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. 

Bananas Foster Tiramisu

By the time you're reading this I'll either be either in or en route to New York City. Yes, I actually survived midterms and I'm finally on the fall break (!!!) I've been daydreaming of for weeks. I've got a crazy busy weekend planned, but I'll be recapping my trip once I get back next week. In the meantime, I wanted to round out this hectic with something extra sweet and special.

It's been a few weeks since the last installment in my Eating New Orleans series, so I'm tackling one of the most traditional local flavors today. Yep, you guessed it (or you know, you just read the title to this blog post): today is all about Bananas Foster. 

Bananas Foster was created in 1951 at the famed Brennan's in New Orleans' French Quarter, but has since gained status as New Orleans' unofficial dessert. And for good reason too, it's freaking delicious. Butter and brown sugar are melted down with sliced bananas and caramelized for a hot second, before rum and banana liqueur are added, flambéd tableside and served warm with vanilla ice cream. 

Bananas Foster is so simple that I knew I had to dress it up somehow for y'all, so the Bananas Foster Tiramisu was born. Rounds of moist banana bread are soaked in a brown sugar and rum mixture before being topped with a creamy banana mascarpone filling. On top of that goes a layer of bananas foster, then more filling. I topped my little tiramisus off with a banana chip dust and some bruléed bananas, because, let's face it, I'm always looking for a way to wreak havoc upon my kitchen with a blow torch. It only took one bite before I knew this one was a keeper; there's so many different textures going on that I was totally having a mouth party for a (couple) hot second(s). Creamy, chewy, moist, crunchy... it's all there. 

Even my parents, who resent the amount of sugar I bring into this house, were obsessed. I made my mom try them at 10am and the sound that left her mouth after a single taste totally sealed the deal. According to Ellen (hi mom!), these are one of the best desserts I've ever made. What more approval could I ask for?  

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Bananas Foster Tiramisu

Filling:

• 250g mascarpone
• 1 1/4 cups heavy whipping cream
• 4 tablespoons creme de banane
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 banana, mashed
• 1 tablespoon instant banana pudding (just the powder, not the prepared pudding)

Soak:

• 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar 
• 2 tablespoons dark rum
• 1/3 cup boiling water

Bananas Foster:

• 1/2 stick butter
• 1/4 cup dark brown sugar
• 2 ripe bananas, peeled and sliced 
• 2 tablespoons dark rum

Extras: 

• 1 loaf of banana bread (homemade or store-bought)
• bananas, for garnish

Cut out banana bread in circles the size of your serving glass, about 1/2-inch thick. Place in the bottom of glasses. 

To make the soak, mix together the brown sugar, confectioners' sugar, rum, and boiling water until smooth. Using a pastry brush, evenly distribute the mixture over banana bread pieces until soaked through. 

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, make the filling by mixing together the heavy cream, mascarpone, mashed banana, and pudding mix on low to combine. Increase the mixer to high speed and whip until thickened. Layer on top of the banana bread. 

To make the bananas foster, heat the butter over medium heat until melted. Once melted, add the brown sugar and stir until combined. Add in the banana slices and cook until caramelized. Remove from heat and mix in rum. Using a long lighter, flambe the mixture until the rum cooks away. Layer on top of the mascarpone filling, before repeating this step with more filling. 

Chill and serve.