The bite that ends the night. Layers and colors that decorate the table. The counter covered in powdered sugar and drops of vanilla extract. A spoon dipped into the mixing bowl for one last taste.

The ultimate after dinner delight. The leftover bite the next morning with a favorite cup of coffee. The slice with a nod to nostalgia. The ending of a fab dinner with friends until next time. A guilty pleasure.. this is Sweet.

I love savory, don’t get me wrong, but there is something about a sweet treat that just brings closure to the table. To an emotion.

As I shared in Part One, desserts for me began in my Mema’s kitchen. It was the grand finale.. but also with coffee, midday after lunch, before or after dinner. We always felt as if we could graze anytime we wanted. There is a freedom in that.

I’m the same exact way with my boys (and husband lol) they can have a pinch whenever. There is no certain proper time for dessert.

That being said, I rarely buy store-bought desserts. If there’s a dessert it’s homemade. Some take longer than others to make but the majority of the time those clean ingredients are sitting on a beautiful Limoges plate, on the kitchen island, ready to be savored. To be honest, it usually doesn’t last long. Recently the sweet rotation has been Nigella’s olive oil cake, Banana Bread, and Mascarpone with fresh fruit and local honey.

Over these past 18 years of motherhood and being a wife, I’ve made all kinds of desserts, but chocolate is the queen around here. From our favorite mousse to New York Times cookies, a mocha icebox cake, and our yearly Happy Birthday Jesus cake, chocolate usually finds its way in.

But there are plenty of favorites outside chocolate, too, and I’m so happy to share some of the ones we’ve loved most.

SWEET
sugar | butter | flour

Kitchen Staples
KitchenAid Mixer | Spatula | Spoons to taste | Sheet Pans | Round Cake Pans

Homemade Whipped Cream
We almost always have heavy cream in the refrigerator, and homemade whipped cream couldn’t be easier.

1 cup heavy whipping cream
2 tablespoons powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Add everything to your mixer and whip until soft peaks form. I rarely measure exactly… taste as you go! Sometimes it needs a little more sugar, sometimes a little more vanilla. You really can’t mess it up.

These are the recipes my family has loved for years. I’ve included my notes and favorite tweaks along the way, and you’ll find the original recipe links beneath each dish.

Chocolate Olive Oil Cake
If I had to pick the top two desserts I make the most, this delicious, pretty, simple cake would be one of them. The other? Well, that’s my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe, but I’ll save that for the end.

I first came across this recipe while looking for something gluten-free, and the use of the almond flour intrigued me. I use Bob’s Red Mill almond flour… the texture is just right. *Our family isn’t gluten-free per se, but we do limit it, and when we eat it, the recipe better be good!

This recipe is pretty easy once you get the hang of it. Most nights after dinner, when the family is craving something sweet, I can whip this up pretty fast. Add fresh berries and quick homemade whip cream, and you have yourself a treat.

Recipe: Nigella Lawson Chocolate Olive Oil Cake

My Notes
*This cake is great as a dessert, but in my opinion, even better with coffee in the morning before the children wake up. Enjoy.
*I’m also not a stickler for the type of pan used… springform, baking dish, round cake pan. I’ve tried them all and personally don’t see that much of a difference. And if something was a little off, just add an extra dollop of that homemade whip cream!

Chocolate Mousse
I happened to make this just the other night for my son’s last day of summer and the beginning of senior year. It was a full-on request, filled with anticipation!
The boys loved it. I started making this when my oldest was around three years old, and now he’s eighteen! Time, be still.

Recipe: French Chocolate Mousse

My Notes
*You can use the double-broiler method, but in a pinch, you can put the chocolate in a heatproof bowl and melt it in the microwave in 30-second increments. Stir each time, then add your butter just as the recipe calls for.

Apple Crisp/Apple Tart
There is something so incredibly cozy about an apple dessert. It transports you to a memory, a beautiful season, and that delicious, sweet smell is what dreams are made of.

You will quickly learn that many of my most cherished desserts stem from Barefoot Contessa recipes. Ina can do no wrong, in my opinion. And side note: her biography is fabulous and a must read.

Back to apples! Out of the two recipes, I would say I make the apple crisp the most. Have a good movie on in the background while peeling all these apples… it might be a minute. My favorites would be It’s Complicated (Nancy Meyers–do I need to say anything else?), Under the Tuscan Sun, A Good Year, and Sabrina).

