Critic's Corner

Thank you so very much for letting me know your thoughts! I usually right back to commenter's in the comment section but I read the emails with comments before hand and decided to do half and half! Half with powdered sugar and intended to do a glaze on the other half. I started a chocolate glaze with rum but I didn't know the rum bottle was empty and I was quickly running out of time! I just topped the half with what I had started for the glaze, an almost a ganache type frosting. I used melted chocolate chips with butter and cream then added powdered sugar to it after...


Chocolate Chip Irish Cream Pound Cake 
The toppings were fantastic, the cake was not as fantastic. Huge bummer, right? Everyone was very full from dinner so only two or three  of us had a piece of the cake anyway.

 

I did... and I was unhappy when I realized the butter change was not acceptable. The cake was still "good" - it was worthy of eating and sweet and "fine"- but the  Attempt #1 was PHENOMENAL... so I am upset but I learned my lesson with the butter that I used. My mom and I used Smart Balance (regular) and 1/3 less fat cream cheese in the Attempt #1 and the "butter" I had on hand was smart balance light and 50/50 for Attempt #2 with fat free cream cheese as the original recipe called for. 
Word to the wise: I would not use the combo of smart balance LIGHT AND a wheat/whole grain flour for this cake again. I knew it affects the consistency from many experiments pre-blog. However, I thought with the half all purpose and half 50-50 butter it would work out better than this. Oh well right- I feel bad because Jeff's family probably thinks my baking skills stink, but it goes to show the first time around is best! I guess I live to see another Chocolate Chip Irish Cream Pound Cake.

Bourbon V.G Blondies:
We had some pre-dinner and Jeff said "They taste like pancakes". He was referring to the maple syrup flavor. A friend of his brother's was staying over for a job interview in town, she said that really liked them but they were very different from what she expected.
I had one before going over and thought they were tasty- very gooey and caramel-y. I think next time I will up the flour a bit, and def. not use marshmallows. I would think dried fruit, or butterscotch chips, or peanut butter of sorts would work very well. 
Mocha Swirl Cheesecake:
I think this had the best reviews.. 
Momma Mo said it was great and not too sweet. Jeff's brother's friend said "Mmmm Cheesecake and Coffee, Aaah".  I didn't push for any official reviews but everyone seemed to like that the best.