Austin Food Bloggers May Potluck

Yesterday's potluck was hosted by David Ansel, aka The Soup Peddler, and his family at their lovely south Austin home. The weather was gorgeous and the food and the company made for a perfect Sunday get-together. I could have hung out in the Ansel's backyard all day.

My date was Hunger Sauce blogger Kate Thornberry of Austin Chronicle fame. (Kathy is also a famous rock star - remember Glass Eye? - who goes by the name of Kathy McCarty, and a famous baker who goes by the name of the Pie Lady.) So many names. So many talents. She brought Pecan Tarts and I brought Fruit "Cupcakes" with Lavender Yogurt "Frosting." (Read on to discover the reasoning behind the quotes.) Because I was stuffed and generally overwhelmed by all the great food and desserts on offer, I waited until I got home to enjoy Kathy's tart. Oh. My. It was Pecan Pie perfection in four flaky, gooey, nutty, not-too-sweet bites. They don't call her the Pie Lady for nothing.

Other standouts included the Cajun Stuffed Chickens Mr. Ansel got somewhere in Lafayette, Louisiana and grilled for our pleasure. When I told him how much I loved them, he admitted that he wished he'd gone with his first impulse and saved one for himself. Judging from the comments I overheard, his generosity was truly appreciated. As for other desserts, the Donut Holes with Caramel Dipping Sauce from Cissi's Market were crazy good, as were the Mascarpone Brownies.

The faux cupcakes I made for the event are a version of something I came across in Cookie magazine either a year or a month ago. Who knows. I couldn't find the photo when I went looking for it, but remembered the image of individual towers of fruit sliced and layered to resemble small cakes topped with yogurt "frosting." They didn't make the cut as Sam's first birthday "cake" (see previous post), but made pretty little healthy sweet treats for the children - and several adults - who attended his party.

I've made these three times now. Twice using layers of pineapple, mango, and strawberry and once with pineapple and watermelon. The latter is pictured below. I don't recommend the watermelon version as it is, well, a bit watery.
Beyond that advice, I imagine lots of fruits would work well, as long as they can be sliced to lay flat. After making slabs of fruit, I used a flower-shaped cookie cutter roughly the size of the bottom of a cupcake liner to cut out little mango and pineapple flowers. I layered them with fat strawberry slices and topped them with strained plain yogurt flavored with a little lavender agave nectar. I then divided the yogurt into two bowls. I left one milk-white and tinted the other with a sprinkling of frozen blueberries. After topping the fruit stacks with alternating white and purple yogurt, I garnished each with a blackberry, a strawberry spear, and a tiny sprig of mint.

If you're familiar with the original Cookie photos that inspired these sweet treats, let me know. I'd also love to see images of your version of these fake-outs.