

make: 

In a small sauce pan, heat the butter over medium-high heat. Once melted, continue to cook the butter until brown flecks form at the bottom of the pan and begins to smell nutty. 

In a medium-sized bowl, pour the brown butter over the cream cheese and whisk together until smooth. Once fully combined, sift in the confectioners' sugar. Mix in the vanilla and milk until desired consistency is reached. 

Praline Sauce 

(from my New Orleans sister and pretty much neighbor,  Joy the Baker). 

• 1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 4 1/2 tsp. heavy whipping cream
• 1/8 tsp. sea salt
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla bean paste* or extract

make:

In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine the brown sugar, butter, heavy cream, and sea salt. After the butter melts and mixture becomes homogenous, let the mixture cook for about 5 minutes. It will bubble and thicken pretty significantly during this step. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. 

Satsuma Dark Chocolate Tart

So it's November? It seems like just yesterday I was making my yearly list of resolutions and all that jazz and BAM — we're back in the holidays! Now that Halloween is out of the way, we can focus on Christmas. And trust me, I've been feeling the Christmas spirit for weeks now. (#MariahCarey) Yeah, I know I'm just a little bit premature, but Christmas is my favorite thing ever and we all know that Thanksgiving is just Christmas Lite, so I will listen to all of the Destiny's Child Christmas I want. 

Alas, y'all probably all think I'm crazy for pulling out the peppermint extract this early, so I'll give into November-ness for now. (Three weeks from now, that'll be a different story. You've been warned.) Aside from Thanksgiving and all of pre-Christmas hype, November is pretty damn great. The nights are darker, the air is considerably colder, I can wear scarves and coats without sweating to death. 

Here in Louisiana, November is also pretty damn great considering that the local satsuma trees are bursting with fruits just reaching maximum deliciousness. In case you're unfamiliar with satsumas, they're a deliciously petite citrus with an easy peel, much like a tangerine. Satsumas are native to Japan, but have made their way stateside via California and the Gulf Coast. 

Though they've got pretty great snacking potential, satsumas are perfect for baking. Last year, I made a satsuma yogurt cake that's as simple as it is delicious. This year, I wanted to try something a little bit different. After juggling between a few crazy options, I settled on a classic chocolate tart, but infused it with Bayou Rum's new satsuma blend and ensured that there would be plenty of zest action going on. Encased in a gingersnap crust and topped with a satsuma and black pepper whipped cream, this tart is perfectly balanced between rich and chocolatey, and sweet and well, tart. 

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Satsuma Dark Chocolate Tart

(recipe adapted from smitten kitchen)

for the gingersnap crust: 

• 8 ounces gingersnap cookies, processed into fine crumbs 
• 1/2 stick unsalted butter, melted

for the chocolate filling:

• 12 oz. bittersweet chocolate, chopped into chunks
• 1 cup heavy cream 
• 2 large egg yolks
• 1 large egg
• 1/4 cup sugar 
• 1 tablespoon all purpose flour
• 1/8 tsp. black pepper
• pinch of salt
• 1/4 tsp. cinnamon 
• 2 tsp. satsuma zest
• 3 tablespoons Bayou satsuma rum 

for the satsuma whipped cream: 

• 1 cup heavy cream
• 2 satsumas, juiced and zested
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• pinch of black pepper
• sugar, to taste

Directions: 

In a medium bowl, combine the melted butter and crushed gingersnaps well. Press the crust mixture into the bottom and sides of the tart pan. Set aside.

In a saucepan, cook the chocolate and heavy cream over low heat. Once the chocolate hasmelted and combined to form a ganache, remove from heat. In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugar, flour, pepper, salt, and cinnamon until combined. Gradually add the chocolate mixture, whisking to ensure that the eggs won't cook. Once the chocolate mixture is fully combined with the egg mixture, add the satsuma zest and rum. Pour filling into the prepared crust and bake for 30 minutes at 325. Once done, remove from the oven, cool in the pan for 20 minutes, then remove from the tart pan and serve at room temperature. 

To make the whipped cream, combine all ingredients and mix until soft peaks form.