From the photographer: Bryant and Tra met through mutual friends about 4 years ago and discovered that they had the same birthday. The are true Capricorns, serious with wry sense of humor and they are my dream couple.

Bryant and Tra wanted a mixture of vibrant and vintage feeling engagement photos. The picked a winery in between Napa and Calistoga that they had been to before in St. Helena. It was a beautiful and warm winter day. The best part was the flowers blooming the field in January!

You can check out more of Kissed by Tammy’s work by visiting her website and blog!

For Katie and Micheal’s engagement session, they decided to go back to the place where Michael proposed.

Thanks to Michele Hart Photography who submitted this session through Two Bright Lights. You can check out more of her work by visiting her website.

After several requests from this weeks post Crazy About Shot Glass Desserts! we’ve decided to post four more dessert recipes!

We hope you enjoy these ones… we know we will

Ingredients

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 Tablespoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 Tablespoon sugar
• 1/2 stick (4 Tablespoons) chilled butter, cut into small pieces
• 1/3 to 1/2 cup milk
• 2 cup sliced strawberries
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/2 pint heavy whipping cream
• 1 Tablespoon sugar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425°. In a large bowl, combine sliced strawberries & sugar, then set aside
2. In another large bowl (or food processor if you have one), combine the dry ingredients for the biscuits and mix until combined. Using a hand mixer on low speed, add the butter to the flour mixture and mix until you end up with a coarse meal. Some larger pieces of butter are okay to have in the mix at this point. Add the milk slowly and mix with a fork until the dough begins to moisten. Don’t overmix!
3. Transfer the dough onto a well-floured surface and knead gently, 3-4 times, until the dough holds together on its own. Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough until it’s about ½” thick. With a cookie cutter (or the smaller end of your shot glass), cut out tiny little shortcakes. You should be able to make at least 16 1 ½” biscuits. Place the biscuits onto a foil-lined cookie sheet, sprinkle with some sugar (if desired) and bake in the oven for 8-11 minutes or until a light golden brown at the top.
4. While the shortcake biscuits are baking, make the whipped cream by combining the cream & 1 T sugar in a bowl and whipping until light & fluffy.
5. Once the biscuits are done, allow to cool on a rack for a few minutes. Assemble your dessert shots parfait-style, layering a biscuit, strawberries, and whipped cream. Garnish with whipped cream and more strawberries, and enjoy!

Tiramisu

Recipe Adapted from David Lebowitz via Sugar & Everything Nice
Makes 6 individual servings

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup (125ml) freshly brewed espresso, at room temperature
• 3 – 4 tablespoons Kahlua
• 2 large eggs, separated, at room temperature
• pinch of salt
• 7 tablespoons (90g) sugar, divided
• 1 cup (250g) mascarpone
• twelve 3½-inch ladyfingers (70g, or 3 ounces)
• 30g grated bittersweet chocolate
• unsweetened cocoa powder, for serving

Directions

1. Mix together the espresso and Kahlua. The mixture should taste strongly of alcohol. If not, add more until it does. (The flavor will tone down when mixed with the other ingredients, but feel free to adjust to taste)
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer, or by hand, beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt until they begin to get stiff. Beat in half of the sugar until stiff. Scrape the egg whites into a small bowl.
3. In the same bowl, beat the egg yolks with the remaining sugar until stiff and light-colored, about three minutes. (If using a standing electric mixer, you may need to stop and scrape down the sides.) By hand, beat in the mascarpone with a spatula or whisk, until lump-free.
4. Fold in half of the beaten egg whites, then the remaining half, just until fully incorporated.
5. Put a splat, a heaping soup spoon, of the mascarpone cream into each vessel.
6. Break each ladyfinger in half and then submerge it in the espresso mixture for 5-10 seconds, until completely, utterly soaked. (Dried ladyfingers will take longer to saturate than softer ones) Be careful not to soak it for too long as they tend to get really musshy! Then layer them over the mascarpone cream in each vessel. Use two ladyfingers for each serving.
7. Grate a generous amount of chocolate over each.
8. Top with remaining mascarpone cream, cover, and refrigerate at least four hours, but preferably overnight.
9. Right before serving, shake powdered cocoa generously on top. Delicious served with a cup of espresso coffee.

These cheesecake shots were made for a Fourth of July party, but can easily be made any time of the year!

Stars & Stripes Cheesecake Shots

Recipe courtesy of Carrie of Half Baked via Hostess (with the Mostess}

Ingredients:

• 4 pkg. (8 oz. each) cream cheese, softened
• 1/3 cup + 1T  sugar
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla
• 1 tub  (8 oz.) Cool Whip, thawed
• 8 – 10 graham crackers
• Fresh Berries
• Finely crush graham crackers

Directions:

1. Beat cream cheese, sugar and vanilla in large bowl with mixer until smooth. Gently stir in cool whip until well blended.
2. Fill individual glasses half way with cream cheese mixture, either using a spoon or a piping bag fitted with a large round tip for a more polished presentation.  Top with 1 tsp graham cracker crumbs.  Shake glass to level crumbs.  Fill to the top with more of the cream cheese mixture.  Lightly sprinkle with additional graham cracker crumbs and top with berries.  Add a star pastry for an extra fun little touch.
3. Refrigerate 4 hours or until firm.  Serve chilled.  Makes roughly 16 mini servings, depending on the size of your shot glass.

