Sticky Toffee Pudding
Sticky Toffee Pudding is one of the best things I tried for the first time last year, as noted in Fran Magazine’s Best of 2024 Extravaganza. My mom wanted to make beef wellington for Christmas Eve dinner, so I decided that I would convince her to make sticky toffee pudding for dessert, alongside scoops of the best plain vanilla ice cream from our local creamery. This was probably the best thing I ate when I was home.
My mom’s sticky toffee pudding was so fluffy, so moist. It tasted so, so unhealthy, which made it even better. I ate all of the leftovers over the next two days, drowning small portions in so much toffee sauce that it looked like soup. Even an errant date pit in my initial Christmas Eve portion could not hinder my enjoyment. This is one of my favorite foods ever, and maybe the best food to come out of Great Britain.
Yasso Bars
Before Christmas, I finally tried Yasso Bars after months of my girlfriend recommending them. Another box appeared in my house weeks later, this time one of her favorite flavors: chocolate chip cookie dough.
I liked these better than the first ones I tried. The cookie dough and chocolate pieces were nicely sized and pleasantly distributed, and there was no lingering artificial sweetener flavor that the enrobed ones had. This week, I was told that the mint chip flavor is “goated,” and I will be investigating.
Key Lime Pie and Carrot Cake
Before we saw Babygirl, Clare and I had dinner at J. Alexander’s. Much is great about classic Big Dumb American Dinner, but I was most looking forward to dessert. This time, we ordered two: key lime pie and carrot cake.
The key lime pie at J. Alexander’s is not bad, but it is not great. There is something texturally amiss: it veers closer to jello than to what should be a delightfully rich, custardy treat. Also, it is served with too much whipped cream. When I order a slice of key lime pie, I am looking forward to the sensation of tart, not the mouth-coating feel of fatty cream.
We love the carrot cake at J. Alexander’s, which is a sheet cake smothered in warm cream cheese frosting. If I recall correctly, J. Alexanders used to have a more traditional, cold, layered carrot cake. But the flattened version is so much better, if only slightly different. It’s like eating a cookie fresh out of the oven. More sinful, but entirely worth it.