This dessert will have everyone raving. Just make sure you have good vanilla ice cream to accompany the crisp.

Recipe: Old-Fashioned Apple Crisp

Just when you think it couldn’t get any better, you make the French Apple Tart. It’s one of my favorites around the holidays. The pastry is divine and elegant.

I’m sharing two recipes below. The first has you making your own pastry dough, and the second is a little cheat with using puff pastry instead. Both are great–I think it’s simply whatever fits your schedule best.

Recipe: French Apple Tart | Apple Tart

My Notes
*Often, in the apple crisp, I swap out the apples for berries, and most of the time it’s frozen fruit that we have on hand. We’ve always eaten frozen organic fruit unless it’s ripe and from local co-op or farmers market. It’s picked when ripe rather than beforehand and then shipped to a grocery store–just my preference. If you use frozen fruit, thaw it out a bit and add a little flour to the baking dish to help soak up the juices.

Banana Bread
This recipe has been a recent discovery and has now been added to our rotations of favorite desserts. I keep bananas on hand for when the boys want to make smoothies, but one particular week, no smoothies were made and I had about four small bananas that needed to be used.

My youngest asked if I could make banana bread, and that lead to a random Pinterest page… and a very moist, yummy banana bread.

Recipe: Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

Mocha Chocolate Icebox Cake
This dessert is a winner… always. I’m totally surprised that I cannot find a picture of this pie! Maybe it’s because everyone cuts a slice right away.

This particular recipe is perfect for summertime get-togethers. Just make sure to keep it inside and cool. Follow the recipe exactly, and use the Tate’s cookie just as it calls for. You’ll have everyone asking for more!

Recipe: Mocha Chocolate Icebox Cake

Happy Birthday Jesus Cake
Every single Christmas Eve since the boys were little, we celebrated Jesus and His birthday and what that means to us. It’s a tradition we look forward to every single December.

Somehow along the way, I made Ina’s Beatty’s Chocolate cake. It was so delicious with the buttercream frosting–and so divine–that it became our celebratory cake for Christmas. And so, the tradition begin!

I’m sad to say, for the life of me, I cannot find a picture of this cake! Maybe we just get caught up in the celebration. But trust me, it’s a cake worth making and devouring.

Recipe: Happy Birthday Jesus Cake

This is no Beatty’s cake but it’s the exact table scene I will use for that wonderful holiday celebration and perfect sweet treat. I don’t even care that the tablecloth is wrinkled. Sometimes life is best lived–and enjoyed–a little messy!

And can you believe the holidays really aren’t that far away? I have a few more favorites I make every year–palmiers, a wonderful almond cake, and a few others I’ll save for another post. More on those over the next few months… it’ll be here before we know it.

Martha Stewart Strawberry Icebox Pie
This is summer all in one bite. Strawberries, fresh whipped cream, and easy like a summer day. That is all. Perfection.

Recipe: Strawberry Pie

My Notes
*Buy the freezer crust. Life is too short.

New York Times Chocolate Chip Cookies

I have to say there are so many favorites, but these cookies are just the most incredible. Delicious. Addictive. My boys have taken turns helping me make these cookies over the years, and every time is just as good as the last. The memories top it all off.

Their little hands eventually turning into bigger hands, making the dough and eating the leftovers, are forever ingrained in my heart. There is something about the smell of homemade cookies… it’s a feeling. Some things just never get old.

The course salt on these cookies makes the best treat and hits both the sweet and savory notes. Forever one of my favorites.

Recipe: NYT Chocolate Chip Cookies

If I’m being honest, this post took me a long while to finish. The whole summer actually, because it was a busy past few months. Lately I thought maybe because I’m changing up the way I’m eating a bit, that the sweet stuff didn’t apply to me right in this exact season. But I can never deny what the kitchen has meant to me my whole life, and boy is life truly flying by… especially the last five years since my son’s sickness.

Maybe it’s because I want to soak up every single moment. Bottle it up. I have always been a sucker for nostalgia and always thought I enjoyed it all, but this time around it’s more of a desperation to hold it all tight, so close to my chest that it inhabits my heart.

I know this may feel heavy for just a food post, but these are the moments to cherish. Eating together. Little hands dipping in the frosting. Bigger hands grabbing the spoons and maybe even throwing a little at their spouses for play–and annoyance (insert eye roll!) – but it’s these exact pieces of life that I hold dear.

Please Enjoy. Make the memories. Cherish the moments.

With Love,
Erica
Salty Blonde Living