Dessert Club - Cheese!

I found my headphones I thought I lost on my trip last month.  Which means I'm listening to more music.  Which means I'm in a good mood.  A sassy mood.  A creative mood.  A blogging mood.  Here's last month's Dessert Club.

The theme was Cheese, and we specified this was a sweet cheese challenge.  When I suggested we open it to sweet or savory, everyone exclaimed then they would have to make two things, so we stuck to sweet this time around.  The offerings were truly incredible.  

Pear Caramel Tart with Walnuts and Gorgonzola Dolce

Hazelnut Crunch Chocolate Cake with Orange Marscapone 
(one of my favorites!)

Carrot Cake with Marscapone Lime Frosting
(another of my favs)

Gorgonzola Caramels

Triple Ginger Blue Pear Tart

Brie-Stuffed Dates

Cannoli Pie
(OK, I had a lot of favorites - this was another)

Chocolate Cottage Cheese Cookies

Quark Cookies

Italian Ricotta Cake

Blue Cheese Ice Cream with a Poached Pear Reduction

And amazingly, I actually won this time (!) with my...
Rich Coffee Cake with Sweet Cheese Filling

 I was proud of this win - the pastry for this coffee cake was a several-day affair.

But just as good, if not even better, than all the cheesy desserts we sampled, was a surprise.  DC member Rebecca brought...what shall I call it?...a poetic essay, written earlier that day by her husband Jeff, one of Dessert Club's biggest fans.  It is called Ode to Dessert Club, and it deserves its own blog post.  Watch for it.