Dessert Club - American Regions

Alright, jokers.  There are procrastinators, and then there's me.  Time to belly up to the counter here in the kitchen and get some posts knocked out.  Since we just had a killer Dessert Club tonight, and now I am THREE months behind on posting those, let's start there.

In April, our DC theme truly rocked.  It was "American Regions."  Each member was delegated a different part of our great country to represent through a dessert.  The variety was beautiful, but I think the conversation was the real winner.  As we ate, we told the stories we'd discovered about our regions, or the story behind our dishes, and I think we all learned a few things we didn't know before.  Like, have you heard of Mackinac Island, Michigan, to which tourists flood for the fudge (and other diversions), so much that the locals call visitors Fudgies?  Or how about Tennessee Stack Cake, a traditional wedding confection to which each guests brings a layer to contribute?  We learned about these and more at Regional night.  We're definitely going to have to do that one again. 

(All regions were assigned but not everyone came.)

Northwestern Ice 
Pacific Northwest

Avocado Pound Cake with Lime Crème Fraîche (mine)
California/Southwest

Cherry & Chocolate Fudge
Great Lakes

Rugelach
Tri-State

Martha Washington's Jumble Cookies 
and Buttermilk Cake with Raspberry Sauce
Mid-Atlantic

Apple Brown Betty
South

Mountain Stack Cake
Appalachia

...and the truly, deeply deserving winner...
Vanilla Pain Perdu with Banana Cashew Praline
Bayou