I don’t know how she did it, but Camilla Saulsbury got two recipes into Food TV’s Ultimate Cookie Showdown. She's amazing, and you’ll agree when you try this recipe for Oaxaca Fudge Bars. It’s here.
The showdown will air Sunday night. Will it win? That’s hard to say. The competition is tough, but this is a very clever combination of interior Mexican flavors condensed into a delicious, easy to cut-carry-and-serve bar cookie. Cashews are a good nut, but this recipe takes them to a new level. And did I mention it was sweet and salty? I know a few of you will like that.
Drawback. It’s not very Easter-ish and I apologize because I’m really bad at being seasonal, but when Cinco de Mayo rolls around, we are all set!
Anna
Judy, Camilla was one of the people who inspired me to enter contests. She's very creative.
Also, don't give up. I think with these contests, it ebbs and flows. Everyone has a bad year or two or (or 10!) and then a good year, or two (or 10!). Just have fun.
I don't know if I'm ever going to have a book. The instant feedback from blogging is so great it makes it hard to concentrate on book writing. Plus, I have a hard time keeping recipes secret.
Judy
I followed the links and read Camilla's blogs and other links. She is quite amazing. A girl could get discouraged following her success story and yours, Anna. I have to keep telling myself, "I can do it," but others pale in comparison to you two. I am looking forward to your first cookbook, hopefully with your humorous sidelines.
Anna
Kristin, thanks for the link! I'm going to look it over tomorrow.
Courtney, they do look a lot like caramelitas. And speaking of money, they are kind of expensive once you buy the cashews and the 12 ounces of premium chocolate. I put mine in the freezer and plan on sending them to work with my husband. Hopefully they'll freeze well.
Jessica, that's too bad. If you are interested in trying a different book, you might want to get Alice Medrich's "Chocolate and the Art of Low Fat Desserts".
Jessica "Su Good Sweets"
I tried some of Camilla's recipes in Enlightened Chocolate. They all sounded so good, but they tasted too healthy (so you have to eat more to satisfy your sweet tooth). These crumb bars look delicious though.
Courtney
Gah, those look so yummy. Like some delicious cousin of the carmelita.
I need money to buy things for baking 🙁
Kristin W
We're doing our own "Ultimate Cookie Challenge" here at the paper, with a group of foodie types making some of the contest cookies. I'm doing the chocolate ones with grappa-infused raisins and the spice cookies with rosewater. Crazy-long link here:
http://data.tennessean.com/v2/bin/pluckTools/display/groupblog.php?blog=9334c16f-743b-4fc1-b164-4db10ca5c2e0&plckController=Blog&plckScript=blogScript&plckElementId=blogDest&plckBlogPage=BlogViewPost&plckPostId=Blog%3a9334c16f-743b-4fc1-b164-4db10ca5c2e0Post%3a947c7e6d-3553-4cf4-b6d5-8ef8b3649085&sid=sitelife.tennessean.com