My friends at Cabot Creamery decided that July was the perfect time to get creative about summer desserts. So they challenged five talented and inventive food bloggers to create something sweet and heavenly and perfect for warm weather using Cabot Cheddar Cheese.
Links to each recipe were posted on the Cabot website and people were invited to vote for their favorites. The competition was stiff, but the crowd favorite and ultimate winner was Chef Chaz - Charles French - who wowed us with his delectable Cheddar Brownie with Whipped Cream & Strawberries. This winning recipe will forever reside on the Cabot website and Chef Chaz will retain bragging rights from this day forward.
Chef Chaz's Cheddar Brownie with Whipped Cream & Strawberries
I'm glad I didn't have to choose a winner, because all five entries were amazing. Who knew incorporating The World's Best Cheddar into a summer sweet could result in such delightful desserts? Since they were equally delicious, I thought the only fair way to highlight the remaining four bloggers would be to list them alphabetically by first name.
Prepare to drool!
Philadelphian and ShopRite Potluck Food Blogger Emily Malloy, modestly claims in her blog Cleanliness Is Next to Godliness, that her Apple & Cheddar Ice Cream is an "edible masterpiece." She also claims that her funky fresh dessert will remind you of cheesecake. All I know is I can't wait to try this refreshing summer treat!
Emily's Apple & Cheddar Ice Cream
This Cheddar Fruit Tart with Fresh Blackberry Sauce might have come from a wicked small kitchen, but it is destined to be a huge hit at tables everywhere. Katie, of The Small Boston Kitchen fame, created a light dessert that she calls "a classic reinvented with a summery twist." She used Cabot Smooth Sharp Cheddar and combined it with slivers of apples and pears and a fluffy bed of puff pastry. The twist was a drizzle of fresh blackberry sauce and a sprinkling of crunchy almonds.
Katie's Cheddar Fruit Tart with Fresh Blackberry Sauce
I am a total sucker for anything mini, but Linda, of Welcome to Linneyville, brought mini to new heights with her Cranberry Pecan Double Cheese Mini Pies. I mean, really, how good do these look? With very little effort, these elegant little desserts can be ready for your next get together. The look amazing...and taste divine. Win/win, if you ask me.
Linney's Cranberry Pecan Double Cheese Mini Pies
I saved Peter, of Peter Is a DB, for last for good reason. He is the reason the folks at Cabot created this challenge, not once but twice. A few months ago, he asked them to challenge him to create a dessert. They said: "Great...use chocolate and cheese." Peter came up with this gorgeous, crazy piece of work that has no name but looks a little like cheesy, chocolate stuffed French toast. I'll let a couple of pictures tell the story:
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Peter's First Challenge
And because once is evidently not enough for this intrepid blogger, Peter came back and asked for a second chance, which is how the official Cabot Summer Dessert Challenge came to be. Peter's offering for this challenge, Strawberry Cheddar Cheesecake, is an experiment in sweet and savory with a creamy yogurt sauce. He claims the dessert was inspired by an old Married with Children episode. Let's not quibble with how an artist gets his inspiration. Let's just enjoy the results.