Au Revoir Covid, Berry Me Naked Cake is a reduced calorie cake filled with flavor. The calorie savings come from a reduced cake size and tossing the icing. Review the recipe and let me know what you think. I would love to hear from you.

What is your cooking challenge or trick?

Please comment and tell me what else that you would like to see on my site. Do you have a cooking dilemma? What makes you nervous in the kitchen? Do you love to entertain or does the idea make you sweat?

Or please share your best cooking trick that you have learned. We would love to hear from you. Cooking takes practice because no one starts out as a Master Chef. I love this recipe, so let them eat Berry Me Naked Cake.

Subscribe to Dining With Mimi and please share web site with friends and family.

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Reasons I love this dessert

Yet smiling does not stop with the melt in your mouth goodness of this dessert. Busier than ever, I love a dessert that may be quickly mixed in a bowl, baked and topped with magic will make me smile every time. Add in the fact that ingredients are common and always on hand makes for a great last minute dessert recipe.

Simply stated if you desire a dessert to wow your guests with presentation look no further. Serve this dessert in a martini glass with a scoop of Creole Cream Cheese ice cream. Creole cream cheese adds more tang and a bit of sweet that plain cream cheese does not.

Recipe for Creole Cream Cheese Ice Cream

Chef John Folse offers recipes to make creole cream cheese and his version of this lovely ice cream. If short on time, Blue Bell offers this flavor and it will pair beautifully with richness of Mimi’s Nutty Fudgy Indulgent Pecan Bar.

Top with a sprig of fresh chocolate mint and a tiny drizzle of dark coffee liqueur over white Creole Cream Cheese ice cream. With this served in a martini glass, how could your guests not be in love with this dessert? Easy to make and elegant to serve. You may not want to share our secret.

Hopefully dessert or chocolate is not on your list to abstain. With most of us trying to watch our food intake daily, it helps to serve a small dessert loaded with lots of rich flavor. Yet, Mimi’s Nutty Fudgy Indulgent Pecan Bar is a perfect size for serving to a dinner party, bridge, bunco or canasta group.

With this in mind, Alexa shout out to The Archie’s for song Sugar Sugar. Do you remember this song written by Jeff Barry and Andy Kim? Song spent 4 weeks as number one in 1969 and 22 weeks on Billboards top 100. “Pour a little sugar on me, oh yeah.”

Finally, if you want a sweet treat, try this recipe. Let me know what you think, I would love to hear from you.

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Perfect recipe to play with while spending an afternoon in the kitchen with friends cooking and laughing. Friends that you  connect with as soon as you meet. Somehow you know they will be in it for the long haul.

Sunshine and my newest guest chef, Day Trader joined me in the kitchen to cook a great lunch.  Absolutely lovely way to spend a day. Did I mention the champagne? Everyone chipped in to prepare an item for lunch and helped with the clean up.

Well almost everyone, Grill Man breezed in just before lunch was ready wearing a “hungry-man” look. Do you know that look? It arrives on the scene about thirty minutes before H-A-N-G-R-Y rears its ugly head. Imperative to always avoid hangry, if possible! Folks, just trust me on this one.

When should I cook Never Fail Spirited Fig Pecan Bundt Cake?

Never Fail Spirited Fig Pecan Bundt Cake is a lovely dessert  to compliment any meal any time.  Once you make this cake, it will easily become one of your go to recipes. Recipe is easy enough to prepare and cake preserves well when you need to make ahead for easy entertaining later.

Using a bundt pan delivers a beautiful shape to your cake . Making a glaze instead of icing reduces the amount of sugar  required in recipe. In addition it saves time spent trying to make the cake look like the oh-my-Southern-Living-Holiday-cakes. It takes a skilled hand and multiple attempts to master an  iced cake. A glaze is a never fail option to add to your bundt cake.

Several years ago I attended a bake sale and purchased  one of the Wine Cakes. The women at the bake sale raved about how delicious the cake would taste. Of course, I asked about the recipe. Shirley and Myra were generous enough to share recipe and mail a copy. I have made a form of this cake ever since.

I adapted Shirley and Myra’s recipe to add in a bit of Mimi-ness.  Grill Man said that this version is his favorite so far. Grill Man may be a bit bias.

