BookTrib is partnering with Bookish to bring you more great content. With Thanksgiving right around the corner, we’re looking forward to family and fellowship— everything the day is supposed be. But most importantly, we are looking forward to stuffing our bellies with turkey and pie!
This piece is especially timely, with Thanksgiving right around the corner. Heather Kim, author of Sweet Revenge, turns pie into a plot with passive-aggressive recipes of revenge you’ll want to serve to that one relative who is always late and eats all the macaroni and cheese your grandma made especially for you.
With names like ‘Go Fudge Yourself’ and ‘Donut Call Me Again,’ your mood will be lifted and your stomach filled in no time! As a treat for our readers, we’ve asked Kim to share two of her favorite recipes with us. The first is a ‘Butterfinger® Flake Cake,— this indulgence is perfect for when your date cancels on you yet again. The second is a ‘Flamin’ Hot Cheetos® ice cream sandwich’— let that friend who borrows books and forgets to return them feel the burn. Enjoy these petty pie pleasures anytime because revenge is not only a dish best served cold, it’s also pretty darn sweet!
World’s Biggest Flake (AKA Butterfinger Flake Bars)
The Butterfinger flake bars embody my favorite dessert ingredients. I’m such a goon for breakfast cereal, rice is my absolute favorite food in the whole wide world, and if you ask anybody that has ever eaten any of my desserts, they’ll tell you the two elements I love best in a sweet: butterscotch and a slap of salt.
BASE
1 16-ounce jar creamy peanut butter
1 cup dark chocolate chips
1/4 cup butter
1 cup of Butterfinger, crushed
3 cups rice flakes cereal, crushed
1/4 cup cocoa nibs
1 tablespoon salt
TOPPING
2/3 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup butterscotch chips
1 cup white chocolate chips
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1/2 cup of granulated sugar
3 tablespoon butter
1. Butter up a quarter-size sheet pan and line with Silpat® or parchment paper. Set aside.
2. In a medium saucepan, melt the peanut butter, chocolate chips, and butter over low heat. Then remove from heat and stir in the Butterfinger, cereal, cocoa nibs, and salt.
3. Dump that mixture onto the prepped sheet pan, pressing firmly until mixture is solid, like a grade-A Rice Krispies Treat®.
4. Chill that goodness to at least room temp.
5. Meanwhile, for the topping, scald cream and vanilla in a small saucepan. Set aside.
6. Place butterscotch chips, white chocolate chips, and salt in a medium-ish bowl and set a strainer over the top.
7. In a separate saucepan, caramelize the sugar until it starts to smoke and froth like a rabid dog. Remove from heat and immediately add butter, stirring until totally incorporated.
8. Pour this mixture over the strainer and onto the butterscotch and white chocolate chips.
9. Add scalded cream and vanilla to that and stir everything up.
10. Immediately spread this deliciousness over the base until evenly distributed.
11. Chill and top with additional crushed Butterfinger, if desired.
When I Think of You Ice Cream (AKA: Flamin’ Hot Cheetos Ice Cream Sandwiches with Flamin’ Hot Cheetos Ganache)
Hot Cheetos are my favorite junk food. I love the crunch and burn, I love the weird color, and I even love the origin story of the inventor of Hot Cheetos, from janitor to CEO. This is my third sweet recipe with Hot Cheetos, the first being a Hot Cheetos macaron, and the second being the Hot Cheetos brittle I made for Hola Arepa.
FLAMIN’ HOT CHEETOS SUGAR
Granulated sugar
1 bag Flamin’ Hot Cheetos, ground
1 Mix sugar to Flamin’ Hot Cheetos at a ratio of 2:1.
SUGAR COOKIES
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup Flamin’ Hot Cheetos, ground
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup butter
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1. Crank up oven 350°F.
2. In a medium bowl, mix the flour, Flamin’ Hot Cheetos, and baking powder. Set aside.
3. In a separate bowl, cream the butter and sugar until pale-yellow and fluffy. Add eggs, one by one, until totally combined. Then dump in the dry ingredients and combine.
4. Scoop dough into large ball and roll into Flamin’ Hot Cheetos sugar. Then press them balls onto a parchment- or Silpat-lined baking sheet until cookies are about 1/2-inch thick.
5. Bake for about 15 minutes, turning halfway through baking time. Cookies are done when fluorescent red (epic!) and medium-soft to the touch.
GANACHE
2 ounces Flamin’ Hot Cheetos, food processed into fine crumbs
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup white chocolate chips
1. In a medium saucepan set over medium-high heat, stir Flamin’ Hot Cheetos into heavy cream. Bring the liquid to a boil, then remove the pan from the heat.
2. Mix and melt white chocolate in. Set aside to cool.
TO ASSEMBLE:
1. Choose 2 cookies of similar shape and size. Place cookie face down on a plate.
2. Scoop ice cream on top of cookie, spoon ganache over ice cream, and top with second cookie.
Heather Kim is a pastry chef and painter and a tattoo artist at MPLS Tattoo, an all-female owned and operated parlour. Her deliciously unconventional desserts have been praised by the Star Tribune, Minnesota Monthly, and Eater. She lives in Minneapolis, with the loves of her life—her college sweetheart, Scottie, and their Schnauzers, Max & Nietzsche.
**This piece was edited for continuity.
