Divine Dessert gets cheesy!

Whenever some health and wellbeing experts talk about cutting certain food groups out of your diet, I get a slight twang in my stomach as I will never be able to give up gluten (translation - cakes and pastry), eggs (how else would I make my macarons!!??) and dairy (synonymous with cheeses and ice cream). Giving up any of these (let alone ALL of them, as someone I know did) for the sake of physical wellbeing..... May as well pre-prescribe me valium, prozac, or whatever chemical cocktail that will shield me from misery. 

So I will continue living with a couple of extra inches on my belly, which will give my trainer more grief than it does me. Maybe. 

Stop that rant and get on with it!! The much anticipated, and somewhat feared, cheesy homebake event is here! After much research and brainstorming, and of course thanks to everyone's efforts, everyone who came suffered a most satisfying sugar and dairy overdose.

Let's start with my creations - well this idea had been brewing in my head for some time now, and this combination featured in several TV food shows in recent years. Dark chocolate and blue cheese combo - this time in a chocolate and gorgonzola dolce macaron - was surprisingly well received by my guests. And to use up the left over yolks from making the macs, I made some "creme brulee" which was overcooked and split, but the flavours were there.

"Mac'n'cheese"

Milder cheeses featured throughout other people's creations - mostly cream cheese or ricotta, and for some mystic reason, there were many chocolatey cheesy combos. MJ's choc-mint cheese cake was, as always, rich and decadent, sensible ones will know to only take a small sliver if they want to save room for more!

Mmmmm cheese cake!!

Mascarpone is also a cheese, if in case you'd forgotten! At nearly 50% fat, it's one of the best things that exist. On the opposite end of the scale is ricotta cheese, virtually fat free, also one of the best things that exist, but for a different reason ;)

"Dessert pizza" - berry crumble topped with mascarpone cheese courtesy of Kelly; and ricotta dark and white chocolate mousse, thanks Agnes!

Another cheese cake - rich and sexy glossy chocolate ganache topped cheesecake (thanks Rebecca and Michael!), a light and refreshing spiced ricotta and poached pear (thanks Kaitlin and Martyn!), and gooey goodness of roasted brie with brown sugar and balsamic cherries (thanks Annika!)

And the most fiddling dessert - drum rolls - thanks KT dessert extraordinaire for a cream cheese ice cream sandwich in parmesan crisps! Unusual mix of flavour, that lovely savoury and sweet combo worked. Just look at this - doesn't it look like a Pat and Sticks ice cream sandwich? 

So we washed down the sweets with copious amounts of tea, coffee or sparkling water. Very satisfying ... and my colleagues were pleased the next day for the left overs! Thanks everyone for your hard work and your braverism in attempting new flavours!