Shout out to Alexa, play Joe Cocker’s With a little help from my friends. Sometimes good friends are all that you need and for those other times, there is always wine or Never Fail Spirited Fig Pecan Bundt Cake.

More desserts for you to try as suggestions for your next event, family dinner or special table.

St Germain Creamy Cheesecake

Southern Comfort and Oh That Chocolate Pie

Updated 100 year old Oatmeal Cookie Recipe

Happy Cooking Y’all!

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If you do a taste test you will see a definite taste difference in making a dish with pecans freshly picked versus buying in the grocery store.  Pecans that are fresh have a full flavor that reminds you of Mother Earth. If you don’t have pecan trees in your yard, I would urge you to contact a pecan store that farms and processes pecans.

Cook with fresh pecans when making Homemade Candied Pecans

In our area we have several sources to buy  fresh pecans locally  B and B Pecans and Holmes Pecan Company. In the South, they are available most anywhere. Our little slice of heaven boasts pecans trees on the property and usually at least one tree will produce.

Picking up pecans off the ground is a good exercise. The entire process should make  you appreciate why pecans are expensive. Annually,  I am reminded of this every time I pick pecans, take to farm for cracking, retrieve pecans, separate pecans and shells.

New exercise to add to your work out routine

If you happened to drive by while I was sitting on the orange five gallon bucket, you have seen me picking pecans. After picking pecans for about an hour, I was really tired. Pecans were still all over the ground so I didn’t want to stop. Eventually, I figured out I could sit on the bucket, reach around pick up pecans and toss in bucket. What should I name my new exercise,  pecan-yoga?

Pecan-yoga consisted of a ton of stretching and squatting. By the time I wore myself out with my new exercise program, I had  plenty of pecans. Thankfully, Grill Man was not here with his camera to capture  pecan- yoga in action. Pecan-yoga must be good for you because my muscles were screaming at me the next day.  Despite sore muscles,  my pecans would be used in sweet and savory dishes and pecan-yoga would be  a faint memory.

One year Grill Man’s Aunt Theria  gave us a beautiful tin of deliciously coated homemade Candied Pecans one year as a gift. Our family loved them so much that Theria shared the recipe with me. The hardest part about this recipe is keeping your family from eating them before you  have an opportunity to give as gifts. If you suspect this will be an issue, cook on a day when your home alone and then hide the evidence before the poachers arrive.

Candied Pecans have been a staple in our home ever since Theria shared her recipe. Of course,  I adapted Theria’s recipe with a slight twist and I am happy to share it with you. When I cook a family recipe it always makes me smile.  Impossible to cook their  recipe without thinking about the person that lovingly shared recipe.

Homemade Candied Pecans make a great treat to eat and share as gifts for your loved one. Super easy gift to make at home and transport on your holiday travels.  Shout out to Alexa for Joe Bonamassa.

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Of course, I love peaches in almost any way that you may serve.  Somehow, the full flavor of Summer soaks into the peach and drizzles out when bitten into or sliced. Peaches also make the best tasting jelly or jam. Fresh peaches have an amazing flavor that does not come through when eating canned peaches.

Rustic peach tart recipe is a delicious dish to make ahead and serve later. A dollop of fresh homemade whipped cream served on succulent juicy peaches sitting on a bed of crunch and crust.  Serve this recipe to grab a bite of summer while you may.

Use homemade crust or store bought  for the Rustic Peach Tart?

I elected to use a homemade crust with this dish. The rustic tart screamed out for the addition of homemade crust. There certainly is an old-fashioned element to making your own. The stand-mixer  makes easy work of preparing the dough. I love my granite on the counter and it makes an easy work surface to roll out dough.

Grill Man’s Aunt Theria provided the Standard Pie Crust from her little Recipe Box Treasures notebook. I  adapted the recipe to include the stand mixer and my method for preparing the dough. The stand mixer makes for easy work of a pie crust.

Although, I may use the store-bought version when shortage of time calls for it. Please use which ever version allows you to make this Rustic Peach Tart recipe either homemade or store-bought. I recommend making the tart, allowing to cool, refrigerate least 4-6 hours and serving as desired. This dish tastes good hot out of the oven but it is sumptuous served cold.

Alexa, shout out to all the  songs for Georgia Peaches,  Lauren Alaina’s  and Lynyrd Skynyrd’s.

