Whipped Cream

Whipped cream is everywhere lately. It is my friend's birthday today.  His favorite dessert is tiramisu.  I had to make this for him but also do not like to serve raw eggs to people.  Most of the recipes called for folding raw egg yolks into softened mascarpone and sugar.  So I made the egg yolks, sugar and some chocolate liqueur into a zabaglione and that was it.  I made a chocolate zabaglione and folded in whipped cream.  The rest is a traditional tiramisu with the espresso soaked lady finger-style cookies and topped with coffee and rum flavored whipped cream unsweetened cocoa and shaved dark chocolate.  He tried it and and seemed happy!

I made powder puffs a few weeks ago.  They are almost like tiramisu except for the chocolate and coffee. Lady finger-like cookies (homemade this time), filled with sweetened whipped cream and raspberry jam.

I want to make different desserts now because with the holidays approaching traditional desserts will grace my table. 

Is that Autumn in the Air and Sky?

Do I feel, see and smell autumn?  Every season has its appeal, but autumn is my favorite.  The end of the dog days of summer where you sweat like a pig 24 hours of the day without a break when the sun goes down and only intensified when the sun is up.  Summer here in Miami is rough.  The humidity engulfs you and keeps you sweating and looking like a wilted flower.  Every time the temperature rises I can't help but think that heat breaks DNA bonds and always wonder if this affects our bodies?  

"DNA doesn't actually decompose when heated. It just melts. DNA comes in two 

mirror image strands that you could visualize as a zipper. The chemical bonds that make up each strand of the zipper are permanent joins, but the teeth that connect the two strands are much weaker and sensitive to heat. So when you expose DNA to heat (for instance, by boiling it), the two strands of the zipper separate. By 

very slowly cooling that denatured DNA, you could actually get the strands to 

reanneal or zip up again.

Christine Ticknor, Ph.D.
Ireland Cancer Center
Case Western Reserve University"

As you can see above, slow cooling gets it to "zip" up again, but can it do that inside the body?  It just freaks me out and gives me yet another reason to dread summer temps and sets my mind to thinking about all sorts of things.  

I find the turning of the season to autumn, rejuvenating, inspiring and uplifting.  This means the best time of year beginning with my favorite holiday, Halloween! Everything about it is fun and unique.  Dress up in costumes, eat lots of candy and decorate with fun items.  Then have a more relaxed holiday with Thanksgiving where I can eat delicious turkey and enjoy my favorite pies that I only really eat once a year. Pumpkin, apple and pecan/nut.  Rich decadent pumpkin pie with globs of whipped cream.  Delicate apple pie, simply made with a touch of cinnamon and minus all those other heady spices, served up with a giant scoop of cinnamon ice cream.  And pecan/nut pies so rich and buttery and flecked with milk, white or dark chocolate!  Christmas is unnecessary to go into.  It is simply "the most wonderful time of the year," and the perfect time to get together with family and friends.

The weather is changing folks I can feel it in the air because our 90+ degree days are giving way to mid 80's and that is cool for us.   Our leaves don't change color, but instead our skies become orange-coral at dusk and breezes take on the burnished fragrance reserved for northern leaves.