Hostess with the Mostess - Volume 1: Sweet Meet

Hostess with the Mostess - Volume 1: Sweet Meet

Remember when you were a kid and your mum used to make you choke down dinner before she’d let you dig into the cake-from-a-box? Now that you’re an adult, you can forgo the meatloaf and green beans and skip ahead to the best part of any meal—the sweet stuff.
But who wants to sit home alone in front of the TV, stuffing packaged cookies down your piehole? Instead, invite your girls over to share in the sugary goodness. The deal is, you buy the wine, and each one of them brings along their favorite dessert to share, so everyone gets a taste.

Pavlova
Kiwis and Aussies are always arguing over who came up with this yummy meringue and fruit concoction, but who cares? It’s unbelievably delicious and if you know anyone from down-under I’m sure they’ve told you about it.

To Make:
Take a meringue shell, and just before eating, fill with whipped cream and cover with your fave fruits or berries.

Pair with:
Black Swan Chardonnay—the tropical fruit taste of the wine will complement the berries beautifully.

Chocolate Fondue
It’s a fact that everything tastes better dunked in warm chocolate. Fondue is the truly interactive dessert—cube up angel cake, fruit, biscotti, pretzels and dip away.

To make:
In a fondue pot, over low flame, combine ¾ cup heavy cream with four chopped bittersweet chocolate bars (the more high-quality the chocolate, the more delish the dish), and two tablespoons of your favorite hazelnut-infused liqueur. Stir frequently. You’ll know when it’s ready to go.

Pair with:
The subtle cherry undercurrents in Black Swan Merlot make it the perfect wine to sip with chocolate.

Cupcakes
Cupcakes truly are the perfect food. Unlike sloppy slices of cake, they fit in your hand, and you don’t need a fork to eat them.

To make:
Sure, you could spend the day baking, but we recommend you frequent one of the myriad cupcake bakeries in your city. That way you can get one of each flavor and take turns tasting. Save me a red velvet, please.

Pair with:
Cupcakes are party snacks, so you need a festive beverage to drink with them. Mix up a sparkling white wine punch, using equal parts ginger ale, Black Swan Riesling, pink lemonade, and a pint of cleaned, hulled strawberries to bob around on top.

Cookie Swap
Okay, this sounds lame and like something your granny would’ve done back in the fifties, but the idea is that everyone brings a batch of their favorite cookies (keep track so nobody repeats—in other words—only one person brings chocolate chip), and then everyone swaps a couple with the other guest. That way everyone tastes everything and your buddies have leftovers to bring home to their boo’s.

To make:
Call yo mama and get her recipe!

Pair with:
Assorted beers and bottles of deliciousness from Black Swan. Black Swan Cabernet Sauvignon for cookies with chocolate, Black Swan Shiraz for ones with cinnamon or other spices & Black Swan Chardonnay for anything else.