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In the event you serve Chess Pie, someone inevitably will ask about the origin of the dish and name. Even today, I  am unsure of the origin based on my research. The name has a bit of mystery behind it. I was unable to find one definitive answer about the name . Internet search yielded several reasons ranging from  the following:

Corruption of word cheese
Ingredients stored in pantry or chest
Sugar content meant pie could be stored in chest  in lieu of refrigerator
Southern cook accent referring to “Jes’ pie”

My favorite version is the southern “Jes Pie”. Lord knows at times some people may have trouble understanding our Southern accent. The Chess Pie recipe is attributed to different regional locations. No matter the origination, it is a delicious and easy to make recipe.

Why make a Coconut Chess Pie?

I have served Chess Pie as a standard offering when I entertain for many reasons.

The ingredients are always in my pantry
Inexpensive to make
Quickly mixes by hand in one bowl
Bakes in 30 minutes
Cools quickly and is easy to transport
Magically it will always disappear

The Chess Pie is a favorite of my friend Jazz-Girl. I hope that she will like this Coconut Chess Pie recipe as well. I adapted this recipe from one of my favorite cookbooks Talk About Good published originally 1969 by Jr League of Lafayette, Inc.  Talk About Good is celebrating its 50th birthday this year. Buy one for yourself or as a gift, the money supports a great cause.

In conclusion, Coconut Chess Pie is a great addition for any holiday table. Prepare ahead and served as needed. Pour a hot cup of chicory coffee and I am a happy girl. I may need to have a slice now.

Alexa, Shout out to Darius Rucker “Southern State of Mind”.Darius sings “You can take the guy out of the south, but in my heart I’m always there”

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I found the recipe when I purchased an old wooden box  from an estate sale in New Orleans.  The estate sale was in the Garden District in a fabulous three-story home. In the kitchen, I discovered my treasure. The recipe box contained a ton of recipes for anyone that loves good food or cooking. The full story may be found under post titled Southern Comfort and oh that Chocolate Pie.

In the wooden box, I found a handwritten unnamed dessert recipe that looked interesting.  It was loosely scribbled on notebook paper with three ingredients. The faded paper from an old ledger book  barely contained the following instructions:

Preheat over to 400 degrees and turn off. Mix, drop on sheets and leave in oven overnight or about three hours.

The first time I attempted this recipe, I prayed that I was not wasting my fresh pecans on a recipe that was missing an important item or vital instruction. Over the course of time, I have made this recipe several times and always been pleased with the results.

The Brown Sugar Bites Dessert will come in handy when you need a sweet item but don’t have  time for cooking or prep work. The ingredients should be on hand in any well stocked kitchen. Two trays could be ready at one time and popped in the oven to sit for the required three hours. Perhaps, you may choose to  place in oven for overnight until your  ready to deal with them in the morning.

In conclusion, Brown Sugar Bites Dessert will make a welcome addition to any gift basket, bridal or baby shower or luncheon.

Shout out to Alexa for Rolling Stones, Brown Sugar please. (That was too easy)

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As I review the recipes on my site, I have discovered my favorites, sweet and spicy. Sweet and spicy are delicious on their own but they certainly may be paired together for a succulent bite. The recipe focus today is cheesecake, chocolate and coffee. I have enjoyed learning how to  combine ingredients to blend flavors and sharing them with you. Of course, the best part is eating them.

My dessert marries together addictive ingredients that are hard to say no to chocolate and coffee. The farm fresh eggs add a delicious addition to the addictive pair.  Farm Fresh eggs are healthier for you to eat and taste better. Check the link for further information. If you live near a local farm, pick up fresh eggs. You won’t regret it.

This is an easy cheesecake to make in your home. A cheesecake is a great dessert to make ahead for company. The topping aids the flavor and assists if the cheesecake cracks a bit. The small amount of pecans and ganache are just enough to take this cheesecake to another level. It has just enough chocolate to satisfy without going overboard.

I hope that you enjoy my version of Cafe’ Cheesecake with pecans and chocolate. Each time that I make a cheesecake, they magically disappear. On my site you may also find a St Germain Cheesecake. It is a simpler version of this cheesecake. Both cheesecakes would be a great dessert  choice to serve for your next dinner party , event or St Patrick’s Day party.

In conclusion, this recipe pairs well with a cup of chicory coffee or your version of Cafe au lait. Enjoy!

Shout out to Alexa for Tina Turner.

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