Tips:

• Use a Ziploc bag to fill glasses if you don’t have a piping bag.  Just fill it partially, seal and snip off one corner.  Squeeze out!
• Set out cream cheese ahead of time so that it is room temperature.  This will help everything blend together and create a smooth consistency.
• Serve with a bowl of berries and additional Star Pastries for a patriotic display.

Chocolate & Peanut Butter Dessert Shooters

Makes 12 small dessert shooters (Recipe courtesy Babble.com)

Ingredients

• 12 chocolate cookies, crushed
• 4 1/2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 ounces cream cheese
• 1/4 cup peanut butter
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1/4 cup powdered sugar

Directions

1. Heat the cream just until the edges start to bubble, but not to a full boil. Remove from heat, immediately pour over chocolate and whisk until smooth. Stir in the vanilla. Allow to cool and then whip until thick. Scoop into piping bag.
2. Beat together cream cheese and peanut butter until smooth. In a separate bowl, beat 1/2 cup cream and powdered sugar until they are thick with stiff peaks. Fold the whipped cream into the peanut butter mixture. When completely incorporated, fill a piping bag.
3. In each of 12 shot glasses, place a teaspoon of cookie crumbles followed by a layer of ganache and 2 tablespoons peanut butter cream. Pipe a small amount of ganache on top, if desired.

Photos courtesy of Blue Cupcake, Creative Whip, Hostess {with the Mostess}, via Half Baked, Babble.com.

From the photographer: Tamara and Jason’s wedding was held at Tamara’s family ranch in Redmond, WA. Being a riding instructor and coming from a family of all things equestrian, the theme came naturally.

Inspired by the Dave Matthew’s song “So Damn Lucky”  they had a logo made of a lucky horseshoe and branded their wedding with the saying, so damn lucky. They also gave their guests lottery tickets as seat placements and danced the night away to Dave Matthews song.

All of this was dreamed up by Tamara and her family, and executed by the indefatigable Lisa Chambers. I was so damn lucky to be there to take the pictures

Photography: Jennifer Tai Photo Artistry

Caterer: Landau’s Catering and Events

Event Planner: Chambers & Co

Florist: Mum Floral Design

Venue: Union Hill Ranch

Wedding Gown: Melissa Sweet

Make-up & Hair: Jennifer Verador

Groom Attire: The Tuxedo Club

Invitation & Day-of Coordinates: Izzy Girl

Not only are shot glass desserts the perfect size, but they also look amazing on dessert tables.

You can do just about any kind of cake or dessert in a shot glasses from tiramisu to cheesecake and your guest will LOVE them!

Find a way to incorporate them into your dessert table… trust me these will go like hot cakes!

And what would a post about desserts be if we didn’t include a recipe!

Raspberry Tiramisu Bites

Makes 8 servings, recipe courtesy of MyRecipes.com via Southern Living

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons seedless raspberry preserves
• 1 tablespoon orange liqueur
• 1 (3-oz.) package cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 8 ladyfingers, halved crosswise
• 8 fresh raspberries
• Garnish: fresh mint sprigs

Directions

1. Microwave raspberry preserves in a small microwave-safe bowl at HIGH 20 seconds. Stir in liqueur.
2. Beat cream cheese and sugar at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy (about 1 minute).
3. Beat heavy cream with an electric mixer until soft peaks form. Fold into cream cheese mixture. Spoon into a zip-top plastic bag. (Do not seal.) Snip 1 corner of bag with scissors to make a hole (about 1/2 inch in diameter).
4. Press 1 ladyfinger half onto bottom of 1 (1 1/2-oz.) shot glass. Repeat procedure with 7 more shot glasses. Drizzle about 1/2 tsp. raspberry mixture into each glass. Pipe a small amount of cream cheese mixture evenly into each glass. Repeat procedure with remaining ladyfingers, raspberry mixture, and cream cheese mixture. Top each glass with 1 raspberry. Cover and chill 2 hours. Garnish, if desired.

Photos courtesy of My Lovely Life, Tired and True Weddings, My Sweet & Saucy, Southern Living.

From the photographer: Her horse got away from her, not for long, but long enough for her heart to skip a beat. Without a flinch, a second though or a movement, he kicked his heels, sped off and went to save her and make sure she was safe. You can tell there is nothing this man wouldn’t do for her, that he will protect her and keep her safe…always.